Abstract
In melon (Cucumis melo L.), the amount of fertile pollen decreases at low temperature during winter and early spring and thereby restricts fertilization. A promising way to overcome this problem is to develop parthenocarpic cultivars. Parthenocarpic cucumber and squash, but not melon cultivars are available. In this study, we explored 172 accessions from an East Asian melon collection and identified accessions that exhibited strong parthenocarpic ability throughout the year. Crosses between parthenocarpic accessions and a non-parthenocarpic cultivar, and among parthenocarpic accessions indicated that parthenocarpy may be inherited in a recessive manner and is likely controlled by the same gene or genes in these accessions. The parthenocarpic indices, such as the size and number of parthenocarpic fruits, differed among the cultivation periods, indicating the importance of environmental factors for parthenocarpic fruit development. We conclude that it is possible to breed new cultivars with stable parthenocarpic ability throughout the year by using the identified accessions.
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Acknowledgements
We thank N. Fujishita and H. Furukawa at Osaka Prefecture University for providing critical comments on this research. We also thank F. Hori, S. Masuji, M. Shindo, M. Wakabayashi, Y. Taki, A. Suzuki, and C. Yamada of the Institute of Vegetable and Floriculture Science, NARO, and K. Moriyama, H. Matsumura, N. Nishi, and T. Iwaya of the University of Tsukuba for technical assistance. This work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (Grant Nos. 23780034 and 26712004).
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Yoshioka, Y., Shimomura, K. & Sugiyama, M. Exploring an East Asian melon (Cucumis melo L.) collection for parthenocarpic ability. Genet Resour Crop Evol 65, 91–101 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-017-0511-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-017-0511-7