Cucumber fruit mottle mosaic tobamovirus (CFMMV) causes severe mosaic symptoms and yellow mottling on leaves and fruits and, occasionally, severe wilting of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) plants. No genetic source of resistance against this virus has been identified in cucumber. The gene coding for the putative 54-kDa replicase gene of CFMMV was cloned into an Agrobacterium tumefaciens binary vector, and transformation was performed on cotyledon explants of a parthenocarpic cucumber cultivar. R1 seedlings were screened for resistance to CFMMV by symptom expression, back inoculation on an alternative host and ELISA. From a total of 14 replicase-containing R1 lines, eight resistant lines were identified. Line 144--homozygous for the putative 54-kDa replicase gene--was immune to CFMMV infection by mechanical and graft inoculation, and to root infection following planting in CFMMV-infested soil. A substantial delay of symptom appearance was observed following infection by three additional cucurbit-infecting tobamoviruses. When used as a rootstock, line I44 protected susceptible cucumber scions from soil infection by CFMMV. This paper is the first report on protection of a susceptible cultivar against a soil-borne viral pathogen, by grafting onto a transgenic rootstock.

Transformation efficiency of melon is low and is still regarded as a challenge. In this paper, the regeneration and transformation response of ‘BU‐21/3′, a newly characterized melon breeding line, is described. The line seems to be superior in this regard to previously evaluated genotypes. Agrobacterium‐mediated delivery of the GUS or GFP reporter genes into cotyledon explants was used to evaluate efficiency of transient and stable transformation. Good transient expression was observed, and stable transformation frequencies of 0.4‐1.5 transgenic shoots per explant were obtained. Transgenic plantlets were transferred to a contained greenhouse as early as 8‐10 weeks after transformation. Transgenic plants are fertile and exhibit a true‐to‐type phenotype. The ‘BU‐21/3’ line may become a useful tool for the facilitation of transgenic breeding in melon.