| Pumpkin, an herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Cucurbita, originated from the American Continent, is an important kind of horticultural vegetable crop. With a long history of planting and large cultivation in China, the largest pumpkin production and consumption country in the world, it has good economic benefits. In Chi na, three main pumpkin species are planted in a large area , namely, Cucurbita moschata, C. maxima and C. pepo, among which C. moschata（including edible young fruit type and mature fruit type）has the highest planting area and yield. In the past five years, researchers in China have carried out a series of work based on the new demands of the development of pumpkin industry, and the basic research, breeding techniques and new varieties breeding of pumpkin have developed rapidly. This paper summarizes the latest progress made in the past five years from the aspects of researches on pumpkin functional gene mapping, cloning of important agronomic traits and their molecular mechanisms, the evaluation index and testing technology of qua li ty traits, breeding techniques such as haploid and inte rspecific hybridization, and new variety breeding. It also analyzes the existing problems in breeding techniques and theoretical research and prospects the future breeding work. We put forward the key direction of future breeding research, with a view to providing references for pumpkin breeding and highquality development of pumpkin industry. |
