{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T12:15:47Z","timestamp":1789388147503,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,2]],"date-time":"2025-05-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746144000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Zhejiang Science and Technology Major Program on Agricultural New Variety Breeding","award":["2021C02070-3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021C02070-3"]}]},{"name":"Zhejiang Science and Technology Major Program on Agricultural New Variety Breeding","award":["CAFYBB2020QA002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CAFYBB2020QA002"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds of CAF","award":["2021C02070-3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021C02070-3"]}]},{"name":"Fundamental Research Funds of CAF","award":["CAFYBB2020QA002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CAFYBB2020QA002"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Lauraceae family, a keystone group in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest ecosystems, exhibits exceptional diversity in sexual systems (including hermaphroditic flowers, functionally unisexual flowers, and pseudo-dioecy), serving as a natural model for studying plant sexual differentiation mechanisms. This review synthesizes advances in the evolutionary mechanisms and genomic studies of sexual differentiation in Lauraceae, focusing on three key areas: (1) the evolution of taxonomic classification and floral morphology, (2) molecular trajectories of sexual differentiation, and (3) challenges and future directions in sex determination research (e.g., sex-linked marker development and gene-editing-assisted breeding). Morphological and phylogenetic analyses suggest that ancestral Lauraceae species were late Cretaceous hermaphroditic trees, with recent radiation of unisexual lineages (e.g., Cinnamomum and Laurus) linked to pollinator pressure, genome duplication events (WGD), and incipient sex chromosome evolution. Despite progress, critical challenges remain, including unresolved thresholds for sex chromosome origination, unquantified molecular pathways integrating environmental signals (e.g., photoperiod, temperature) with genetic networks, and the lack of efficient sex-specific markers and genetic transformation systems. Future studies should integrate single-cell omics, epigenetic profiling, and cross-species comparative genomics to elucidate spatiotemporal dynamics and evolutionary drivers of sexual differentiation. These efforts will advance genetic improvement and ecological restoration strategies. This review provides a systematic framework for advancing plant sexual evolution theory and promoting sustainable utilization of Lauraceae resources.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26094335","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,2]],"date-time":"2025-05-02T07:44:23Z","timestamp":1746171863000},"page":"4335","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Advances in the Evolutionary Mechanisms and Genomic Studies of Sexual Differentiation in Lauraceae Plants"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Siqi","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou 311400, China"},{"name":"College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China"},{"name":"Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Breeding, Hangzhou 311400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yangdong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou 311400, China"},{"name":"Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Breeding, Hangzhou 311400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yicun","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou 311400, China"},{"name":"Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Breeding, Hangzhou 311400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunxiao","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou 311400, China"},{"name":"Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Breeding, Hangzhou 311400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ming","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Institute of Subtropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Hangzhou 311400, China"},{"name":"Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Forest Genetics and Breeding, Hangzhou 311400, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3102","DOI":"10.1111\/pbi.14433","article-title":"Pan-genome analysis of 13 Spinacia accessions reveals structural variations associated with sex chromosome evolution and domestication traits in spinach","volume":"22","author":"She","year":"2024","journal-title":"Plant Biotechnol. 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