Recent trends in muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) research: an overview

ABSTRACTMuskmelon is a warm season old-world cucurbit species which belongs to family Cucurbitaceae. It has served as a wonder crop since ancient times, as the leaves and seeds of it are used to treat hematoma, and the stems to reduce hypertension. For decades, it has played key roles in the field of plant molecular biology and plant physiology, serving as an excellent model plant for investigating the phenomenon of sex determination and ripening processes. Elite varieties of melons carrying the wide potential to serve as more demanding to end user and against tolerance to drought condition and inferior lands, or diseases have been developed. Plant-breeding methods (conventional or molecular breeding) and transgenic technology are the only tools left, with which we can deploy to regenerate the elite varieties in melon fruits to meet the global demand for next decades. The development of plant biotechnological tools for melons offers the prospect to develop new varieties, more rapidly, avoiding natural gen...