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Geometric Analysis of Seed Shape Diversity in the Cucurbitaceae

Authors :
José Javier Martín-Gómez
Diego Gutiérrez del Pozo
José Luis Rodríguez-Lorenzo
Ángel Tocino
Emilio Cervantes
Source :
Seeds, Vol 3, Iss 1, Pp 40-55 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2023.

Abstract

The Cucurbitaceae is a monophyletic family with close to 1000 species of climbers, including important agronomic species and varieties characterized by tendrils and pepo fruits. The seed’s morphology is varied, and the development and structure of the seed coat have been described in detail on some species. Overall description of the seed shape is based on terms comparing it with geometric figures, but quantitative methods are lacking in the literature. Here we apply a general morphological analysis to seeds of representative genera of the Cucurbitaceae, followed by curvature analysis in the poles and symmetry analysis. These methods are useful for the quantitative description of seed shape and the comparison between species and varieties. Differences between species were found for most morphological measurements, as well as for symmetry and curvature values. The comparison between three species of Cucumis (Cucumis sativus, C. myriocarpus and C. melo) and two varieties of C. melo reveals differences between species and varieties both in curvature and symmetry. The results obtained from both methods, curvature and symmetry analysis, form similar groupings in a cluster analysis. The methods described here were applied for the identification of agronomic varieties and the quantitative description of seed shape in taxonomy.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
26741024
Volume :
3
Issue :
1
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Seeds
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.105ba27036eb44fe99db376eab995eb5
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/seeds3010004