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Biparental genetic mapping reveals that CmCLAVATA3 (CmCLV3) is responsible for the variation in carpel number in melon (Cucumis melo L.)

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Abstract

Key messages

Genetic analysis revealed that CmCLV3 is a candidate gene for the variation in melon carpel number.

Abstract

Carpel number (CN) is an important trait in melon. Three-CN melon fruit is oval, while 5-CN melon fruit has a round or flat shape. Herein, a genetic analysis of a population in which the CN locus was segregated indicated that 3-CN is controlled by a major dominant effective gene. Bulked segregant analysis and initial linkage mapping placed the CN locus in a 6.67 Mb region on chromosome 12, and it was narrowed to 882.19 kb with molecular markers and recombinant plants. Fine mapping with a large F2 population containing 1026 individuals further narrowed the locus to an 83.98 kb region harboring five annotated genes. Gene structure alignment between the parental lines revealed MELO3C035640.2 (annotated as CLAVATA3, CmCLV3) as the best candidate gene for the CN trait. CmCLV3 was more highly expressed in 3- than 5-CN lines and specifically expressed in terminal buds rather than in young leaves, hypocotyls, and roots. The CmCLV3 coding region was cloned from eight 3- or 5-CN melon accessions, and a nonsynonymous SNP site was highly correlated with CN variation. This SNP site was also related to CN variations among 40 melon lines according to their resequencing data, causing a helix alteration in the CmCLV3 protein. Promoter region sequence alignment and activity analysis showed that, unlike in cucumber and tomato, CmCLV3 promoter variation and activity were not the main reasons for CN alteration. Overall, this study provides a genetic resource for melon fruit development research and molecular breeding tools for melon CN improvement.

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All data pertinent to the reported work are provided in the manuscript or supplemental online materials.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant No. 31972436 and No.32030094] and the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA [Grant No. CARS-25].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticulture Crops (Northeast Region), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China

    Lihuan Wang, Feishi Luan & Shi Liu

  2. College of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, Heilongjiang Province, China

    Lihuan Wang, Feishi Luan & Shi Liu

  3. College of Horticulture, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China

    Yaping Wang

  4. College of Horticulture, Northwest of A&F University, Yangling, Shanxi Province, China

    Xian Zhang

  5. Qinggang Ruixue Agriculture Co., Ltd., Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China

    Jingchao Zhao

  6. Anhui Jianghuai Horticulture Seed Industry Co., Ltd., Hefei, Anhui Province, China

    Zhongzhou Yang

Authors
  1. Lihuan Wang
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  2. Yaping Wang
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  3. Feishi Luan
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  4. Xian Zhang
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  6. Zhongzhou Yang
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  7. Shi Liu
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Contributions

LW performed the major experiments, and YW finished the initial mapping and microexamination. XZ, JZ and ZY provided some of the materials used in this study. SL designed the experiment and analyzed the data, and FL and SL revised the manuscript. LW and YW contributed equally to this work. FL and SL are the co-corresponding authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Feishi Luan or Shi Liu.

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Communicated by Sanwen Huang.

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122_2022_4083_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Fig. S1 CmCLV3 gene sequence alignment among eight melon accessions. Fig. S2 Analysis of four candidate genes identified by qRT–PCR. a-d. Expression levels of four candidate genes in four tissues at 10, 13, 16 and 19 days after sowing. (PDF 871 kb)

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Wang, L., Wang, Y., Luan, F. et al. Biparental genetic mapping reveals that CmCLAVATA3 (CmCLV3) is responsible for the variation in carpel number in melon (Cucumis melo L.). Theor Appl Genet 135, 1909–1921 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-022-04083-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-022-04083-2

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