UNDERSTANDING SEX DIFFERENTIATION IN ASPARAGUS OFFICINALIS: GENETICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL APPROACHES’

In the dioecious species Asparagus officinalis, sex determination is a complex developmental process ending in the differential expression of stamen and carpel genes in male and female individuals.
Primary sex determinant factors have been associated with homomorphic chromosome pair L5.

In a project aimed to understanding the genetical and physiological bases of sex expression, we studied some basic properties of the Asparagus genome (2C DNA content, frequency of repetitive sequences, genes associated with sex chromosomes). In addition, stamen and carpels specific messages were searched together with hormonal content of male and female flowers.

Major results indicated that gene expression in young male and female flowers is very similar each other (in agreement with their morphological appearance) and only later on differential expression takes place.
On the contrary, important differences in hormonal content between sexes (mainly auxin levels) were observed in meiotic flowers, suggesting that this stage is a critical step in the pathway of sex differentiation.

VII International Asparagus Symposium

M. Bracale, M.G. Galli, C. Longo, G. Marziani Longo, G. Rossi, C. Soave, B. Campion, A. Falavigna

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1990.271.60