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Cloning of superoxide dismutase from post-harvest Hami melon and quantitative expression analysis before and after disease

Author(s): C.H. Shan, F.X. Tang, W. Chen and W.R. Ma

Primers were designed according to the Cu/Zn-SOD gene sequences of cloned Cucurbits plants (cucumbers and watermelons) available in NCBI. Total RNA from Hami melon pulp was used as a template. Following RT-PCR amplification, a 403-bp fragment of the Hami melon Cu/Zn-SOD gene was obtained. According to alignment in BLAST and phylogenetic tree analysis, the cloned gene fragment was confirmed to be the Hami melon Cu/Zn-SOD gene sequence. Real-time fluorescence quantitative expression analysis indicated that there were differences in the expression of SOD mRNA expression before and after infection by blue mold. mRNA expression was maximal 24-h after infection, indicating that the product of the SOD gene plays an important role in the rotting and degeneration of Hami melons as a consequence of bacterial infection during the preservation period.