REGENERATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CUCUMIS-MELO L. (-ANGURIA L. VAR. LONGIPES (HOOK. FIL.) MEEUSE SOMATIC HYBRIDS() CUCUMIS)

Cotyledon protoplasts of an albino Cucumis melo L. 'Cantaloup Charenta is' somaclonal variant were electrofused with protoplasts of the wild species Cucumis anguria L. var. longipes (Hook. fil.) Meeuse. Selectio n of putative somatic hybrids was based on competence of the albino me lon to grow and regenerate shoots together with the ability of the wil d species to synthesise chlorophyll. The ITS region of C. anguria ribo somal DNA was sequenced to design species-specific primers, which allo wed us to distinguish between parental lines and fusion products by PC R amplification. By using this method, all the organogenic lines chara cterised proved to be somatic hybrids. Three of sixteen selected lines produced shoots with albino and green sectors. Eleven lines remained green but shoots developed abnormally and did not produce roots in vit ro. Two hybrid lines regenerated normal shoots but with a limited abil ity to produce roots in vitro and in vivo. Applicability of molecular characterisation to optimise the quick recovery of fusion products is discussed.