The invention relates to a
gene cluster participating in synthesis of
cucurbitacin E of watermelon and an application of the
gene cluster. According to the invention, the
gene cluster participating in synthesis of
cucurbitacin E is found in the watermelon
genome for the first time, the
gene cluster comprises eight genes, wherein six of the eight genes are positioned within the range of the No.6
chromosome 57kb. A
yeast system is adopted for analyzing the reaction from the step 1 to the step 4 of the synthesis of
cucurbitacin E. The invention further discloses a
molecular mechanism for forming the
bitter taste of the watermelon, so that a theoretical basis and a molecule assistant breeding objective are provided for the breeding of the watermelon without the
bitter taste, and valuable experiences are provided for
heterologous biosynthesis and development and utilization of cucurbitacine. The technology provided by the invention can replace the traditional method for extracting bitter principle from a
plant material, so that synthesis of the bitter principle
in vitro is realized by utilizing
synthetic biology.