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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Charleston, South Carolina » Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #140244
Title: POLYMORPHISM AMONG CHLOROPLAST AND MITOCHONDRIAL GENOMES OF CITRULLUS SPP.

Author
item Levi, Amnon
item Thomas, Claude

Submitted to: Plant Genome Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/15/2002
Publication Date: 2/8/2003
Citation: LEVI, A., THOMAS, C.E. POLYMORPHISM AMONG CHLOROPLAST AND MITOCHONDRIAL GENOMES OF CITRULLUS SPP.. PLANT GENOME CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS. 2003. p.245. Abstract No. 682.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Twelve and six DNA clones that represent various parts of the chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes, respectively, were used to detect polymorphism among five watermelon cultivars and 23 Citrullus accessions collected from diverse geographical locations. Cluster analysis based on 24 chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) and 10 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers classified the accessions into four major phylogenetic groups: watermelon cultivars (Group I), Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus (Group II), C. lanatus var. citroides (Group III), and the C. colocynthis (Group IV). The chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes of cultivars were closely related to those of C. lanatus var. lanatus, while those of C. lanatus var. citroides and C. coloynthis accessions were distinct, indicating that C. lanatus var. citroides is the progenitor of both C. lanatus var. lanatus and C. coloynthis. DNA analysis of BC1 and BC4 plants showed that chloroplast and mitochondria are maternally inherited in crosses between the species C. lanatus and C. coloynthis. This study examines the possibility of enhancing watermelon germplasm by replacing the chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes of cultivated watermelon (C. lanatus var. lanatus) with those of the wild species C. coloynthis.