Analysis of Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia L.) Using Morphological and SSR Markers

Genetic diversity, morphological traits, quality traits and antioxidants potentiality of Coccinia grandis germplasm under rainfed semi-arid region

The present study was conducted to evaluate the genetic variability for morphological and qualitative traits of Coccinia for development of trait specific lines at ICAR-Central Horticultural Experiment Station (CIAH-RS), Panchmahals (Godhra), Gujarat during 2020-2022. In this study, we evaluated 26 gynoecious accessions to assess the genetic divergence through principal component and cluster analysis. The experiment was carried out in a randomized complete block design with three replications under rainfed semi-arid conditions. High values of PCV and GCV were observed for variables such as NFFP (25.13 and 22.20), PL (23.14 and 20.69), FD (24.01 and 21.46), AFW (22.98 and 20.13), NFPY (26.38 and 24.40), FYP (37.57 and 31.29), FY (35.55 and 33.20), AsC (28.65 and 27.73), Ac (24.32 and 21.06), TSS (37.23 and 35.94), DPPHL (20.71 and 20.38), FRAPL (21.08 and 20.92), TPF(20.81 and 20.45) respectively. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was observed for vine length (VL), internodal length (IL), number of female flowers per plant (NFFP), fruit length (FL), peduncle length (PL), fruit diameter (FD), average fruit weight (AFW), number of fruit per plant per year (NFPY), fruit yield per plant (FYP), fruit yield (FY), ascorbic acid (AsC), acidity (Ac), total soluble solids (TSS), total phenols in leaves TPL), total flavonoids in leaves TFL, CUPRAC in leaves (CUPRACL), DPPH in leaves (DPPHL), FRAP in leaves (FRAPL), Total phenols in fruits (TPF), Total flavonoids in fruits (TFF), CUPRAC in fruits (CUPRACF) and DPPH in fruits (DPPHF). The FYP exhibited a significant positive correlation with variables like VL (0.6833), IL (0.2991), NFFP (0.8107), FD (0.5245), AFW (0.6766), NFPY (0.7659), ASC (0.4611), TSS (0.5004) and TPF (0.4281). The estimates of genetic parameters revealed scope for further improvement of fruit yield by selection. Of the eight principal components, PC-I through PC-VIII had eigen values greater than 1 and it accounts 85.02% of the total variation for 26 gynoecious accessions of Ivy gourd. The eigen values of PC-I comprised 5.775% of total variation followed by PC-II (4.250%), PC-III (3.175%), PC-IV (2.588%), PC-V (1.828%), PC-VI (1.447%), PC-VII (1.179%) and PC-VIII (1.013%).The cluster VI and cluster I having highest mean values for most of traits under study. Thus, genotypes from the distinct cluster like cluster VI and I for should be used for selection of parents and varietal improvement for further breeding programme in ivy gourd.

Genetic Diversity and Population Structure Analyses in Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia L.) Based on Agro-Morphological and Microsatellite Markers

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is an important vine crop of the Cucurbitaceae family and is well known for its high nutritional and medicinal values. However, the genetic variation remains largely unknown. Herein, 96 diverse bitter gourd genotypes were undertaken for diversity analysis using 10 quantitative traits, and 82 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Out of 82 SSRs, 33 were polymorphic and the mean polymorphism information content (PIC) value was 0.38. Marker, JY-003 revealed a maximum (0.81) PIC value and, the number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 7 (average 3.46). The value of gene diversity showed the presence of a significant level of polymorphism among these genotypes. The unweighted pair group method (UPGMA) cluster analysis grouped the genotypes into two major clusters of which Cluster I comprised mostly small and medium-fruited genotypes of both M. charantia var. charantia and M. charantia var. muricata, whereas Cluster II included mostly long and extra-long fruited genotypes. Furthermore, these genotypes were divided into six distinct groups based on population structure analysis. The diversity analysis based on 10 quantitative traits revealed that earliness and high-yielding ability were exhibited by the predominantly gynoecious line DBGS-21-06 followed by DBGS-48-00. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the first two components exhibited more than 50% of the total genetic variation. The present study deciphered a higher magnitude of agro-morphological and genetic diversity in 96 bitter gourd genotypes. Therefore, trait-specific genotypes identified in this study could be utilized in breeding programmes directed towards the development of improved cultivars and hybrids of bitter gourd.

Transcriptome analysis of five different tissues of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) fruit identifies full-length genes involved in seed oil biosynthesis

The bitter gourd seed oil, rich in conjugated fatty acids, has therapeutic value to treat cancer, obesity, and aging. It also has an industrial application as a drying agent. Despite its significance, genomics studies are limited, and the genes for seed oil biosynthesis are not fully understood. In this study, we assembled the fruit transcriptome of bitter gourd using 254.5 million reads (Phred score > 30) from the green rind, white rind, pulp, immature seeds, and mature seeds. It consisted of 125,566 transcripts with N50 value 2,751 bp, mean length 960 bp, and 84% completeness. Transcript assembly was validated by RT-PCR and qRT-PCR analysis of a few selected transcripts. The transcripts were annotated against the NCBI non-redundant database using the BLASTX tool (E-value < 1E−05). In gene ontology terms, 99,443, 86,681, and 82,954 transcripts were classified under biological process, molecular function, and cellular component. From the fruit transcriptome, we identified 26, 3, and 10 full-length genes coding for all the enzymes required for synthesizing fatty acids, conjugated fatty acids, and triacylglycerol. The transcriptome, transcripts with tissue-specific expression patterns, and the full-length identified from this study will serve as an important genomics resource for this important medicinal plant.

Development and Validation of a Novel and Fast Detection Method for Cannabis sativa: A 19-Plex Short Tandem Repeat Typing System

In recent years, influenced by the legalization of Cannabis sativa in some countries and regions, the number of people who smoke or abuse C. sativa has continuously grown, cases of transnational C. sativa trafficking have also been increasing. Therefore, fast and accurate identification and source tracking of C. sativa have become urgent social needs. In this study, we developed a new 19-plex short tandem repeats (STRs) typing system for C. sativa, which includes 15 autosomal STRs (D02-CANN1, C11-CANN1, 4910, B01-CANN1, E07-CANN1, 9269, B05-CANN1, H06-CANN2, 5159, nH09, CS1, ANUCS 305, 3735, and ANUCS 302 and 9043), two X-chromosome STRs (ANUCS 501 and 1528), one sex-determining marker (DM016, on Y-chromosome), and a quality control marker (DM029, on autosome). The whole polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process could finish within 1 h, making the system suitable for fast detection. The PCR products were detected and separated with an Applied Biosystems 3500XL Genetic Analyser. Developmental validation studies indicated that the 19-plex typing system was accurate, reliable and sensitive, which could also deconvolute mixed C. sativa samples. Specifically, the sensitivity study showed that a full genotyping profile was obtainable with as low as 125 pg of C. sativa DNA. The species specificity study demonstrated that this multiplex has no cross-reactivity with common non C. sativa DNA. In the population study, a total of 162 alleles at 15 autosomal STRs and 14 alleles at two X-chromosome STRs were detected among 85 samples. The efficiency parameters, including the total discrimination power (TDP) and the combined power of exclusion (CPE) of the system, were calculated to exceed 0.999 999 999 999 988 and 0.998 455 889 684 078, respectively, further proving that the system could meet the needs of individual identification. To the extent of the known studies, this is the first study that included the C. sativa sex-determining marker. In conclusion, the developed new 19-plex STR typing system can successfully achieve the purposes of species identification, gender determination, and individual identification, which could be a powerful tool in tracing trade routes of particular drug syndicates or dealers or in linking certain C. sativa to a crime scene.