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Diversity among melon (Cucumis melo L.) landraces from the Indo-Gangetic plains of India and their genetic relationship with USA melon cultivars

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Abstract

We report here the first broad genetic characterization of farmer-developed landraces of melon (Cucumis melo L.) from the Indo-Gangetic plains of India, an area overlooked in previous melon genetic diversity analyses of Indian melon germplasm. Eighty-eight landraces from three melon Groups in two subspecies (C. melo subsp. agrestis Momordica Group, and C. melo subsp. melo Cantalupensis Group and Reticulatus Group) were collected from the four agro-ecological regions (six sub-regions) of two northern states of the Indo-Gangetic plains of India, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Significant differences were found among the landraces and eight USA Reticulatus Group reference cultivars for 18 plant and fruit traits: no. of primary branches per plant, days to marketable maturity, sex expression, fruit shape, flesh colour, netting, no. of fruit per plant, fruit weight, shelf life, total soluble solids (°Bx), ascorbic acid (mg/100 g), titratable acidity (%), fruit length and diameter, seed cavity length and diameter, flesh thickness, and resistance to Cucumber mosaic virus. The three melon groups differed significantly for 10 of the plant and fruit traits. Cantalupensis Group and Reticulatus Group accessions were andromonoecious, and the Momordica Group was monoecious. Neighbour-joining (NJ) tree and factorial correspondence analysis (FCA) of simple sequence repeat loci also revealed a high level of genetic variability in this germplasm. The 96 melon genotypes clustered into five groups in the NJ tree analysis: the 16 Indian Reticulatus Group accessions and eight USA reference cultivars formed a distinct group; and the 60 Cantalupensis Group accessions clustered in four other groups with the 12 Momordica Group accessions in a distinct subgroup of one of the Cantalupensis groups. The FCA plot largely confirmed the NJ tree with three distinct groups, one for each melon group. The close affinity of the Indian and USA Reticulatus melons was not unexpected, but it is not clear whether it was inherent in the group and maintained as Reticulatus melons moved from India through Central Asia and Europe to North America, or the result of recent intercrossing of Indian landraces with the USA-derived cultivars and selection for a broad range of Reticulatus type melons.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Vegetable Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 141 004, India

    Ajaz A. Malik, V. K. Vashisht, Abhishek Sharma & Hira Singh

  2. School of Biotechnology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 141 004, India

    Kuldeep Singh

  3. Department of Vegetable Science, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, 263 145, India

    D. K. Singh

  4. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Ciudad Politécnica de la Innovación (CPI), Ed. 8EC/Ingeniero Fausto Elio s/n, 46022, Valencia, Spain

    A. J. Monforte

  5. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Agricultural Research Station, 1636 East Alisal Street, Salinas, CA, 93905, USA

    James D. McCreight

  6. AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center, East and Southeast Asia, Research and Training Station, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom, 73140, Thailand

    Narinder P. S. Dhillon

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  1. Ajaz A. Malik
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Correspondence to Narinder P. S. Dhillon.

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Malik, A.A., Vashisht, V.K., Singh, K. et al. Diversity among melon (Cucumis melo L.) landraces from the Indo-Gangetic plains of India and their genetic relationship with USA melon cultivars. Genet Resour Crop Evol 61, 1189–1208 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-014-0101-x

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