Comparative analysis of chloroplast DNA variability in wild and cultivated Citrullus species

PCR amplification and restriction site analysis of chloroplast (cp) DNA regions was used to detect inter- and intraspecific differences in the genus Citrullus. More than 55 C. lanatus and 15 C. colocynthis accessions collected from diverse geographical areas, C. ecirrhosus and C. rehmii were used. Most of the cpDNA variation within Citrullus was the result of large indels and transitions and transversions. Indels at the ndhA, trnS- trnfM and trnC- trnD regions and several substitutions at restriction enzyme sites can be used to separate C. colocynthis from the other Citrullus species. A nucleotide substitution at a restriction enzyme site at the 3' flanking region of ndhF provided a diagnostic haplotype for C. lanatus var. lanatus, the cultivated watermelon. Similarly, a nucleotide substitution at an intergenic spacer region of the trnC- trnD region resulted in a diagnostic haplotype for citron, C. lanatus var. citroides. Several C. lanatus var. citroides accessions showed the var. lanatus haplotype. C. rehmii showed almost the same haplotype as C. lanatus var. citroides with the exception of a unique insertion at a cpSSR site. Since C. ecirrhosus lacks the derived diagnostic nucleotide substitutions of C. lanatus, it is probably the progenitor of the cultivated watermelon. Intraspecific haplotypes detected within C. colocynthis were associated with geographic origin.