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Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Sexual Crosses with the Mucoromycete Phycomyces blakesleeanus
Published on: June 6, 2025
Global warming and sexual plant reproduction
Afif Hedhly1, José I Hormaza, María Herrero
1Departamento de Pomología, Estación Experimental de Aula Dei, CSIC, Zaragoza, 50059, Spain; Estación Experimental la Mayora, CSIC, Málaga, 29760, Spain. ahedhly@eelm.csic.es
Abstract:
The sexual reproductive phase in plants might be particularly vulnerable to the effects of global warming. The direct effect of temperature changes on the reproductive process has been documented previously, and recent data from other physiological processes that are affected by rising temperatures seem to reinforce the susceptibility of the reproductive process to a changing climate. But the reproductive phase also provides the plant with an opportunity to adapt to environmental changes. Understanding phenotypic plasticity and gametophyte selection for prevailing temperatures, along with possible epigenetic changes during this process, could provide new insights into plant evolution under a global-warming scenario.
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