CYTOGENETICS STUDY AND USES OF Cucumis SPECIES ( CUCURBITACEAE ) IN MAINPURI DISTRICT ( U . P . )

Cucumis species (Cucurbiatace) are annual monoecious or biannual herbaceous clumbing plants and have rich in minerals and vitamins were collected from Mainpuri district (U.P.). Cucumis sativus have 7 pairs of chromosomes, while Cucumis melo and Cucumis momordica have 12 pairs of chromosomes. Fruits are used as salad, jams and vegetables purposes. Chromosomes pairs are represented in indiogram. The presence of chromosomes may be a reliable cytogenetic information for the screening and frequency. All these species of Cucumis showed the frequencies of half chiasma per chromosome. Anthers were stained by aceto-carmine for mitotic study and meristematic cells were scored. Root tips slides screened to determine the frequency of miotic division of the Cucumis species.

eaten as fruit, at an immature state they may be used in salads like cucumber or in curries.Flesh may be used to prepare a syrup or jams.Seeds slightly roasted are used like almonds or pistachios.The various shape and size of Cucumis fruits are collected from various parts of Mainpuri district (U.P.).
Cucumis sativus (Khira) the most common cultivated varieties are Kaliyanpur, Pusa sanyog and Puna Khira in Mainpuri district.It is a trailing climbing monoecious annual herb with stiff bristly hairs, stem strongly, four angled and tendrils unbranched.Leaves long petaloid, triangular, base deeply cordate, apex accuminate.Male and female flowers are fasciculate, borne in auxiliary clusters on slender pedicle.Calyx with 5 narrow lobes, corolla acute well shaped yellow deeply 5 hairy with stamens 3 filament free ending in thickened connective with anthers on outer face.There are 10-20 fruits observed in the plant.Fruit pedulous, variable in shape and size, yellowish green 30-40 cm long and seeds are flat whitish both ends pointed.
Cucumis momordica is known as Phunt, and is an annual monoecious, scabrous climbing herb.Leaves angular, 3.5 lobed tendrils, stem angular and flowers yellow usually small.Male flowers are many fasciculate rarely solitary while female flowers solitary, rarely fasciculate, calyx tube with 5 lobes.Corolla are rotate, 5 partite, stamens 3, free inserted at the calyx tube, filament short anther 3, free inserted at the calyx tube, filament short anther 3, oblong, curved, bifid, style short undivided, shortly cup shaped, stigma 3-5 obtuse, spherical.Fruit slender cylindrical, long 30-50 cm and diameter 10-20 cm, smooth skin fleshy, dehiscent, many seeded.Seeds are flat, whitish, apex is pointed and fruits at maturity.Soft and mushy, fleshy and are edible.
Cytogenetics methods have provided valuable information like evolution of reptan in Cucurbitaceae.Cucumis melo has 12 pairs of chromosomes 1,2,3 , Bhaduri and Bose (1947) have advanced the suggestion that Cucumis melo with 12 pairs of chromosomes was derived from Cucumis sativus by fragmentation of particular chromosomes.The evidence for this theory rests upon the presumed thread like projection from the pointed end of the chromosomes in Cucumis melo and upon an involved argument regarding the equivalence of nucleoli and secondary construction after fragmentation.Batra (1952)  5 made an extensive study over a period of 2 years of induced tetraploides in 9 culyivars of Cucumis melo.These results indicates that the quality of tetraploids is superior to that of diploids for e.g. the flesh is sweeter and of better texture than in comparable diploid cultivars.The tetraploids are fertile enough to be easily propagated from seed and fruits of tetraploids are smaller, flatter than those of diploid and tetraploid vires are probably less productive.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The meosis was carried out in dividing the pollen mother cells in cytological study of Cucumis species (Cucurbitaceae).The young flower buds are fixed in acetic alchohol in 1:3 molar ratio between 10-11 a.m and added few drops of ferric chloride for fixation.Anthers were stained by the aceto-carmine squash method for mitotic study, more than 50 meristematic cells were scored and 10 slides prepared from root tips.Slides thoroughly screened to determine the frequency of miotic divisons, abnormalities and nuclear aberrations in Cucumis melo, Cucumis sativus and Cucumis momordica.The cytogenetic studies of the various Cucumis species of the family-Cucurbitaceae has been described as follows: i. Cucumis

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The cultivated plant have derived from the wild gene pool through selection.The cytogenetics study were also carried out in Cucumis species (Cucurbitaceae), collection from different place of Manipuri district of Uttar Pradesh.A improved varieties like Cucumis melo, Cucumis sativus, Cucumis momordica were commenced as early as 1915 by Mckey et.al. 6 and Weishaar 7 .These problems have been studied by Pentzer et al. 8 and Barger et al. 9 .Varieties of Cucumis sativus are Kaliyanpur Khira, Pusa sanyog, Puna Khira, Balam Khira have been collected from Mainpuri district.Variety Kaliyanpur Khira, Pusa Sanyog and Puna Khira are most abundantly cultivated in Bhogaon and Mainpuri Tehsil and five blocks of Mainpuri district (U.P.) It has been able to produce buds, shoots or both from callus formed on either hypocotyle or cotyledons [10][11] .Cotyledons presently appear to be the better explant for use in organogenesis experiments 12 .
The Cucumis species from Tarai region and Western Uttar Pradesh, Chhota Nagpur area, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka and Coastal Andhra Pradesh and exhibit interesting variation.In Cucumis melo several fruits are large in size, which have been observed in M.P. and U.P. This may be due to the introversion of semi wild Cucumis melo with cultivated melons, Munger and Robinson 13 suggested horticultural importance of melongrooves.
All cultivars of Cucumber (Cucumis sativsu) have 7 pairs of chromosomes 14 .In addition to determine the number of chromosomes, a great deal of effort has been developed to cytological work without commensurate increase in out fund of cytological information.The somatic studies bring out in Cucumis momordica have chromosome smaller than those in Cucumis sativus but the tendency to have more of submedian chromosome than median ones is evident in all three species.The 12 pairs of chromosomes in Cucumis melo, C. momordica and 7 pairs of chromosomes in C. sativus species.
Inspite of differences in the number of 2n chromosomes amongst C. sativus (2n =14) and C. melo and C. momordica (2n = 24).All three taxas showed the same frequency of half charisma per chromosome and also frequency of bivalent in Cucurbitaceae.