Sex determination in papaya: Current status and perspectives

Artículo

Te invitamos a leer el artículo "Sex determination in papaya: Current status and perspectives" publicado en ScienceDirect, a cargo del investigador Agustino Martínez-Antonio de la Unidad Irapuato.

Autores:
José Guadalupe Ávila Hernández, María del Rosario Cárdenas Aquino, Alberto Camas Reyes, Agustino Martínez Antonio

Resumen:
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is an economically significant plant that produces fruit consumed worldwide due to its organoleptic characteristics. Since their commercial production, papaya fruits have faced several problems, such as pests, which have been partly resolved using transgenic varieties. Nevertheless, a principal challenge in this cultivation is the plant's sex determination. The sex issue in papaya is complex because papaya flowers can bear three sex forms: male, female, and hermaphrodite, which affects their fruit production, shape, and yield. Fruits from hermaphrodite plants are preferred more by consumers than female ones, and male plants rarely produce fruits without commercial value. Chromosomes are responsible for sex determination in papaya, denoted as XY for male, XX for female, and XYh for hermaphrodite. However, genes related to sex have been reported but are not conclusive. Factors such as the environment, hormones, and genetic and epigenetic background can also affect sex expression. Therefore, in this review, we will discuss recent research on the sex of papaya, from reported genes to date, their biology, and sexing approaches using molecular markers and their advantages.