Fusarium wilt (FW) and papaya ring-spot virus-watermelon strain (PRSV-W) are important diseases of watermelon, causing serious damage to the crop. Multiple disease screens of the USDA watermelon germplasm collection have highlighted the value of wild type watermelons as a source for enhancing resistance to diseases in modern watermelon cultivars. The CucCAP team at the USDA, ARS, U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, Charleston, SC collaborated with Sakata Seed America on generating genetic populations and on conducting genetic analyses to identify genetic loci that confer resistance to FW and PRSV. The resistance genetic loci identified in this study are highly valuable for the improvement of disease resistance in elite watermelon cultivars.
Read the article at Theoretical and Applied Genetics:
- QTL mapping of resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum race 2 and Papaya ringspot virus in Citrullus amarus
Authors: Sandra E. Branham, W. Patrick Wechter, Kai-Shu Ling, Bidisha Chanda, Laura Massey, Guangwei Zhao, Nihat Guner, Marco Bello, Eileen Kabelka, Zhangjun Fei & Amnon Levi; U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Charleston, SC and Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Journal: Theoretical and Applied Genetics ;Received 16 May 2019, Accepted 30 November 2019, Published 10 December 2019
DOI: 10.1007/s00122-019-03500-3
