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To understand the genetic diversity and differentiation of Vietnamese melon (Cucumis melo L.), we collected 64 landraces from the central and southern parts of the country and assessed molecular polymorphism using simple sequence repeat and random amplified polymorphic DNA markers. The Vietnamese melon was divided into seven cultivar groups, namely "Dua le", "Dua vang", "Dua bo", "Dua gang-andromonoecious", "Dua gang-monoecious", "Dua thom", "Montok", and the weedy-type melon "Dua dai". Among these, Dua le, Dua vang, Dua bo, and Dua gang-andromonoecious are cultivated on plains and they formed cluster II along with the reference accessions of Conomon and Makuwa. Based on genetic distance, Dua le and Dua vang were regarded as Makuwa and Dua bo and Dua gang-andromonoecious as Conomon. In contrast, Dua thom and Montok are cultivated in highlands, and they formed cluster III along with landraces from the southern and eastern foot of the Himalayas. Dua gang-monoecious which is commonly cultivated in the southern parts of Vietnam, exhibited the greatest genetic diversity, as explained by its possible origin through the hybridization between Dua gang-andromonoecious and Montok. Genetic differences in melon landraces between plains and highlands and hybridization between these two geographical groups have contributed to the enhancement of genetic diversity in Vietnamese melon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...