Transcriptomic insights into unisexual flower development in Cannabis sativa: conserved MADS-box networks and divergent developmental programs

Although sex determination follows a heterogametic XY system, considerable plasticity in sex expression is evident. To investigate the gene regulatory networks underlying male and female flower development, we performed transcriptomic profiling of shoot apices from vegetative male and female inflorescences at one and three weeks following floral induction.

Our analysis identified key MADS-box genes associated with floral organ specification and revealed that cannabis flower development largely conforms to the canonical ABCDE model