Watermelon gene conferring a high number of male flowers

A method for screening watermelon plants, watermelon seeds, watermelon plant parts or DNA therefrom for the presence of a mutant allele of a gene named ClHWS, or for selecting a watermelon plant, seed or plant part comprising a mutant allele of a gene named ClHWS, or for generating a watermelon plant, seed or plant part comprising a mutant allele of a gene named ClHWS, wherein said mutant allele either

• comprises one or more mutations in a regulatory element, resulting in no expression or reduced expression of the allele compared to the wild type allele, and/or
• encodes a mutant protein comprising one or more amino acids replaced, inserted or deleted in the C-terminal region starting at amino acid 93 and ending at amino acid 380 compared to the wild type protein,
• wherein the wild type watermelon allele comprises SEQ ID NO:
• 4,
• said method comprises the steps of
• a) introducing mutations by random mutagenesis techniques or targeted mutagenesis techniques into said ClHWS gene in watermelon plants or seeds or plant parts,
• b) providing one or more genomic DNA samples of one or more watermelon plants, seeds or plant parts from a),
• c) carrying out a genotyping assay, using the DNA samples of b) as template, that discriminates between the wild type Clhws allele and the mutant Clhws allele, wherein said genotyping assay is based on nucleic acid amplification making use of Clhws allele-specific oligonucleotide primers, and/or wherein said genotyping assay is based on nucleic acid hybridization making use of Clhws allele-specific oligonucleotide probes, and optionally
• d) selecting a plant, seed or plant part comprising one or two copies of the mutant allele.

A method for generating watermelon plants comprising mutant Clhws alleles comprising the steps of:

• a) introducing mutations in a population of watermelon plants, plant parts or seeds or providing a population of mutated plants, or progeny thereof;
• b) selecting a plant comprising a mutant Clhws allele, and optionally
• c) determining if the plant selected produces a higher percentage of male flowers than the wild type, non-mutated plant line, or a higher ratio of male to female flowers,
• wherein the wild type watermelon Clhws allele comprises SEQ ID NO:
• 4;
• and wherein said mutant allele encodes a mutant protein comprising one or more amino acids replaced, inserted or deleted in the C-terminal region starting at amino acid 93 and ending at amino acid 380 compared to the wild type protein.

A method for amplifying and/or hybridizing a part of the genomic DNA of watermelon plants, seeds or plant parts is provided comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a sample or a plurality of samples of genomic DNA of a watermelon plant or of a plurality of plants,
• b) providing at least a pair of PCR primers or at least one oligonucleotide probe, which primers or oligonucleotide probe comprise at least 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 or more consecutive nucleotides of the genomic allele of the Clhws gene and can hybridize to the genomic allele and/or amplify part of the genomic allele in a PCR assay, and
• c) carrying out a PCR assay using the primer pair or a hybridization assay using the probe of step b) on the sample(s) of step a) to generate a PCR amplification product and/or a oligonucleotide hybridization product, and optionally
• d) selecting a plant or plant part or seed comprising one or two copies of a a mutant allele of the Clhws gene in the genome,
• wherein the wild type allele of the Clhws gene comprises SEQ ID NO:
• 4;
• and wherein said mutant allele encodes a mutant protein comprising one or more amino acids replaced, inserted or deleted in the C-terminal region starting at amino acid 93 and ending at amino acid 380 compared to the wild type protein.