• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.624-637
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• 2020

High-quality and high-phytonutrient watermelon fruits have strong market opportunities besides their health related benefits. Hence, investigating quality and nutritional related traits of watermelon genetic resources could provide important baseline data in breeding for increased lycopene content thereby increasing the marketability of watermelon. To this end, we have examined some fruit morphological traits and lycopene content of 105 genetic resources. Seeds, originally obtained from 22+ countries, were obtained from the National Agrobiodiversity Center, Jeonju, South Korea, grown in an experimental field and harvested at a fully mature stage. The size of pistil scar (SPS), the width of stripes (WS), weight of fruit (WF), length of fruit (LF), width of fruit (WIF), the thickness of pericarp (TP), soluble solids content (SSC), fruit shape in longitudinal section, ground color of skin, the intensity of the green color of skin, fruit shape at the apical part, grooving distribution, conspicuousness of stripes, and main color of the flesh were recorded on the field and inside laboratory and the lycopene was measured using spectrophotometric and HPLC methods. Watermelon fruits have shown a diverse morphological characters. Red and pink fleshed fruits dominated in the entire collections. Fruits with higher thickness of rind were found to exhibit less soluble solid content (SSC). Korean origin fruits were characterized by intermediate SSC while the United States of America (USA), Russia (RUS), Tajikistan (TJK), Turkmenistan (TKM), Taiwan (TWN), and Uruguay (URY) originated fruits had the highest SSC. The lycopene content varied between 41.37 and 182.82 ㎍/g, 2.81 and 163.72 ㎍/g, and 3.54 and 255.47 ㎍/g using HPLC, UV-Vis spectrophotometer, and microplate reader spectrophotometer, respectively. Red- and pink-fleshed fruits had the highest levels of lycopene content compared to the yellow- and orange-fleshed. Lycopene content had a significant positive correlation with SSC, however, no correlations were detected between lycopene and other quantitative fruit morphological characters. Our study demonstrated high diversity exists in fruit morphological traits and lycopene content of the germplasm collections which provide beneficial baseline data for a future breeding program and utilization of watermelon germplasm collections in gene banks for the maintenance and improvement of the current levels of production, marketability, and health-related benefit of watermelon fruits.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.737-750
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• 2015

This study was carried out to construct a DNA profile database for 102 watermelon cultivars through the comparison of polymorphism level and genetic relatedness using genomic microsatellite (gMS) and expressed sequence tag (EST)-microsatellite (eMS) markers. Sixteen gMS and 10 eMS primers showed hyper-variability and were able to represent the genetic variation within 102 watermelon cultivars. With gMS markers, an average of 3.63 alleles per marker were detected with a polymorphism information content (PIC) value of 0.479, whereas with eMS markers, the average number of alleles per marker was 2.50 and the PIC value was 0.425, indicating that eMS detects a lower polymorphism level compared to gMS. Cluster analysis and Jaccard's genetic distance coefficients using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic average (UPGMA) based on the gMS, eMS, and combined data sets showed that 102 commercial watermelon cultivars could be categorized into 6 to 8 major groups corresponding to phenotypic traits. Moreover, this method was sufficient to identify 78 out of 102 cultivars. Correlation analysis with Mantel tests for those clusters using 3 data sets showed high correlation ($r{\geq}0.80$). Therefore, the microsatellite markers used in this study may serve as a useful tool for germplasm evaluation, genetic purity assessment, and fingerprinting of watermelon cultivars.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.695-698
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• 2010

The incidence of Anthracnose causing severe damage to the foliage and fruit in watermelon has increased in some major watermelon producing areas in Korea. To develop anthracnose resistant line, 'AU-Producer' having resistant gene to anthracnose was selected from germplasm and crossed with high quality line '920533'. Following the initial cross, backrossing and disease screening were performed to select resistant lines that produced high yields with excellent quality fruit. As a results of these procedure, a mid maturing watermelon line, 'Hangyeol' with resistance to anthracnose (Colletotrichum orbiculare) race 1 and 3 was developed at the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration (RDA). It has red flesh and commonly produces fruit with clear stripes on skin between 5.3 to 10.1 kg. Average soluble solid contents are ranged from 9.8 to 11.8$^{\circ}$Bx. The yield and quality of 'Hangyeol' is comparable to or better than those harvested from the popular commercial cultivars. The achievement of this experiment could contribute to provide the resistant parents in an anthracnose resistance breeding program in watermelon.

• Korean Journal of Breeding Science
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.699-702
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• 2010

Anthracnose is a major limiting factor of the watermelon production in Korea. A mid-late maturing watermelon line, 'Hanbit' with resistance to anthracnose (Colletotrichum orbiculare) race 1 and 3, was developed by the cross between anthracnose resistant cultivar 'AU-Producer' and high quality inbred line '920533' at the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science, Rural Development Administration (RDA). 'Hanbit' produces 5.4 to 9.5 kg of red flesh fruits with clear stripes on skin. Average soluble solid contents are ranged from 10.4 to 11.2$^{\circ}$Bx. The yield and quality of 'Hanbit' was comparable to or better than those harvested from the popular commercial cultivars. 'Hanbit' can be cultivated in open fields and under the protected green house condition. In addition to the commercial production, it can be used as a resistant material in $F_1$ hybrid breeding program.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.258-267
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• 2023

Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum (Fon) is a serious disease in watermelon cultivation. Most of commercialized watermelon cultivars to Fusarium wilt are susceptible in Korea. Fon isolates were divided into four races (races 0, 1, 2, and 3), based on pathogenicity in four watermelon differentials including 'Sugar baby', 'Charleston gray', 'Calhoun gray' and 'PI-296341-FR'. We obtained 7 isolates of Fon and tested to determine race of the fungal strains. Fon KACC 40902 and Fon HA were race 0 and Fon NW1, Fon NW2, Fon CW and Fon KACC 40901 were race 1. And Fon KACC 40905 was race 2, but race 3 isolate of Fon was not founded. We also tested virulence of seven Fon isolates on three-susceptible cultivars of watermelon. The isolates showed different virulence on the cultivars. In addition, to study the resistance characteristics of watermelon to Fon, we selected three moderately or highly resistant cultivars of watermelon and occurrence of Fusarium wilt in seedlings of the cultivars by seven Fon isolates was investigated. Among them, 'Calhoun gray' is highly resistant to six Fon isolates except Fon KACC 40905. On the other two cultivars, disease severity of Fusarium wilt caused by each isolate was positively correlated with the virulence of the Fon isolates. The results suggest that resistance of the watermelon cultivars to Fon isolates is likely affected by the virulence of the pathogen.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.235-242
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• 2015

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of soluble potassium silicate by soil drenching application on watermelon growth, yield, and nutrient uptake. The potassium silicate rates were control (No potassium silicate), 1.63mM, 3.25mM, 6.50mM. The potassium silicate were treated 6 times (twice before fruit forming and 4 times after fruit forming per 7 day. Soil chemical properties, such as soil pH, EC, available phosphorus and silicate, exchangeable K, nitrate-N levels were increased after potassium silicate treatment, while the concentrations of soil organic matter, exchangeable Ca and Mg were similar to control. The growth characteristics of watermelon, such as stem diameter, fresh and dry weight of watermelon at harvest were thicker and heavier for increased potassium silicate treatment than the control, while number of node, and plant length were same for all treatments. With increased potassium silicate treatment, nutrient concentrations, such as P and K in the watermelon leaf at harvest were increased, N concentration in the leaf was decreased, and Ca and Mg concentrations in the leaf were same. Chlorophyll content was increased with increased potassium silicate application. The occurrence of powdery mildew was lower for the potassium silicate treatments than the control. Fresh watermelon weight for the potassium silicate treatments was 0.1 to 0.5kg per watermelon heavier than the control, sugar content was 0.5 to $0.6^{\circ}Brix$ higher than control, and merchantable watermelon was 2 to 4% increased compared to the control. These results suggest that potassium silicate application by soil drenching method in the greenhouse can improve watermelon nutrient uptake, merchantable watermelon and suppress the occurrence of powdery mildew.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.298-308
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• 2009

A flexuous rod-shaped virus was isolated from Cucurbita pepo leaves showing as green mosaic and puckering symptoms at Anseong, Korea. Based on the biological analysis, electron microscopy, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), the virus isolate was identified as Papaya ringspot virus type watermelon (PRSV-W). From biological analysis, the host range of PRSV-W was limited to the families Cucurbitaceae and Chenopodiaceae. Most susceptible cucurbit species, such as Cucumis lanatus, Cucumis sativus, Cucurbita pepo, and Citrullus lanatus, showed symptoms of green mosaic, malformation, puckering, and narrow laminae by infection with PRSV-W. The local lesion were showed on the inoculated leaves of both Chenopodium amaranticolor and C. quinoa. Field survey of PRSV, Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV), three major viruses infecting cucurbit, was done during 2001 to 2003 on 173 commercial cucurbit cultivating fields distributed over the three regions of Gyeonggi, Gyeongbuk and Jeonnam Provinces where cucurbits are grown in different environmental conditions and cropping patterns. Typical viral symptoms were observed from 107 cultivating fields, and all three kinds of potyviruses were detected from 206 samples out of the 235 samples using RT-PCR. Watermelon mosaic virus (WMV) and Zucchini yellow mosaic virus (ZYMV) are the most widely distributed viruses in outdoor and retarding-culture fields, at an infection rating of 48 and 33 percents, respectively. PRSV was detected from 12 percent of 235 samples. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of coat proteins (CP) of eight PRSV isolates, collected from several areas including Anseong, were determined and sequenced heterogeneity among the isolates was performed. The CP gene of PRSV showed 88.6~97.3 percent homology in nucleotide sequences and 95.1~99.3 percent homology in amino acid sequences with other PRSV isolates worldwide. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that the Korean PRSV isolates belong to the southern-east Asian cluster.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.56-63
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• 2017

This study was carried out to establish qualities of watermelon seedling (Citrullus lanatus) according to raising seedling period (RSP; 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, and 65 days) and was carried out to investigate growth characteristics after planting of the seedlings. In seedling qualities according to RSP, Plant height, stem diameter, leaf area of seedling with RSP 65 treatment were significantly increased. Fresh and dry weight in the above of corp showed a significant difference among the seedlings with RSP 40-45, RSP 50-60 and RSP 65 treatment, and that in of root were significantly higher in the seedlings with RSP 40, 45, 65 treatments than with other RSP treatments. S/R ratio was lower in the seedlings with RSP 40 and 45 treatments than with other RSP treatments. RSP affected to the leaf area and S/R ratio of seedling. After 11 weeks after planting of a various seedlings, except that height and node number of plant with 45 RSP treatment was lower than other RSP treatments, other growth characteristics were not significantly different amon RSP treatments. Leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight and S/R ratio were lowest in plant with RSP 65 treatment. Relative growth rate and net assimilation rate of planted watermelon tended to decrease and leaf area ratio was continuously increased until 9th week in the all treatments. The lighter and heavier fruit were produced in plants with RSP 40 and RSP 65 treatments (9.7 kg and 9.9 kg) and in RSP 50 and RSP 55 treatments (both 11.0kg), respectively. Fruit sugar contents was highest in fruit with RSP 45 treatment, and was lowest in RSP 50 and RSP 60 treatments. RSP showed a polynomial regression relation with the increment of fruit weight and the weight of harvested fruit. Considering the increment and weight of fruit, the most for RSP of watermelon seedling for planting were 50-55 days.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.673-683
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• 2014

This study was conducted to establish an efficient screening method to identify cucurbits resistant to powdery mildew. Powdery mildew fungus was obtained from a single lesion of infected cucumber leaf in 2010 at Daejeon. The fungus was identified as Podosphaera xanthii race 1 based on morphological characteristics and resistance responses of four melon differentials. Development of powdery mildew caused by the fungal isolate on 34 commercial cultivars of cucumber was investigated at three plant growth stages in a greenhouse. The degree of resistance of cotyledons of each cultivar to the fungus was not correlated with that of whole plant, but powdery mildew occurrence in the first true leaf was highly correlated with resistance at the level of the whole plant. Based on these results, the first true leaf of cucurbit cultivars can be used for screening of resistance to powdery mildew. In addition, variation of resistance of commercial 12 cucumber and 26 melon cultivars to the powdery mildew fungus due to different growing seasons was tested. In the case of cucumber, the resistance response in some cultivars was influenced by growing season. The resistant cultivars showed higher resistance in the warm season than in the cool season. By contrast, the resistant melon cultivars demonstrated strong resistance in all the tested growing seasons. Interestingly, the tested powdery mildew pathogen, a member of P. xanthii race 1, was not pathogenic on seven cultivars of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus). To follow up on this, diverse race 1 isolates of P. xanthii should be collected and tested.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.85-92
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• 2012

This study was conducted to develop a set of EST-SSR marker for the purity test of commercial F1 hybrid cultivars in the watermelon. A total of 353 EST-SSR were selected and tested on seven F1 cultivars and their 11 parental lines achieved from NH Seeds Inc., Korea. Among tested 96 primer sets, WMU0056 for 'Orange', WMU0400 for 'Heukbo', WMU0056 and WMU0400 for 'Sindong', and WMU0056 and WMU0400 for 'Serona' revealed polymorphisms between the parental lines and heterozygosity from these F1 cultivers. Of 122 primer sets tested for 'Haedong', WMU0056, WMU0400, WMU0580, WMU1211, WMU4136, and WMU448 showed polymorphisms that were appropriate for the F1 purity test. WMU0056 and WMU0400 can be useful for 'Haedong', as well. Relatively low polymorphisms between parental lines were detected for 'Kulnara'(5%) and 'Hwangpea'(2%), and therefore, all 353 primer sets were tested on these cultivars. As the result, WMU5339 and WMU7003 were found to be useful for the F1 purity test in 'Kulnara' and 'Hwangpea', respectively. Using these EST-SSR markers developed by ICuGI, hybridity of the seeds for four F1 cultivars produced from farmers was evaluated, and levels of the F1 purity higher than 97.5% was observed from all seed populations. Our results indicated that the watermelon EST-SSR marker information posted in ICuGI could be utilized for developing codomiant and locus-specific markers that are highly effective for the F1 purity test.