Xuewen Xu , Xiaodong Yang , Xuehao Chen

School of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, Jiangsu, China
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol. 14, No. 5   doi: 10.5376/ijh.2024.14.0030
Received: 18 Jul., 2024    Accepted: 25 Aug., 2024    Published: 20 Sep., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Xu X.W., Yang X.D., and Chen X.H., 2024, Decoding the cucumber genome: functional genomics and its applications in genetic improvement, International Journal of Horticulture, 14(5): 283-296 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2024.14.0030)

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), as an important global economic crop, has significant implications for enhancing yield and quality through the decoding of its genome. The development of functional genomics provides powerful tools for cucumber genome research. Utilizing high-throughput sequencing and gene editing technologies, researchers can gain insights into the structure and function of the cucumber genome. This review uses functional genomics to analyze key genes in the cucumber genome, exploring their roles in disease resistance, fruit quality, and stress tolerance. The results showed that through a comprehensive analysis of the cucumber genome, a series of disease resistance-related genes were identified, and the disease resistance of cucumbers was successfully enhanced through gene editing technology. Additionally, by regulating genes related to fruit development, the quality of cucumber fruits was significantly improved, and the yield under stress conditions was increased. These findings highlight the potential of functional genomics in cucumber improvement, providing new ideas and approaches for crop breeding. This review not only supports theoretical research on gene function in cucumbers but also offers valuable references for functional genomics in other crops.

Cucumber genome; Functional genomics; Crop improvement; High-throughput sequencing; Disease resistance