Avocado flowers possess both male and female reproductive parts, opening and closing in distinct male and female phases. To boost pollination success, many farmers cultivate different varietals like Hass and Bacon together because their male-female cycles are on opposite schedules. Until now, farmers could only determine the avocado variety once the plant matured and began flowering, which could take up to 15 years.

In a research article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, scientists reportedly sequenced the DNA of different avocado varieties and identified the gene that controls the sex-switching and flowering rhythm. This genetic marker allows breeders to identify a seedling’s flower type immediately instead of waiting for the plants to mature and flower, dramatically improving their ability to develop new avocado varietals.