Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31864283›Full record

ArticleBMC plant biology2019

Phenotypic variation of floral organs in Malus using frequency distribution functions.

Ting Zhou, Junjun Fan, Mingming Zhao, Donglin Zhang, Qianhui Li, Guibin Wang, Wangxiang Zhang, Fuliang Cao

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC plant biology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Diversity Analysis of Fruit Phenotypic Traits inPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Ting ZhouCollege of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China.
Junjun FanCollege of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China.
Mingming ZhaoCollege of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China.
Donglin ZhangDepartment of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.
Qianhui LiCollege of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China.
Guibin WangCollege of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China.
Wangxiang ZhangCollege of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China. malus2011@163.com.
Fuliang CaoCollege of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China. cfl1957@qq.com.
Nanjing Forestry University · CNUniversity of Georgia · US

Funding

Science and Technology Support Program of Jiangsu Province BE2017375-2the fund for Independent Innovation of Agricultural Sciences in Jiangsu Province CX (16) 1005-4-1the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institution (PAPD) 164010018
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPhenotypic diversity of floral organs plays an important role in plant systematic taxonomy and genetic variation studies. Previous research have focused on the direction of variation but disregarded its degree. Phenotypic variation (including directions and degrees) of 17 floral traits from wild to cultivated crabapples were explored by comparing their distributions and deviations in three different dimensions: floral organ number, size, and the shape.

resultsExcept for petal number, petal length / petal width, and sepal length / sepal width, the analyzed floral traits of cultivated crabapples all showed downward distributed box bodies in box plot analysis and left deviations of fitted curves in frequency distribution function analysis when compared to the wild, which revealed consistent variation directions of petaloid conversion (pistils or stamens → petals), size miniaturization (large → small), and shape narrowness (petal shape: circular → elliptic; sepal shape: triangular → lanceolate). However, only seven floral traits exhibited significant differences in box plot analysis, while all of the traits in frequency distribution function analysis were obviously offset. The variation degrees were quantitatively characterized by sizing traits > shaping traits > numbering traits and by horizontal dimensions > radial dimensions.

conclusionsFrequency distribution function analysis was more sensitive than the box plot analysis, which constructed a theoretical basis for Malus flower type breeding and would provide a new quantitative method for future evaluation of floral variation among different groups of angiosperms at large.

Indexed as

Biological Variation, PopulationChinaFlowersMalusDegreeDirectionFloral variationFrequency distributionMalus spp.

Identifiers

PMID31864283
PMCPMC6925448
OpenAlexW2996049863

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.