Microsatellite and CAPS markers for ethylene-related genes, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase and ACC oxidase genes, and their variation in melon (Cucumis melo L.)

To establish DNA markers for ethylene-related genes in melon (Cucumis melo L.), we searched for microsatellite and cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) polymorphisms in two ACC synthase genes (CMe-ACS1, CMe-ACS2) and two ACC oxidase genes (CMe-ACO1, CMe-ACO3), and found two CAPSs and six microsatellite markers. Five markers were detected in two genes, CMe-ACS1 and CMe-ACO1, which were expressed during fruit ripening. A highly polymorphic marker was found in CMe-ACS2, where the number of simple sequence repeats (TA) was highly variable among cultivars, ranging from seven to thirty-seven. Insertion/deletion of (T)_n and (A)_n were also detected in CMe-ACS2. Specific CAPS and microsatellites for vars. makuwa and conomon, local varieties in East Asia, were detected in four markers, Acs1-c1, Acs2-ms1, Aco1-ms2 and Aco3-ms1, and could be useful markers for phylogenetic analysis in melon.