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. 2019 May 10;9(1):7249.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-43616-6.

Inheritance of fruit yield and quality in melon (Cucumis melo L.) grown under field salinity stress

Mahmoud Akrami  1 , Ahmad Arzani  2
Affiliations

Inheritance of fruit yield and quality in melon (Cucumis melo L.) grown under field salinity stress

Mahmoud Akrami et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Cultivation of salinity-tolerant crops can help mitigate salinization threats to soil and fresh water resources. This study was conducted to investigate the quantitative genetic basis of yield, yield components, and quality-related traits of salinity-stressed melon (Cucumis melo L.) using 55 melon hybrids and their 11 parents (half diallel). The results of combined ANOVA revealed highly significant effects of salinity and genotype on all the traits studied. Salinity stress influenced the inheritance of all the traits. The lower values of variance components (mainly additive), GCA/SCA ratio, as well as broad- and narrow-sense heritabilities were estimated for saline conditions (ECW = 14 dSm-1) when compared with those obtained under non-saline conditions. Fruit weight was governed by additive effects in non-saline conditions, but largely governed by the dominant nature in saline conditions. Based on the results obtained, especially as reflected by fruit yield, it is possible to develop melon hybrids with higher salinity tolerance than is currently observed in tolerant cultivars. On the other hand, most of the traits contributing to fruit quality are found to be governed by additive effects, allowing for their further improvement through recurrent selection to develop new cultivars of high yield and good quality for cultivation under saline conditions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Showing genetic variations especially in fruit characteristics of melon parents used in diallel analysis. (P1–P11; correspond to the parent codes listed in Table 1).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The minimum and maximum (T-Min and T-Max) of daily air temperature (a) and minimum (RH-Min) and maximum (RH-Max) relative air humidity (b) between April to September 2016, PT and HT corresponded to planting time (3 May) and end of the harvesting time (6 August), respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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