Re-evaluation of the role of Indian germplasm as center of melon diversification based on genotyping-by-sequencing analysis.

The results support the hypothesis that India is the primary center of diversity of melon, Occidental and Far-East cultivars have been developed by divergent selection. Indian germplasm is genetically distinct from African germplasm, supporting independent domestication events. The current set of traditional Indian accessions may be considered as a population rather than a standard collection of fixed landraces with high intercrossing between cultivated and wild melons.