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Figure Legends

Fig. 1. Systemic infection analysis of TRSV, TRV and CGMMV in melon (HH14) plants. A-C, Structures of the pTRSV-CmPDS (A), pTRV-CmPDS (B) and pV190-CmPDS (C) vectors used in this study. D-F, Detection of pTRSV-CmPDS (D), pTRV-CmPDS (E) and pV190-CmPDS (F) recombinant vector fragments after cotyledon injection. Lane 1: Marker, Lane 2: Empty pTRSV (D), pTRV (E), and pV190 (F) negative control, respectively. Lanes 3-7: TRSV RNA (D), TRV RNA (E), and CGMMV RNA (F) detected in the first true leaf, respectively.

Fig. 2. Evaluation of infiltration methods for CGMMV-, TRSV-, and TRV-mediated CmPDS silencing in melon (HH14). A, Vacuum infiltration-induced CmPDS silencing in germinated melon seeds. Phenotypic images were captured at 20 dpi, scale bars in the first column = 3.5 cm, scale bars in columns 2-4 = 2 cm. B, Cotyledon injection-induced CmPDS silencing in melon seedlings. Phenotypic images were captured at 30 dpi, scale bars in the first column = 3.5 cm, scale bars in columns 2-6 = 4 cm. C, Vacuum infiltration-mediated pTRSV-CmPDS VIGS phenotypes in melon at multiple time points post-inoculation. Scale bars, 3.5 cm. D, Phenotypic characterization and chlorophyll fluorescence analysis of pTRSV-CmPDS-inoculated melon at 21 days post vacuum infiltration. E, Chlorophyll content in melon leaves of pTRSV-CmPDS at 21 days post vacuum infiltration. F-H, Relative expression levels of CmPDS in VIGS-silenced plants at 20 days post vacuum infiltration. I-K, Relative expression levels of CmPDS in VIGS-silenced plants at 20 days post cotyledon injection. The columns represent the mean values ± SD (n =3) (*P <0.05, **P <0.01by Student’s t test, ns = nonsignificant).

Fig. 3. Effect of TNX supplementation during co-culture on transformation efficiency of TRSV-mediated VIGS via vacuum infiltration in different melon genotypes. A-D, Comparative analysis of pTRSV-CmPDS transformation efficiency in melon genotypes (HH14, H906, VED, and XZM) under differential infection pressures with/without TNX. E, Silencing phenotypes in pTRSV-CmPDS-inoculated melon genotypes at 14 dpi. Scale bars, 3.5 cm. F, Quantitative analysis of TRSV accumulation in pTRSV-CmPDS-inoculated melon 'HH14' under TNX-supplemented co-culture conditions (1-3 days). G-K, Expression analysis of defense response markers (CmMAPK4, CmPR1, CmFRK1, CmNPR1, and CmICS1) in pTRSV-CmPDS-inoculated melon 'HH14' under TNX-supplemented co-culture for 3 days. The columns represent the mean values ± SD (n =3) (*P <0.05, **P <0.01by Student’s t test).

Fig. 4. Evaluation of TRSV-, CGMMV-mediated VIGS via vacuum infiltration in melon using CmChlH as a reporter gene. A, Silencing phenotypes of pTRSV-CmChlH and pV190-CmChlH-inoculated melon via vacuum infiltration. Column 2 displays enlarged images of regions marked by red dashed boxes in column 1. Scale bars, 3.5 cm. B-C, Relative expression levels of CmChlH in VIGS-silenced plants. The columns represent the mean values ± SD (n =3) (*P <0.05, **P <0.01by Student’s t test).