We have investigated the phylogenetic relationships among six wild and six domesticated taxa of Cucurbita using as a marker an intron region from the mitochondrial nad1 gene. Our study represents one of the first successful uses of a mtDNA gene in resolving inter- and intraspecific taxonomic relationships in Angiosperms and yields several important insights into the origins of domesticated Cucu...

The word “pumpkin” is derived from the Latin word pepo, which is a botanical term for fruit with a hard rind and fleshy interior. The commonly used scientific name for pumpkins is Cucurbita pepo. But some other cucurbits, such as Cucurbita moschata (e.g., ‘Dickenson’ and ‘Libby Select’, known as processing pumpkin) (Figure 1, B) and Cucurbita maxima, which are winter squash, are also known as p...

Powdery mildew is a major fungal disease on squash and pumpkin (Cucurbita spp.) in the US and throughout the world. Genetic resistance to the disease is not known to occur naturally within Cucurbita pepo and only infrequently in Cucurbita moschata, but has been achieved in both species through the introgression of a major resistance gene from the wild species Cucurbita okeechobeensis subsp. mar...

BACKGROUND The genus Cucurbita (pumpkin, squash, gourd) is native to the Americas and diffused to other continents subsequent to the European contact in 1492. For many years, the earliest images of this genus in Europe that were known to cucurbit specialists were the two illustrations of C. pepo pumpkins that were published in Fuchs' De Historia Stirpium, 1542. Images of fruits of two Cucurbita...

The ovipositional preferences of two squash bug species, Anasa tristis (DeGeer) (Heteroptera: Coreidae) and Anasa armigera Say (Heteroptera: Coreidae), were evaluated in paired choice tests of different species and cultivars of plants in the family Cucurbitaceae. Females of A. tristis preferred to oviposit on the cultivar from which they were reared over three other cultivars of the same specie...

The incorporation of [14C]mevalonate and [“Clisopentenyl diphosphate into geranylgeranyl diphosphate was investigated in in oitro systems from Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin) endosperm and from Auena sativa etioplasts. Mevalonate incorporation was effectively inhibited in the pumpkin system by geranylgeranyl diphosphate and geranylgeranyl monophosphate but less effectively by phytyl diphosphate or ino...

The genus Cucurbita L. includes five cultivated species. C. pepo L., C. maxima Duchesne, and C. moschata Duchesne are the three most economically important. A high level of morphological and agronomical variability exists within these species. Large collections of Cucurbita landraces with a high potential value for breeding are maintained elsewhere. The COMAV’s Genebank at the Polytechnic Unive...

The pumpkin seed oil obtained from Cucurbita pepo has been shown to be useful for the treatment of nocturia in patients with urinal disorders in several western countries. In this study, we evaluated the effect of the pumpkin seed oil from Cucurbita maxima on urinary dysfunction in human overactive bladder (OAB). Forty-five subjects were enrolled in this study. An extract of pumpkin seed oil fr...

Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo var. Styriaca is a phylogenetically young member of the Cucurbita spp. since the mutation leading to dark green seeds with stunted outer hulls arose only in the 19th century. This mutation defined the so-called Styrian oil pumpkin and facilitated the production of Styrian pumpkin seed oil. It is a regional specialty oil in the south-eastern part of Europe. In this art...