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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Charleston, South Carolina » Vegetable Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #203927
Title: Differential Expression of Genes in Watermelon Fruit

Author
item Levi, Amnon
item Wechter, William - Pat
item Davis, Angela
item HERNANDEZ, A - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
item THIMMAPURAM, J - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
item KATZIR, N - ARO, ISRAEL
item TADMOR, K - ARO, ISRAEL
item TREBITSH, T - ARO, ISRAEL
item Dang, Phat

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/29/2006
Publication Date: 1/13/2007
Citation: Levi, A., Wechter, W.P., Davis, A.R., Hernandez, A., Thimmapuram, J., Katzir, N., Tadmor, K., Trebitsh, T., Dang, P.M. 2007. Expression of EST-Unigenes in Watermelon Fruit. Plant and Animal Genomes XV Conference. pp27.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A cDNA library was constructed using watermelon flesh mRNA from three distinct developmental stages. The library was first normalized and then subtracted by hybridization with leaf cDNAs (drivers). Random cDNA clones of the watermelon flesh subtraction library were sequenced from the 5’ end in order to identify potentially informative genes associated with fruit setting, development, and ripening. The first 1046 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) (5’-end sequences) were assembled into 832 non-redundant sequences, designated as “EST-unigenes“. Of these 832 “EST-unigenes”, 254 (~30%) have no significant homology to sequences of other plant species. Additionally, 168 “EST-unigenes” (~20%) correspond to genes with unknown function, whereas 410 “EST-unigenes” (~50%) correspond to genes with known function in other plant species. These “EST-unigenes” are mainly associated with metabolism, membrane transport, cytoskeleton synthesis and structure, cell wall formation and cell division, signal transduction, nucleic acid binding and transcription factors, defense and stress response, and secondary metabolism. Microarray analysis revealed differential expression (up-regulation and down-regulation) for many of the 832 EST-unigenes. This study provides the scientific community with novel genetic information for watermelon as well as an expanded pool of genes associated with fruit development in watermelon. These genes will be useful targets in future genetic and functional genomic studies of watermelon fruit.