• The Giant Korean
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    115 days ago

    They’re often treated with hormones.

    I sort of misspoke with regard to watermelons -

    Seedless watermelons are created by crossing a regular watermelon with 22 chromosomes with one that’s been chemically treated to have 44 chromosomes. The resulting hybrid has 33 chromosomes, making it sterile and seedless.

    • @dondelelcaro
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      25 days ago

      This is a bit misleading. You only need to treat the first generation of 2n watermelon with colchicine (which inhibits the movement of chromosomes during metaphase) to produce a 4n watermelon. Once you have a 4n watermelon, subsequent generations do not require colchicine treatment.