Fine mapping of a novel QTL conferring downy mildew resistance in melon.

Downy mildew (DM) is a major foliar disease globally causing great economic loss in melon production. Utilizing disease-resistant cultivars is the most efficient approach for disease control, while discovery of disease-resistant genes is crucial for the success of DM-resistant breeding. To address this problem, two F populations were constructed using the DM-resistant accession PI 442177 in this study, and QTLs conferring DM resistance were mapped using linkage map and QTL-seq analysis, respectively.

Molecular mapping for fruit-related traits, and joint identification of candidate genes and selective sweeps for seed size in melon.

Melon is a popular fruit vegetable crop worldwide with diverse morphological variation. We report a high-density genetic map of melon and nine major QTLs with physical region ranging from 43.47 kb to 1.

A High-Quality Melon Genome Assembly Provides Insights into Genetic Basis of Fruit Trait Improvement.

Accurate reference genomes have become indispensable tools for characterization of genetic and functional variations. Here we generated a high-quality assembly of the melon Payzawat using a combination of short-read sequencing, single-molecule real-time sequencing, Hi-C, and a high-density genetic map. The final 12 chromosome-level scaffolds cover ∼94.

Genome-wide identification of Hami melon miRNAs with putative roles during fruit development.

MicroRNAs represent a family of small endogenous, non-coding RNAs that play critical regulatory roles in plant growth, development, and environmental stress responses. Hami melon is famous for its attractive flavor and excellent nutritional value, however, the mechanisms underlying the fruit development and ripening remains largely unknown. Here, we performed small RNA sequencing to investigate the roles of miRNAs during Hami melon fruit development.

Transcriptome profiling of Cucumis melo fruit development and ripening.

Hami melon (Cucumis melo) is the most important melon crop grown in the north-western provinces of China. In order to elucidate the genetic and molecular basis of developmental changes related to size, flesh, sugar and sour content, we performed a transcriptome profiling of its fruit development. Over 155 000 000 clean reads were mapped to MELONOMICS genome, yielding a total of 23 299 expressed genes.

Mapping the Flavor Contributing Traits on "Fengwei Melon" (Cucumis melo L.) Chromosomes Using Parent Resequencing and Super Bulked-Segregant Analysis.

We used a next-generation high-throughput sequencing platform to resequence the Xinguowei and Shouxing melon cultivars, the parents of Fengwei melon. We found 84% of the reads (under a coverage rate of "13×") placed on the reference genome DHL92. There were 2,550,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms and 140,000 structural variations in the two genomes.

Lead-induced morphological changes and amyloid precursor protein accumulation in adult rat hippocampus.

Lead is an important environmental pollutant that exerts potent toxic effects on many organs. The toxic effects of lead are less well known for adult brain than for children. We investigated the morphological changes and amyloid precursor protein (APP) accumulation in the adult rat hippocampus following exposure to lead.

The draft genome of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and resequencing of 20 diverse accessions.

Watermelon, Citrullus lanatus, is an important cucurbit crop grown throughout the world. Here we report a high-quality draft genome sequence of the east Asia watermelon cultivar 97103 (2n = 2× = 22) containing 23,440 predicted protein-coding genes. Comparative genomics analysis provided an evolutionary scenario for the origin of the 11 watermelon chromosomes derived from a 7-chromosome paleohexaploid eudicot ancestor.