International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.3, 117-126 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 120 with a small effect. GS has been shown to increase genetic gain per unit time and cost, and its early empirical and simulation results are promising for Cucurbitaceae crops (Heffner et al., 2009; Jannink et al., 2010; Heslot et al., 2015). The success of GS relies on the use of all available marker information to predict phenotypes, which allows for the capture of more variation due to small-effect quantitative trait loci (QTL) (Goddard and Hayes, 2007; Heffner et al., 2009). However, careful consideration of resource allocation and the cost-benefit balance of using markers is necessary for the effective implementation of GS (Heslot et al., 2015). Figure 1 Schematic steps of the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) protocol for plant breeding (Adopted from He et al., 2014) Image caption: Panel (A): tissue is obtained from any plant species as depicted here a young triticale plant; Panel (B): ground leaf tissues for DNA isolation, quantification and normalization. At this step it is important to prevent any cross-contamination among samples; Panel (C): DNA digestion with restriction enzymes; Panel (D): ligations of adaptors (ADP) including a bar coding (BC) region in adapter 1 in random PstI-MseI restricted DNA fragments; Panel (E): representation of different amplified DNA fragments with different bar codes from different biological samples/lines. These fragments represent the GSB library; Panel (F): analysis of sequences from library on a NGS sequencer; Panel (G): bioinformatic analysis of NGS sequencing data; Panel (H): possible application of GBS results (Adopted from He et al., 2014) 3.3 Genetic engineering and editing: targeted modifications to improve crop traits Genetic engineering and gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9, have opened new avenues for targeted modifications of crop genomes to improve traits. In Cucurbitaceae, these technologies have been used to overcome the limitations of conventional breeding methods, such as the narrow genetic bases and low variation rates of these crops (Feng et al., 2023). Recent progress in genetic transformation and gene editing in cucurbits has led to improvements in genetic transformation efficiency and the application of gene editing for trait
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