UNVEILING THE LANDSCAPE: NETWORK ANALYSIS IN PAKISTAN'S ACADEMIC REALM

Network analysis has played a pivotal role in shaping the academic landscape in an era characterized by connectivity and information sharing. Pakistan is at the intersection of this technological revolution with a strong academic heritage and a growing desire for knowledge. The goal of the editorial piece "Unveiling the Landscape: Network Analysis in Pakistan's Academic Realm" is to highlight the increasing importance of network analysis in Pakistani academia and the ways in which it is changing the production, utilization, and dissemination of knowledge.

Morpho-Physiological Studies and Characterization of Round Gourd Praecitrullus Fistulosus Germplasm

Round gourd (Praecitrullus fistulosus) belongs to family cucurbitaceae and is originated from India, whereas its cultivation in Asia has been documented since ancient ages. Praecitrullus fistulosus is recognized with different names in different languages worldwide as Tinda, Tendu, Kovaikkaai and round gourd in Telugu, Punjabi, Tamil and English, respectively. This vegetable crop is still considered a neglected one and not even a single study on constitutional diversity of this crop has been documented from Pakistan yet. Therefore, this research was carried out at vegetable research area and vegetable stress physiology lab, Institute of Horticultural Sciences (IHS), University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), for studying morphological and physiological attributes, Pomology Lab, IHS, UAF, for assessment of fruit mineral nutrition and Plant Genomics and Fingerprinting Laboratory, Centre of Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology (CABB), UAF, to determine genetic diversity among round gourd accessions on the basis of genetic similarities and dissimilarities. Results of morphological characterization demonstrated high level of variation in quantitative as well as qualitative morphological characters in round gourd germplasm. Fruit yield/vine gave maximum standard deviation (672.69) and maximum observed fruit yield/vine was 3147.67 (kg/ha) which was recorded from accession 20428. Principle component analysis explained complete variation in seven components rather than twenty-six encountering 87.14 % variability among all round gourd accessions for all studied quantitative morphological traits. Cluster analysis categorized quantitative morphological variability as within accessions and between accessions and explained 14.72 % variability in within accessions and 85.28 % variability between accessions. From all studied qualitative variables, highest standard deviation value and coefficient of variation as 1.58 and 2.49, respectively was exhibited by seed color. Principle component analysis accumulated complete diversity exhibited by ten qualitative morphological traits in two main components. First component explained 36.78 % variability while second component explained 20.35 % variability, accounting 57.13 % cumulative variability. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering explained 50.58 % within class phenotypic variability and 49.42 % between classes. Among all studied physiological attributes, photosynthetic rate gave maximum value of standard deviation which was 10.90 and recorded data of photosynthetic rate demonstrated that maximum photosynthetic rate was 55.58 (μmol m-2 s-1) which was recorded from accession 20463. Principle component analysis explained complete variation in three components encountering total 73.75 % variability among all round gourd accessions for all studied physiological traits. Cluster analysis categorized physiological variability as within class and between classes which explained 69.55 % variability in within class and 30.45 % variability between classes. Among all studied minerals, potassium gave maximum value of standard deviation which was 13.62 and maximum amount of potassium was 77.80 (mg/g) which was recorded from accession 20463. Principle component analysis explained complete fruit mineral variation in three components encountering total 75.52 % variability among all round gourd accessions for all studied mineral contents. Cluster analysis categorized variability in fruit mineral contents as within class and between classes which explained 18.58 % variability in within class and 81.42 % variability between classes. Results of genetic diversity estimation clustered all studied accessions in four different classes. Class I and III ranked top due to containing maximum and equal number of accessions (eight each) and stood highly genetically diverse classes containing accessions 19237, 20481, 20441, 31228, 20296, 20229, 20463 and 30875, 20453, 20194, 32585, 20247, 20487, 20343, 20407, 20385 respectively. Class IV ranked second containing accessions 20415, 19239, 20277, 20305 and 20532. Furthermore, class II contained least number of accessions (4) including 20399, 20428, 31225 and 20215. The characterization presented in this research covering all aspects of round gourd crop can be utilized in breeding programs for the improvement of indigenous germplasm. The discoveries of this research should be beneficial for additional exploration, cultivation and conservation of this cucurbit crop.