Bacterial fruit blotch (BFB) of cucurbits caused by Acidovorax citrulli has the potential to devastate production of watermelon and other cucurbits. Despite decades of research, no watermelon germplasm has been found with immunity, and only a few sources with various levels of resistance have been identified. The genetic basis of resistance was not known and […]
Levi Lab @ USDA-ARS
Amnon Levi is a geneticist and project leader at the USDA-ARS Vegetable research laboratory in Charleston, SC, the CucCAP Watermelon team leader, and a CucCAP Bioinformatics team member. Sandra Branham is a postdoctoral research scientist in the lab.
2018 Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative Annual Report
The Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative (CGC) was established in 1977 to develop and advance the genetics of economically important cucurbits. CucCAP Team members have contributed many articles to the Cucurbit Genetics Cooperative throughout the years. Members of the CucCAP Team contributing to CGC report#41 for 2018 include authors Todd Wehner and Jim McCreight along with editors, Amnon Levi and Linda Wessel-Beaver.
CucCAP scientists release genome of principal American watermelon cultivar and genetically characterize the National Plant Germplasm System watermelon collection
Years of selection for desirable fruit quality traits in dessert watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) has resulted in a narrow genetic base in modern cultivars. Development of novel genomic and genetic resources offers great potential to expand genetic diversity and improve important traits in watermelon. The CucCAP team has developed a high‐quality genome sequence for the principal […]
Charleston Gray watermelon sequenced
The USDA news service posted an article in May 2019 about teamwork among CucCAP scientists on watermelon genomics. The research team, led by ARS geneticist Amnon Levi at the ARS U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, in Charleston, South Carolina, and Zhangjun Fei at the Boyce Thompson Institute in Ithaca, New York, collaborated with scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute on the assembly […]
CucCAP research identifies novel genetic source of resistance to Fusarium wilt race 1 in wild watermelon
Fusarium wilt race 1, caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum Schlechtend.: Fr. f. sp. niveum (E.F. Sm.) W.C. Snyder & H.N. Hans (Fon), is a major disease of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) in the United States and throughout the world. While Fusarium wilt race 1 resistance from chromosome 1 has been incorporated into several watermelon […]
CucCAP team developed a new database for cucurbit genomics
During the past several years, large amounts of genomic, transcriptomic and genetic data have been accumulated for cucurbits. These data have been extensively used to facilitate cucurbit research and breeding. However, efficient access, and ability to mine and analyze these large-scale datasets pose challenges to researchers, especially those with limited bioinformatics expertise. Therefore, the CucCAP […]
CucCAP Team Presentations at PAGXXVII
The Plant & Animal Genome Conference (PAG) is designed to provide a forum on recent developments and future plans for plant & animal genome projects. Consisting of technical presentations, poster sessions, exhibits and workshops, the conference is an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and applications on this internationally important project. Members of the CucCAP team […]
CucCAP team presentations at Cucurbitaceae 2018
CucCAP plant breeders, pathologists and genomic scientists will present results of their work with cucurbit breeding lines and disease resistance at Cucurbitaceae 2018. On Wednesday, November 14, Rebecca Grumet will be the keynote speaker in the first genomics session with the presentation, The CucCAP Project: Genomic Tools and Resources to Facilitate Breeding for Disease Resistance […]
