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Analysis of institutional authors

Bielsa, Francisco JavierAuthorErrea, PilarAuthorIrisarri, PatriciaAuthorPina, AnaAuthor

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September 18, 2025
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Exploring phenotypic diversity and stability of key traits for apple breeding in notheastern Spanish germplasm

Publicated to: Frontiers In Plant Science. 16 - 2025-09-16 16(), DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2025.1623195

Authors:

Bielsa, F. J., Errea, P., Iturmendi, N., Irisarri, P., Navarro, M., Castel, L., Urrestarazu, J., Santesteban, L. G., Miranda, C., & Pina, A.
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Abstract

Malus x domestica Borkh is a key temperate fruit crop globally, but climate change and market demands highlight the need to broaden its narrow genetic base. The collection and conservation of local germplasms support breeding efforts by enabling the development of resilient phenotypes with improved traits. Under this framework, a set of 130 apple accessions (recovered from Northeastern Spain and 14 commercial cultivars were analyzed in terms of 12 phenotypic traits (firmness, SSC, malic acid, enzymatic browning (EB) susceptibility, fructose and glucose content, and phenolic content in peel and pulp). A statistical framework was developed to assess trait stability under shifting climatic conditions and detect significant correlations between climatic variables and phenotypical performance of apple trees. The results revealed a wide phenotypical variation across the studied traits, with the distribution of physicochemical traits strongly influenced in a genotype-dependent manner. A correlation matrix was obtained for studied traits revealing positive correlations between harvest date and SSC, enzymatic browning and firmness. Furthermore, uni- and multifactorial ANOVA revealed that genetic group (GG) is a key factor influencing all measured traits, especially pH, SSC, EB, and browning speed. Several interaction effects were also statistically significant, especially those involving ploidy level, which strongly influenced malic acid content and EB responses. Additionally, significant differences in fructose content were observed depending on peel coloration, and year-to-year phenotypic variation appeared to be predominantly governed by genotypic response to environmental conditions. Moreover, obtention of a mean stability index (Di) for each trait allowed the identification of ‘Pinova’,’Fuji’ and ‘Gala’ as the most stable cultivars among 11 commercial cultivars. These findings will support future research on development of functional cultivars and selection of ideal genotypes under shifting conditions.
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Keywords

Conservación del germoplasmaFenotiposGermoplasmaMalusMejoramiento genéticoOxidación

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 33/273, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Plant Sciences.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-03-07:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 2.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 2 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: http://hdl.handle.net/10532/7819
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Bielsa Gonzalez, Francisco Javier) and Last Author (Pina Sobrino, Ana).

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Project objectives

Los objetivos perseguidos en esta aportación se centran en analizar la diversidad fenotípica y la estabilidad de rasgos clave para el mejoramiento de manzanas en germoplasma del noreste de España. Se busca evaluar 12 rasgos fenotípicos en 130 accesiones locales y 14 cultivares comerciales, determinar la influencia de variables climáticas en el desempeño fenotípico mediante un marco estadístico, caracterizar las correlaciones entre rasgos físicos y químicos, y cuantificar el impacto del grupo genético, nivel de ploidía y coloración del fruto en dichas características. Además, se pretende calcular un índice de estabilidad fenotípica para identificar cultivares con mayor estabilidad bajo condiciones ambientales cambiantes, facilitando la selección de genotipos funcionales y resilientes.
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Most relevant results

El estudio evaluó la diversidad fenotípica y la estabilidad de 12 rasgos clave en 130 accesiones de manzano del noreste de España y 14 cultivares comerciales. Se observaron amplias variaciones fenotípicas con influencia dependiente del genotipo en las características fisicoquímicas. Se identificaron correlaciones positivas entre la fecha de cosecha y SSC, el pardeamiento enzimático y la firmeza. La agrupación genética fue un factor determinante para todos los rasgos, especialmente pH, SSC, pardeamiento enzimático y velocidad de pardeamiento. El nivel de ploidía afectó significativamente el contenido de ácido málico y la respuesta al pardeamiento. Además, el color de la piel influyó en el contenido de fructosa, y la variación interanual estuvo dominada por la respuesta genotípica al ambiente. Los cultivares ‘Pinova’, ‘Fuji’ y ‘Gala’ mostraron mayor estabilidad fenotípica.
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