Abstract
A cucurbit species named Praecitrullus fistulosus (Stocks) Pangalo, which thrives in India, is considered to be a distant relative of watermelon. Recent experiments indicated that it has mild resistance to whiteflies (Bemisia tabaci). However, our attempts to cross various US plant introductions (PIs) of P. fistulosus with watermelon or other Citrullus PIs have not been successful. Thus, to determine genetic relatedness among those species, phylogenetic analysis [based on simple sequence repeat (SSR)–anchored (also termed ISSR), and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers] was conducted among PIs of P. fistulosus, Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus (watermelon), C. lanatus var. citroides and the wild Citrullus colocynthis. Phylogenetic relationships were also examined with Cucumis melo (melon), Cucumis sativus (cucumber), and wild Cucumis species including C. africanus, C. metuliferus, C. anguria, C. meeusei, and C. zeyheri. Wide genetic distance exists between Citrullus and Cucumis groups (8% genetic similarity). Phylogenetic relationships among Citrullus species and subspecies are closer (25–55% genetic similarity) as compared with those among most Cucumis species (14–68% genetic similarity). P. fistulosus appeared to be distant from both Cucumis and Citrullus species (genetic similarity between P. fistulosus and Cucumis or Citrullus groups is less than 3%). Although wide genetic differences and reproductive barriers exist among cucurbit species examined in this study, they are still considered as potential germplasm source for enhancing watermelon and melon crops using traditional breeding and biotechnology procedures.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
H.M. Burkill (1985) The useful plants of west tropical Africa EditionNumberVol. 1. 2 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
J. F Chen J. W Adelberg J. E Staub H. T Skorupska B. B Rhodes (1998) A new synthetic amphidiploid in Cucumis from a C. sativus × C. hystrix F1 interspecific hybrid J McCreight (Eds) Cucurbita ’98–evaluation and enhancement of Cucurbit Germplasm American Society of Horticultural Science Press Alexandria VA, USA 336–339
J. F Chen J. W Adelberg (2000) ArticleTitleInterspecific hybridization in Cucumis–progress, problems, and perspectives HortScience 35 11–15
Clark R.L., Jarvis J.L., Braverman S.W., Dietz S.M., SowellG. Jr. and Winters H.F. 1972. A summary of reports on resistance of plant introductions to diseases, nematodes, insects and mites. Cucumis sativus L. and Cucumis spp. U.S. Dept. Agr. New Crops Res Branch, Beltsville, MD, USA.
B De Winter (1990) ArticleTitleA new species of Citrullus (Benincaseae) from the Namib desert, Namibia Bothalia 20 209–211
G Fassuliotis (1967) ArticleTitleSpecies of Cucumis resistant to the rootknot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita acrita Plant Dis. Rptr. 51 720–723
G Fassuliotis (1977) ArticleTitleSelf–fertilization of Cucumis metuliferus Naud., and its crosscompatibility with C. melo L J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 102 336–339
R. L Jarret L. C Merrick T Holms J Evans M. K Aradhya (1997) ArticleTitleSimple sequence repeats in watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. Nakai] Genome 40 433–441 Occurrence Handle9276932
C. Jeffrey (1975) ArticleTitleFurther notes on Cucurbitaceae: III Some African taxa Kew Bull 30 475–493
C Jeffrey (2001) Cucurbitacae (Citrullus) P Hanelt (Eds) Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research and Mansfeld’s Encyclopedia of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops (except ornamentals) Springer New York, NY, USA 1533–1537
T. N Khoshoo (1955) ArticleTitleCytotaxonomy of Indian species of Citrullus Curr. Sci. 24 377–378
T. N Khoshoo P Vij (1963) ArticleTitleBiosystematics of Citrullus vulgaris var. fistulosus Caryologia 16 541–552
J. H Kirkbride SuffixJr. (1993) Biosystematic monograph of the genus Cucumis (Cucurbitaveae) Parkway Publishers Boone, NC, USA
A Levi L. J Rowland J. S Hartung (1993) ArticleTitleProduction of reliable randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers from DNA of woody plants HortScience 28 1188–1190
A Levi C. E Thomas (1999) ArticleTitleAn improved procedure for isolation of high quality DNA from watermelon and melon leaves Cucurbit Genet. Coop. Rep. 22 41–42
A Levi C. E Thomas A. P Keinath T. C Wehner (2001a) ArticleTitleGenetic diversity among watermelon (Citrullus lanatus and Citrullus colocynthis) accessions Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 48 559–566 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1013888418442
A Levi C. E Thomas T. C Wehner X Zhang (2001b) ArticleTitleLow genetic diversity indicates the need to broaden the genetic base of cultivated watermelon HortScience 36 1096–1101
A Levi C. E Thomas T Joobeur X Zhang A Davis (2002) ArticleTitleA genetic linkage map for watermelon derived from a testcross population: (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides × C. lanatus var. lanatus) × C. colocynthis Theor. Appl. Genet. 105 555–563 Occurrence Handle12582504
Y Li J Wang Y Cao W Gao J Fang Z Lou (1998) ArticleTitleThe use of genetic resources in crop improvement: Lessons from China Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 45 181–186 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1008691532378
A. I Lopez–Sese M. L Gomez–Guillamon (2000) ArticleTitleResistance to cucurbit yellowing stunting disorder virus (CYSDV) in Cucumis melo L HortScience 35 110–113
A. D Meeuse (1962) ArticleTitleThe Cucurbitaceae of Southern Africa Bothalia 8 1–111
N Navot D Zamir (1987) ArticleTitleIsozyme and seed protein phylogeny of the genus Citrullus (Cucurbitaceae) Plant Syst. Evol. 156 61–67 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00937202
M Nei W Li (1979) ArticleTitleMathematical model for studying genetic variation in terms of restriction endonucleases Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 76 5269–5273 Occurrence Handle291943
J. D Norton D. M Granberry (1980) ArticleTitleCharacteristics of progeny from an interspecific cross of Cucumis melo with Cucumis metuliferus J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 105 174–180
K. I Pangalo (1944) ArticleTitleA new genus of the Cucurbitaceae Praecitrullus, an ancestor of the contemporary watermelon (Citrullus Forsk.) Bot. Zurr. S.S.S.R. 29 200–204
R Provvidenti R. W Robinson (1974) ArticleTitleResistance to squash mosaic virus 1 in Cucumis metuliferus Plant Dis. Rptr. 58 735–738
F.J. Rohlf (1993) NTSYS–PC numerical taxonomy and multivariate analysis system, Version 2.00 Exter Publishing, Ltd Setauket, NY, USA
L.J. Rowland A. Levi (1994) ArticleTitleRAPD–based genetic linkage map of blueberry derived from a cross between diploid species (Vaccinium darrowi and V. elliottii) Theor. Appl. Genet. 87 863–868 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00221139
J. Sambrook E.F. Fritsch T. Maniatis (1989) Molecular Cloning A laboratory manual EditionNumber2 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Plainview, New York, USA
A.M. Simmons A. Levi (2002) ArticleTitleDevelopment of whitefly resistant watermelon American Society of Horticultural Science, Cucurbit Genetic Cooperative Cucurbitaceae. 2002 282–286
A.M. Simmons A. Levi (2002b) ArticleTitleSources of whitefly (Homoptera: Aleyradidae) Resistance in Citrullus for improving watermelon HortScience 37 581–584
A.K. Singh (1990) Cytogenetic and evolution in the Cucurbitaceae D.M. Bates R.W. Robinson C. Jeffrey (Eds) Biology and utilization of the Cucurbitaceae. Comstock Publishing Association Ithaca, New York, U.S.A 10–28
J.A. Thies A. Levi (2002) ArticleTitleIdentification of resistance to Meloidogyne arenaria race 1 in U.S. Watermelon Plant Introductions Cucurbitaceae 2002 132–137
S.A. Walters T.C. Wehner K.R. Barker (1993) ArticleTitleRoot–knot nematode resistance in cucumber and horned cucumber HortScience 28 151–154
S.A. Walters T.C. Wehner (2002) ArticleTitleIncompatibility in diploid and tetraploid crosses of Cucumis sativus and Cucumis metuliferus Euphytica 128 371–374 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1021212815590
T.C. Wehner S.A. Walters K.R. Barker (1991) ArticleTitleResistance to root–knot nematode in cucumber and horned cucumber J. Nematol. 23 611–614
T.C. Wehner P.C. St. Amand (1993) ArticleTitleField–tests for cucumber resistance to gummy stem blight in North Carolina HortScience 28 327–329
T.W. Whitaker W.B. Bemis (1976) Cucurbits N.W. Simmonds (Eds) Evolution of crop plants. Longman London 64–69
T.W. Whitaker G.N. Davis (1962) The Cucurbits: botany, cultivation and utilization Interscience Publishers Inc. New York, NY, USA
D. Zamir N. Navot J. Rudich (1984) ArticleTitleEnzyme polymorphism in Citrullus lanatus and C. colocynthis in Israel and Sinai Plant Syst. Evol. 146 163–137 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00989543
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Levi, A., Thomas, C.E., Simmons, A.M. et al. Analysis based on RAPD and ISSR Markers Reveals Closer Similarities among Citrullus and Cucumis Species than with Praecitrullus fistulosus (Stocks) Pangalo. Genet Resour Crop Evol 52, 465–472 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-005-2260-2
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-005-2260-2