Monday, May 24, 2021

Ancient discovery could help us develop more disease resistant watermelons

UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD

Research News

An ancient melon which is the closest relative and potential ancestor of the watermelon, has been discovered by scientists.

A team of scientists led by Dr Guillaume Chomicki, from the University of Sheffield, has discovered the potential progenitor of the domestic watermelon, the Kordofan melon, using DNA sequencing technologies and analyses with historical data and Ancient Egyptian iconography.

The discovery could explain why watermelons are so susceptible to disease as their analysis shows how key disease-resistant genes were lost as the melon was domesticated, and also help us to breed more disease-resistant watermelons in the future.

The findings show that the melon originates from North Eastern Africa, in the region of Kordofan in Sudan, settling decades old debate and giving us more insight into how the watermelon was domesticated.

Dr Guillaume Chomicki, from the University of Sheffield's Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, said: "The watermelon is one of the most important tropical fruits, with over 200 million tons produced every year, but it is also very susceptible to disease.

"There are specific watermelon diseases, such as the Watermelon mosaic virus and they are also very sensitive to fungal infections. In conventional agriculture, they are frequently treated with fungicides, and insecticides to limit virus transfer.

"Our analysis clearly shows that the Kordofan melon has more disease resistant genes, and different versions of those too. This means that the genome of the Kordofan melon has the potential to help us breed disease-resistant watermelons and allow non-GM gene editing. Achieving this would be reducing substantially pesticide use in watermelon farming."

The new research, published in the journal PNAS, also found that the wild progenitor of the watermelon was already non-bitter and farmers brought these naturally sweet forms into cultivation, this contrasts dramatically with other crop species in the same family such as cucumber or squash, in which the loss of bitterness is the result of domestication.

The genomic work, together with new interpretations of ancient Egyptian iconography by Dr Chomicki and colleagues shows that Egyptians were cultivating sweet watermelons at least 4,200 years ago.

###

Notes to editors:

* The study will be available when the embargo breaks at: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101486118 to see an embargoed copy before then please contact the Media Relations Officer.

The University of Sheffield

With almost 29,000 of the brightest students from over 140 countries, learning alongside over 1,200 of the best academics from across the globe, the University of Sheffield is one of the world's leading universities.

A member of the UK's prestigious Russell Group of leading research-led institutions, Sheffield offers world-class teaching and research excellence across a wide range of disciplines.

Unified by the power of discovery and understanding, staff and students at the university are committed to finding new ways to transform the world we live in.

Sheffield is the only university to feature in The Sunday Times 100 Best Not-For-Profit Organisations to Work For 2018 and for the last eight years has been ranked in the top five UK universities for Student Satisfaction by Times Higher Education.

Sheffield has six Nobel Prize winners among former staff and students and its alumni go on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence all over the world, making significant contributions in their chosen fields.

Global research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Siemens and Airbus, as well as many UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.

No comments: