Researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute in Ithaca, New York, have analyzed genomes of watermelon and its ancestors, revealing traits that early breeders may have inadvertently removed in their quest to maximize the red, sweet, watery flesh of the fruit. Their report appears in Plant Biotechnology Journal.
CucCAP Genomics & Bioinformatics Team
Genomics & BioinformaticsTeam contributions to the CucCAP grant including captioned images of research activities, publications available online, and articles about the team’s research efforts and accomplishments.
Genomics and Bioinformatics Team | 2023 Progress Report
The CucCAP Genomics and Bioinformatics Team reported on project progress and ongoing research in April 2023.
CucCAP researchers assemble genomic tools to study the development of giant pumpkin fruit
Cucurbit fruits come in different shapes and sizes, controlled by genes underlying cell size and number. In a recent study, a team at West Virginia State University (WVSU) identified genetic factors underlying the giant fruit size of the mammoth group of Cucurbita maxima. The study elucidated genome diversity and identified single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers associated with genes controlling fruit size. In addition to the genomic toolkit useful for breeding programs aiming at pumpkin fruit traits, this study provides insight into population differentiation and evolutionary origins of rare variants contributing to the giant fruit size of certain pumpkin varieties.
Cucurbit Genomics Database version 2
Version 2 of the Cucurbit Genomics database (CuGenDBv2) was released in April 2022. Database users will notice improved speed and performance.The updated database includes 33 reference genomes from 26 cucurbit species/subspecies belonging to 10 different genera; novel functions for mining and analysis of large-scale variant data; and a comprehensive cucurbit expression atlas.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Jingyin Yu
Jingyin Yu is a post doc in Zhangjun Fei’s lab in the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University in Ithica, N.Y. His research focuses on the development of the cucurbit genomics database and cucumber pangenome analysis.
Early Career Scientist Spotlight | Honghe Sun
Honghe Sun is a graduate student working on a PhD in Dr. Zhangjun Fei’s Lab at Boyce Thompson Institute. The focus of his work is genomics.
CucCAP Bioinformatics team releases version 2 of Cucurbit Genomics Database
Version 2 of the Cucurbit Genomics Database (CuGenDBv2) is up running. The release note was published in April 2022.
Genomics and Bioinformatics Team | 2021 Progress Report
Objectives of the team led by Z. Fei are to develop novel advanced bioinformatic, pan-genome, and genetic mapping tools for cucurbits.
