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Gender Determination of Date Palm

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The Date Palm Genome, Vol. 1

Part of the book series: Compendium of Plant Genomes ((CPG))

Abstract

Date palm is dioecious, characterized by unisexual flowers located on separate male or female trees. Dioecy has always been an issue in date palm breeding because the sex of the plant cannot be known until it reaches its reproductive stage, which takes 5‒9 years to first flowering. Hence, early sex identification can enhance breeding and genetic improvement success in date palm. The breeding programs help in the selection and identification of superior seedlings of important traits. However, the sex of dioecious plants is usually tedious to identify. Sex determination may not only enhance genetic resources but also gear up breeding programs. No doubt, substantial progress has been made in understanding mechanisms of sex identification in date palm using morphological, physiological, biochemical, and cytological procedures but the discrimination in male and female plants by these techniques is not reliable. Sexuality in plants is regulated by genetic, epigenetic, and physiological mechanisms, and the most specialized mechanism of sex determination is the sex chromosomes. Molecular markers have been applied accurately in date palm breeding programs to differentiate male and female seedlings, but the development of more reliable molecular markers is needed. Hence, this chapter is focused on an understanding of floral biology, genetics of sex, and methods applied for sex determination in date palm.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Summar Abbas Naqvi, Iqrar Ahmad Khan & Muhammad Jafar Jaskani

  2. Department of Horticultural Sciences, Indian River Research and Education Center, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Fort Pierce, FL, 34945, USA

    Waqar Shafqat

  3. Key Laboratory of Genetics and Fruit Development, College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Muhammad Salman Haider

  4. Center for Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan

    Faisal Saeed Awan

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  1. Summar Abbas Naqvi
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  2. Waqar Shafqat
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  3. Muhammad Salman Haider
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  4. Faisal Saeed Awan
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Correspondence to Muhammad Jafar Jaskani .

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  1. Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

    Jameel M. Al-Khayri

  2. Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    S. Mohan Jain

  3. Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Dennis V. Johnson

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Naqvi, S.A., Shafqat, W., Haider, M.S., Awan, F.S., Khan, I.A., Jaskani, M.J. (2021). Gender Determination of Date Palm. In: Al-Khayri, J.M., Jain, S.M., Johnson, D.V. (eds) The Date Palm Genome, Vol. 1. Compendium of Plant Genomes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73746-7_7

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