In production, most cultivars of melon are andromonoecious and characterized by carrying both male and bisexual flowers on the same plant. In this study, four A-class genes (CmAP1a, CmAP1b, CmAP2a and CmAP2b), two B-class genes (CmAP3 and CmPI), two C-class genes (CmAGa and CmAGb) and four E-class genes (CmSEP1,2,3,4) were identified in melon. However, no D-class gene of melon was identified. The conserved domains of ABCE function proteins showed relatively high similarity between Arabidopsis and melon. The expression patterns of ABCE homeotic genes in different flower buds of melon suggested that transcripts of CmAP1a, CmPI and CmSEP1 in bisexual buds were significantly lower than that in male flower buds, while the expression levels of CmAGa, CmAGb and CmSEP4 in bisexual flower buds were significantly higher than that in male flower buds. There was no significant difference in expression levels of other ABCE model genes between male buds and bisexual buds. Subsequently, qRT-PCR was performed in different floral organs of bisexual flowers in melon. For A class genes, CmAP1a and CmAP1b showed the highest accumulation in sepals than petals, stamens and pistil, while CmAP2a and CmAP2b revealed the highest expression in pistil than other three floral organs. For B class genes, CmAP3 and CmPI were highly accumulated in petals and stamens though CmAP3 also showed abundant accumulation in pistil. For C class genes, the expression levels of CmAGa and CmAGb were higher in stamens and pistil than that in sepals and petals. For E class genes, CmSEP1 showed higher expression level in sepals and petals than stamens and pistil. CmSEP2, CmSEP3 and CmSEP4 showed the highest accumulation in pistil than other floral organs. These results provided a theoretical basis for studying the function of ABCE homeotic genes in floral organs development of melon.

在生产中，大多数甜瓜品种都是雌雄同株的，其特点是同一株植物上既有雄花又有两性花。在本研究中， 4个 A 类基因（CmAP1a、CmAP1b、CmAP2a和CmAP2b）、2 个 B 类基因（CmAP3和CmPI ）、2个C 类基因（CmAGa和CmAGb）和 4 个 E 类基因（CmSEP1、2 , 3 , 4 ) 在甜瓜中被鉴定出来。然而，没有鉴定出甜瓜的D类基因。ABCE功能蛋白的保守结构域在拟南芥之间表现出较高的相似性和甜瓜。ABCE同源基因在甜瓜不同花蕾中的表达模式表明，双性花蕾中CmAP1a、CmPI和CmSEP1的转录本显着低于雄性花蕾，而CmAGa、CmAGb和CmSEP4在双性花蕾中的表达水平低于雄性花蕾。显着高于雄花芽。雄性芽和双性芽中其他ABCE模型基因的表达水平无显着差异。随后，对甜瓜两性花的不同花器官进行了 qRT-PCR。对于 A 类基因，CmAP1a和CmAP1bCmAP2a 和 CmAP2b在萼片中的表达量高于花瓣、雄蕊和雌蕊，而CmAP2a和CmAP2b在雌蕊中的表达量高于其他三个花器官。对于 B 类基因，CmAP3和CmPI在花瓣和雄蕊中高度积累，尽管CmAP3在雌蕊中也表现出大量积累。对于C类基因， CmAGa和CmAGb在雄蕊和雌蕊中的表达水平高于萼片和花瓣。对于E类基因，CmSEP1在萼片和花瓣中的表达水平高于雄蕊和雌蕊。CmSEP2、CmSEP3和CmSEP4与其他花器官相比，在雌蕊中的积累量最高。这些结果为研究ABCE同源基因在甜瓜花器官发育中的作用提供了理论依据。