CucCAP scientists Zhangjun Fei, Shaker Kousik, Cecilia McGregor, Umesh K. Reddy, and Yiqun Weng are on the Scientific committee of the VII International Symposium on Cucurbits. Their specialties include watermelon, cucumber, and genomics.
Fei Lab @ BTI
Xin Wang, Kan Bao, Yang Bai, Chen Jiao & Zhangjun Fei are affiliated with the Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, USA. The Boyce Thompson Institute is an independent research institute devoted to using plant sciences to improve agriculture, protect the environment, and enhance human health.
CucCAP Bioinformatics Team | Research Publications
CucCAP scientists genetically characterize the USDA germplasm collections for squashes and pumpkins
This article presents the analysis of genotype data generated through genotyping-by-sequencing of the USDA germplasm collections of Cucurbita pepo, C. moschata, and C. maxima.
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 scientists examine mechanisms of watermelon resistance to viral infection
Watermelon production in the U.S. and around the world faces serious threats by viral diseases, including aphid-transmitted potyviruses: papaya ringspot virus (PRSV) and zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV). In a recent study, a CucCAP team examined expression of anti-microbial/anti-viral, ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) in watermelons in response to inoculation with PRSV. The PRSV-resistant citron watermelon (Citrullus amarus) exhibited high RIP expression, versus low expression in plants of the susceptible, cultivated “Charleston Gray” watermelon. This finding may offer additional genetic and genomic resources for improving potyvirus-resistance in watermelon cultivars.
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.
