Genetic Dissection of the Climacteric Fruit Ripening in Melon

Melon provides an interesting model system to study fruit ripening, as both climacteric and non-climacteric varieties exist. The availability of the genome sequence and re-sequencing of melon varieties provide powerful tools to help characterizing genes involved in fruit ripening. A near isogenic line (NIL) population in the Piel de Sapo (PS, non-climacteric) background with introgressions from PI 161375 (SC, non-climacteric) was used to characterize two QTLs that provide climacteric ripening to PS. One QTL (eth6.3) has been cloned, and another QTL (eth3.5) has been mapped in a short genomic interval. A new RIL population obtained after crossing PS with the Védrantais (Ved) climacteric melon type revealed that climacteric ripening is a complex trait. The combination of these genetic resources with genomic tools will help dissecting the mechanisms that control climacteric ripening in melon.