Evaluation of the morphological diversity of Luffa seeds and comparison of the contents of ribosome-inactivating proteins

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20250696

Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2026, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (8): 1563-1573.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.20250696

• Horticultural Science • Previous Articles Next Articles

Evaluation of the morphological diversity of Luffa seeds and comparison of the contents of ribosome-inactivating proteins

MU Haoxin¹^,²(), CHEN Xiaoqi², FANG Pingping¹^,², LI Chaosen², WEI Jing², WANG Xueyan², ZHANG Ting², YANG Lifei¹^,^*(), ZHAO Dongfeng²^,^*()

¹ College of Horticulture, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 211800, China
² Vegetable Research Institute, Quzhou Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang, China

Received:2025-11-11 Online:2026-08-25 Published:2026-09-14

Abstract

Abstract:

To investigate seed morphological diversity in Luffa and its relationship with ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) content, this study analyzed eight seed traits—length, width, length-to-width ratio, circumference, area, thickness, hundred-seed weight, and color—of 175 Luffa cylindrica and 49 Luffa acutangula germplasm collected domestically and internationally. Based on seed color and clustering results, the RIP content of seeds from 21 randomly selected Luffa germplasm was subsequently determined. The results showed that most Luffa cylindrica germplasm had black seeds, accounting for 80.57% of the total, while all Luffa acutangula germplasm exhibited black seeds. Among the quantitative traits, seed width and hundred-seed weight showed the highest coefficients of variation in Luffa cylindrica, while the length-to-width ratio showed the lowest. For Luffa acutangula, hundred-seed weight and circumference had the highest and lowest coefficients of variation, respectively. Correlation analysis revealed extremely significantly (p<0.01) positive correlations among seed length, circumference, area and hundred-seed weight in both Luffa cylindrica and Luffa acutangula. Stepwise regression analysis further indicated that seed area and thickness together explained more than 50.0% of the variation in hundred-seed weight in both species. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis not only clarified the correlations among morphological traits but also classified Luffa cylindrica into four groups and Luffa acutangula into three groups. The RIP content in the Luffa acutangula was significantly (p<0.05) higher than that in the Luffa cylindrica, but no significant difference was observed among different groups of the same germplasm. Additionally, darker-colored Luffa seeds contained higher RIP contents than white ones. The results of this study provide a scientific basis for the evaluation, conservation, and innovative utilization of Luffa germplasm resources.

Key words: Luffa, seed, morphological diversity, principal component analysis, stepwise regression analysis, ribosome-inactivating protein

CLC Number:

S642.4

MU Haoxin, CHEN Xiaoqi, FANG Pingping, LI Chaosen, WEI Jing, WANG Xueyan, ZHANG Ting, YANG Lifei, ZHAO Dongfeng. Evaluation of the morphological diversity of Luffa seeds and comparison of the contents of ribosome-inactivating proteins[J]. Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis, 2026, 38(8): 1563-1573.

Figures/Tables 12

References 26

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种质 Germplasm	指标 Index	长度/mm Length/mm	宽度/mm Width/mm	长宽比 Length-to- width ratio	周长/mm Circumference/ mm	面积/mm² Area/mm²	厚度/mm Thickness/mm	百粒重/g Hundred-seed weight/g
普通丝瓜 Luffa cylindrica	平均值Average value	11.93	7.59	1.57	30.34	58.74	2.68	11.06
	最大值Maximum	14.6	9.33	1.98	56.51	81.06	3.69	15.60
	最小值Minimum	9.46	5.38	1.30	23.05	35.59	1.91	6.20
	变异系数/% CV/%	7.30	14.58	6.23	10.03	13.87	7.81	14.58
有棱丝瓜 Luffa acutangula	平均值Average value	12.58	7.51	1.68	29.42	53.98	3.25	15.22
	最大值Maximum	14.62	8.74	1.99	32.25	65.14	3.70	19.21
	最小值Minimum	10.92	6.58	1.48	26.20	42.15	2.82	9.76
	变异系数/% CV/%	5.92	6.05	7.57	4.83	9.15	7.35	14.73

种质 Germplasm	指标 Index	长度/mm Length/mm	宽度/mm Width/mm	长宽比 Length-to- width ratio	周长/mm Circumference/ mm	面积/mm² Area/mm²	厚度/mm Thickness/mm	百粒重/g Hundred-seed weight/g
普通丝瓜 Luffa cylindrica	平均值Average value	11.93	7.59	1.57	30.34	58.74	2.68	11.06
	最大值Maximum	14.6	9.33	1.98	56.51	81.06	3.69	15.60
	最小值Minimum	9.46	5.38	1.30	23.05	35.59	1.91	6.20
	变异系数/% CV/%	7.30	14.58	6.23	10.03	13.87	7.81	14.58
有棱丝瓜 Luffa acutangula	平均值Average value	12.58	7.51	1.68	29.42	53.98	3.25	15.22
	最大值Maximum	14.62	8.74	1.99	32.25	65.14	3.70	19.21
	最小值Minimum	10.92	6.58	1.48	26.20	42.15	2.82	9.76
	变异系数/% CV/%	5.92	6.05	7.57	4.83	9.15	7.35	14.73

性状 Trait	长度 Length	宽度 Width	长宽比 Length-to-width ratio	周长 Circumference	面积 Area	厚度 Thickness
宽度Width	0.635^**
长宽比Length-to-width ratio	0.442^**	-0.407^**
周长Circumference	0.555^**	0.487^**	0.084
面积Area	0.791^**	0.731^**	0.081	0.704^**
厚度Thickness	0.155^*	0.043	0.162^*	0.046	-0.030
百粒重Hundred-seed weight	0.641^**	0.588^**	0.071	0.555^**	0.727^**	0.100

性状 Trait	长度 Length	宽度 Width	长宽比 Length-to-width ratio	周长 Circumference	面积 Area	厚度 Thickness
宽度Width	0.635^**
长宽比Length-to-width ratio	0.442^**	-0.407^**
周长Circumference	0.555^**	0.487^**	0.084
面积Area	0.791^**	0.731^**	0.081	0.704^**
厚度Thickness	0.155^*	0.043	0.162^*	0.046	-0.030
百粒重Hundred-seed weight	0.641^**	0.588^**	0.071	0.555^**	0.727^**	0.100

性状 Trait	长度 Length	宽度 Width	长宽比 Length-to-width ratio	周长 Circumference	面积 Area	厚度 Thickness
宽度Width	0.215
长宽比Length-to-width ratio	0.616^**	-0.635^**
周长Circumference	0.738^**	0.586^**	0.109
面积Area	0.718^**	0.710^**	-0.003	0.911^**
厚度Thickness	0.328^*	0.205	0.111	0.340^*	0.312^*
百粒重Hundred-seed weight	0.514^**	0.551^**	-0.035	0.581^**	0.679^**	0.464^**

Evaluation of the morphological diversity of Luffa seeds and comparison of the contents of ribosome-inactivating proteins

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性状 Trait	各性状均值Mean values of each trait				F值 F value	p值 p value
性状 Trait	Ⅰ(n=51)	Ⅱ(n=44)	Ⅲ(n=45)	Ⅳ(n=35)	F值 F value	p值 p value
长度Length	12.31±0.32	11.06±0.55	11.52±0.50	12.98±0.68	110.613	<0.001
宽度Width	7.51±0.21	6.99±0.41	7.83±0.31	8.16±0.42	85.191	<0.001
长宽比Length-to-width ratio	1.64±0.05	1.59±0.10	1.47±0.06	1.59±0.09	41.520	<0.001
周长Circumference	30.53±1.00	27.61±1.60	30.02±1.04	33.94±4.26	54.446	<0.001
面积Area	59.83±3.64	49.25±5.20	58.53±3.94	69.34±5.64	126.291	<0.001
百粒重Hundred-seed weight	11.23±0.98	9.46±1.17	10.90±0.95	13.01±1.31	68.807	<0.001

性状 Trait	各性状均值Mean values of each trait			F值 F value	p值 p value
性状 Trait	Ⅰ(n=14)	Ⅱ(n=18)	Ⅲ(n=17)	F值 F value	p值 p value
长度Length	13.24±0.61	12.02±0.46	12.63±0.63	18.282	<0.001
宽度Width	7.99±0.32	7.30±0.37	7.33±0.33	19.555	<0.001
周长Circumference	31.01±0.68	28.26±0.99	29.32±0.96	36.613	<0.001
面积Area	59.92±2.29	49.48±3.35	53.85±2.86	50.784	<0.001
厚度Thickness	3.35±0.21	3.05±0.16	3.37±0.20	15.248	<0.001
百粒重Hundred-seed weight	17.59±0.91	13.36±1.90	15.24±1.33	32.358	<0.001

指标 Index	回归系数 Regression coefficient	95% CI	共线性诊断Collinearity diagnostics
指标 Index	回归系数 Regression coefficient	95% CI	VIF	容忍度Tolerance
常数Constant	0.041(0.033)	-2.405~2.487	—	—
面积Area	0.145^**(14.188)	0.125~0.165	1.001	0.999
厚度Thickness	0.939^*(2.365)	0.155~1.723	1.001	0.999

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