Early Fruit Development in the Watermelon: Anatomical Comparison of Pollinated, Auxin-induced Parthenocarpic and Unpollinated Fruits

The anatomy of pollinated, auxin-induced parthenocarpic andunpollinated watermelon fruits was observed for nine days afterflowering. Parthenocarpic fruits were larger and had higherfresh weight and percentage water than pollinated fruits atday 1 but the positions were reversed by day 9. Unpollinatedfruits did not increase in size after day 3. Pericarp cells were small, of regular shape and showed no obviouschange with either time or treatment. Cell number increasedin the pollinated and parthenocarpic but not in the unpollinatedfruits. Cells divided in the flesh of the parthenocarpic but not ofthe pollinated fruits which increased in size by cell enlargementonly. Starch, present in the cells of the flesh and placentaat day 0 was absent from the unpollinated fruits at day 6. Ovules grew in both pollinated and parthenocarpic fruits largelydue to cell division in the nucellus and integuments; the pollinatedovules were larger than the parthenocarpic throughout. Embryoand endosperm development occurred in the pollinated but notin the parthenocarpic ovules. Starch was present throughoutthe nine-day period in the integuments of the pollinated andparthenocarpic ovules but was lost from the integuments of theunpollinated ovules by day 6. Pollinated and parthenocarpicovules contributed increasingly to fruit dry weight over thenine-day period. It is suggested that the ovule tissues, in particular the nucellusand integument may exert control over early development in bothpollinated and parthenocarpic fruits.