Scientists Provide Molecular Insights into the Natural Variation of Watermelon Seed Size
Recently, Zhengzhou Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences has made new progress in the genetic basis of natural variation of watermelon seed size, which provides data support for the domestication of watermelon seed size and the improvement of new cultivars. The research was published in Horticulture Research.
Watermelon seed size is a very important agronomic trait in agricultural production. Seed consumption watermelon cultivars are often significantly larger than those of flesh consumption watermelon, so the selection of watermelon varieties with suitable seed size can better meet the needs of the market. However, the knowledge of genetic variation of watermelon seed size traits in natural population remain unclear.
In this research, based on the resequencing of watermelon core germplasm (Guo, et. Al, 2019), the researchers further conducted phenotypic analysis and genome-wide association analysis on 5 important seed size traits in 197 germplasm resources. The results showed that the seed size of watermelon was less affected by the environment, and the seeds of Citrullus mucosospermus and the edible seed watermelon Citrullus lanatus were significantly larger than those of other types, suggesting that seed expansion may be one of the important characteristics during domestication. Genome-wide association analysis obtained SNP loci and possible candidate genes that were significantly correlated with 100-grain weight, length and width of seeds, which provided scientific basis for future breeding of new cultivars and marker-assisted breeding.
This work was supported by Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program (CAAS-ASTIP-2021-ZFRI), the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (CARS-25-03), National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFD0100704), the National Nature Science Foundation of China (31672178 and 31471893) and Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (212300410312).
Link to the paper: https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhab074
By Gong Chengsheng, Liu Wenge (15738391652@163.com, liuwenge@caas.cn)
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