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<p>Parthenocarpy, the development of fruit in the absence of pollination or fertilization, is an important trait in cucurbit crops as it stabilizes yield under conditions unfavorable for pollination and produces seedless fruit preferred by consumers and processors. This review summarizes current knowledge of the genetic control, hormonal regulation, and breeding use of parthenocarpy in Cucurbitaceae. Inheritance ranges from simple to complex, and several quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including <i>Parth2.1</i> and <i>Parth6.1</i>, have been mapped in cucumber. A small number of genes, such as <i>CsWIP1</i>, <i>CsACO2</i>, <i>CsFUL1</i> and <i>CsNPF1</i>, have been confirmed by CRISPR/Cas9 or transgenic studies to influence fruit set, while a much larger group of genes, including members of the <i>YUCCA</i>, <i>ARF</i>, <i>PIN</i> and <i>GA20-oxidase</i> families, has been proposed mainly from transcriptomic and association studies and still requires functional confirmation. At the physiological level, parthenocarpy is controlled by an interconnected hormonal network: auxin initiates ovary growth, gibberellin and cytokinin promote cell division and expansion, and ethylene and abscisic acid restrain the response, with <i>MADS</i>-box transcription factors, microRNAs and the <i>SPINDLY</i> protein fine-tuning the overall output. Parthenocarpy can also be induced by stimulatory pollination, low temperature, short photoperiod, and ploidy manipulation, and can be fixed genetically through marker-assisted selection or CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing. Each of these approaches has practical benefits as well as clear limitations, including cost, genotype dependence, regulatory uncertainty, and the polygenic nature of the trait. The review concludes with emerging tools, such as base and prime editing, multi-parent mapping populations, and single-cell transcriptomics. It outlines the key questions that remain to be resolved for the development of stable, high-yielding parthenocarpic cultivars.</p>

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Parthenocarpy in Cucurbitaceae: Genetic Regulation, Hormonal Crosstalk, and Breeding Implications

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月24日

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  • B. Srinivasulu,
  • M. Jasmitha

摘要

Parthenocarpy, the development of fruit in the absence of pollination or fertilization, is an important trait in cucurbit crops as it stabilizes yield under conditions unfavorable for pollination and produces seedless fruit preferred by consumers and processors. This review summarizes current knowledge of the genetic control, hormonal regulation, and breeding use of parthenocarpy in Cucurbitaceae. Inheritance ranges from simple to complex, and several quantitative trait loci (QTLs), including Parth2.1 and Parth6.1, have been mapped in cucumber. A small number of genes, such as CsWIP1, CsACO2, CsFUL1 and CsNPF1, have been confirmed by CRISPR/Cas9 or transgenic studies to influence fruit set, while a much larger group of genes, including members of the YUCCA, ARF, PIN and GA20-oxidase families, has been proposed mainly from transcriptomic and association studies and still requires functional confirmation. At the physiological level, parthenocarpy is controlled by an interconnected hormonal network: auxin initiates ovary growth, gibberellin and cytokinin promote cell division and expansion, and ethylene and abscisic acid restrain the response, with MADS-box transcription factors, microRNAs and the SPINDLY protein fine-tuning the overall output. Parthenocarpy can also be induced by stimulatory pollination, low temperature, short photoperiod, and ploidy manipulation, and can be fixed genetically through marker-assisted selection or CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing. Each of these approaches has practical benefits as well as clear limitations, including cost, genotype dependence, regulatory uncertainty, and the polygenic nature of the trait. The review concludes with emerging tools, such as base and prime editing, multi-parent mapping populations, and single-cell transcriptomics. It outlines the key questions that remain to be resolved for the development of stable, high-yielding parthenocarpic cultivars.