Abstract
Key message
Japanese weedy melon exhibits unique sex expression with interactions between previously reported sex determination genes and two novel loci.
Abstract
Sex expression contributes to fruit quality and yield in the Cucurbitaceae. In melon, orchestrated regulation by sex determination genes explains the mechanism of sex expression, resulting in a great variety of sexual morphologies. In this study, we examined the Japanese weedy melon UT1, which does not follow the reported model of sex expression. We conducted QTL analysis using F2 plants for flower sex on the main stem and the lateral branch and mapped “occurrence of pistil-bearing flower on the main stem” locus on Chr. 3 (Opbf3.1) and “type of pistil-bearing flower” (female or bisexual) loci on Chr. 2 (tpbf2.1) and Chr. 8 (tpbf8.1). The Opbf3.1 included the known sex determination gene CmACS11. Sequence comparison of CmACS11 between parental lines revealed three nonsynonymous SNPs. A CAPS marker developed from one of the SNPs was closely linked to the occurrence of pistil-bearing flowers on the main stem in two F2 populations with different genetic backgrounds. The UT1 allele on Opbf3.1 was dominant in F1 lines from crosses between UT1 and diverse cultivars and breeding lines. This study suggests that Opbf3.1 and tpbf8.1 may promote the development of pistil and stamen primordia by inhibiting CmWIP1 and CmACS-7 functions, respectively, making the UT1 plants hermaphrodite. The results of this study provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms of sex determination in melons and considerations for the application of femaleness in melon breeding.
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Data availability
Datasets generated and analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge funding for this work from JSPS KAKENHI and JST SPRING. We thank N. Fujishita at Osaka Prefecture University for providing seeds of Japanese weedy melon. We are grateful to N. Nishi and H. Matsumura for their technical assistance.
Funding
This research was funded by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Nos. JP22J10569 to AN and JP22H02333 to YY and JST SPRING Grant No. JPMJSP2124 to AN.
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YY conceived and supervised the study. AN, HM, KT, and FF developed the populations, evaluated the phenotypes, and analyzed the data. SI and KS carried out the ddRAD-seq analysis. AN and HM performed DNA marker and sequence analyses. AN wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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122_2023_4381_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx
Supplementary file1 Table S1 Primers for sequencing and CAPS analysis used in this study. Table S2 Phenotypic variation of sex type on the main stem in 2015. Table S3 Genes within the 1.5-LOD support interval of a QTL for type of pistil-bearing flowers on Chr. 8 detected in 2020. Table S4 Genes within the 1.5-LOD support interval of a QTL for the occurrence pistil-bearing flowers on the main stem on Chr. 3 detected in 2020. Table S5 Genotypes of two sex determination genes and the SNP markers adjacent to CmCPR5, and sexual type segregation in F2 population in 2020. Table S6 Frequency of pistil-bearing flowers, male flowers, and mixed phenotypes on the main stem in F2 population derived from a cross between a non-netted andromonoecious fixed line (HOF) and UT1. (XLSX 37 KB)
122_2023_4381_MOESM2_ESM.docx
Supplementary file2 Fig. S1 Molecular characterization of the CmACS11 gene. CmACS11 sequence variation among ‘DHL92’ (reference genome), EF, UT1, and seven cultivars. SNP positions are numbered from the first nucleotide of the start codon. Gray shading indicates SNPs in the coding sequence. Amino acid substitutions in ‘DHL92’ or EF relative to UT1 are shown in bold; the first amino acid corresponds to ‘DHL92’ or EF and the second one to mutant ones. Fig. S2 CmCPR5 sequence variation among ‘DHL92’ (reference genome), EF and UT1 (sequenced in this study), and seven cultivars. Allele was identified at CmCPR5. Allele 1a was identical as 1 except for the no data part. Gray shading indicates SNPs in the coding sequence. Amino acid substitutions in ‘DHL92’ or EF relative to UT1 is shown in bold; the first amino acid corresponds to EF and the second one to mutant ones. NA is no data. (DOCX 153 KB)
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Nashiki, A., Matsuo, H., Takano, K. et al. Identification of novel sex determination loci in Japanese weedy melon. Theor Appl Genet 136, 136 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04381-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04381-3