Summary
Cultivars of Cucurbita pepo and other Cucurbita species were characterized by RFLP analysis using different fragments of the ribosomal intergenic spacer (IGS) of Cucurbita pepo as hybridization probes. Several cultivars could be distinguished by a specific rDNA restriction pattern, whereas some cultivars showed an identical RFLP pattern suggesting a closer relationship. Other species of the genus Cucurbita exhibited strong cross-reaction with the C. pepo spacer probes, in contrast to DNA of Cucumis species which did not cross-hybridize.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- IGS:
-
intergenic spacer
- ITS:
-
internal transcribed spacer
- kbp:
-
kilo base pairs
- rDNA:
-
ribosomal DNA
- RFLP:
-
restriction fragment length polymorphism
- rRNA:
-
ribosomal RNA
References
Beckmann, J.S. & M. Soller, 1983. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms in genetic improvement: methodologies, mapping and costs. Theor. Appl. Genet. 67: 35–43.
Doyle, J.J. & R.N. Beachy, 1985. Ribosomal gene variation in soybean (Glycine) and its relatives. Theor. Appl. Genet. 70: 369–376.
Feinberg, A.P. & B. Vogelstein, 1983. A technique for radiolabelling DNA restriction endonuclease fragments to high specific activity. Anal. Biochem. 132: 6–13.
Ganal, M. & V. Hemleben, 1986. Comparison of the ribosomal RNA genes in four closely related Cucurbitaceae. Pl. Syst. Evol. 154: 63–77.
Ganal, M., R. Torres & V. Hemleben, 1988. Complex structure of the ribosomal DNA spacer of Cucumis sativus (cucumber). Mol. Gen. Genet. 212: 548–554.
Grebenscikov, I., 1950. Zur Kenntnis der Kürbisart Cucurbita pepo L. nebst einigen Angaben über Ölkürbis. Der Züchter 20: 194–207.
Gruenbaum, Y., T. Naveh-Many, H. Cedar & A. Razin, 1981. Sequence specifity of methylation in higher plant DNA. Nature 292: 860–862.
Helentjaris, T., G. King, M. Slocum, C. Siedenstrang & S. Wegman, 1985. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms as probes for plant diversity and their development as tools for applied plant breeding. Plant Mol. Biol. 5: 109–118.
Hemleben, V., B. Leweke, A. Roth & J. Stadler, 1982. Organization of highly repetitive satellite DNA from two Cucurbitaceae species (Cucumis melo and Cucumis sativus). Nucl. Acids Res. 10: 631–644.
Hurd, P.D., jnr, E.G. Linsley & T.W. Whitaker, 1971. Squash and gourd bees (Peponapis, Xenoglossa) and the origin of the cultivated Cucurbita. Evolution 25: 218–231.
Ingle, J., J.N. Timmis & J. Sinclair, 1975. The relationship between satellite deoxyribonucleic acid, ribosomal ribonucleic acid gene redundancy, and genome size in plants. Plant Physiol. 55: 496–501.
Jeffrey, C., 1980. A review of the Cucurbitaceae. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 81: 233–247.
Kelly, R.J. & A. Siegel, 1990. The Cucurbita maxima ribosomal DNA intergenic spacer has a complex structure. Gene 80: 239–248.
Maniatis, T., E.F. Fritsch & J. Sambrook, 1982. Molecular Cloning. A Laboratory Manual. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
May, C.E. & R. Appels, 1987. Variability and genetics of spacer DNA sequences between the ribosomal RNA genes of hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum). Theor. Appl. Genet. 74: 617–624.
Polans, N.O., N.F. Weeden & W.F. Thompson, 1986. Distribution, inheritance and linkage relationships of ribosomal DNA spacer length variants in pea. Theor. Appl. Genet. 72: 289–295.
Rigby, P., M. Dickmann, C. Rhodes & P. Berg, 1977. Labelling desoxyribonucleic acid to high specific activity in vitro by nicktranslation with DNA polymerase I. Nucl. Acids Res. 7: 1263–1281.
Saghai-Maroof, M.A., K.M. Soliman, R.A. Jorgensen & R.W. Allard, 1984. Ribosomal DNA spacer-length polymorphisms in barley: Mendelian inheritance, chromosomal location, and population dynamics. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 81: 8014–8018.
Siegel, A. & K. Kolacz, 1983. Heterogeneity of pumpkin ribosomal DNA. Plant Physiol. 72: 166–171.
Snape, J.W., R.B. Flavell, M. O'Dell, W.G. Hughes & P.I. Payne, 1985. Intrachromosomal mapping of the nucleolar organiser region relative to three marker loci on chromosome 1B of wheat (Triticum aestivum). Theor. Appl. Genet. 69: 263–270.
Southern, E., 1975. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J. Mol. Biol. 98: 503–517.
Schweizer, G. & V. Hemleben, 1989. Identification of different cultivars of Solanum tuberosum and their somatic hybrids with repetitive gene probes. Vortr. Pflanzenzüchtg. 15, 28-10, XII. Eucarpia Congress, Göttingen.
Torres, R.A., U. Zentgraf & V. Hemleben, 1989. Species and genus specifity of the intergenic spacer (IGS) in the ribosomal RNA genes of Cucurbitaceae. Z. Naturforsch. 44c: 1029–1034.
Torres, R.A., M. Ganal & V. Hemleben, 1990. GC balance in the internal transcribed spacers ITS 1 and ITS 2 of nuclear ribosomal RNA genes. J. Mol. Evol. 30: 170–181.
Tremousaygue, D., F. Grellet, M. Delseny, R. Delourme & M. Renard, 1988. The large spacer of a nuclear ribosomal RNA gene from radish: organization and use as a probe in rapeseed breeding. Theor. Appl. Genet. 75: 298–304.
Whitaker, T.W. & W.P. Bemis, 1976. Cucurbits. In: N.W. Symmonds (Ed.), Evolution of Crop Plants, pp. 64–69. Longman, London and New York.
Whitaker, T.W. & R.W. Robinson, 1986. Squash Breeding. In: C.J. Bassett (Ed.), Breeding Vegetable Crops, pp. 209–242. AVI Publishing Co., Inc., Westport, Connecticut.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Torres Ruiz, R.A., Hemleben, V. Use of ribosomal DNA spacer probes to distinguish cultivars of Cucurbita pepo L. and other Cucurbitaceae . Euphytica 53, 11–17 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00032026
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00032026