Global Journal of Science Frontier Research, G: Bio-Tech & Genetics, Volume 22 Issue 2

Table 2: Effect of aqueous extracts of leaves, fruits, and roots of C. melo on chiasma frequency of the cells of Z. variegatus Treatments Chiasma frequency (%) Mean percent chiasma frequency per bivalent Tape water (Control) 11.90±1.70 a 1.32±0.168 a Leaves 10.01±0.3 b 1.11±0.28 a Fruits 8.20±1.19 d 0.91±0.88 c Roots 9.11±0.86 c 1.01±0.73 b Values are means ± SEM. The number of trials n=5. Groups that have no letters in common differ significantly different from the control group (Distilled water), applying one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey's post-test(HSD) Analysis of the mean chiasma frequencies recorded (Table 2) revealed that the different extracts induced the formation of chiasmata differently, with the extract of fruits causing the lowest mean chiasma frequency. In all the treatments, induction was significantly lower than for the control. It is worth noting that chiasmata areessential for the attachment of homologous chromosomes in bivalents and hence subsequent segregation to the poles at Anaphase 1. Therefore, chiasmata are crucial for producing normal and genetically balanced spermatozoa and hence reproductive success in a population [29]. Available evidence shows that populations with decreased chiasma frequencies are less stable and are unable to adequately withstand sudden changes in the environment as compared to the populations with increased chiasma frequencies that can adapt to sudden changes in the environment [30,31]. The effect that decreased chiasma frequency in this study was difficult to assess from these results. IV. C onclusion The aqueous extracts of the Muskmelon, C. melo can induce cytogenotoxic changes in the meiotic cells of the pest grasshopper Zonocerus variegatus ,and hence affect fertility. At high concentrations of the aqueous extract, cytogenotoxic changes induced could be drastic and a reduction lead to reduction in future populations. Therefore, at sufficiently high concentra- tions, extracts of C. melo could be used in the formulation of biopesticides to control the pest grasshopper Z. variegatus . The following research will test these extracts on a few ovarian and testis cancers induced in Wistar rats. Abbreviations list Declarations Ethical approval and consent to participate All experimental studies on plants and grasshoppers have complied with relevant institutional, national and international guidelines and legislation. Consent to publication We declare hereby that this work has not been published or accepted, in whole or in part, and that it is not selected for publication in another journal. All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with its submission in Global Journal of Science Frontier Research: GBio-Tech and Genetics . Availability of data and material Datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Competing interests The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article. Funding No funding was obtained for this study. A cknowledgements Our sincere thanks go to Professor WATCHO Pierre, the Head, Reproduction and Sexual Disorders Sub-Unit, Physiology, and Pr. MAYAKA Théodore Bileng, the Head, Applied Ecology Laboratory (LABEA), Faculty of Science, University of Dschang for providing laboratory facilities. Author Contributions • N.A. and S.R.A. conceived and conducted research experiments, • N.A. and D.T.I. analysed data and conducted statistical analyses, • N.A. and S.R.A wrote the manuscript, • S.R.A. reviewed the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript. R eferences R éférences R eferencias 1. Tahir I. M., Oluoch M. O., “Cucumis melo L. Plant resources of tropical Africa,” Fondation PROTA, pp. 243-284, 2004. 2. Milind P., Kulwant S., “Musk melon is eat-must melon” International Research Journal of Pharmacy, vol. 2, n°8, pp. 52-57, 2011. DOI:10.7897/2230-8407 3. Wang X., Tanaka M., Peixoto H., Wink M., “Cucurbitacins: elucidation of their interactions with 1 Year 2022 109 © 2022 Global Journals Global Journal of Science Frontier Research Volume XXII Issue ersion I VII ( G ) Antimeiotic Properties of the Aqueous Extracts of Leaves, Fruits and Roots of the Muskmelon C ucumis Melo L. (Cucurbitaceae) in the Pest Grasshopper Zonocerus Variegatus L. (Pyrgomorphidae) Not used