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Publisher Summary Melon is a member of the genus Cucumis, subtribe Cucumerinae, tribe Melothrieae, subfamily Cucurbitoideae, and family Cucurbitaceae. Immature melons are used fresh in salads, cooked—soup, stew, curry, stir-fry—or pickled. Mature fruit is eaten fresh as a dessert fruit or in a canned form or used for syrup or jam; dehydrated slices—lightly processed—for short-term or moderate-term storage can be reconstituted, and the pressed juice may be canned. Melon seeds are a dietary source of unsaturated vegetable oil and protein and may be lightly roasted and eaten like nuts. Melon has a base chromosome number of 12 and is a diploid species, 2n = 24. Polysomatic cells regularly occur in melon. Seven polyploid—allopolyploid and autopolyploid—Cucumis species occur but none appears to be closely related to melon. The 96 genes reported in melon can be roughly classified into six categories with different categories and number of genes in each: (1) plant, 24, (2) flower, 16, (3) fruit, 19, (4) disease resistance, 22, (5) insect resistance, 5, and (6) isozyme, 14. Inheritance and dominance relationships of economically important plant and fruit characters of melon are not as simple as their quantitative descriptions and gene symbols imply. Sex expression is one of the more challenging genetic problems in front of melon breeders. This chapter discusses the germplasm resources and reproductive biology of melon. It further reviews the selection of breeding methods for melon and the breeding methods and strategies used for melon. It also discusses some objectives of breeding in melon. |
