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PubMed2025

Development of recombinant inbred lines and QTL analysis of plant height and fruit shape-related traits in Cucurbita pepo L.

UNLABELLED: Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo subsp. pepo) stands as an economically vital crop in China. In zucchini breeding, plant architectural patterns and fruit morphological characteristics serve as pivotal traits. In this study, we employed quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis using recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from two distinct inbred lines, JinGL (subsp. ovifera) and HM-S2 (subsp. pepo), in conjunction with a high-density genetic map. Our investigation focused on ten QTLs associated with six horticulturally significant traits, including hypocotyl length (HL), plant height (PH), and four fruit-related traits: fruit length (FL), fruit diameter (FD), fruit shape index (FSI), and fruit weight (FW). The QTLs governing HL and PH were mapped to Chr03/LG10 and named qhl3.1 and qph3.1, respectively. The candidate gene Cp4.1LG10g05910/CpDw for qph3.1 was successfully identified. Additionally, three novel QTLs related to fruit size and shape were discovered. Among them, qfsi8.1/qfl8.1, demarcated by Marker238258 and Marker240069 on Chromosome 08/Linkage group 17 (Chr08/LG17), is a new major QTL regulating the fruit shape of zucchini. Through genomic insertion-deletion (InDel) and qRT-PCR analyses, we predicted genes within the qfsi8.1/qfl8.1 candidate interval, uncovering Cp4.1LG17g02030/CpIAA12 and Cp4.1LG17g02010/CpCalB as potential candidate genes. We developed molecular markers tightly linked to qph3.1 and qfl8.1 and validated them in 171 and 224 Cucurbita pepo germplasms, achieving accuracy rates of 96% and 100%, respectively. This study deepens our understanding of the genetic basis of key traits and provides valuable references for molecular breeding in Cucurbita pepo. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-025-01592-y.

Cucurbita pepo↗
PubMed1979

A lectin from the exudate of the fruit of the vegetable marrow (Cucurbita pepo) that has a specificity for beta-1,4-linked N-acetylglucosamine oligosaccharides.

Lectins are present in the exudate (presumably from the phloem) of the fruits of three species of the Cucurbitaceae, namely vegetable marrow (Cucurbita pepo), melon (Cucumis melo) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus). They are all strongly inhibited in their activities by chitin oligosaccharides, but only weakly by N-acetylglucosamine. Glycopeptides from soya-bean agglutinin and fetuin are also strong inhibitors of Cucurbita pepo lectin, indicating that it interacts with internal N-acetylglucosamine residues. The lectin from Cucurbita pepo fruit was purified by affinity chromatography by using chitin oligosaccharides covalently attached to Sepharose. The lectin is not a glycoprotein, and it consists of a single polypeptide chain of about 20,000 mol.wt. It is a major protein (18% of the total) of the phloem exudate and it is postulated that it may have an anti-parasitic function.

Acetylglucosamine↗
PubMed2026

Pleiotropic mutation in a tendril TCP gene underlies the yield-enhancing multiple-flowering trait in summer squash (Cucurbita pepo).

Crop yield is a focal point in plant breeding. Regulation of lateral budding through apical dominance was a central target of crop domestication, directly affecting crop production. The young fruits of Cucurbita pepo, summer squash, are produced on plants characterized by apical dominance and differentiation of a single flower bud per leaf axil. A single recessive mutation, mf, results in differentiation of more than one flower per leaf axil, thereby directly increasing production because of the continual day-to-day harvest of the summer squash crop. Positional cloning of the Cucurbita pepo mf (Cpmf) gene denoted a frameshift mutation in a TCP transcription factor, Cp4.1LG13g07780, as causative for the increase in axillary flowering. Cpmf is an ortholog of a tendril-development TCP gene in other cucurbits, and likewise, the recessive allele of Cpmf is associated with distorted tendril development. Gene function is context dependent, and we propose that multiple flowering is a unique pleiotropic attribute of mutation in a tendril-development gene of C. pepo. Characterization of a C. pepo collection confirmed a significant association of the Cpmf mutation with multiple flowering and showed that the mutant allele is absent in ancestral C. pepo and one of its two cultivated subspecies. The beneficial mutation occurred and was selected after the domestication of the other subspecies, during its cultivation for young fruit production. We demonstrate the discovery of a causative yield-increasing sequence variant and its practical utilization in breeding. Our findings provide a molecular target for creation of high-yielding, multiple-flowering summer squash cultivars through marker-assisted breeding or precise genome editing.

Cucurbita↗
PubMed1977

Evidence about the catecholoxidase activity of the enzyme ascorbate oxidase extracted from Cucurbita pepo medullosa.

Pure ascorbate oxidase (L-ascorbate:oxygen oxidoreductase, EC 1.10.3.3) isolated from Cucurbita pepo medullosa, which is known to be specific for ascorbic acid, shows a secondary catecholoxidase activity at approx. pH 6.7. This activity was tested against natural and synthetic compounds possessing a catechol-like structure. Among natural compounds (+)-catechin furnishes the same complex oxidation mixture obtained with other oxidases. Among synthetic compounds, 3,5-di-t-butylcatechol and 4-t-butylcatechol give the corresponding o-quinones. The significance of this secondary activity in the darkening process of fruits and vegetables which contain ascorbate oxidase is also discussed.

Ascorbate Oxidase↗
PubMed1976

Autoradiographic and ultrastructural study of Cucurbita pepo root cells during their growth and differentiation.

Cortex cells of the root meristem of Cucurbita pepo (0.0-0.5 mm from the cap junction), in the 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8 mm segments above the root tip, and the cells of the first three layers of lateral part of root cap were the object of the present study. The volume of cortex cells increases more than 20 times in the 7-8 mm segment as compared with meristematic cells, and the volume of cytoplasm about sevenfold. The largest increment of the cytoplasmic volume occurs between 0.5-6.0 mm. In consecutive root segments the sustained increase of the volume of nuclei takes place. By applying autoradiography the following processess have been investigated: DNA synthesis (3H thymidine uptake), template activity of DNA (3H actinomycin D(3H AMD)-binding), RNA synthesis (3H uridine incorporation), and protein synthesis (3H leucine). In the root cap cells and in segments where meristematic activity is over, DNA is replicated by endomitosis. On the basis of nuclear labelling it appears that nuclei in the 3-4 mm segment reach 4C ploidy state, but in the 7-8 mm segment half of the nuclei reach the 8C ploidy state. Most of the root cap cells are 4C, the remaining cells are 8C. Considering the uptake of 3H thymidine into nucleoli one may suppose that in the root cap cells nucleolar DNA is underreplicated, and to a lesser degree in 5-6 and 7-8 mm segments, while in 3-4 mm segment DNA is overreplicated as compared to meristem cells. Measurements of nucleolar volume, 3H uridine uptake, 3H AMD binding and quantity of granular component, indicate that the most noticeable nucleolar activity takes place in meristematic zone and in root parts showing the highest increase of cytoplasmic volume (3-4 and 5-6 mm segments). 3H leucine is still incorporated intensely into 7-8 mm segment, in which the concentration of ribosomes is low, however they are present in the form of polysomes. Comparison of 3H thymidine uptake into nuclear DNA with 3H AMD binding and 3H uridine incorporation into nuclei indicates that endomitotic DNA replication results in an increase of DNA template activity in root cap cells as well as in 3-4 and 5-6 mm segments; in the 7-8 mm segment binding of 3H AMD slightly decreases, while 3H uridine incorporation is considerably reduced. Divergence between the ploidy state, 3H AMD binding and 3H uridine incorporation can be due to the increment of the condensed chromatin area in differentiated cells. Plastids and mitochondria reach full maturity in 3-4 mm segment. The increasing volume density of ER and diminishing volume density of Golgi structures is accompanied by differentiation of cortex cells.

Cell Differentiation↗
PubMed1979

Mavicyanin, a blue copper protein from Cucurbita pepo medullosa. Purification and characterization.

1. The copper protein mavicyanin has been isolated and purified from the green squash Cucurbita pepo medullosa. 2. Mavicyanin contains one type-1 copper/18000 Mr, which can be characterized by: intense absorption maximum at 600 nm (epsilon = 5000 M-1 cm-1/Cu, A280/A600 = 8.0 +/- 0.5, A600/A403 = 7.0 +/- 0.25, maximum of fluorescence emission at 335 nM. 3. In the oxidized state the copper of mavicyanin is 100% detectable by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Computer simulation of the rhombic EPR signal gives gz = 2.287, gy = 2.077, gx = 2.025, Az = 3.5 mT, Ay = 2.9 mT and Ax = 5.7 mT. 4. Like other simple type-1 copper proteins, such as stellacyanin, azurin or plastocyanin, mavicyanin is readily reduced by hydroquinone or L-ascorbic acid. Its midpoint potential E'm was determined to be + 285 mV. The reduced protein reacts rather slowly with dioxygen, but is rapidly reoxidized by ferricyanide.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1979

Ascorbate oxidase from Cucurbita pepo medullosa. New method of purification and reinvestigation of properties.

1. Ascorbate oxidase has been isolated from the green squash Cucurbita pepo medullosa by a new purification method. Furthermore a low-molecular-weight copper protein containing one type-1 copper/20000 Mr could be separated during the purification of the oxidase. The six-step procedure developed improved the yield of ascorbate oxidase by a factor of 2.5. The method is well reproducible and a constant value of 8 Cu (7.95 +/- 0.1/140000 Mr) has been established. By ultracentrifugal and electrophoretic criteria the enzyme preparations have been found to be homogeneous. They exhibited a specific activity of 3930 +/- 50 units/mg protein or 1088 +/- 15 units/microgram copper. 2. The pure enzyme is characterized by the following optical purity indices: A280/A610 = 25 +/- 0.5, A330/A610 = 0.65 +/- 0.05 and A610/A500 = 7.0 +/- 0.25. The molar absorption coeffient of the characteristic absorption maximum at 610 nm (oxidized minus reduced) amounts of 9700 M-1 cm-1 . 3. Computer simulations of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of the oxidized enzyme reveal the following parameters: for the type-1 (blue) copper gz = 2.227, gy = 2.058, gx = 2.036; Az = 5.0 mT, Ay = Ax = 0.5 mT, for the type-2 (non-blue) copper g parallel to = 2.242, g perpendicular = 2.053; A parallel to = 19.0 mT, A perpendicular 0.5 mT. Out of the eight copper atoms present in the oxidase four are detectable by EPR. Of these, three belong to the type-1 class, and one to the type-2 class, as demonstrated by computer simulations of the EPR spectra. 4. To achieve full reduction of the enzyme, as measured by bleaching of the blue chromophore, four equivalents of L-ascorbate or reductase must be added in the absence of molecular oxygen. Upon reduction of the enzyme the fluorescence at 330 nm (lambda max ex = 295 nm) is enhanced by a factor of 1.5 to 1.75. The reduced enzyme is readily reoxidized by dioxygen, ferricyanide or hydrogen peroxide. It binds two molecules of hydrogen peroxide in the oxidized state (1/type-3 Cu pair), which can be monitored by a characteristic increase of the absorbance around 310 nm (delta epsilon = 1000 +/- 50 M-1 cm-1). Corresponding changes in EPR and fluorescence spectra have not been detected.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1978

Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase and gluconeogenesis in cotyledons of Cucurbita pepo.

1. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (ATP:oxaloacetate carboxy-lyase (transphosphorylating) EC 4.1.1.49) in the conversion of fat to sugar by the cotyledons of seedlings of Cucurbita pepo. 2. The enzyme was partially purified from the cotyledons of 5-day-old seedlings. The Michaelis constants for oxaloacetate and ATP were 56 and 119 micron, respectively. The decarboxylation reaction was optimum at pH 7.4. A range of intermediary metabolites did not affect the activity of the enzyme, but 3-mercaptopicolinic acid at micron concentrations was an effective inhibitor. 3. Centrifugation of extracts of 5-day-old cotyledons sedimented appreciable proportions of the ribuloseibisphosphate carboxylase, isocitrate lyase and fumarate hydratase present but very little of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. 4. Measurements of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase of cotyledons during germination showed that the maximum catalytic activity exceeded, and changed coincidently with, the rate of gluconeogenesis. 5. 3-Mercaptopicolinic acid inhibited gluconeogenesis from [1-14C]- and [2-14C]acetate supplied to excised cotyledons. The detailed distribution of 14C indicated inhibition of the conversion of oxaloacetate to phosphoenolpyruvate. 6. It is concluded that in marrow cotyledons phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase is in the soluble phase of the cytoplasm and catalyses a component reaction of gluconeogenesis.

Gluconeogenesis↗
PubMed1978

Identification of the regulatory steps in gluconeogenesis in cotyledons of Cucurbita pepo.

1. The aim of this work was to discover the steps at which the conversion of oxaloacetate to glucose 6-phosphate during gluconeogenesis is regulated in the cotyledons of 5-day-old seedlings of Cucurbita pepo. 2. We estimated the maximum catalytic activities of all the enzymes in the above sequence and also the amounts of their substrates present in vivo. The results show that the reactions catalysed by fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase are the only ones in the sequence that are substantially displaced from equilibrium in vivo. 3. We also determined the effects of 3-mercaptopicolinic acid, an inhibitor of gluconeogenesis, on the amounts of the gluconeogenic intermediates present in vivo. The results show that the enzyme system, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase: phosphofructokinase, and the system phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase: phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase make major contributions to the regulation of gluconeogenesis in the cotyledons. 4. Possible mechanisms for the above regulation are discussed.

Fructose-Bisphosphatase↗
PubMed1975

Location of gluconeogenesis from phosphoenolpyruvate in cotyledons of Cucurbita pepo.

1. The aim of this work was to discover the location of the enzymes that convert phosphoenolpyruvate to fructose 6-phosphate during gluconeogenesis in fatty seeds. Cotyledons of 5-day-old dark-grown seedlings of marrow (Cucurbita pepo) were used as experimental material. 2. Cotyledons were separated into palisade and mesophyll tissue. Extracts of the two tissues had comparable activities of gluconeogenic enzymes. 3. Extracts of cotyledons were fractionated by density gradient centrifugation to yeild mitochondria and glyoxysomes, and by gel filtration to yield proplastids. The isolated organelles retained their characteristic ultrastructure and appreciable amounts of marker enzymes. The proportions of the total activities of phosphoglyceromutase and fructose-1, 6-diphosphatase recovered in the mitochondrial and glyoxysomal preparations were insignificant. The same was true for the activities of phosphoglyceromutase and phosphopyruvate hydratase found in the proplastid preparations. 4. Extracts of a number of other gluconeigenic plant tissues were centrifuged at 2500 times g to yield particulate preparations. None of these preparations contained a significant proportion of the total activity of phosphoglyceromutase. 5. It is suggested that gluconeogenesis from phosphoenolpyruvate in plants occurs in the cytoplasm.

Cell Fractionation↗
PubMed1978

Electron-paramagnetic-resonance studies of the mechanism of leaf nitrite reductase. Signals from the iron-sulphur centre and haem under turnover conditions.

Low-temperature e.p.r. spectra are presented of nitrite reductase purified from leaves of vegetable marrow (Cucurbita pepo). The oxidized enzyme showed a spectrum at g=6.86, 4.98 and 1.95 corresponding to high-spin Fe(3+) in sirohaem, which disappeared slowly on treatment with nitrite. The midpoint potential of the sirohaem was estimated to be -120mV. On reduction with Na(2)S(2)O(4) or Na(2)S(2)O(4)+Methyl Viologen a spectrum at g=2.038, 1.944 and 1.922 was observed, due to a reduced iron-sulphur centre. The midpoint potential of this centre was very low, about -570mV at pH8.1, decreasing with increasing pH. On addition of cyanide, which binds to haem, and Na(2)S(2)O(4), the iron-sulphur centre became further reduced. We think that this is due to an increased midpoint potential of the iron-sulphur centre. Other ligands to haem, such as CO and the reaction product NH(3), had similar but less pronounced effects, and also changed the lineshape of the iron-sulphur signal. Samples were prepared of the enzyme frozen during the reaction with nitrite, Methyl Viologen and Na(2)S(2)O(4) in various proportions. Signals were interpreted as due to the reduced iron-sulphur centre (with slightly different g values), a haem-NO complex and reduced Methyl Viologen. In the presence of an excess of nitrite, the haem-NO spectrum was more intense, whereas in the presence of an excess of Na(2)S(2)O(4) it was weaker, and disappeared at the end of the reaction. A reaction sequence is proposed for the enzyme, in which the haem-NO complex is an intermediate, followed by other e.p.r.-silent states, leading to the production of NH(4) (+).

Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy↗
PubMed1977

[Interaction of ascorbate oxidase with inorganic anions].

From the peelings of cucumber Cucumis sativus and marrow squash Cucurbita pepo var. giramontia highly purified ascorbate oxidase preparations were obtained. Molecular weights, optical and EPR spectra, total copper contents and different type copper contents of the both proteins were similar. The effects of NaN3, KCN, I- and F- on the optical and EPR spectra of the proteins were studied. The incubation of ascorbate oxidase with these anions lead to the partial reduction of the copper. The data obtained indicate that F- is bound to the copper atoms of the type 2, and that N5- modifies surroundings of these copper atoms. The copper atoms of types 1 and 2 in both ascorbate oxidases, unlike fungal laccase, are completely reduced under effect of CN-. The bleaching of ascorbate oxidase, observed in alkaline media involves also increasing of the intensity of the band at 330 nm. The results show that three types of copper in ascorbate oxidase have various sensitivities to the inorganic anions. These data are compared with results observed for another blue copper-containing enzymes, such as laccases and ceruloplasmin.

Anions↗
PubMed1977

[Purification of peroxidases and separation of isoperoxidases from various plant species (author's transl)].

The partial purification of peroxidase (EC.1.11.1.7) and separation of isoperoxidases by disc electrophoresis from Cucurbita Pepo L., Phaseolus vulgaris L., Cicer arietinum L. and Hordeum, Secale and Triticum sp., have been studied. Peroxidase from fruit of pumpkin and from 6-day-old coleoptiles of French bean and chick pea has been partially purified, 128-, 174-, and 140-fold, respectively. The apparent Km at the optimum pH were: pumpkin (epicarp.), 2.7 X 10(-4) M; barley, common rye and wheat (primary leaves, in all cases), 1.4 X 10(-5), 1.2 X 10(-5) and 3.1 X 10(-5) M, respectively. Isoperoxidases have been separated by disc electrophoresis on 7% polyacrylamide gel and stained with p-phenylenediamine. Differences in patterns of anodic and cathodic isozymes were observed: 3 isozymes from fruits of pumpkin, 4 from French bean, 4 from chick pea, 11 from leaves of barley, 10 from leaves of common rye and 9 from leaves of wheat.

Fruit↗