Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is an important crop in the family of Cucurbitaceae worldwide, and exogenous spraying of chloropyrifos (CPPU) to induce unisexual fruit set is common in melon production due to the lack of unisexual fruit set germplasm resources. Compared with natural pollination, CPPU spraying has better fruit set and better fruit yield, but the mechanism of action of CPPU-induced unisexual fruit set in melon has not been clarified.

 

Recently, a research paper entitled “Gibberellin biosynthesis is required for CPPU-induced parthenocarpy in melon” has preliminarily explored the molecular mechanism of CPPU-induced unisexual fruit set in melon, providing a theoretical basis for solving the fruit set problem in melon production, germplasm improvement and research on the mechanism of unisexual fruit set.

 

The results suggested that CPPU may directly activate the expression of gibberellin biosynthetic genes in melon through the cytokinin signaling pathway and promote gibberellin biosynthesis.