Farms.com Home   News

How Cucumbers Got Longer, and Why It's a Big Deal for Farming

By John Innes Centre

Cucumbers, a summer staple of salads and sandwiches, are a valuable commercial crop. They also have a less well-known role as valuable model plants which are helping researchers to extend the boundaries of genomic discovery.

 between the John Innes Centre and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) used an array of experiments and genomic analysis to probe the differences between wild cucumbers and their domestic relatives at a molecular level.

They targeted the genetics that underpin fruit elongation in domesticated cucumbers, which are longer than their stubby, bitter tasting wild relatives.

Their findings, published in the journal Cell, shed light on an increasingly important area of genetics and may allow us to breed bigger, higher yielding crops with much greater precision and variety.

Much of modern plant breeding targets  in DNA sequences which encode proteins, the cellular machines that deliver traits in the field, such as long or short fruits, bitter or sweet flavors, and round or wrinkled seeds.

But these protein encoding genes only account for a small proportion of the genome. Increasingly, researchers are using modern tools to explore DNA sequences that do not code for proteins.

Synonymous mutations, previously known as silent mutations, are an example of non-coding regions in the genome that are increasingly attracting the interest of biologists.

Click here to see more...

Trending Video

Grains on Tap | Episode 1: MP Branden Leslie

Video: Grains on Tap | Episode 1: MP Branden Leslie

Our journey through the corridors of power and the fields of grain begins with a special guest, Branden Leslie, Member of Parliament for Portage-Lisgar and a proud alumnus of the Grain Growers of Canada. Branden, a native of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, brings a wealth of knowledge from his time as a political advisor and his tenure as the manager of policy and government relations with the GGC, to his recent election to the House of Commons.

As we sit down with Branden on a late Friday afternoon, fresh from his duties at the House of Commons, we'll dive into the intersection of agriculture and politics, his journey from advocacy to elected office, and how these experiences shape his views on the future of Canadian agriculture. And, as we're doing this over a couple of well-deserved beers, we'll also touch on the lighter side of life, including Brandon's recent venture into fatherhood.