Genetic Mapping and QTL Analysis of Fruit Traits in Melon (Cucumis melo L.).

Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is an important horticultural cash crop and its quality traits directly affect consumer choice and market price. These traits are controlled by genetic as well as environmental factors. In this study, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping strategy was used to identify the potential genetic loci controlling quality traits of melons (i.e., exocarp and pericarp firmness and soluble solid content) based on newly derived whole-genome single nucleotide polymorphism-based cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (SNP-CAPS) markers. Specifically, SNPs of two melon varieties, M4-5 and M1-15, as revealed by whole-genome sequencing, were converted to the CAPS markers, which were used to construct a genetic linkage map comprising 12 chromosomes with a total length of 1414.88 cM, in the F2 population of M4-5 and M1-15. The six identified QTLs included: SSC6.1 and SSC11.1 related to soluble solid content; EF12.1 associated with exocarp firmness; and EPF3.1, EPF3.2 and EPF7.1 related to edible pericarp firmness. These genes were located on five chromosomes (3, 6, 7, 11, and 12) in the flanking regions of the CAPS markers. Moreover, the newly developed CAPS markers will be useful in guiding genetic engineering and molecular breeding in melon.

Genome-Wide Identification, Evolutionary Analysis, and Functional Studies of APX Genes in Melon (Cucuis melo L.).

The antioxidative enzyme ascorbate peroxidase (APX) exerts a critically important function through scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS), alleviating oxidative damage in plants, and enhancing their tolerance to salinity. Here, we identified 28 CmAPX genes that display an uneven distribution pattern throughout the 12 chromosomes of the melon genome by carrying out a bioinformatics analysis. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that the CmAPX gene family comprised seven different clades, with each clade of genes exhibiting comparable motifs and structures. We cloned 28 CmAPX genes to infer their encoded protein sequences; we then compared these sequences with proteins encoded by rice APX proteins (OsAPX2), Puccinellia tenuiflora APX proteins (PutAPX) and with pea APX proteins. We found that the CmAPX17, CmAPX24, and CmAPX27 genes in Clade I were closely related, and their structures were highly conserved. CmAPX27 (MELO3C020719.2.1) was found to promote resistance to 150 mM NaCl salt stress, according to quantitative real-time fluorescence PCR. Transcriptome data revealed that CmAPX27 was differentially expressed among tissues, and the observed differences in expression were significant. Virus-induced gene silencing of CmAPX27 significantly decreased salinity tolerance, and CmAPX27 exhibited differential expression in the leaf, stem, and root tissues of melon plants. This finding demonstrates that CmAPX27 exerts a key function in melon's tolerance to salt stress. Generally, CmAPX27 could be a target in molecular breeding efforts aimed at improving the salt tolerance of melon; further studies of CmAPX27 could unveil novel physiological mechanisms through which antioxidant enzymes mitigate the deleterious effects of ROS stress.

Acrylated Composite Hydrogel Preparation and Adsorption Kinetics of Methylene Blue.

By using cyclodextrin (α-CD) self-assembly into a hydrogel with the triblock copolymer Pluronic F127, nanomicrocrystalline cellulose was introduced into a gel system to form a composite CNC-ß-CD/α-CD/Pluronic F127 hydrogel (CCH). CCH was modified further by grafting acrylic acid to form a novel acrylated composite hydrogel (ACH). The swelling degree of ACH was 156 g/g. Adsorption isotherms show that the adsorption process for methylene blue proximity fitted the Freundlich model. The adsorption kinetics showed that ACH followed a quasi-second-order kinetic model. Methylene blue desorption showed that ACH was a temperature- and pH-dependent gel. Repeated adsorption and desorption experiments were carried out three times, and the removal rate of methylene blue at 75 mg/L was still 70.1%.

Synthesis of polyethylene glycol functional bonded silica gel for selective recognition and separation of α-cyclodextrin.

In this work, we for the first time synthesized the polyethylene glycol (PEG) bonded silica gel via KH-560 as a silane coupling reagent for column chromatography by a solid/liquid surface continuous reaction method. The molecular interaction, structure, morphology, and thermostability was characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), elemental analysis (EA), scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Given that PEG is capable to self-assemble with α-CD, the PEG bonded silica gel was used as packing of column chromatography to achieve the selective separation of α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The bonded silica gel column could realize the effective separation of α-CD in the enzymatic hydrolysis mixture, which provides support for industrial separation of α-CD.