Nucleic Acid Hybridization Studies within the Genus Cucurbita.
The DNAs of Cucurbita species were examined by several methods. All Cucurbita DNAs have a similar CsCl isopycnic banding pattern consisting of a major band at 1.695 g/cc and a well separated satellite band at 1.707 g/cc. Compared to other plant and animal genera, Cucurbita species have a large genomic proportion of rDNA; this value ranging from 1.4% to 3.1%. The genomic proportion of rDNA was found not to be useful as a characteristic indicating degree of relatedness of the various Cucurbita species. However, Cucurbita DNAs can be distinguished by the extent to which their repetitive sequences cross-hybridize to each other and an assessment of species relationships can be made on this basis.
Goldberg
R B
RB
Committee on Genetics and Departments of Horticulture and Agricultural Biochemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721.
Bemis
W P
WP
Siegel
A
A