CucCAP at Cucurbitaceae 2018

CucCAP was well represented with 14 Co-PIs and 28 lab members in attendance presenting five invited keynote talks, an additional 12 invited talks, and 19 posters.

On Wednesday, November 14, Rebecca Grumet was the keynote speaker in the first genomics session with the presentation, The CucCAP Project: Genomic Tools and Resources to Facilitate Breeding for Disease Resistance in Cucurbits and Zhangjun Fei spoke about the Cucurbit Genomics Database. Later in the day, members of the CucCAP group presented The USDA Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Collection: Genetic Diversity, Population Structure, Genome-Wide Association Studies and Core Collection Developmentin the second genomics session.

The Melon Powdery Mildew meeting was held on Wednesday, November 14 in the evening.

The breeding and genetics session was chaired by Amnon Levi on Thursday, November 15. Zhangjun Fei and co-authors presented Genomics-Assisted Molecular Breeding in Watermelon. Sandra Branham was a Keynote Speaker. She presented Genomics-enabled Genetic Mapping and Marker Development of Disease Resistance Loci in Melon and Watermelonwith Amnon Levi, Zhangjun Fei, and W. Patrick Wechter. Cecilia McGregor also presented her lab’s breeding work on fruit shape and skin in this session.

In the Breeding for Resistance session which was chaired by Todd Wehner, Luis Rivera-Burgos was the keynote speaker as he presented Improving Gummy Stem Blight Resistance and Fruit Quality in Watermelon Germplasm with Todd Wehner followed by A Loss-of-susceptibility Mutation in the STAYGREEN Gene (CsSGR) Provides Durable, Broad-spectrum Disease Resistances for US Cucumber Production with Todd Wehner and Yuqun Weng among the presenters. Zhangjun Fei was among the presenters of Resequencing of Bottle Gourd Germplasm and Using QTL-seq to Fine-Map PRSV-W Resistance in Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria sinceraria). Chandrasekar Kousik co-presented Relative Susceptibility of Commercial Watermelon Varieties to Powdery Mildew and Phytophthora Fruit Rot. At the end of this morning session, Chandrasekar Kousik presented Genetics of Resistance to Powdery Mildew in Watermelon Line USVL608-PMR.

William Wintermantel chaired the Biotic stress session on the afternoon of Thursday, November 15.  Kai-Shu Ling, Amnon Levi and fellow researchers presented Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus: Seed Transmissibility, Seed Health Assays and Screening Watermelon Germplasm for Disease Resistance. Next, Ben Mansfeld and Rebecca Grumet presented Inhibitory Effects of Cucumber Age-related Resistance to Phytophthora capsici Manifest Within 24 Hours of Inoculation. Other conference abstracts included Role of Antioxidant Molecule Melatonin in Plant Host Resistance and Pathogen Suppression in Cucurbits with Chandrasekar Kousik as a co-presenter.

CucCAP at Cucurbitaceae 2018 Poster Sessions

On Tuesday evening, Nov. 13, Cecilia McGregor, James D. McCreight, W. Patrick Wechter, William M. Wintermantel, and co-authors presented  Biotic Stress posters:

• Cucurbit Rootstocks Resistant to Fusarium Wilt of Watermelon Retain Resistance When Co-Infected by Southern Root-Knot Nematode
• Cucurbit chlorotic yellows virus , a New Crinivirus Infecting Cucurbits in California
• Detection of the Gummy Stem Blight-Causing Pathogens (Stagonosporopsis spp.) in Watermelon, Using Three Species-Specific LAMP  Assays
• Cucurbit Powdery Mildew Population Virulence Variation – A Complex View from a Global Perspective

CucCAP researchers Umesh Reddy, Luis Rivera-Burgos, Zgangjun Fei, Todd Wehner, Shaker Kousik, W. Patrick Wechter, Sandra Branham, Kai-shu Ling, Cecilia McGregor, Amnon Levi, Michael Mazourek, Christine Smart, Yiqun Weng, and Shaker Kousik participated in the Breeding and Genetics poster session:

• Introgression Mapping of Wild Species-Derived Resistance to Viruses in Cucurbita
• Genome-Wide Diversity for Worldwide Watermelon Collections: Analysis of Population Structure, Haplotype Networks, Selective Sweeps and LD Decay to Characterize Domestication Signals
• Next-Generation Sequencing Bulk Segregant Analysis Reveals Multiple Loci Involved in Phytophthora Root and Crown Rot in Squash and Pumpkin
• QTL Mapping of Angular Leaf Spot Resistance in Cucumber
• QTL Mapping of Resistance to Powdery Mildew in Cucumis melo MR-1 Using a Recombinant Inbred Line Population
• Genome-Wide Association Studies of Important Agronomic Traits in Watermelon

In the Breeding for Resistance poster session, Kai-Shu Ling, Zhangjun Fei, Todd Wehner, Rebecca Grumet, Linda Wessel-Beaver, Angela Linares-Ramírez , Sandra Branham, Amnon Levi, W. Patrick Wechter, Jennifer Ikerd, Chandrasekar Kousik , Ben Mansfeld, Rebecca Grumet and their co-authors presented:

• North Carolina State Cucumber Lines Developed for Downy Mildew Resistance
• QTL-Seq of Young Fruit Resistance to Phytophthora capsici in Cucumber
• Effect of Two Potyviruses on Development and Yield of Tropical Pumpkin
• Identification of New Resistance Sources in Watermelon for Anthracnose Race 2
• Disease Assessment in Seedlings of Tropical Pumpkin Infected with PRSV and ZYMV
• Novel Source of Resistance to Fusarium Wilt Race 1 Identified in Citron Melon
• New Sources of Resistance to Phytophthora Crown and Root Rot in Cucurbita moschata
• Development of a Real-Time Fluorescence-Based Microplate Assay for Pathogen Growth on Plant Tissue:  Phytophthora capsici Infection of Cucumber  Fruit

• Reactions of Cornell Melon Breeding Lines to Cucumber mosaic virus and Their Horticultural Qualities

Umesh Reddy presented a poster in the Genomics poster session.

Jonathan Schultheis’ vegetable production team made a presentation in the Production and Quality poster session.