Ethylene Mediated Regulation of Sex Expression in Cucumis

Monoecious species such as melon and cucumber develop separate male and female (or bisexual) flowers on the same plant individual. They display complex genetic and hormonal regulation of sex patterns along the plant. Ethylene is known to play an important role in promoting femaleness and inhibiting male development, but many questions regarding critical sites of ethylene production versus perception, the relationship between ethylene and the sex determining loci, and the possible differences between melon and cucumber in this respect are still open. The general goal of the project was to elucidate the role of ethylene in determining flower sex in Cucumis species, melon and cucumber. The specific Objectives were: 1. Clone and characterize expression patterns of cucumber genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis and perception. 2. Genetic mapping of cloned genes and markers with respect to sex loci in melon and cucumber. 3. Produce and analyze transgenic melons altered in ethylene production or perception. In the course of the project, some modifications/adjustments were made: under Objective 2 (genetic mapping) a set of new mapping populations had to be developed, to allow better detection of polymorphism. Under Objective 3, cucumber transformation systems became available to us and we included this second model species in our plan. The main findings of our study support the pivotal role of ethylene in cucumber and melon sex determination and later stages of reproductive development. Modifying ethylene production resulted in profound alteration of sex patterns in melon: femaleness increased, and also flower maturation and fruit set were enhanced, resulting in earlier, more concentrated fruit yield in the field. Such effect was previously unknown and could have agronomic value. Our results also demonstrate the great importance of ethylene sensitivity in sex expression. Ethylene perception genes are expressed in sex-related patterns, e.g., gynoecious lines express higher levels of receptor-transcripts, and copper treatments that activate the receptor can increase femaleness. Transgenic cucumbers with increased expression of an ethylene receptor showed enhanced femaleness. Melons that expressed a defective receptor produced fewer hermaphrodite flowers and were insensitive to exogenous ethylene. When the expression of defective receptor was restricted to specific floral whorls, we saw that pistils were not inhibited by the blocked perception at the fourth whorl. Such unexpected findings suggest an indirect effect of ethylene on the affected whorl; it also points at interesting differences between melon and cucumber regarding the mode of action of ethylene. Such effects will require further study. Finally, our project also generated and tested a set of novel genetic tools for finer identification of sex determining genes in the two species and for efficient breeding for these characters. Populations that will allow easier linkage analysis of candidate genes with each sex locus were developed. Moreover, effects of modifier genes on the major femaleness trait were resolved. QTL analysis of femaleness and related developmental traits was conducted, and a comprehensive set of Near Isogenic Lines that differ in specific QTLs were prepared and made available for the private and public research. Marker assisted selection (MAS) of femaleness and fruit yield components was directly compared with phenotypic selection in field trials, and the relative efficiency of MAS was demonstrated. Such level of genetic resolution and such advanced tools were not used before to study these traits, that act as primary yield components to determine economic yields of cucurbits. In addition, this project resulted in the establishment of workable transformation procedures in our laboratories and these can be further utilized to study the function of sex-related genes in detail.