Cucurbit Expression Atlas

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an economically important vegetable crop worldwide, and cucumber fruit spine density has an important impact on the commercial value. However, little is known about the regulatory mechanism for the fruit spine formation.In this study, we enlarged the F2 mapping populations derived from a cross between NCG122 (numerous fruit spines) and NCG121 (few fruit spines) and developed new molecular markers.Then, we isolated the ns gene (numerous spines) using map-based cloning. Additionally, the transcriptome analyses of ovaries and pericarps (approximately 0.2 cm thick) from NCG122 and NCG121 were conducted to identify the gene regulatory networks involved in the formation and development of numerous fruit spines in cucumber. This work will promote molecular markers-assisted breeding and the exploration of molecular mechanisms that regulate cucumber fruit spine density.

# DAA: day of flowering
# DBF: day before flowering
# F: cultivar NCG122
# M: cultivar NCG121