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Gourds: Bitter, Bottle, Wax, Snake, Sponge and Ridge

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Genetics and Genomics of Cucurbitaceae

Part of the book series: Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models ((PGG,volume 20))

Abstract

Bitter gourd, bottle gourd, wax gourd, snake gourd, sponge gourd, and ridge gourd are cultivated and marketed by smallholder farmers, and are important crops in home gardens throughout southern and southeastern Asia. These vegetables provide significant dietary nutrients such as vitamin A and C, iron and calcium. Public sector breeders and germplasm curators release open-pollinated varieties of these cucurbits developed through selection from landraces. Private sector breeders develop F1 hybrid cultivars of these gourds that are popular with growers because of their uniformity, early and total marketable yield, and, in some cases, disease resistance. This chapter reviews the status of germplasm resources for sustained genetic improvement of these cucurbit species. Susceptibility to viruses is currently the major production constraint for these gourds, and systematic evaluation of their germplasm against viruses will be helpful for breeding improved cucurbit lines. The germplasm resources of these gourd species are held in an array of genebanks in several countries and may not be readily available for scientific research or to commercial breeders outside of their respective country. Many accessions of these gourd species listed by the World Vegetable Center and the U.S. Germplasm Resources Information Network are either not available or inactive. More accessions of these gourd species and their relatives need, therefore, to be collected from various regions of the tropics, conserved, and evaluated to ensure continuous genetic gains in breeding programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. World Vegetable Center East and Southeast Asia/Oceania, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen, Nakhon Pathom, 73140, Thailand

    Narinder P. S. Dhillon & Supannika Sanguansil

  2. Department of Vegetable Science, Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad, 224229, India

    Sheo Pujan Singh

  3. Vegetable Division, Horticulture Research Center, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur, 1701, Bangladesh

    Mohammed Abu Taher Masud

  4. Rasi Seeds (P) Ltd, Plot No 20, K.I.A.D.B. Industrial area, Kasaba Hobli, Veerapura post, Doddaballapurtaluk, Bangalore, 561203, India

    Prashant Kumar

  5. Central Horticultural Experiment Station, Regional Station of Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, I.C.A.R., Aiginia, Dumduma, Bhubaneswar, 751019, India

    Latchumi Kanthan Bharathi

  6. Department of Horticulture, Erciyes University, Melikgazi-Kayseri, 39039, Turkey

    Halit Yetişir

  7. Vegetable Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 174 Daxue Dong Rd., Nanning, Guangxi, 530007, China

    Rukui Huang

  8. Horticulture Division, Field Crops Research Institute, Lien Hong, GiaLoc, Vietnam

    Doan Xuan Canh

  9. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Agricultural Research Station, 1636 E. Alisal Street, Salinas, CA, 93905, USA

    James D. McCreight

Authors
  1. Narinder P. S. Dhillon
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  2. Supannika Sanguansil
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  3. Sheo Pujan Singh
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  4. Mohammed Abu Taher Masud
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  5. Prashant Kumar
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  6. Latchumi Kanthan Bharathi
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  7. Halit Yetişir
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  8. Rukui Huang
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  9. Doan Xuan Canh
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  10. James D. McCreight
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Narinder P. S. Dhillon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

    Rebecca Grumet

  2. Agricultural Research Organization, Newe Ya'ar Research Center, Ramat Yishay, Israel

    Nurit Katzir

  3. Agroalimentaries (IRTA), Institute de Recerca i Technologia Agroalimentaries (IRTA), Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain

    Jordi Garcia-Mas

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Dhillon, N.P.S. et al. (2016). Gourds: Bitter, Bottle, Wax, Snake, Sponge and Ridge. In: Grumet, R., Katzir, N., Garcia-Mas, J. (eds) Genetics and Genomics of Cucurbitaceae. Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models, vol 20. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7397_2016_24

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