International Journal of Molecular Evolution and Biodiversity 2024, Vol.14, No.2, 52-61 http://ecoevopublisher.com/index.php/ijmeb 58 Figure 2 Structure and gene content of Cucurbitaceae plastomes (Photo credit: Bellot et al., 2020) Image caption: (a) Plastid genome of Ampelosicyos humblotii (Picture: HS); (b) Comparison of the location and gene content of the inverted repeat and small single copy regions of Trichosanthes lobata and Linnaeosicyos amara (Pictures: HS and TM); The large single copy region of T. lobata and most of that of L. amara were truncated to improve visualisation; (c) Size comparison of the different plastid genome regions across Cucurbitaceae; the sizes of both copies of the inverted repeat were summed (Adopted from Bellot et al., 2020) 6 Challenges and Opportunities 6.1 Current limitations in genetic and genomic research of Cucurbitaceae Despite the advancements in phylogenomic studies, there are still significant limitations in the genetic and genomic research of Cucurbitaceae. One of the main challenges is the representation bias inherent in genome skimming or target sequence capture methods, which can lead to unresolved relationships even when analyzing hundreds of loci (Bellot et al., 2020). Additionally, the lack of phylogenetic signal among plastid loci, as revealed by node support analyses, suggests a rapid divergence of Cucurbitaceae tribes, complicating the resolution of phylogenetic relationships (Bellot et al., 2020). Furthermore, the polyphyly and paraphyly observed in certain genera, such as Cucumis and Trichosanthes, indicate the need for a more comprehensive and systematic approach to clarify the classification within the family (Kocyan et al., 2007; Reddy, 2009).
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