the effect of grafting on yield and some other quantitative and qualitative characteristics of two green¬house cucumber cultivars, namely roberto and danito grafted on five rootstocks of shintoza, kiroshintoza (cucurbita maxima × c. moschata), cucurbita maxima (c. maxima cv. goriki), fig leaf gourd (c. ficifolia cv. korodome), and bottle gourd (lagenaria siceraria) was investigated in this stud...

Cucurbita moschata, a cucurbit species responsive to inductive short-day (SD) photoperiods, and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) were used to test whether long-distance movement of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) mRNA or FT is required for floral induction. Ectopic expression of FT by ZYMV was highly effective in mediating floral induction of long-day (LD)-treated plants. Moreover, the infection zone...

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...

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 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...

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...

Pseudoperonospora cubensis, the causal agent of cucurbit downy mildew (CDM), is known to exhibit host specialization. The virulence of different isolates of the pathogen can be classified into pathotypes based on their compatibility with a differential set composed of specific cucurbit host types. However, the genetic basis of host specialization within P. cubensis is not yet known. Total genom...

Grafting watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) to control Fusarium wilt has been practiced in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East for decades. Until recently, grafting watermelon has not been practiced in the United States due to labor costs and land availability. There is some disagreement in the literature as to the effects that grafting has on watermelon fruit quality. This study was designed...

Ralstonia solanacearum species complex is a devastating phytopathogen with an unusually wide host range, and new host plants are continuously being discovered. In June 2016, a new bacterial wilt on Cucurbita maxima was observed in Guangdong province, China. Initially, in the adult plant stage, several leaves of each plant withered suddenly and drooped; the plant then wilted completely, and the ...

In order to clarify the influence of the rootstock cultivar and fruit storage on the texture of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) fruit, we examined the physical properties of the fruit, i.e., flesh firmness, placental firmness, skin toughness, and the crispness index. Cucumber fruits from own-rooted plants and from plants grafted onto the three rootstock cultivars of ‘Shin-tosa’ (Cucurbita maxima ...