Texas Scientists Complete Melon Genome

July 1, 2009 4:36 a.m. EST

College Station, TX (AHN) - Researchers from Texas AgriLife Research have completed mapping the genes of melon opening the possibility of growing better varieties of the fruit.

The genes were identified from hybrid offspring resulting from the crossbreeding of ananas melon with wild melon called TGR 1551. The genes were extracted from the leaf tissue collected 21 days after planting the offspring in greenhouses.

The Texas researchers combined partial maps of the melon DNA sequence developed by French and Spanish scientists with the genome they created to complete the map.

Aside from the gene map, the researchers located DNA markers linked to fruit sugars, ascorbic acid and male sterility. The markers are useful for developing hybrid varieties.

The research on the melon genome is featured in the latest issue of Journal of the American Society of Horticultural Sciences.