Introduction -- Botanical descriptions -- Medicinal properties: bioactives and their actions -- Genetic resources and genetic diversity -- Cytogenetical analysis of bitter gourd genome -- Sex determination -- Tissue culture, genetic engineering & nanotechnology -- Classical genetics and traditional breeding -- Molecular linkage mapping: Map construction and mapping of genes/QTLs -- Genome sequence and its comparative study with other Cucurbitaceae genome -- Functional genomics: metabolomics, transcriptomics (including biochemical study of interaction with parasite) -- Future Prospects.

This book focusing on the bitter gourd genome is the first comprehensive compilation of knowledge on the botany, cytogenetical analysis, genetic resources and diversity, traditional breeding, tissue culture and genetic transformation, whole genome sequencing and comparative genomics in the Cucurbitaceae family. It discusses the biochemical profile of the bioactives present in this horticultural crop, used both as a vegetable and as a medicine, and also addresses sex determination in bitter gourd. Written by respected international experts, the book is useful to students, teachers and scientists in academia, as well as seed companies and pharmaceutical industries.