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INVESTIGATOR: Panicker, G.

PERFORMING INSTITUTION:
ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY
ALCORN STATE, MISSISSIPPI 39096

PHENOTYPING A DIVERSITY PANEL FOR EXPLORING NATURAL VARIATION WITHIN NUTRACEUTICALLY IMPORTANT METABOLITES FOR USE IN WATERMELON BREEDING

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: This CBG project will expose students to the nation's strengths in crop improvement and genetic resources and will enhance their abilities to pursue high-tech jobs in the future and contribute to US food security. We propose to accomplish this important goal through the establishment of multi-institutional networking with a similar student population as Alcorn State University (ASU) that desperately needs modern technologies and training. We will create a plethora of common opportunities for our students to pursue research in the areas of genome analysis and modern methods in plant breeding, horticulture, genomics, and molecular biology through a multi-disciplinary approach. In so doing, we will bring our students up to speed so that they can be part of the nation's strength in crop genome analysis. The results of this research will provide researchers the tools needed to increase fruit size, quality and nutraceutically important genes, which will facilitate increased watermelon production, and provide basic knowledge that can also be applied to other crops to enhance food security. Breeding and genomic technologies to improve watermelons at WVSU and ASU will bring national and international recognition to our land-grant programs. The current proposal is based on sound research results in genome analysis, and the generation of SNP markers and a GWAS panel in watermelons. This proposal has a strong educational component that will improve the knowledge and skill levels of our students.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of 192 world watermelon collections for important yield traits and fruit quality traitsAssemble a GWAS panelMetabolomic profiling using LC-MS Q-TOF Analysis (High performance Liquid Chromatography couples with Quadruple Time of Flight mass spectrometer)Resequencing of GWAS panel and identification of SNPsAssociation mapping for location of QTLs/Markers of importance using genome-wide polymorphisms (GWAS)Combined horticultural evaluation of value added watermelon accessionsParticipatory selection approach