Allozyme Segregation Ratios in the Interspecific Cross CUCURBITA MAXIMAxC. ECUADORENSIS Suggest That Hybrid Breakdown Is Not Caused by Minor Alterations in Chromosome Structure

High-quality Momordica balsamina genome elucidates its potential use in improving stress resilience and therapeutic properties of bitter gourd

Introduction

Momordica balsamina is the closest wild species that can be crossed with an important fruit vegetable crop, Momordica charantia, has immense medicinal value, and placed under II subclass of primary gene pool of bitter gourd. M. balsamina is tolerant to major biotic and abiotic stresses. Genome characterization of Momordica balsamina as a wild relative of bitter gourd will contribute to the knowledge of the gene pool available for improvement in bitter gourd. There is potential to transfer gene/s related to biotic resistance and medicinal importance from M. balsamina to M. charantia to produce high-quality, better yielding and stress tolerant bitter gourd genotypes.

Methods

The present study provides the first and high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly of M. balsamina with size 384.90 Mb and N50 30.96 Mb using sequence data from 10x Genomics, Nanopore, and Hi-C platforms.

Results

A total of 6,32,098 transposons elements; 2,15,379 simple sequence repeats; 5,67,483 transcription factor binding sites; 3,376 noncoding RNA genes; and 41,652 protein-coding genes were identified, and 4,347 disease resistance, 67 heat stress-related, 05 carotenoid-related, 15 salt stress-related, 229 cucurbitacin-related, 19 terpenes-related, 37 antioxidant activity, and 06 sex determination-related genes were characterized.

Conclusion

Genome sequencing of M. balsamina will facilitate interspecific introgression of desirable traits. This information is cataloged in the form of webgenomic resource available at http://webtom.cabgrid.res.in/mbger/. Our finding of comparative genome analysis will be useful to get insights into the patterns and processes associated with genome evolution and to uncover functional regions of cucurbit genomes.

Construction of a High-Density Genetic Map and Analysis of Seed-Related Traits Using Specific Length Amplified Fragment Sequencing for Cucurbita maxima

Seed traits are agronomically important for Cucurbita breeding, but the genes controlling seed size, seed weight and seed number have not been mapped in Cucurbita maxima (C. maxima). In this study, 100 F₂ individual derived from two parental lines, "2013-12" and "9-6", were applied to construct a 3,376.87-cM genetic map containing 20 linkage groups (LGs) with an average genetic distance of 0.47 cM using a total of 8,406 specific length amplified fragment (SLAF) markers in C. maxima. Ten quantitative trait loci (QTLs) of seed width (SW), seed length (SL) and hundred-seed weight (HSW) were identified using the composite interval mapping (CIM) method. The QTLs affecting SW, SL and HSW explained a maximum of 38.6%, 28.9% and 17.2% of the phenotypic variation and were detected in LG6, LG6 and LG17, respectively. To validate these results, an additional 150 F₂ individuals were used for QTL mapping of SW and SL with cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers. We found that two major QTLs, SL6-1 and SW6-1, could be detected in both SLAF-seq and CAPS markers in an overlapped region. Based on gene annotation and non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the major SWand SL-associated regions, we found that two genes encoding a VQ motif and an E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase may be candidate genes influencing SL, while an F-box and leucinerich repeat (LRR) domain-containing protein is the potential regulator for SW in C. maxima. This study provides the first high-density linkage map of C. maxima using SNPs developed by SLAF-seq technology, which is a powerful tool for associated mapping of important agronomic traits, map-based gene cloning and marker-assisted selection (MAS)-based breeding in C. maxima.

A high-density genetic map for anchoring genome sequences and identifying QTLs associated with dwarf vine in pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima Duch.)

Background

Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima Duch.) is an economically important crop belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family. However, very few genomic and genetic resources are available for this species. As part of our ongoing efforts to sequence the pumpkin genome, high-density genetic map is essential for anchoring and orienting the assembled scaffolds. In addition, a saturated genetic map can facilitate quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping.

Results

A set of 186 F₂ plants derived from the cross of pumpkin inbred lines Rimu and SQ026 were genotyped using the genotyping-by-sequencing approach. Using the SNPs we identified, a high-density genetic map containing 458 bin-markers was constructed, spanning a total genetic distance of 2,566.8 cM across the 20 linkage groups of C. maxima with a mean marker density of 5.60 cM. Using this map we were able to anchor 58 assembled scaffolds that covered about 194.5 Mb (71.7 %) of the 271.4 Mb assembled pumpkin genome, of which 44 (183.0 Mb; 67.4 %) were oriented. Furthermore, the high-density genetic map was used to identify genomic regions highly associated with an important agronomic trait, dwarf vine. Three QTLs on linkage groups (LGs) 1, 3 and 4, respectively, were recovered. One QTL, qCmB2, which was located in an interval of 0.42 Mb on LG 3, explained 21.4 % phenotypic variations. Within qCmB2, one gene, Cma_004516, encoding the gibberellin (GA) 20-oxidase in the GA biosynthesis pathway, had a 1249-bp deletion in its promoter in bush type lines, and its expression level was significantly increased during the vine growth and higher in vine type lines than bush type lines, supporting Cma_004516 as a possible candidate gene controlling vine growth in pumpkin.

Conclusions

A high-density pumpkin genetic map was constructed, which was used to successfully anchor and orient the assembled genome scaffolds, and to identify QTLs highly associated with pumpkin vine length. The map provided a valuable resource for gene cloning and marker assisted breeding in pumpkin and other related species. The identified vine length QTLs would help to dissect the underlying molecular basis regulating pumpkin vine growth.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-2312-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

SSR-based genetic linkage map of Cucurbita moschata and its synteny with Cucurbita pepo

The first SSR-based genetic linkage map of Cucurbita moschata was created by integrating the maps of two F2 populations with one common parent developed from the crosses Waltham Butternut (WB) x Nigerian Local (NL) and ZHOU (a hull-less type) x WB. The integrated C. moschata map comprises 205 SSR markers and two morphological traits (Gr and n). The map is composed of 27 linkage groups with a marker density of 7 cM. Comparing the C. moschata map with the published Cucurbita pepo map, we found a high level of macrosynteny. Seventy-two of 76 common SSR markers between C. moschata and C. pepo were located in homologous linkage groups. These markers in general have conserved orders and similar genetic distances; they represent orthologous loci. A reference map based on these SSRs was obtained. No major chromosomal rearrangement between the two species could be detected at present, although four SSR markers were mapped in nonhomologous linkage groups. The comparative alignment of SSR markers did not provide any indication of a possible ancient polyploid origin of the species. The comparative mapping of C. moschata and C. pepo reported here will be useful for further studies on Cucurbit evolution, gene isolation, and breeding work.

Microsatellites for the genus Cucurbita and an SSR-based genetic linkage map of Cucurbita pepo L

Until recently, only a few microsatellites have been available for Cucurbita, thus their development is highly desirable. The Austrian oil-pumpkin variety Gleisdorfer Olkürbis (C. pepo subsp. pepo) and the C. moschata cultivar Soler (Puerto Rico) were used for SSR development. SSR-enriched partial genomic libraries were established and 2,400 clones were sequenced. Of these 1,058 (44%) contained an SSR at least four repeats long. Primers were designed for 532 SSRs; 500 primer pairs produced fragments of expected size. Of these, 405 (81%) amplified polymorphic fragments in a set of 12 genotypes: three C. moschata, one C. ecuadorensis, and eight C. pepo representing all eight cultivar groups. On an average, C. pepo and C. moschata produced 3.3 alleles per primer pair, showing high inter-species transferability. There were 187 SSR markers detecting polymorphism between the USA oil-pumpkin variety "Lady Godiva" (O5) and the Italian crookneck variety "Bianco Friulano" (CN), which are the parents of our previous F(2) mapping population. It has been used to construct the first published C. pepo map, containing mainly RAPD and AFLP markers. Now the updated map comprises 178 SSRs, 244 AFLPs, 230 RAPDs, five SCARs, and two morphological traits (h and B). It contains 20 linkage groups with a map density of 2.9 cM. The observed genome coverage (Co) is 86.8%.

New isozyme systems for maize (Zea mays L.): aconitate hydratase, adenylate kinase, NADH dehydrogenase, and shikimate dehydrogenase

Electrophoretic variation and inheritance of four novel enzyme systems were studied in maize (Zea mays L.). A minimum of 10 genetic loci collectively encodes isozymes of aconitate hydratase (ACO; EC 4.2.1.3.), adenylate kinase (ADK; EC 2.7.4.3), NADH dehydrogenase (DIA; EC 1.6.99.-), and shikimate dehydrogenase (SAD; EC 1.1.1.25). At least four loci are responsible for the genetic control of ACO. Genetic data for two of the encoding loci, Aco1 and Aco4, demonstrated that at least two maize ACOs are active as monomers. Analysis of organellar preparations suggests that ACO1 and ACO4 are localized in the cytosolic and mitochondrial subcellular fractions, respectively. Maize ADK is encoded by a single nuclear locus, Adk1, governing monomeric enzymes that are located in the chloroplasts. Two cytosolic and two mitochondrial forms of DIA were electrophoretically resolved. Segregation analyses demonstrated that the two cytosolic isozymes are controlled by separate loci, Dia1 and Dia2, coding for products that are functional as monomers (DIA1) and dimers (DIA2). The major isozyme of SAD is apparently cytosolic, although an additional faintly staining plastid form may be present. Alleles at Sad1 are each associated with two bands that cosegregate in controlled crosses. Linkage analyses and crosses with B-A translocation stocks were effective in determining the map locations of six loci, including the previously described but unmapped locus Acp4. Several of these loci were localized to sparsely mapped regions of the genome. Dia2 and Acp4 were placed on the distal portion of the long arm of chromosome 1, 12.6 map units apart. Dia1 was localized to chromosome 2, 22.2 centimorgans (cM) from B1. Aco1 was mapped to chromosome 4, 6.2 cM from su1. Adk1 was placed on the poorly marked short arm of chromosome 6, 8.1 map units from rgd1. Less than 1% recombination was observed between Glu1 (on chromosome 10) and Sad1. In contrast to many other maize isozyme systems, there was little evidence of gene duplication or of parallel linkage relationships for these allozyme loci.