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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

How the watermelon got its sweet taste and rosy hue

Genomic analysis reveals the complex roots of the modern fruit.
Close-up of a child eating a whole circular slice of watermelon from the middle

Some of the ancestors of the watermelon were not as sugar-laden as the fruit sold today. Credit: Visual China Group/Getty

Scientists have mapped the genomes of watermelon and their wild — and often bitter — relatives in unprecedented detail, in the hope of breeding better fruit1.

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Nature 631, 713 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02265-0

References

  1. Zhang, Y. et al. Nature Genet. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-024-01823-6 (2024).

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