Abstract: Electrophoresis of aspartate aminotransferase (AAT), malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and esterase (EST) were performed to characterize and compare the reciprocal interspecific hybrid plants between cultivated cucumber (Cucumis sativus cv. Changchunmici, 2n=14, CC) and its wild relative C. hystrix (2n=24, HH), and their parents. The results indicate that the zymograms in the reciprocal F1 were typically expressed by complementary bands from both parents. In addition, four heterodimeric bands (Aat-1-94, Aat-2-104, Mdh-3-102 and Est-5-102) were observed. All the three isozymes investigated could identify the interspecific hybrid plants. The results also reveal the differences of the reciprocal F1s at the number and intensity of the bands in the zymograms of AAT and MDH, which further confirmed the reciprocal differences in the interspecific hybridization between C. hystrix and C. sativus.

Key words: isozyme, cucumber, interspecific hybrid