M. Alabboud - Department of Horticultural Sciences, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran.
F. soltani - Department of Horticultural Sciences, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran.
S. Kalantari - Department of Horticultural Sciences, University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Islamic Republic of Iran.

Introducing new melon types able to endure cold storage and cold transportation is among the major goals of breeders. Therefore, providing a better understanding of the fruit physiological traits and postharvest associated genes expression can help to select the superior type for cold storage condition. This experiment was carried out to investigate the postharvest behavior of various melon lines and their F۱ breeds based on fruit characteristics and their relation to the expression of CMe-ACS۱, CM-ETR۱ and CM-ETR۲ genes during cold storage. For this purpose, six melon inbred lines were cross-pollinated to form a full diallel F۱ population. Thus, the studied population constituted ۶ parental lines, ۱۵ direct hybrids, and ۱۵ reciprocal F۱ hybrids. After fruits harvest and during one month of storage, fruits firmness loss, color changes, and weight loss were evaluated. A significant positive correlation coefficient was found between CMe-ACS۱ gene expression and ACC content with two distinct clusters based on this relation. Gene expression profiles referred to the presence of gradual and continuous senescence behaviors in the studied types, which was reflected in their physiological postharvest performance. G۱ cluster types expressed the studied receptor genes at lower rates compared to the other groups. The G۱ corresponded with P۳ and P۴ groups that were characterized by low physiological changes and thus better postharvest performance during cold storage. This result highlights the importance of Persian inodorus melons, generally, and the line ‘Khatouni’, specifically, in melon breeding programs for postharvest purposes.

Persian melon, Postharvest behavior, Senescence behaviors.