Levi, A., USDA, ARS, U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, 2700 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29414, United States
Davis, A., USDA, ARS, P.O. Box 159, Lane, OK 74555, United States
Hernandez, A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics, 1201 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
Wechter, P., USDA, ARS, U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, 2700 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29414, United States
Thimmapuram, J., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics, 1201 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
Trebitsh, T., Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Tadmor, Y., Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel
Katzir, N., Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel
Portnoy, V., Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel
King, S., Department of Horticulture, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77845, United States
Davis, A., USDA, ARS, P.O. Box 159, Lane, OK 74555, United States
Hernandez, A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics, 1201 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
Wechter, P., USDA, ARS, U.S. Vegetable Laboratory, 2700 Savannah Highway, Charleston, SC 29414, United States
Thimmapuram, J., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics, 1201 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, United States
Trebitsh, T., Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Tadmor, Y., Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel
Katzir, N., Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel
Portnoy, V., Agricultural Research Organization, P.O. Box 1021, Ramat Yishay 30095, Israel
King, S., Department of Horticulture, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77845, United States
A normalized cDNA library was constructed using watermelon flesh mRNA from three distinct developmental time-points and was subtracted by hybridization with leaf cDNA. Random cDNA clones of the watermelon flesh subtraction library were sequenced from the 5′ end in order to identify potentially informative genes associated with fruit setting, development, and ripening. One-thousand and forty-six 5′-end sequences (expressed sequence tags; ESTs) were assembled into 832 non-redundant sequences, designated as "EST-unigenes". Of these 832 "EST-unigenes", 254 (∼30%) have no significant homology to sequences published so far for other plant species. Additionally, 168 "EST-unigenes" (∼20%) correspond to genes with unknown function, whereas 410 "EST-unigenes" (∼50%) correspond to genes with known function in other plant species. These "EST-unigenes" are mainly associated with metabolism, membrane transport, cytoskeleton synthesis and structure, cell wall formation and cell division, signal transduction, nucleic acid binding and transcription factors, defense and stress response, and secondary metabolism. This study provides the scientific community with novel genetic information for watermelon as well as an expanded pool of genes associated with fruit development in watermelon. These genes will be useful targets in future genetic and functional genomic studies of watermelon and its development. © 2006 Springer-Verlag.
