title: Bird-nest puzzle: can the study of unisexual flowers such as cucumber solve the problem of plant sex determination?
abstract: Unisexual flower development has long been used as a model system to understand the mechanism of plant sex determination. However, based on our investigation of the mechanisms regulating the development of unisexual cucumber flowers, we have realized that understanding how organ development is inhibited may not necessarily reveal how an organ is formed. We refer to this problem as a "bird-nest puzzle," meaning one cannot understand how a bird lays and hatches its eggs by understanding how its nest is ruined. To understand the biological significance of unisexual flowers, we reexamine the original meaning of sex and its application in plants. Additionally, we propose that the fundamental biological advantage for the selection and maintenance of unisexual flowers during evolution is to promote cross pollination.
authors.affiliation: PKU-Yale Joint Research Center of Agricultural and Plant Molecular Biology, State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China. shunongb@pku.edu.cn
authors.forename: Shu-Nong
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Zhi-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009024:Morphogenesis; D054817:Pollination