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Chinese Agricultural Science Bulletin ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (20): 35-43.doi: 10.11924/j.issn.1000-6850.casb2025-0954

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Cloning and Functional Analysis of CmoMLO Genes in Chinese Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata)

LI Ke(), DU Furong, ZHANG Mei, ZHAO Mingming, HU Xinyan, CHEN Xiaoguang()   

  1. Xuzhou Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Xuhuai Region of Jiangsu Province, Xuzhou, Jiangsu 221000
  • Received:2025-12-01 Revised:2026-03-11 Online:2026-10-25 Published:2026-10-26

Abstract:

To analyze the structure of CmoMLO gene family members in clade V of Chinese pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata) and their relationship with powdery mildew resistance, this study utilized a highly powdery mildew-susceptible pumpkin line as material. Five MLO homologous genes from clade V of Chinese pumpkin (CmoMLO4, CmoMLO8, CmoMLO13, CmoMLO18, and CmoMLO19) were cloned using TA cloning. Additionally, pTRV2-VIGS silencing vectors for the five genes were constructed through homologous cloning, and changes in the expression levels of the relevant genes were detected. Complete open reading frame (ORF) sequences (1803-2067 bp) of the five CmoMLO genes were obtained. Sequence analysis revealed that the amino acid sequences of the cloned target genes showed ≥99% identity with the reference sequences in the Chinese pumpkin genome database, and all contained seven transmembrane domains with highly conserved transmembrane region amino acid sequences. Following Podosphaera xanthii inoculation for 24 h, the expression levels of CmoMLO8 and CmoMLO19 in the control plants were upregulated by 53.5-fold and 13.5-fold, respectively. After 24 h of inoculation, the target gene expression levels in pTRV2-CmoMLO8 and pTRV2-CmoMLO19 silenced plants were significantly reduced, with upregulation of only 8-fold and 3.7-fold, respectively. The CmoMLO8 and CmoMLO19 genes of clade V CmoMLO family are key genes involved in Chinese pumpkin response to powdery mildew infection.

Key words: Chinese pumpkin, powdery mildew, MLO gene, cloning, virus-induced gene silencing, functional analysis

CLC Number: