Exploring Ethylene-Related Genes inCannabis sativa: Implications for Sexual Plasticity

Abstract

AbstractSexual plasticity is a phenomenon wherein organisms possess the ability to alter their phenotypic sex in response to environmental and physiological stimuli, without modifying their sex chromosomes.Cannabis sativaL., a medically valuable plant species, exhibits sexual plasticity when subjected to specific chemicals that influence ethylene biosynthesis and signaling. Nevertheless, the precise contribution of ethylene-related genes (ERGs) to sexual plasticity in cannabis remains unexplored. The current study employedArabidopsis thalianaL. as a model organism to conduct gene orthology analysis and reconstruct the Yang Cycle, ethylene biosynthesis, and ethylene signaling pathways inC. sativa. Additionally, two transcriptomic datasets comprising male, female, and chemically induced male flowers were examined to identify expression patterns in ERGs associated with sexual determination and sexual plasticity. These ERGs involved in sexual plasticity were categorized into two distinct expression patterns: floral organ concordant (FOC) and unique (uERG). Furthermore, a third expression pattern, termed karyotype concordant (KC) expression, was proposed, which plays a role in sex determination. The study revealed that CsERGs associated with sexual plasticity are dispersed throughout the genome and are not limited to the sex chromosomes, indicating a widespread regulation of sexual plasticity inC. sativa.Key MessagePresented here are model Yang cycle, ethylene biosynthesis and signaling pathways inCannabis sativa.C. sativafloral transcriptomes were used to predict putative ethylene-related genes involved in sexual plasticity in the species.