Abstract

A new variety of seedless watermelon, with high sugar content, good taste, and easy storage has been developed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) fluorescence staining, paraffin and 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining. The study investigated the mechanism behind the production of seedless watermelon after soft X-ray irradiation. The results showed that soft X-ray irradiation did not damage the cell walls of the watermelon pollen, and leading to normal pollination and fertilization. However, the chromosomal double helix of the watermelon pollen were damaged, thereby inhibiting embryotic developmental processes, leading to abortion of the embryo and degeneration of endosperm, which lead to the production of seedless watermelon. In conclusion, artificial pollination of pollen after soft X-ray irradiation can produce no seed watermelon, and the sugar content is higher than that of the seed watermelon.

Key word: Watermelon, X-ray, seedless.