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The Floral Biology of Jatropha curcas L.—A Review

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Abstract

Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) has attracted considerable recent attention as a potential horticultural crop based on the quality of its oil seed for biodiesel production, and its ability to grow in unproductive subtropical or subdesert soils. Additionally, several characteristics of the species make it a good model for a more thorough understanding of the reproductive biology of a species undergoing the domestication process. To date, there is limited information about its reproductive patterns and the genetics involved. Such information is necessary for developing efficient agronomic practices and for guiding the research needed to more fully understand the species’ reproduction processes. J. curcas has an inconsistent mating system, which presents both opportunities and challenges in developing breeding strategies and agronomic practices. Unraveling the mating system of J. curcas can increase our understanding of the evolution of reproduction systems in monoecious plants. The influences of environmental factors on flowering and floral organ development have not been reported under either field or controlled conditions. Moreover, no genetic mechanisms controlling the characteristics of the flowering (architecture, sex expression and sex ratios) have been proposed. The present review assesses and synthesizes the current knowledge of the floral biology of J. curcas. It provides a description of the species, its reproductive organs and reproductive patterns, and discussing the factors influencing them.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Dr. Dan Parfit, Dr. Sham Goyal, for their comments and suggestions. Thanks to Helen Chan for her valuable discussion about the species. Also, I am very grateful with Daniel S. Park, PhD student at UC Davis, for his valuable suggestions about the manuscript. Special thanks to Palma Lower, writing specialist at UC Davis, for her valuable comments and corrections during the improvement of this paper. I want to express my gratitude to the reviewers and editors for their constructive suggestions and comments to improve this review. Jonathan Fresnedo Ramírez (the author) is supported by a CONACYT-UCMEXUS (Mexican Council of Science and Technology and University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States) doctoral fellowship at University of California, Davis.

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Communicated by: Marcelo C. Dornelas

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Fresnedo-Ramírez, J. The Floral Biology of Jatropha curcas L.—A Review. Tropical Plant Biol. 6, 1–15 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12042-012-9113-x

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