Plant appearance is one of the most important characteristics affecting consumption and breeding choices. In watermelon, except for the normal phenotypes such as the basic foreground pattern (solid/stripe), background pattern (yellow/green rind), and fruit shape (round/oblong), there was a novel and unique appearance called ‘moon and star’ trait with big and tiny yellow spots on the fruit rind. Following a dominant inheritance pattern, the attracting appearance is convenient for variety breeding. The result of this study revealed that the chlorophyll content dramatically decreased and chloroplast structure significantly changed for the yellow spot, which were supposed to be the direct reason for fruit color change. Contrary to a previous study, genetic analysis showed that there were two interacting genes responsible for this novel trait. Using bulk segregant analysis, two candidate regions located on chromosome 1 and 8 were identified to contain these two genes regulating the ‘moon and star’ trait.

植物的外观是影响消费和育种选择的最重要特征之一。在西瓜中，除了正常的表型（例如基本的前景图案（实心/条纹），背景图案（黄色/绿色果皮）和水果形状（圆形/长方形））外，还有一种新颖独特的外观，称为“月亮和星星”性状在果皮上有大，小黄斑。遵循显性遗传模式，引人注目的外观便于品种育种。研究结果表明，黄斑的叶绿素含量急剧下降，叶绿体结构发生明显变化，这可能是导致果实颜色改变的直接原因。与先前的研究相反，遗传分析表明，有两个相互作用的基因负责这种新性状。