Cannabis sativa: Dioecious into Monoecious Plants influencing Sex Determination

This review paper highlights about sex determination and conversion of dioecious into monoecious plants by applying exogenous growth regulators or chemicals. Cannabis sativa L. (Cannabaceae) is a dioecious plant, producing male and female flowers on separate unisexual individuals. Although both male and female plants are capable of producing cannabinoids in equal concentrations, female plants produce greater floral biomass than male plants and thus are exclusively used in commercial Medical Cannabis sativa (drug or marijuana) production facilities. In commercial production, marijuana plants are all genetically unfertilized female plants and, male plants are destroyed as seed formation reduces flower quality. One male Cannabis plant can ruin the entire female plant crop due to uncontrolled pollination and crop is designated as contaminated. Moreover, after pollination, female plants alter their relative investment in phytochemicals by reducing the production of secondary metabolites like cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenoids. Therefore, early diagnosis of sex is very important to both breeders and farmers for Cannabis crop improvement or production purposes. Cannabis sex determination could be modified by applying exogenous growth regulators or chemicals, which can influence the ratio of endogenous hormones and hence the incidence of sex organs. Silver compounds such as silver nitrate (AgNO3) or silver thiosulfate (Ag2S2O3; STS) have been found to have masculine effects in many plant species including Cannabis. A gap in the literature highlighting Cannabis sex determination has been updated in this review paper.