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.
PAG XXVIII
PAG brings together over 3,000 leading genetic scientists and researchers in plant and animal research, and over 130 exhibits, 150 workshops, 1100 posters and over 1800 abstracts.
CucCAP researchers identify genetic loci conferring resistance to Fusarium wilt race 2 and Papaya ring-spot virus-watermelon strain (PRSV-W)
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. CucCAP researchers collaborated with Sakata Seed America on generating genetic populations and on conducting genetic analyses to identify genetic loci that confer resistance to Fusarium wilt and papaya ring-spot virus.
Presentations by CucCAP Scientists at PAG XXVIII
CucCAP participants at PAG XXVIII include cucurbit breeders and genomic scientists. The cucurbit session organizers are Amnon Levi and Patrick Wechter. Presenters include Zhangjun Fei, Rebecca Grumet, Ben N. Mansfeld, Yiqun Weng, Sandra E. Branham, Shaker Kousik, Amnon Levi, and Patrick Wechter, and Umesh Reddy.
CucCAP scientists co-led the development of an improved ‘97103’ watermelon genome and resequencing of 414 watermelon accessions
Watermelon has been domesticated for more than 4000 years and modern sweet watermelons have been selected to carry large fruits with crisp, non-bitter and sweet flesh. The CucCAP team has co-led an international effort to generate an improved watermelon ‘97103’ reference genome and resequence 414 accessions from the seven extant Citrullus species.
Harvesting Genes to Improve Watermelons | Seed World Daily
Earlier this year, Fei, Levi and colleagues published a reference genome of the “Charleston Gray” watermelon, the principle U.S. variety of C. lanatus to complement the East Asian “97103” genome.
CucCAP Researchers Map New Source of Resistance to Bacterial Fruit Blotch in Watermelon
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.
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.
