Abstract
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a widely cultivated cucurbitaceae crop appreciated by consumers worldwide. However, the long vine and abundant lateral branches of currently cultivated watermelon varieties hinder light simplification and mechanized cultivation, affecting plant spacing and row spacing requirements. To address this, the development of watermelon with dwarf and branchless traits has become a crucial direction for the industry. In previous studies, the genes controlling dwarf (Cldw-1) and branchless (Clbl) traits were mapped and cloned. Marker-assisted selection markers, dCAPS3 and dCAPS10, were developed for these traits, respectively. In this study, the dwarf germplasm WM102 and the branchless germplasm WCZ were crossed to obtain F1 .Further self-crossing of the F1 individuals resulted in the F2 population. Through multiple generations of self-pollination, a new watermelon germplasm DM with double mutation (dwarf and branchless) was obtained. DM exhibited stable inheritance without segregation. Moreover, DM was used as a donor parent for crossing with commercial watermelon materials, and near-isogenic lines (NILs) with the dwarf and branchless traits were developed. These NILs carry additional desirable agronomic traits and provide valuable genetic resources for future watermelon breeding programs, particularly in improving plant architecture and overall quality. The development and application of DM and NILs hold great potential for advancing the watermelon industry toward industrialization, large-scale cultivation, and enhanced plant architecture.
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Funding
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32102389, 32172602), the Funding of Joint Research on Agricultural Varieties Improvement of Henan Province (2022010503), the Major Science and Technology Project of Henan Province (221100110400), and the Science and Technology Innovation Fund of Henan Agricultural University (KJCX2021A14).
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J Dou and Q Kang performed phenotyping and markers developed. T Li, M Umer, B Alharthi, C Ma, and H Niu analyzed the experimental data. S Yang and D Liu were responsible for material management. L Yang and H Zhu conceived the research and designed the experiments. J Dou and Q Kang wrote the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved this submission.
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Dou, J., Kang, Q., Li, T. et al. Construction and application of a new watermelon germplasm with the phenotype of dwarf and branchless. Funct Integr Genomics 23, 310 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-023-01239-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-023-01239-1