Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Charleston, South Carolina » Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #186921
Title: DEVELOPING AND MAPPING OF ESTS FOR WATERMELON

Author
item Levi, Amnon
item Davis, Angela
item HERNANDEZ, ALVARO - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
item Wechter, William - Pat
item TREBITSH, TOVA - BEN GURION UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/2/2005
Publication Date: 1/15/2006
Citation: Levi, A., Davis, A.R., Hernandez, A., Wechter, W.P., Trebitsh, T. 2006. Developing and mapping of ESTS for watermelon [abstract]. Plant and Animal Genome Conference Proceedings. P25.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A cDNA library was constructed using watermelon fruit mRNA. The cDNA library was normalized and subtracted by hybridization with leaf cDNA of the same watermelon cultivar (Illini Red). Randomly selected cDNA clones of the library were sequenced to identify genes associated with fruit development and quality. Of 1,046 cDNA clones sequenced, 832 were unique sequences and designated as expressed sequenced tags (ESTs). Of the 832 ESTs, 205 (24.6%) have not been reported in any other plant species. Additionally, 186 ESTs (22.4%) correspond to genes with unknown function, while 441 ESTs (53.0%) correspond to genes with known function in other plant species. These ESTs are mainly associated with primary metabolism, membrane transport, cytoskeleton synthesis and structure, cell wall and cell division, signal transduction, nucleic acid binding and transcription factors, and defense and stress response. The ESTs were screened for simple sequence repeat (SSR) motifs. Of 832 ESTs screened, 177 contain SSR motifs. Primer pairs are being designed for these ESTs, and will be used for development of EST-SSR markers and mapping on a genetic linkage map for watermelon. This preliminary study provides useful information with respect to genes controlling watermelon fruit quality.