2019 Volume 18 Issue 2 Pages 157-165
In this study, we evaluated the varietal differences in the effects of total defoliation on the expression of candidate marker genes of sugar starvation in cucumber fruit. Our previous studies identified CsSEF1, asparagine synthetase gene, and CsFDI1 as candidate marker genes. Here, we conducted RNA-seq and identified 5 more genes: Csa3G435530, Csa5G606310, Csa3G824990, Csa1G002810, and Csa6G501990 (Cucurbit Genomics Database code). We examined the effects of total defoliation on the expression of these genes in major types of cucumber in the world. The examined cultivars were as follows: Japanese type: ‘Tokiwa’, ‘High green 21’, and ‘Freedom house No. 2’. North-Chinese type: ‘Suyo’. South-Chinese type: ‘Sagami hanshiro’. Slicer: ‘Poinsett’. English greenhouse slicer: ‘Proloog RZ’. Beit Alpha: ‘Khassib RZ’. Pickling: ‘Mogami’. Because defoliation treatment markedly enhanced the expression of CsSEF1 in all cultivars examined, CsSEF1 was regarded as a stable candidate marker gene.