Throughout tomato domestication, a large increase in fruit size was associated with a loss of dry matter and sugar contents. This study aims to dissect the contributions of genetic variation and the physiological processes underlying the relationships between fruit growth and the accumulation of dry matter and sugars. Fruit quality traits and physiological parameters were measured on 20 introgr...

Genetic variation of 36 Sechium edule accessions collected across 12 states in India was assessed using morphological traits and DAMD markers. Eighteen fruit morphological traits (both qualitative and quantitative) were evaluated to confirm the variations in the present collection. Quantitative traits showed major variations with respect to fruit weight (7.85-498.33 g/fruit), fruit length (5.8-...

Animal seed dispersal provides an important ecosystem service by strongly benefiting plant communities. There are several theoretical studies on the ecology of plant-animal seed-disperser interactions, but few studies have explored the evolution of this mutualism. Moreover, these studies ignore plant life history and frugivore foraging behaviour. Thus, it remains an open question what the condi...

Behavioural ecologists increasingly recognise spatial memory as one the most influential cognitive traits involved in evolutionary processes. In particular, spatial working memory (SWM), i.e. the ability of animals to store temporarily useful information for current foraging tasks, determines the foraging efficiency of individuals. As a consequence, SWM also has the potential to influence compe...

In this research, twenty genotypes of cucumber (Cucumis sativus) were studied that were collected from different geographical regions. The experiment was conducted as a randomized complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications in Greenhouse. Data was collected on morphological features, yield and components of yield of cucumber which include: Total fruit yield per pickling, Fruit number pe...

in order to estimate heritability, heterosis, general and specific combining ability and relationships between them in traits of fruit number per plant, days to the first fruit harvest, yield per plant, average fruit weight and rind thickness, seven local populations of iranian melon (‘tashkandi’, ‘khatouni’, ‘garmak’, ‘aran1’, ‘mirpanji’, ‘suski-e-sabz’ and ‘golpaygan’) were crossed using a co...

Mapping studies using populations with introgressed marker-defined genomic regions are continuously increasing knowledge about quantitative trait loci (QTL) that correlate with variation in important crop traits. This knowledge is useful for plant breeding, although combining desired traits in one genotype might be complicated by the mode of inheritance and co-localization of QTL with antagonis...