Document Type : Research paper
Authors
1
Institute of Horticultural Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan
2
Horticultural Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan
3
Department of Agriculture and Agribusiness Management, Faculty of Science, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
4
Plant Genetic Resources Institute, National Agricultural Research Center, Islamabad, Pakistan
5
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
6
Department of Plant Sciences, College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
Abstract
Cucurbitaceae comprises a variety of vegetables with global economic importance. However, many of these vegetables remain unexplored regarding their genetic diversity for morphological and biochemical traits. The present research was conducted to classify, categorize, characterize, and conserve the available luffa gourd germplasm in Pakistan. Sixteen luffa gourd cultivars were statistically analyzed using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) along with PCA and cluster analysis. Morphological and reproductive traits were studied along with biochemical contents. The interspecific diversity of the samples was investigated by cluster analysis and similarity matrix of the entries. Principal coordinate analysis was performed to understand the variation among landraces and correlation matrix to observe patterns among the variables. Considerable morphological variations occurred in vegetative characteristics (i.e., growth habit, leaf, and stem shape, leaf margin, and intermodal length), reproductive traits (fruit length, width, and weight, fruit count per plant and yield per plant), and biochemical attributes, such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and protein. Cluster analysis depicted two main groups of 9 and 7 genotypes while each was further divided into two and three subgroups, respectively.The results of phenotypic correlation, exhibited fruit yield had significant positive correlation with fruit weight (0.843**) as well with the number of fruits per plant (0.80**). However, principal component analysis depicted a high variation (42.05% and 28.80% of total variation) based on mineral composition, reproductive and biochemical traits. The results confirmed a substantial inter/intraspecific genetic diversity and broad relationships among luffa gourd genotypes. Thus, the study serves as a foundational framework for breeding activities, providing valuable genetic descriptors for luffa gourd cultivation. It offers a roadmap for researchers to select genotypes with high genetic variation, thus paving the way for breeding efforts to develop superior hybrids and varieties.
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