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Diversity
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Genetic Diversity of Cucurbit Crops
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Genetic Diversity of Cucurbit Crops

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 3183

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jacob Mashilo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Towoomba Research Centre, Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Agriculture Regulatory and Technology Development, Crop Science Directorate, R516 Settlers Road, Bela-Bela 0480, South Africa
Interests: abiotic stress; crop genetic resources; crop improvement; genotype-by-environment interaction; plant stress physiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Cucurbitaceae family comprises important and valuable crops which serve as food, feed and medicine for millions of people globally. Some of the top cultivated cucurbit crops include cucumber, watermelon, melon, pumpkin and squash. Additionally, the Cucurbitaceae family includes some “minor”, “neglected” or “underutilized” crops such as bottle gourd, bitter gourd, wax gourd, egusi, citron watermelons, etc., mostly grown by indigenous people in some parts of the world for different uses. Therefore, it is undoubtable that human sustenance and well-being, both now and in the future, will rely on the cultivation and consumption of cucurbit crops. Therefore, efforts are required to continuously develop varieties that are well-adapted to changing climatic conditions, are high yielding and nutritional, and can tolerate emerging pests and diseases to ensure a sufficient food supply for the increasing human population. The genetic improvement of economic traits relies on the availability of sufficient genetic variation for the selection of suitable genotypes to be used for hybridization in crop improvement programmes. Therefore, exploring the genetic diversity in cucurbit crops will allow the design and breeding of improved varieties, targeting local uses, niche market opportunities, and the changing market standards and consumer preferences.  

This Special Issue provides an opportunity to highlight the status of the genetic diversity of diverse cucurbit species. We invite manuscripts that focus on germplasm characterization using agronomic/horticultural and physiological traits, molecular markers, nutritional and phytochemical composition, and pest and disease reactions in order to encourage the collection and conservation of cucurbit genetic resources for future cultivar breeding.

Dr. Jacob Mashilo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • crop genetic resources
  • cucurbits
  • genetic diversity
  • genotyping
  • genetic analysis
  • molecular markers
  • phenotyping

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

10 pages, 1427 KiB  
Article
Comprehensive Assessment of Morphological Diversity in Bottle Gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) Accessions: A Focus on Roots and Morpho-Agronomic Traits
by Sebastián Flores-Chacón, Gonzalo Carreño, Carlos Maldonado and Rodrigo Contreras-Soto
Diversity 2024, 16(3), 136; https://doi.org/10.3390/d16030136 - 22 Feb 2024
Viewed by 866
Abstract
Phenotypic characterization of the variability present within bottle gourd has been limited to morpho-agronomic traits, and this evaluation is a prerequisite for a bottle gourd breeding program. Despite playing an important role in the phenotypic variation in plants, the root system has limited [...] Read more.
Phenotypic characterization of the variability present within bottle gourd has been limited to morpho-agronomic traits, and this evaluation is a prerequisite for a bottle gourd breeding program. Despite playing an important role in the phenotypic variation in plants, the root system has limited use in studies of morphological diversity. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize the morphological diversity present in bottle gourd accessions of different countries based on roots and morpho-agronomic traits. The magnitude of morphological diversity and divergence among nineteen bottle gourd accessions that represent nine different countries of origin were evaluated with analysis of variance, principal component analysis, and an agglomerative hierarchical clustering (AHC) analysis. ANOVA for morpho-agronomic and root traits revealed significant morphological effects among the accessions, suggesting substantial differences among the bottle gourd accessions. The nineteen accessions were grouped into three clusters, and while these were not grouped according to the country of origin, clear differences among the roots and flowering traits were observed between the L. siceraria var. hispida with L. siceraria var. siceraria accessions, which were confirmed with the AHC analysis, revealing the divergence between these varieties and the opportunities for rootstock breeding programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Diversity of Cucurbit Crops)
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21 pages, 344 KiB  
Article
Combining Ability and Heterosis among Bottle Gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.] Selections for Yield and Related Traits under Drought-Stressed and Non-Stressed Conditions
by Phumzile Mkhize, Hussein Shimelis and Jacob Mashilo
Diversity 2023, 15(8), 925; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15080925 - 14 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1744
Abstract
Bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.] is cultivated for multiple utilities, including as a leafy vegetable, for fresh and dried fruits and seeds. It is an under-researched and -utilized crop, and modern varieties are yet to be developed and deployed in sub-Saharan [...] Read more.
Bottle gourd [Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.] is cultivated for multiple utilities, including as a leafy vegetable, for fresh and dried fruits and seeds. It is an under-researched and -utilized crop, and modern varieties are yet to be developed and deployed in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There is a dire need for pre-breeding and breeding of bottle gourds for commercialization in SSA. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the combining ability and heterosis among selected genotypes of bottle gourd for fruit yield and related traits under drought-stressed and non-stressed conditions to select the best parents and hybrids. Eight preliminarily selected and contrasting parents with drought tolerance were crossed using a half-diallel mating design. The 8 parents and 28 crosses were evaluated under non-stressed (NS) and drought-stressed (DS) conditions across two growing seasons (2020/21 and 2021/22) using a 6 × 6 alpha lattice design with three replicates. Data were collected on fruit yield and related traits and subjected to analysis of variance, combining ability and heterosis analyses. Significant (p < 0.05) specific combining ability (SCA) and general combining ability (GCA) effects were computed for fruit yield per plant (FYPP). The SCA × environment and GCA × environment interaction effects were highly significant (p < 0.001) for FYPP and SYPP. The results suggest that genetic effects were affected by the test environment. Parental genotypes BG-58 and GC recorded positive and significant GCA effects for FYPP under the DS condition, whereas GC recorded positive and significant GCA effects for FYPP under the NS condition. The two genotypes are ideal breeding parents for population development to select genotypes with high fruit and seed yields. Crosses BG-27 × BG-79, BG-79 × BG-52, BG-79 × BG-70, BG-80 × BG-70, BG-80 × GC, and BG-70 × GC recorded high and positive SCA effects for FYPP and SYPP under DS condition. Crosses BG-81 × BG-52, BG-81 × GC, BG-27 × BG-79, BG-27 × GC, BG-79 × GC, BG-80 × BG-70, BG-81 × BG-58, BG-27 × BG-80, BG-27 × BG-58, BG-79 × BG-52, BG-52 × BG-58, BG-80 × BG-58, and BG-58 × BG-70 recorded high and positive SCA effects for FYPP and SYPP under NS condition. Crosses BG-80 × BG-58, BG-27 × BG-79, BG-79 × BG-52, BG-27 × BG-52, and BG-52 × BG-80 showed high and positive mid- and better-parent heterosis under DS condition for FYPP and SYPP. Crosses BG-27 × GC, BG-79 × GC, BG-27 × BG-58, and BG-27 × BG-79 showed high and positive mid- and better parent heterosis under NS condition for FYPP and SYPP. The newly selected families are recommended for multi-environment evaluation forrelease and commercialization in South Africa or similar agroecologies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Diversity of Cucurbit Crops)
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