1987 Gene List for Watermelon

Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Report 10:105 (article 55) 1987

Lists of the known genes for the cucurbitaceae have been published previously in 3 installments (3, 4, 21) and a complete, updated list of cucumber genes as published in CGC No. 8 (5), In the interest of updating and collecting the information on watermelon in one place, following is a complete list of the known genes for Citrullus lanatux (Thunb,) Matsum & Nakai. We hope to continue this practice, and publish a complete list for watermelon every four years.

Gene symbol

Character

Reference

Preferred

Synonym

a andromonoecious. Recessive to monoecious. 17, 18 24
Af Aulacophora foveicollis resistance. Resistance to the red pumpkin beetle. Dominant to susceptibility. 28
Ar-1 (B, Gc) Anthracnose resistance to race 1 of Glomerella cingulata var. orbiculare. 6, 9, 32
Ar-2 Anthracnose resistance to race 2 of Colletotrichum lagenarium. 25, 26, 32
 C  – Canary yellow flesh. Dominant to pink. 17
 d  – dotted seed coat. Black dotted seed when dominant for r, t, and w. 7, 17, 19
 db   – Resistance to gummy stem blight caused by Didymella bryoniae; from PI 189225; Recessive to susceptibility. 16
 dg  – delayed green. Cotyledons and young leaves are initially pale green but later develop chlorophyll. Hypostatic to I-dg.  21
 dw-1  – dwarf-1; short internodes, with fewer, shorter cells than normal. 10. 13
 dw-2  – dwarf-2; short internodes, due to fewer cells. 10, 14
 e ( t) explosive rind; thin, tender rind, bursting when cut.. 17, 20
 f  –  furrowed fruit surface; recessive to smooth. 17
 Fo-1  – Dominant gene for resistance to race 1 of Fusarium oxysporum. 17
 Fwr  – Fruit fly resistance in watermelon. Dominant to susceptibility to Dacus cucurbitae 8
 g (D) light green skin. Llight green fruit; to dark green. 17, 20, 30
 gs ds) striped green skin. Recessive to dark dominant to light green skin. 17, 31
 G0 (C) Golden.Yellow color of older leaves and mature fruit. 1
I-dg  – Inhibitor of delayed green.; Epistatic to dg: dgdg I-dg I-dg and dgdg I-dgi-dg. Plants are pale green; and dgdg i-dgi-dg plants are normal. 21
gms (msg) glabrous male sterile. Foliage lacking trichomes; male sterile. 29, 30
 l  – long seed. Long recessive to medium length of seed; interacts with s. 18, 19
 m  – mottled skin. Greenish white mottling of fruit skin. 17, 31
 nl  – nonlobed leaves. Leaves lack lobing.dominance incomplete. 12
 O Oval fruit. Incompletely dominant to spherical.. 18, 31
 p  – pencilled lines on skin. Inconspicuous; recessive to netted fruit. 17, 31
 pm  – powdery mildew susceptibility. Susceptibility to Sphaerotheca fuliginea. 23
 r red seed coat. Interacts with w and t. 19
 s short seeds. Epistatic to l 18
 Sp  – Spotted cotyledons, leaves and fruit. 21
 su  ( suBi<) suppressor of bitterness. Non-bitter fruit. 2
 t  bt tan seed coat. Interacts with r & w. 11
 w white seed coat. Interacts with r and t 11
 Wf  W White flesh.Dominant to yellow and red, Wf is epistatic to a second, unnamed gene (C?) which conditions yellow and red flesh.Thus, if the gene at the hypostatic locus is symbolized with B, WfWfBB, Wfwfbb are all white fleshed; wfwfBB and wfwfBB and wfwfBb are yellow fleshed; and wfwfbb are red fleshed. 25
 y r,  rd, red yellow flesh. Recessive to red. 17, 20

References

  1. Barham, W.S. 1956. A study of the Royal Golden watermelon with emphasis on the inheritance of the chlorotic condition characteristic of this variety. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 67:487-489.
  2. Chambliss, O.L., H.T. Erickson and C.M. Jones. 1968. Genetic control of bitterness in watermelon fruits., Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 93:539-546.
  3. Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative, Cucurbit Gene List Committee, 1979. New genes for the Cucurbitaceae. Cucurbit Genet. Coop. Rpt. 2:49-53.
  4. Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative, Cucurbit Gene List Committee. 1982. Update of cucurbit gene list and nomenclature rules. Cucurbit Genetics Coop. Rpt. 5:62-66.
  5. Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative, Cucurbit Gene List Committee. 1985. Gene list for cucumber. Cucurbit Genetics Coop. Rpt. 8:86-96.
  6. Hall, C.V., S.. Dutta, H.R. Kalia and C.T. Rogerson. 1960. Inheritance of resistance to the fungus Colletotrichum lagenatium (Pass.) Ell. and Halst. in watermelons. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 75:638-643.
  7. Kanda, T. 1951. The inheritance of seed-coat colouring in the watermelon. Jap. J. Genet. 7:30-48.
  8. Khandelwal, R.C. and P. Nath. 1978. Inheritance of resistance to fruit fly in watermelon. Can. J. Genet. Cytol. 20:31-34.
  9. Layton, D.V. 1937. The parasitism of Colletotrichum lagenarium (Pass.) Ells. and Halst. Iowa Agr. Expt. Sta. Ann. Bul. 223.
  10. Liu, P.B.W. and J.B. Loy. 1972. Inheritance and morphology of two dwarf mutants in watermelon. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 97:745-748.
  11. McKay, J.W. 1936. Factor interaction in Citrullus.. J. Her.. 27:110-112.
  12. Mohr, H.C. A mutant leaf form in watermelon. Proc. Assn. Southern Agr. Workers 50:129-130.
  13. Mohr, H.C. 1956. Mode of inheritance of the bushy growth characteristics in watermelon. Proc. Assn. Southern Agr. Workers 53:174.
  14. Mohr, H.C. and M.S. Sandhu. 1975. Inherita nce and morphological traits of a double recessive dwarf in watermelon, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Mansf. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 100: 135-137.
  15. Netzer, D. and C. Weintall. 1980. Inheritance of resistance to race 1 of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum. Plant Dis. 64: 863-854.
  16. Norton, J.D. 1979. Inheritance of resistance to gummy stem blight in watermelon. HortScience 14: 630-632.
  17. Poole, C.F. 1944. Genetics of cultivated cucurbits. J. Hered. 35: 122-128.
  18. Poole, C.F., and P.C. Grimball. 1945. Interaction of sex, shape, and weight genes in watermelon. J. Agr. Res. 71: 533-552.
  19. Poole, C.F., P.C. Grimball and D.R. Porter. 1941. Inheritance of seed characters in watermelon. J. Agr. Res. 63: 433-456.
  20. Porter, D.R. 1937. Inheritance of certain fruit and seed characters in watermelons. Hilgardia 10: 489-509.
  21. Rhodes, B.B. 1986. Genes affecting foliage color in watermelon. J. Hered. 77: 134-135.
  22. Robinson, R.W., H.M. Munger, T.W. Whitaker and G.W. Bohn. 1976. Genes of the Cucurbitaceae. HortScience 11: 554-568.
  23. Robinson, R.W., R. Provvidenti and J.W. Shail. 1975. Inheritance of susceptibility to powdery mildew in the watermelon. J. Her. 66: 310-311.
  24. Rosa, J.T. 1928. The inheritance of flower types in Cucumis and Citrullus. Hilgardia 3: 233-250.
  25. Shimotsuma, M. 1963. Cytogenetical studies in the genus Citrullus. VII. Inheritance of several characters in watermelons. Jap. J. Breeding 13: 235-240.
  26. Sowell, G., Jr., B.B. Rhodes and J.D. Norton. 1980. New sources of resistance to watermelon anthracnose. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 105: 197-199.
  27. Suvanprakorn, K. and J.D. Norton. 1980. Inheritance of resistance to anthracnose race 2 in watermelon. J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 105: 862-865.
  28. Vashishta, R.N. and B. Choudhury. 1972. Inheritance of resistance to red pumpkin beetle in muskmelon, bottle gourd and watermelon. Proc. 3rd Intern. Symposium Sub-Trop. Hort. 1:75-81.
  29. Watts, V.M. 1962. A marked male-sterile mutant in watermelon. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 81: 498-505.
  30. Watts, V.M. 1967. Development of disease resistance and seed production in watermelon stocks carrying the msg gene. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 91: 579-583.
  31. Weetman, L.M. 1937. Inheritance and correlation of shape, size, and color in the watermelon, Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. Iowa Agr. Expt. Sta. Res. Bul. 228: 222-256.
  32. Winstead, N.N., M.J. Goode and W.S. Barham. 1959. Resistance in watermelon to Colletotrichum lagenarium races 1, 2, and 3. Plant Dis. Rptr. 43: 570-577.

CGC Gene List Committee:

Cucumber: T.C.Wehner

Muskmelon: M. Pitrat

Watermelon: W.R. Henderson

Cucurbita spp.: T.W. Whitaker

Other Genera: R.W. Robinson