• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.622-628
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• 2014

The aim of this work is to evaluate the potential of oriental melon (Cucumis melo L. var. makuwa Makino) seeds for the management of type 2 diabetes by controlling glucose absorption. The ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and ${\alpha}$-amylase inhibitory effects of the hexane extracts from oriental melon seeds were investigated. A bioassay-guided fractionation technique was used to elucidate the principal active components. The results show that the hexane extract from oriental melon seeds exhibited high inhibitory activities against ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and ${\alpha}$-amylase. The hexane extract was further fractionated into four sub-fractions. Among them, the sub-fraction F-1 exhibited the most potent anti-diabetic effect. The active components were isolated and identified by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). Free fatty acids showed significant hypoglycemic activity (p < 0.001) and fatty acid composition influenced enzyme inhibitory activities. These results suggest that oriental melon seeds could be used to prevent type 2 diabetes.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.310-315
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• 2023

In May 2021, characteristic soft rot symptoms, including soft, watery, slimy, black rot, wilting, and leaf collapse, were observed on melon plants (Cucumis melo) in Gokseong, Jeollanam-do, Korea. A bacterial strain, designated KNUB-06-21, was isolated from infected plant samples, taxonomically classified, and phylogenetically analyzed using 16S rRNA and housekeeping gene sequencing. Strain KNUB-06-21 was also examined for compound utilization using the API ID 32 GN system and strain KNUB-06-21 was identified as Pectobacterium brasiliense. Subsequent melon stem inoculation studies using strain KNUB-06-21 showed soft rot symptoms similar to field plants. Re-isolated strains shared phenotypic and molecular characteristics with the original P. brasiliense KNUB-06-21 strain. To our knowledge, ours is the first report of P. brasiliense causing melon soft rot disease in Korea.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.535-537
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• 2023

We report the draft genome sequence of Bacillus thuringiensis serovar aizawai AS23, an insecticidal strain targeting lepidopteran pests, which was isolated from the rhizosphere of Korean melon (Cucumis melo L.). The genome of strain AS23 comprising 6,846,584 bp with a G + C content of 34.83% was assembled to 11 contigs obtained using hybrid assembly. Additionally, we mined the genome for pesticidal genes, identifying several insecticidal genes, including Cry1Aa3, Cry1Ca9, Cry1Da2, Cry1Ia44, Cry2Ab41, Cry9Ea9, Spp1Aa1, and Vip3Aa86.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.27 no.3 s.90
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• pp.198-205
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• 1999

Cucurbitaceous vegetable crops grown in greenhouses in Korea were surveyed from 1995 to 1997. Incidence of Sclerotinia rot was as high as $30{\sim}70%$ at its maximum on Cucumis melo var. reticulatus (netted melon), Cucumis sativus (cucumber), Cucurbita moschata (pumpkin) and Cucurbita pepo (summer squash) but relatively low on Citrullus lanatus (watermelon) and Cucumis melo var. makuwa (oriental melon). Symptoms of Sclerotinia rot developed on stems of all the cucurbits, fruits of five cucurbits except C. lanatus, petioles of two Cucurbita spp. and leaves of C. moschata. A total of 126 isolates of Sclerotinia sp. were obtained from the lesions and identified as Sclerotinia sclerotiorum based on the morphological and cultural characteristics. The fungus was very frequently isolated from stems and fruits of the cucurbits but rarely from petioles and leaves. Six isolates of the fungus were pathogenic to six cucurbits tested although there was some difference in virulence among the isolates to some of the hosts. C. lanatus was the most susceptible to the isolates, whereas C. melo var. makuwa was the most resistant. C. melo var. reticulatus and C. sativus were relatively susceptible to the isolates, and C. moschata and C. pepo relatively resistant.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.200-205
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• 1996

This experiment was conducted to characterize and quantify the free sugars (glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose) contained in many different portions of watermelon (Citrus vulgaris L.) and muskmelon (Cucumis melo var. reticulatus Naud.) fruits by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Free sugars were mainly fructose, glucose, sucrose, and their contents were variable among portions. Total free sugar contents were higher in the stylar end and side than in the stem end of both watermelon and muskmelon. Total free sugar contents increased from the periphery toward the central core in watermelon and except central core content seeds in muskmelon Ratio of nonreducing to reducing sugars [(fructose + glucose)/sucrose] was gradually decreased from the periphery toward the middle area in watermelon, though the central core showed higher value than the middle area. For the edible portion of muskmelon, the ratio was decreased toward middle area, and no significant difference was observed between the central core and the middle area. However, reducing sugars and nonreducing sugar were all increased from the periphery toward the central core in watermelon. In contrast with watermelon, reducing sugars were decreased in muskmelon.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.40 no.6
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• pp.572-576
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• 1997

Effect of anoxia treatment on alcohol fermentation in the placenta of oriental melons (Cucumis melo) at different developmental stages was studied. Results showed that fruits at the rapid growth stage (stage III) contained the lowest amount of acetaldehyde and ethanol as compared with fruits at other developmental stages. During anoxia treatment, a steady increase in ethanol content was observed in the placenta of oriental melons, regardless of their developmental stages, while the increment of acetaldehyde content was relatively small. Alcohol dehydrogenase in growing and maturing stage fruits showed increased activity with the maximum value at one day after the onset of anoxia treatment and then decreased gradually. An increase in the activity of pyruvate decarboxylase was also observed during anoxia.

• Horticultural Science & Technology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.93-105
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• 2015

This study was performed to analyze genetic relationships of the four major cucurbitaceous crops including watermelon, melon, cucumber, and squash/pumpkin. Among 120 EST-SSR primer sets selected from the International Cucurbit Genomics Initiative (ICuGI) database, PCR was successful for 51 (49.17%) primer sets and 49 (40.8%) primer sets showed polymorphisms among eight Cucurbitaceae accessions. A total of 382 allele-specific PCR bands were produced by 49 EST-SSR primers from 24 Cucurbitaceae accessions and used for analysis of pairwise similarity and dendrogram construction. Assessment of the genetic relationships resulted in similarity indexes ranging from 0.01 to 0.85. In the dendrogram, 24 Cucurbitaceae accessions were classified into two major groups (Clade I and II) and 8 subgroups. Clade I comprised two subgroups, Clade I-1 for watermelon accessions [I-1a and I-1b-2: three wild-type watermelons (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides Mats. & Nakai), I-1b-1: six watermelon cultivars (Citrullus lanatus var. vulgaris S chrad.)] a nd C lade I -2 for melon and cucumber accessions [I-2a-1 : 4 melon cultivars(Cucumis melo var. cantalupensis Naudin.), I-2a-2: oriental melon cultivars (Cucumis melo var. conomon Makino.), and I-2b: five cucumber cultivars (Cucumis sativus L.)]. Squash and pumpkin accessions composed Clade II {II-1: two squash/ pumpkin cultivars [Cucurbita moschata (Duch. ex Lam.)/Duch. & Poir. and Cucurbita maxima Duch.] and II-2: two squash/pumpkin cultivars, Cucurbita pepo L./Cucurbita ficifolia Bouche.}. These results were in accordance with previously reported classification of Cucurbitaceae species, indicating that watermelon EST-SSRs show a high level of marker transferability and should be useful for genetic study in other cucurbit crops.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.284-289
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• 2015

Powdery mildew (Podosphaera xanthii) commonly occurs in cultivated fields of melon (Cucumis melo L.). It inflicts a lot of damages. Therefore, breeding resistant lines is essential. Development of a resistant line by integrating resistance gene takes a long time. In addition, break down of developed resistance by generating new virulent fungus strains increases disease susceptibility. This phenomenon was related to races of powdery mildew. Therefore, it is important to develop a DNA marker to genetically analyze race-specific resistance genes of melon powdery mildew to breed resistant lines. To date, a total of 28 races of Podosphaera xanthii have been reported in the literature. In Japan, 10 races have been reported in the Ibaraki region. We developed a system to characterize the races of Podosphaera xanthii and confirmed eight out of those 10 races in the Ibaraki region. In Korea, only one race has been characterized to date. However, some different races were detected. Through genetic analysis of resistant lines and susceptible lines of powdery mildew, resistance genes of race1 (Pm-X, PXB, and Pm-R 1), race N1 (PXA), race 2 (Pm-w and Pm-R 2), race 3 (Pm-X3), and race 5 (Pm-X5 and Pm-R5) were identified in melon. These related genes of race 1, 3, N1, 5, and race 1, 2, 5 were located at linkage group II and V, respectively. In race 1, resistance gene was located in the linkage group XII. In addition, each race-specific marker related to specific resistance gene was developed. Using race information and race selection system obtained in this study, resistant line can be bred to develop resistant cultivar for several areas. Furthermore, this will make it more easily and economically to breed resistant lines by using selected markers.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.401-408
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• 2015

Horticultural traits and genetic relationship were evaluated for 83 melon (Cucumis melo L.) cultivars. Survey of a total of 36 characteristics for seedling, leaf, stem, flower, fruit, and seed and subsequent multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) were conducted. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that 8 principle components including fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, cotyledon length, seed diameter, and seed length accounted for 76.3% of the total variance. Cluster analysis of the 83 melon cultivars using average linkage method resulted in 5 clusters at coefficient of 0.7. Cluster I consisted of cultivars with high values for fruit-related traits, Cluster II for soluble solid content, and Cluster V for high ripening rate. Genotyping of the 83 cultivars was conducted using 15 expressed-sequence tagged-simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) from the Cucurbit Genomics Initiative (ICuGI) database. Analysis of genetic relatedness by UPGMA resulted in 6 clusters. Mantel test indicated that correlation between morphological and genetic distance was very low (r = -0.11).

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.74-80
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• 2002

The effect of the foliar application of amino acid mixture on the growth of melon (Cucumis melo L.) seedlings was investigated. The amino acid treatments were initiated at the first (Ll) or second (L2) fully expanded leaf stage. The concentrations of amino acid mixture used were 0,10, 20, and 30 mg . L$^{-1}$ . At Ll stage, the fresh and dry weights of shoot were high in the amino acid treatments. Plant height was the highest in 30 mg . L$^{-1}$ at the third sampling of Ll. At L2 stage, shoot fresh weight was the greatest when the concentration of amino acid mixture was 30 mg.L$^{-1}$ at the third sampling. Plant height was the highest in 30 mg L$^{-1}$ at the second and third samplings. At the third sampling of Ll stage the amino acid mixture affected leaf length and leaf width of the first true leaf. At the third sampling of L2 stage leaf length was not significantly dirtferent between treatments, while leaf width was greater in amino acid treatments. At the second and third samplings of Ll stage the amino acid mixture had effect on leaf length and leaf width of the second true leafs which were not significantly different between treatments at L2 stage. Leaf length and leaf width of the third true leaf were affected by amino acid treatments. In conclusion, when the first true leaf expanded\ulcorner three foliar applications of 20-30 mg . L$^{-1}$ amino acid mixture can stimulate the growth of melon seedlings. If the amino acid mixture is sprayed at the second true leaf stage, two foliar applications of 30 mg . L$^{-1}$ amino acid mixture can improve the growth of melon seedlings.