Complete volume with articles 1 to 32 - Cucurbit Breeding - North ...

and emerging problems facing the seed
industry. These updates were followed by a
talk by Tom Williams, Watermelon
Consultant, on the success of the personal
size seedless watermelon and then by P.
Dittmar and J. Schultheis, North Carolina
State University who talked about the
characterization of the growth and
development of commercially available
watermelon cultivars. Statewide watermelon
trial results were presented by Don Maynard,
University of Florida who gave a review of
Florida statewide watermelon trials and
Steve King, Texas A&M University who
reviewed Texas statewide watermelon trials
for 2004. The morning session concluded
with the topic of managing foliar diseases:
John Damicon, Oklahoma State University,
talked about controlling powdery mildew,
anthracnose and downy mildew diseases in
watermelon; Tony Keinath, Clemson
University, talked about controlling gummy
stem blight and preventing fungicide
resistance in the greenhouse and field; and
Kenny Seebold and Ron Gitaitis, University
of Georgia talked about how to differentiate
between Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli
and Acidovorax facilis: why does it matter?
Following the lunch break, special
presentations were provided by Steven Fore,
Director of Research, National Watermelon
Promotion Board, who talked about the
watermelon consumer: what they know and
how they respond in the retail market, and
David Thompson, Rutgers University who
gave an overview of the workshop on
Phytophthora capsici in cucurbits that was
held the previous day.
The afternoon session continued with the
following research updates:
• G. Holmes, North Carolina State
University. Forecasting longdistance
movement of cucurbit
downy mildew in 2005.
• W. Roberts, W. Fish and B. Bruton.
Oklahoma State University and
USDA-ARS. Grafted watermelon
affects fruit quality.
vii
• W. Roberts, W. Fish, B. Bruton and
T. Popham. Oklahoma State
University and USDA-ARS.
•
Improving the fresh cut quality of
watermelons through grafting and
root stock selection.
N. Guner and T. Wehner, North
Carolina State University.
•
Watermelon genes controlling fruit
traits.
A. Levi, C. Thomas, A. Davis, S.
King, G. Gusmini, T. Wehner, Y. Xu,
J. King and X. Zhang. USDA-ARS;
Texas A&M University, North
Carolina State University, Seminis,
Inc, and Syngenta Seeds.
Development of genetic linkage map
and expressed sequence tag (EST)
DNA library for watermelon.
• P. Perkins-Veazie, USDA-ARS.
•
Lycopene, citruline, and low sugar
watermelons for human health.
A. Davis, T. Wehner, A. Levi and S.
King. USDA-ARS, North Carolina
State University and Texas A&M
University. Update on powdery
mildew resistance screening in
watermelon.
• B. Bruton, P Roberts and R.
Muchovej. USDA-ARS and
University of Florida. Status of
watermelon vine decline and fruit rot
in Florida.
The meeting concluded with a discussion of
Fusarium wilt differentials.
In addition to our refreshment sponsors, we
are grateful to SAAS and SRASHS for
providing support and a room for us to meet.
2006 Watermelon Research and
Development Working Group – 26 th
Annual Meeting
Stephen R. King
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
The 26 th annual meeting of the Watermelon
Research and Development Working Group
was held Sunday, February 5, 2006 in
Orlando, Florida in conjunction with the