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Cyto-Molecular Genetics of the Interspecific Hybridization in Cucumber

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The Cucumber Genome

Part of the book series: Compendium of Plant Genomes ((CPG))

Abstract

Cucumber, Cucumis sativus L. (CC, 2n = 2x = 14), is a valuable vegetable crop widely cultivated and consumed around the world. However, due to the narrow genetic base and lack of resistant genes, cucumber breeding has been hindered, especially in resistance breeding. Cultivated cucumber suffered from a range of devastating diseases, like downy mildew, powdery mildew, root-knot nematode, etc. Therefore, transferring specific traits from the wild relatives through interspecific hybridization has been highlighted for its importance by the breeders for a long time. Among more than 50 wild relatives, C. hystrix (HH, 2n = 2x = 24) is the only wild Cucumis species grouped into the same subgenus together with C. sativus, while all others are classified into Melo subgenus. Also, bearing multiple disease-resistant characteristics, C. hystrix is the only known wild species cross-compatible with C. sativus in this genus. The one and only successful synthetic allotetraploid C. ×hytivus J. F. Chen & J. H. Kirkbr (HHCC, 2n = 4x = 38) was obtained via an interspecific hybridization between C. hystrix and C. sativus. It has been reported that both genetic and epigenetic reprogramming in this C.  ×hytivus, which might be the reason for the novel phenotypic variation, such as delay maturation. Hybridization and allopolyploidization frequently bring a ‘genomic shock’ that causes rapid genetic and epigenetic changes, due to the merger of two or more divergent genomes, which leads to many problems, like the meiosis abnormality, extensive abnormal chromosome pairing, imbalanced chromosome segregation, and karyotype variations. Still, according to the clear genetic background and small genome size with whole-genome released recently, the Cucumis allotetraploid could serve as an excellent system for studying immediate consequences following allopolyploidization. Cyto-molecular genetics and genomic information of this hybrid and its allotetraploid could provide a novel insight into the establishment of allopolyploids with different chromosome bases, as well as provide effective ways to create new species and materials, which can be employed for cucumber and melon improvement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Chunyan Cheng & Jinfeng Chen

  2. State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Chunyan Cheng & Jinfeng Chen

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  1. Chunyan Cheng
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  2. Jinfeng Chen
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Correspondence to Jinfeng Chen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Sudhakar Pandey

  2. USDA-ARS, Horticulture Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Yiqun Weng

  3. Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Tusar Kanti Behera

  4. The Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China

    Kailiang Bo

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Cheng, C., Chen, J. (2022). Cyto-Molecular Genetics of the Interspecific Hybridization in Cucumber. In: Pandey, S., Weng, Y., Behera, T.K., Bo, K. (eds) The Cucumber Genome. Compendium of Plant Genomes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88647-9_10

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