ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Breeding
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1644621
Whole-genome sequencing and phenotyping of neglected and underutilized vegetable melons from the Salento diversity centre (Southern Italy)
Provisionally accepted
Marzia Guerriero1
Francesco Arcieri1
Chiara Delvento1
Gaetano Giudice1
Marco Santo Cannarella1Giancarlo Mimiola2Giuseppe Cavallo2Luigi Ricciardi1
Concetta Lotti3
Stefano Pavan1*- 1University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
- 2Centre International De Hautes Études Agronomiques Méditerranéennes (CIHEAM), 70010 Valenzano (Bari), Italy, Valenzano, Italy
- 3University of Foggia, Foggia, Italy
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The species Cucumis melo L. includes two neglected and underutilized vegetable crops, cucumber melon (C. melo subsp. melo var. chate) and snake melon (C. melo subsp. melo var. flexuosus). In particular, cucumber melon was highly popular in Mediterranean civilizations during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, whereas today its cultivation is mostly confined to the Salento area of southern Italy. Here, we describe the collection and characterization of thirteen cucumber melon and two snake melon populations from Salento. Whole-genome resequencing of DNA pools was performed to investigate genetic diversity within and among populations. The cucumber melon population UBGCMC111, most widely cultivated and marketed, exhibited the lowest heterozygosity, possibly reflecting more intense selection by farmers. Hierarchical clustering revealed genetic divergence of UBGCMC111 and UBGCMC053, the latter originating from a unique area of Salento with linguistic and cultural ties to Greek heritage. Despite some unique patterns of variation, snake melons clustered together with cucumber melons, suggesting overall genetic similarity. A total of 1,307 alleles were fixed and private to different populations under study, potentially valuable for their traceability. Some of them were associated with genes possibly underlying deeply grooved and pale green pepo phenotypes of the populations UBGCMC111 and UBGCMC124, respectively. Replicated field trials enabled germplasm characterization and the selection of agronomically superior populations. Overall, this study safeguards valuable C. melo genetic diversity from further genetic erosion. Additionally, it provides genomic and phenotypic data laying a foundation for integrating unexplored genetic resources into mainstream agrifood systems and breeding programs.
Keywords: cucumber melon, Snake melon, Whole-genome resequencing, diversity, Private alleles
Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 22 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Guerriero, Arcieri, Delvento, Giudice, Cannarella, Mimiola, Cavallo, Ricciardi, Lotti and Pavan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Stefano Pavan, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
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