Files
Abstract
Seed coat type (SCT) and seed coat color (SCC) are economically important traits in edible seed watermelons. Current efforts to develop edible seed watermelon varieties with different seed coats are faced with difficulty due to limited knowledge of these traits. This study aimed to refine the egusi locus for identification of candidate genes and enabling marker assisted selection (MAS) for the egusi trait and to map loci conferring SCC in watermelon. Using QTL-seq and KASPTM assays, the egusi locus was reduced from a 4.28 Mb region to a 398.25 Kb region, extending from 6.95 Mb to 7.35 Mb on chromosome 6. KASPTM assay UGA6_7026576 was identified as associated with egusi trait and useful for MAS. The inheritance of SCC was studied in three F2 populations. The phenotypic segregation in these populations indicated that the stipple SCC is dominant to green, red and clump SCC, the R locus is dominantly epistatic to T1, and the D locus is recessively epistatic to W. The SCC loci, R, T1, W and D, were mapped on chromosome 3, 5, 6 and 8, respectively.