The State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture, Laboratory of Plant Molecular and Developmental Biology, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, 311300, China.
Beijing Vegetable Research Center (BVRC), Beijing Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables, Beijing, 100097, China.
Theor Appl Genet. 2020 May;133(5):1777-1790. doi: 10.1007/s00122-019-03484-0. Epub 2019 Nov 21.
Molecular breeding of Cucumis sativus L. is based on traditional breeding techniques and modern biological breeding in China. There are opportunities for further breeding improvement by molecular design breeding and the automation of phenotyping technology using untapped sources of genetic diversity. Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is an important vegetable cultivated worldwide. It bears fruits of light fragrance, and crisp texture with high nutrition. China is the largest producer and consumer of cucumber, accounting for 70% of the world's total production. With increasing consumption demand, the production of Cucurbitaceae crops has been increasing yearly. Thus, new cultivars that can produce high-quality cucumber with high yield and easy cultivation are in need. Conventional genetic breeding has played an essential role in cucumber cultivar innovation over the past decades. However, its progress is slow due to the long breeding period, and difficulty in selecting stable genetic characters or genotypes, prompting researchers to apply molecular biotechnologies in cucumber breeding. Here, we first summarize the achievements of conventional cucumber breeding such as crossing and mutagenesis, and then focus on the current status of molecular breeding of cucumber in China, including the progress and achievements on cucumber genomics, molecular mechanism underlying important agronomic traits, and also on the creation of high-quality multi-resistant germplasm resources, new variety breeding and ecological breeding. Future development trends and prospects of cucumber molecular breeding in China are also discussed.
中国的黄瓜分子育种是以传统育种技术和现代生物育种为基础的。通过分子设计育种和利用未开发的遗传多样性进行表型自动化技术，有进一步进行育种改良的机会。黄瓜（Cucumis sativus L.）是世界范围内广泛种植的重要蔬菜。它的果实具有清香、脆嫩的口感和高营养价值。中国是黄瓜的最大生产国和消费国，占世界总产量的 70%。随着消费需求的增加，对高产、优质、易栽培的黄瓜新品种的需求也在不断增加。在过去的几十年里，常规遗传育种在黄瓜品种创新中发挥了重要作用。然而，由于其育种周期长，稳定遗传特征或基因型的选择困难，其进展缓慢，促使研究人员将分子生物技术应用于黄瓜育种。在这里，我们首先总结了常规黄瓜育种（如杂交和诱变）的成就，然后重点介绍了中国黄瓜分子育种的现状，包括黄瓜基因组学、重要农艺性状的分子机制以及高质量多抗性种质资源、新品种培育和生态育种的进展和成就。还讨论了中国黄瓜分子育种未来的发展趋势和前景。
