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A fruit anomaly, pillowy (P), has been identified in processing cucumber This physiological disorder has been shown to be accelerated by water stress.
A series of experiments were conducted to determine postharvest handling procedures which minimize the appearance of pillowy after induction by water stress. Isogenic lines evaluated in RCB design with 3 replications where subjected to water stress during fruit enlargement. Fruits were then subjected to various storage temperatures and times before hydrocooling to 8°C. Cucumbers were then fresh pack processed and evaluated for % pillowy after 12 weeks,
The postharvest control treatmcnt (2 days, 26°C, 60% RH) produced 32%P to 51%P in fruit subjected to stress and 23%P to 39%P in unstressed fruit. In the optimal postharvest treatment (1 day, 26°C, 60% RH, then hydrocool to 8°C, 2 days, 15°C, 85% RH) fruits from stress plants exhibited 23%P to 39%P and those from nonstress plants showed 13%P to 26%P. Fruits from miniature leaf lines exhibited higher percent (37%) P ratings when compared to normal leaf lines.
A teaching module was developed for computer-aided instruction of mutation theory. The Hypercard-driven, Macintosh compatible module illustrates the concepts of: 1) Changes in allele frequency with mutation pressure; 2) Number of alleles maintained in populations, and; 3) The Neutrality Hypothesis. The concepts are integrated in an application by using a game format.
Mutation is the ultimate source of genetic variation. Mutation pressure results in changes in allele frequency. Concept 1 illustrates the theoretical changes in allele frequency under pressure of reversible mutation. Mutation equilibrium is depicted as P=V/u+v; where v=mutation rates of allele A and u of allele a. The Infinite-Alleles Model of mutation is illustrated in Concept 2 and specifies characteristics of new mutations by F=1/4Nu+1, where F=fixation index and N=number in population. Concept 3 demonstrates the hypothesis that polymorphisms result from selectively neutral alleles maintained in a balance between mutation and random genetic drift.
A teaching module was developed for computer-aided instruction of mutation theory. The Hypercard-driven, Macintosh compatible module illustrates the concepts of: 1) Changes in allele frequency with mutation pressure; 2) Number of alleles maintained in populations, and; 3) The Neutrality Hypothesis. The concepts are integrated in an application by using a game format.
Mutation is the ultimate source of genetic variation. Mutation pressure results in changes in allele frequency. Concept 1 illustrates the theoretical changes in allele frequency under pressure of reversible mutation. Mutation equilibrium is depicted as P=V/u+v; where v=mutation rates of allele A and u of allele a. The Infinite-Alleles Model of mutation is illustrated in Concept 2 and specifies characteristics of new mutations by F=1/4Nu+1, where F=fixation index and N=number in population. Concept 3 demonstrates the hypothesis that polymorphisms result from selectively neutral alleles maintained in a balance between mutation and random genetic drift.
A study was designed to determine whether temperature alone or temperature and relative humidity (RH) interactions affect the development of pillowy fruit disorder (PFD) in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Fruit of `Calypso', `Flurry', `Carolina'? and inbred breeding line 39 were matured in four environments: cyclic and high (22 to 45C) and moderate (22 to 30C) temperatures at two RHs (35% and 75%). PFD symptoms were most severe at high temperature and RH; thus, both contribute to the development of this disorder. Line 39 had the highest PFD ratings, regardless of growing environment, a result indicating that cultigens respond differently to these imposed stresses.
Abstract
The inheritance and linkage relationships among isocitrate dehydrogenase, phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and peptidase with phenyl-alanyl-proline were determined. Progeny segregations fit a model for a dimeric enzyme encoded by one disomic locus with two alleles. Linkage associations among the three loci were not detectable with recombination fractions ranging between 0.353 to 0.481 among these loci.
The cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) germplasm collection of 924 cultigens (accessions, breeding lines and cultivars) was evaluated for resistance to anthracnose (Colletotrichum orbiculare (Pass.) Ell. & Halst) in the field and greenhouse. The field test was run using 1 m plots grown in 4 environments (year-location combinations). The field was inoculated 3 weeks after planting using a backpack sprayer. A susceptible spreader cultivar (Wis. SMR 18) was planted every 5th row, and plots were overhead-irrigated 3 times/week. Plots were rated 1 and 2 weeks after inoculation. The greenhouse test was run using seedlings grown in flats of vermiculite, and inoculated with 104 spores/ml on one cotyledon. Plants were rated using the size of the chlorotic halo surrounding the lesion. There was no correlation (r=0.04 to 0.17) of seedling test with field test ratings, nor between any of the 4 field test environments. Correlations were significant among field tests when only cultivars and breeding lines were evaluated. We concluded that diversity within accessions resulted in the lack of correlation among tests. The cultigens that had high resistance in all tests were `Slice', NCSU M 21, Gy 14A, `Addis' and PI 164433 (India). Most susceptible were PI 175696 (Turkey) and PI 285606 (Poland).
The available U. S. Cucumis sativus germplasm collection (754 Plant Introductions) was electrophoretically screened for genetic diversity using 39 enzymes representing a total of 57 loci. Polymorphisms were observed at 18 loci which included g2dh, gpi1, gpi2, gr1, gr2, idh, mdh1, mdh2, mdh3, mpi2, pep-la2, pep-pap2, per4, pgd1, pgd2, pgm1, pgm3, and skdh. Appropriate crosses were set up to verify the inheritance of and test linkages among these loci. Four allozyme linkage groups have currently been identified. Representative linkages and their genetic distances include: gpi1 - mdh3 (20); pgm1 - pgd1 (25); and g2dh - pgd2 (19). Additionally, crosses were made to marker stocks to test for linkages between some allozyme loci and loci coding for resistance to downy mildew and anthracnose, long hypocotyl, divided leaf, short petiole, glabrous, compact plant, determinate, little leaf, and bitter free (bi).
Mean daily stomatal resistance was higher (58%; to 384%), photosynthesis values lower (11% to 49%), and crop water stress index values higher (92% to 95%) in stressed cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants than in irrigated control plants in three experiments performed in 1987 and four in 1988. Pillowy fruit disorder (PFD) was more frequent (110% to 150%) and more severe (59% to 81%) in freshly harvested fruits from stress plots when compared to controls. No after-storage differences in PFD were detectable between water stress treatments. Mean PFD ratings of processed fruit following postharvest storage at 26.5C and either 60% or 75% relative humidity were significantly higher than ratings of fruit stored at either 10.5 or 15.5C and 85% relative humidity. The progressive development of pillowy and the observed enhancement of PFD symptoms following storage at higher storage temperatures indicated that postharvest changes can occur in fruit mesocarp tissue and that the development of PFD can be altered, to some extent, during storage. Negative correlations (- 0.18 to - 0.78) between fruit quality and PFD ratings suggested that these changes can affect processed product quality. Pillowed tissue of processed fruit was significantly softer (33% to 39%) than nonpillowed tissue.
Two experiments (1989 and 1990) were designed to characterize the response of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants with different leaf types [normal leaf (LL) vs. little leaf (ll)] to high soil moisture tension (SMT) and to determine whether hydrocooling would reduce the severity of pillowy fruit disorder (PFD). Comparisons were made among nine cultivars (7 LL and 2 ll) for aboveground vegetative and fruit response, and between two irrigation regimes. High SMT generally caused increased wilt ratings and stomatal conductance and decreased plant dry weight. PFD severity of fruit from watered plots was less [61% (Expt. 1, 1989) and 26% (Expt. 1, 1990)] than of fruit harvested from plots in which water was withheld. The response of the two ll cultivars to moisture stress differed depending on environmental conditions. Increased PFD severity was associated with increased temperature, lower relative humidity (RH), and excluding hydrocooling during postharvest handling. Of the four storage treatments examined, hydrocooling to ≈8.5C then storage at 15C and 85% RH for 4 days produced fruit with the least PFD symptoms. Fruit of `Carolina' (LL) exhibited the highest PFD ratings, while those of `Calypso' (LL) were consistently low compared to other cultivars. Processors can lower PFD incidence and severity by ensuring that adequate moisture is available to plants during fruit enlargement and that harvested fruit are hydrocooled before shipping and storage.
Four cucumber (Cucumus sativus L.) inbred lines were intermated then bulked maternally to create four base populations denoted as cycle 0 (i.e., Pop.1 C0, Pop.2 C0, Pop.3 C0, Pop.4 C0). Each of these populations underwent phenotypic selection (PHE; open-field evaluations), selection by marker (MAS; genotyping at 20 marker loci), and random mating (RAN; no selection) for three cycles. The four traits under selection, multiple lateral branching (MLB), gynoecious sex expression (GYN), earliness (EAR), and fruit length to diameter ratio (L:D), are quantitatively inherited, controlled by relatively few (two to six) QTL per trait and are directly related to yield. Using the same C0 populations and selection scheme allowed a direct comparison of the effectiveness of MAS and PHE. Because each C0 population varied for any given trait, the response to MAS and PHE was not the same for each population. In general, C0 populations that were inferior for a trait either responded favorably to selection or remained constant, while those with superior trait values either did not change or decreased. Both MAS and PHE provided improvements in all traits under selection in at least one population, with the exception of MAS for EAR. MAS and PHE were equally effective at improving MLB and L:D, but PHE was generally more effective than MAS for GYN and EAR. When considering all traits, responses to PHE were superior in three of the four populations. The population for which MAS was superior, however, showed the only increase in yield (fruit per plant), which was not under direct selection. These results indicate that both MAS and PHE are useful for multi-trait improvement in cucumber, but their effectiveness depends on the traits and populations under selection.