Articles
An update on genomics and molecular breeding in watermelon
Article number
1411_30
Pages
305 – 318
Language
English
Abstract
Fast-paced watermelon improvement work encourages the development of advanced breeding techniques.
Molecular breeding can save time and effort in selecting phenotypes and genotypes that are associated with traits of interest.
Since the first high-quality watermelon reference genome was released in 2013, five watermelon reference genomes and several pan-genomes have been published worldwide.
Benefiting from the advanced genome sequencing, a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have revealed genome sequence variation among different species and subspecies of the Citrullus genus.
These data facilitate the establishment of genome-wide background in watermelon.
Forward genetic analysis has identified a large number of locus or linkage markers of important agronomic traits including fruit quality, disease- and stress-tolerance.
Among them, some key genes controlling floral sex type, flesh color and sugar content were experimentally verified.
By integrating the functional genes and linkage markers into high-throughput Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR (KASP) – SNP genotyping markers, an integrated toolkit for genome optimization was established.
With the establishment of gene editing technique in watermelon, a group of new watermelon breeding lines including gynoecious line, herbicide resistance, male sterility, less branching, disease and pest resistance and haploid inducer lines were created.
Further optimization of the system of molecular breeding technology will play an important role in watermelon breeding in the future.
Molecular breeding can save time and effort in selecting phenotypes and genotypes that are associated with traits of interest.
Since the first high-quality watermelon reference genome was released in 2013, five watermelon reference genomes and several pan-genomes have been published worldwide.
Benefiting from the advanced genome sequencing, a large number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have revealed genome sequence variation among different species and subspecies of the Citrullus genus.
These data facilitate the establishment of genome-wide background in watermelon.
Forward genetic analysis has identified a large number of locus or linkage markers of important agronomic traits including fruit quality, disease- and stress-tolerance.
Among them, some key genes controlling floral sex type, flesh color and sugar content were experimentally verified.
By integrating the functional genes and linkage markers into high-throughput Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR (KASP) – SNP genotyping markers, an integrated toolkit for genome optimization was established.
With the establishment of gene editing technique in watermelon, a group of new watermelon breeding lines including gynoecious line, herbicide resistance, male sterility, less branching, disease and pest resistance and haploid inducer lines were created.
Further optimization of the system of molecular breeding technology will play an important role in watermelon breeding in the future.
Publication
Authors
Lei Zhang, Yi Ren, Haiying Zhang, Guoyi Gong, Jie Zhang, Yong Xu
Keywords
molecular breeding, genome, traits, SNP genotyping, gene editing
Groups involved
Online Articles (37)