Spring Break
Pop, goes the ripe melon: Insight into infected fruit
MARIANNE ENGLISH
Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: News
Some may rarely think of how fruits and vegetables end up at dinner in one piece. Some growers worry about this - literally. In watermelon production, researchers and growers know something is wrong when a rotting watermelon ruptures open with a loud, popping noise.
The culprit is almost always bacterial fruit blotch, especially in Georgia. The bacterium infects watermelon and other melons and gourds.
"I had a watermelon rupture near my foot once," said David Langston, associate professor of plant pathology. "It startled me a bit because it was so loud."
Rupturing watermelons are actually a side effect of the bacterium. When the fruit is infected, the bacteria feed on the fleshy inside, producing gases. With a warm day, pressure builds up inside of the watermelon until it ruptures.
With the struggling peanut market, more people are growing watermelons - there will be more grown this year than ever before in Georgia, Langston said. Monitoring watermelon seedlings and plants is important to reduce crop losses, he said.
Plant pathologist Ronald Walcott also studies bacterial fruit blotch. His research looks at how the bacterium spreads.
The bacterium can be deposited in the ovary of a watermelon by insects, Walcott said. As a result, the seeds produced by that watermelon are infested.
Walcott, alongside doctoral student Kameka Johnson, looks at the mechanisms the bacterium uses. They have studied how seeds become infected through the ovary of the watermelon and how signaling through quorum sensing - a way bacteria communicate to express genes - shapes the bacteria's behavior.
Walcott and Johnson's goal is to figure out how to alter the bacteria signals.
"It's strange because the bacteria stay dormant in the seed until the seed starts to grow," Walcott said. "We are trying to find ways to trick or stop these cues."
He explained disrupting these signals is similar to a malfunctioning gun, even if it is loaded with bullets.
The culprit is almost always bacterial fruit blotch, especially in Georgia. The bacterium infects watermelon and other melons and gourds.
"I had a watermelon rupture near my foot once," said David Langston, associate professor of plant pathology. "It startled me a bit because it was so loud."
Rupturing watermelons are actually a side effect of the bacterium. When the fruit is infected, the bacteria feed on the fleshy inside, producing gases. With a warm day, pressure builds up inside of the watermelon until it ruptures.
With the struggling peanut market, more people are growing watermelons - there will be more grown this year than ever before in Georgia, Langston said. Monitoring watermelon seedlings and plants is important to reduce crop losses, he said.
Plant pathologist Ronald Walcott also studies bacterial fruit blotch. His research looks at how the bacterium spreads.
The bacterium can be deposited in the ovary of a watermelon by insects, Walcott said. As a result, the seeds produced by that watermelon are infested.
Walcott, alongside doctoral student Kameka Johnson, looks at the mechanisms the bacterium uses. They have studied how seeds become infected through the ovary of the watermelon and how signaling through quorum sensing - a way bacteria communicate to express genes - shapes the bacteria's behavior.
Walcott and Johnson's goal is to figure out how to alter the bacteria signals.
"It's strange because the bacteria stay dormant in the seed until the seed starts to grow," Walcott said. "We are trying to find ways to trick or stop these cues."
He explained disrupting these signals is similar to a malfunctioning gun, even if it is loaded with bullets.
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