UNDERLYING HORTICULTURALLY IMPORTANT TRAITS IN WATERMELON by JASON MICHAEL PROTHRO (Under the Direction of Cecilia McGregor) ABSTRACT QTL analysis was performed for multiple traits in an elite x egusi and an elite x citron F2 population of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus Thunb.). Two linkage maps were constructed for QTL analysis using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. A ...

An unusual seed mutant in watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus) has seeds with a fleshy pericarp, commonly called egusi seeds. The origin of the phenotype is unknown, but it is widely cultivated in Nigeria for the high protein and carbohydrate content of the edible seeds. Egusi seeds have a thick, fleshy pericarp that appears during the second to third week of fruit development. We studie...

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai) is a non-climacteric fruit. The modern sweet-dessert watermelon is the result of years of cultivation and selection for fruits with desirable qualities. To date, the mechanisms of watermelon fruit ripening, and the role of abscisic acid (ABA) in this process, has not been well understood. We quantified levels of free and conjugated ABA con...

Watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. and Nakai] plug seedlings were stored at 15°C in the light at a photosynthetic photon flux density of 15 µmol·m(-2)·s(-1) or in darkness for 6 days, to evaluate their chloroplast ultrastructure, and associated photosynthetic characteristics. Storage in the dark caused swelling, disordered granal arrangement, and starch grain disappearance in the ch...

grafting and mycorrhizal fungi have gained interest for the positive effects they can have on vegetable crops. the aim of this work was to study the combined effect of grafting with vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (amf) inoculation on fruit yield and quality of mini-watermelon [citrullus lanatus (thumb.) matsum and nakai]. ungrafted plants or grafted onto rootstock rs 841 (cucurbita maxi...

In this study, the productivity of red watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) crop in arid regions with saline water is examined relation to effects magnetic treatment irrigation water. The greenhouse experiments compared two treatments (magnetic water) and (no water). Magnetic device delta a power 14500 gausses (1.45 T) that was delivered from company professional hydraulic (CPH) used for vegetative t...

The in vivo and in vitro mechanistic anti-inflammatory actions of cucurbitacin E (CE) (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides) were examined. The results showed that LPS/INF-γ increased NO production in RAW264.7 macrophages, whereas L-NAME and CE curtailed it. CE did not reveal any cytotoxicity on RAW264.7 and WRL-68 cells. CE inhibited both COX enzymes with more selectivity toward COX-2. Intraperito...

A full-length drought-responsive gene Ccrboh, encoding the respiratory burst oxidase homologue (rboh), was cloned in Citrullus colocynthis, a very drought-tolerant cucurbit species. The robh protein, also named NADPH oxidase, is conserved in plants and animals, and functions in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The Ccrboh gene accumulated in a tissue-specific pattern when C. colo...

Ten cultivars of watermelon were evaluated for their response to a Puerto Rican population of Meloidogyne incognita under greenhouse conditions in a 2-year study (1989 and 1990). Ten-day-old seedlings were planted in steam-sterilized soil in 15-cm-d plastic pots. The nematode inoculum consisted of 10,000 eggs and (or) second-stage juveniles (J2)/plant. The cultivars were Sugar Baby, Charleston ...