Ethylene perception has been studied using Arabidopsis and tomato as model plants during last two decades. Arabidopsis has been an ideal model system for gene identification and subsequent functional analysis of the identified gene. On the other hand, tomato is not only the model of choice to study climacteric fruit ripening but also crops of agronomic importance and hence has been at the foref...

As fleshy fruits, two major melon genera are widely produced and consumed, including the watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai] and muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.). As different cultivars, cultivated them according to consumer and grower’s choice, and market conditions (i.e. seedless varieties, good shelf life, etc.). China is the world’s largest producer of melons, accounted for o...

Cantaloupe melons have a typical climacteric behaviour with ethylene playing a major role in the regulation of the ripening process and affecting the ripening rate. Crossing of Cantaloupe Charentais melon with a non-climacteric melon indicated that the climacteric character is genetically dominant and conferred by two duplicated loci only. However, other experiments made by crossing two non-cli...

Melon is a dessert loved by many, captivating with its thick aroma and delicate honey taste. The juicy, fragrant pulp not only delicious but also very useful for dietary purposes, therapeutic effect on diseases of the liver kidneys, anaemia, rheumatism cardiovascular disorders. This storehouse vitamins especially rich in potassium iron salts, pectins, fibre, easily digestible sugars, proteins, ...

Biological control of plant diseases has gained acceptance in recent years. Bacillus subtilis UMAF6639 is an antagonistic strain specifically selected for the efficient control of the cucurbit powdery mildew fungus Podosphaera fusca, which is a major threat to cucurbits worldwide. The antagonistic activity relies on the production of the antifungal compounds iturin and fengycin. In a previous s...

Virus diseases are the major cause of economic losses in commercial cucurbit production in Lebanon. Besides mosaic inducing viruses, which have been noted for several years, greenhouse-grown cucumber and melon were often observed with severe yellowing symptoms that started as interveinal mottle on the older leaves and developed into severe yellowing symptoms as the leaves became older. The inci...

The last step of ascorbic acid (AA) biosynthesis is catalysed by the enzyme L-galactono-1,4-lactone dehydrogenase (GalLDH, EC 1.3.2.3), located on the inner mitochondrial membrane. The enzyme converts L-galactono-1,4-lactone to ascorbic acid (AA). In this work, the cloning and characterization of a GalLDH full-length cDNA from melon (Cucumis melo L.) are described. Melon genomic DNA Southern an...

Field-trapping evaluations of the new male attractant, formic acid 4-(3-oxobutyl) phenyl ester (raspberry ketone formate [RKF]) were conducted in Hawaii with wild populations of melon flies, Bactrocera cucurbitae Coquillett (Diptera: Tephritidae), to determine its activity in the field and to evaluate new plastic matrix formulations. All tests were compared with the standard melon fly attractan...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have demonstrated a correlation between perceived stress and oxidative stress. As SOD is the main enzyme of the enzymatic antioxidant defence system of the body, we evaluated the effect of an oral daily intake of a proprietary melon juice concentrate rich in SOD (EXTRAMEL) on the signs and symptoms of stress and fatigue in healthy volunteers. METHODS This randomized,...

Iran is a part of the secondary centre of origin of melons, and therefore, there is a wealth of genetic variation of these species in this country. The Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) marker was applied to investigate the genetic variations among five major Iranian melon cultigens (Cucumis melo) and ‘Ananasi’ as a general well-known cultivar. Ten primer pairs were used on 90 indiv...