NC State Department of Horticulture Watermelon group and the University of Georgia Department of Horticulture Watermelon Breeding group made presentations at the 83rd Southern Region ASHS Watermelon Research Working Group.
Watermelon Variety Trials
NC State Extension Specialist Jonathan Schultheis and Research Associate Keith Starke conduct annual variety trials on Melon, Pumpkin, Squash, and Watermelon. The Vegetable Extension team collaborates with Penelope Perkins-Veazie, Professor of Postharvest Physiology at the NC State Plants for Human Health Institute and Graduate Research Assistant Marlee Trandel.
- Keith Starke presented ‘Standard size watermelon cultivar yield and quality results in North Carolina for 2018‘ on February 2, 2019. The 2018 Watermelon Cultivar Evaluation Booklet will be available in February. Visit the Cucurbit Variety Trials Page to view Reports from previous years.
- Marlee A. Trandel presented ‘Tissue Firmness and Hollow Heart Development in 2012, 2013 and 2014 Triploid Watermelon Variety Trials‘ by Marlee Trandel, Penelope Perkins-Veazie, and Jonathan Schultheis on February 2, 2019.
Watermelon Breeding and Genomics
University of Georgia Associate Professor Cecilia E. McGregor’s program focuses on developing molecular tools for watermelon and integrating these tools into their breeding program.
Graduate students from the lab attended the SR-ASHS and the Watermelon Research Working Group in Birmingham AL this past weekend.
Jorge Reyes won third place in the Warren S. Barham Ph.D Graduate Student Paper Competition for this presentation entitled “Detection of the Gummy Stem Blight-Causing Pathogens (Stagonosporopsis spp.) in Watermelon Using Species-Specific LAMP Assays.”
Winnie Gimode won best overall graduate student poster, for the poster entitled “Fine mapping of a Major Quantitative Trait Locus Qdff3-1 Controlling Flowering Time in Watermelon.” Winnie was also voted the ‘audience favorite’ for the paper presentation entitled “Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci Associated with Gummy Stem Blight Resistance in Watermelon.”
- ‘KASP™ Markers for Selection for Fruit Shape in Watermelon‘ was presented to the Watermelon Group on February 1, 2019 by Reeve Legendre and Cecilia McGregor, Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia.
