The adoption of melon hybrids by the productive sector necessitates a prior evaluation of the productivity, quality and shelf life of their fruits. Due to the different environmental conditions under which the hybrids are evaluated, an accentuated genotype-environmental interaction is expected to become apparent and likewise play important role in manifestation of phenotypic traits. The objective of the present work was to evaluate melon hybrids in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The adaptability and stability of the genetic values were estimated by the HMRPGV method (Harmonic Mean of the Relative Performance of Genetic Values) for the following traits: yield, and soluble solids (SS) content in the period between 2010 to 2015. In 2017, the more promising melon hybrids from previous trials were evaluated under commercial conditions to determine the fruit’s yield, quality and shelf life. The predominance of the complex part of the genotype-environmental interaction was verified for both yield and SS content. Hybrids HC-02 and HC-11 show promising traits when grown under the conditions of the Mossoró-Assu Agricultural Complex owing their high stability, adaptability, yield, and fruit quality. Hybrids HC-02, HC-11, and ‘Hy Mark’ are suitable as international exports due to their long shelf life.

The main quality parameters of melon are related to sucrose accumulation and soluble solids content. Understanding the genetic control of these traits is essential to help breeders in the selection process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the inheritance of sucrose accumulation and soluble solids content in melon. A randomized block design with three replicates was used to evaluate AC-16 and Vedrantais parents, and F1, F2, BC1 and BC2 generations. We verified that sucrose is the main factor which is related to genetic and environmental variability observed in sugar content between parents. The inheritance of sucrose content involves a major effect gene with additive and dominance effects associated with polygenes with additive effects. The inheritance of soluble solids involves a major gene with additive and dominance effects associated with polygenes, with additive effects, and the presence of epistasis.

A hanseníase é um importante problema de saúde pública, que vem acometendo e mutilando física e socialmente inúmeros sujeitos. O estudo objetivou realizar avaliação epidemiológica e operacional da hanseníase no município de Cariré - Ceará, a partir de uma pesquisa epidemiológica, descritiva e temporal, com os casos notificados no período de primeiro de janeiro de 2001 a 31 de dezembro de 2010, da base de dados do Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação (SINAN) da Secretaria Municipal da Saúde de Cariré, em 116 casos, residentes no município. Observou-se que nos últimos anos houve uma elevação no número de casos novos de hanseníase e da taxa de incidência e do coeficiente de prevalência, principalmente no ano de 2010, devido a uma maior busca ativa, melhoria na capacidade diagnóstica e avaliação dos contatos. Tais achados são importantes, se considerarmos a endemia oculta existente. Apesar da hiperendemicidade do município estudado, ações para eliminação da hanseníase vêm sendo desenvolvidas de forma efetiva.

The use of resistant cultivars is an efficient and recommended method for the management of leafminers, which are the main phytosanitary problem in melons. The objectives of this study were to identify the sources of resistance to the leafminer in yellow melon accessions and to determine the resistance inheritance in acession AM-RT. Two field experiments were conducted in the municipalities of Baraúna, RN and Icapuí, CE, Brazil, to identify the sources of resistance. The design adopted was completely randomized blocks with 22 treatments and four replications. In this evaluation, the number of mines per leaf was quantified. The heterogeneity of the studied materials allowed for the identification of the accessions AM-RT and AM-TM as sources of resistance, considering that they revealed zero mines in the two evaluation environments. The accession AM-RT was selected and used to obtain the S1 population (by self-fertilization), S1:2 population derived from S1, and crossing between AM-RT and ‘Goldex’, which were evaluated in a third laboratory trial to determine the genetic control of resistance in that material. By the segregation pattern of the populations S1, S1:2, and the crossing (AM-RT and ‘Goldex’) and the estimation of the chi-squared (χ2) values, which were 1.33, 3.14, and 0.36, respectively, it was determined that the inheritance of resistance was controlled by only one gene with complete dominance. Therefore, in this study, two sources of resistance to the leafminer were identified, and resistance was conditioned by a gene with complete dominance in the accession ‘AM-RT’.