Dioecious plants not only differ in their production of gamete but also in their morphology, physiology and phenology. The latter is known as secondary sexual dimorphism.

Given that females have to produce fruits and seeds, it is generally assumed that females will have higher costs of reproduction than males. However, this is species-dependent.

In order to understand and broaden our knowledge in the physiological consequences of the differential allocation of resources of males and females and how these affect populations’ sex ratios, we focus our research on leaf senescence, photoprotection mechanisms, photo-oxidative stress and plant resistance to abiotic stresses.