Abstract
Fruit shape and size are important assessment parameters to evaluate and classify accessions in cucumber breeding. Clarifying the relations of the shape and size of commodity fruits or mature fruits to that of other organs, like seed, leaf, flower and so on, is significant for multitype breeding of cucumber fruit. It can help breeders to predict the shape and size of a cucumber fruit in the early selection and shorten the breeding cycle. In this study, the dynamic morphological observation of fruit length (FL), fruit diameter (FD) and the fruit shape index (FSI) of developing cucumber fruits in different types and the correlation of fruit shape indexes between fruit and other organs were investigated. The results showed that 28 cucumber accessions with different shape and size were classified into four types, namely long fruits, medium long fruits, medium fruits and short fruits. The comparative analysis of FL and FD among different types and different development stages of cucumber fruits showed that the development of FL and FD were both consistent with the model “S” curve, slow–fast–slow, and there existed strong positive correlation between their growth. During fruit development, the shape index was highly positively correlated among ovary, commodity fruit and mature fruit. Besides, both the length and width of cotyledon, true leaf and female flower petal were positively correlated to the FL of commodity fruit. The length and width of seed, length of ovary carpopodium and pedicel length were also positively correlated to the FD of commodity fruit. For seed, cotyledon and true leaf, no correlation was found between their shape index and their FSI.
Highlights
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an economic and consumption important cucurbits crop worldwide [1]
Our results indicated that the development trend of fruit length (FL) and fruit diameter (FD) in cucumbers were little affected by the shape and size of a fruit, showing an “S” curve: Slow–fast (5–15 days after anthesis (DAA))–slow
The development of fruit shape index (FSI) in a “Double-S” curve suggested that the elongation growth of cucumber fruit developed earlier than the radial growth at first, the FL and FD developed alternatively
Summary
Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an economic and consumption important cucurbits crop worldwide [1]. Its external qualities play a critical role in the market [2]. As direct appearance quality traits, are main assessment parameters in the evaluation and classification of cucumber accessions [3]. In consumption, different sizes of cucumber fruit are preferred in different zones [4]. Longer cucumbers are produced and consumed in China and Europe, while shorter cucumbers are more popular in the Mediterranean. Multiple breeding for fruit shape and size is increasing importantly and clarifying the development regulation of fruit shape and size can provide basic theoretical knowledge for breeding
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