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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Parlier, California » San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center » Crop Diseases, Pests and Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #360018
Research Project: Breeding Prunus and Vitis Scions for Improved Fruit Quality and Durable Pest Resistance

Location: Crop Diseases, Pests and Genetics Research

Title: Advances in breeding of Cucumber and Watermelon

Author
item WEHNER, TODD - North Carolina State University
item Naegele, Rachel

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/30/2019
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Cucumber breeding has changed over the last few hundred years, from open pollinated populations, to inbred lines, to gynoecious hybrids. Speed breeding has decreased the time required to develop new cultivars. Along with marker assisted selection for single genes controlling disease resistance and fruit type, the process of field testing has become more efficient. Production of inbred lines using doubled haploids has further decreased the time required to develop cultivars. Breeding of watermelon has likewise become more complex. Early cultivars were open pollinated populations selected for useful traits. Later, cultivars were developed by self pollination of selections from populations. Diploid hybrids provided advantages over inbreds, and triploid hybrids added the advantage of seedlessness. Triploids are mostly established in the field using expensive transplants to solve the problem of low germination. With the addition of grafted rootstocks to control soilborne diseases, the transplants have become part of a complex system.