Global Scientific Overview of Somaclonal Variation in Strawberry Plant: Evolution, Networks and Research Frontiers

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However, this method can favor the spread of diseases, making tissue culture an efficient alternative for the production of seedlings of high phytosanitary quality. Micropropagation, although widely used, can induce somaclonal variation, characterized by genetic and phenotypic alterations in plants regenerated in vitro . This variation can compromise the commercial uniformity of seedlings, but also represent as a source of genetic variability for breeding programs. Despite the growing scientific interest on the subject, there are still few studies that systematically synthesize and analyze the evolution of scientific production in this area. The objective of this study was to perform a scientometric analysis of the global scientific production on somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa . The analysis was carried out using the scopus and web of science databases, with the help of the RStudio software for the mapping of scientific production for the entire period between 1970 (first article found) and 2025. Publications on somaclonal variation in strawberry grew 4.08 per year, with growth from 2018 onwards. Asia concentrated the largest number of studies, with emphasis on China. Regarding international collaborations, it was observed that 4.32% of the articles were published in co-authorship between researchers from different countries. The analysis of the key terms indicated three main research axes: (i) studies based on classical concepts of genetic variability, represented by the terms evolution , selection and genetic diversity ; (ii) research focused on the relationship between micropropagation and somaclonal variation, highlighting the terms micropropagation and somaclonal variation ; and (iii) investigations directed to genetic variability in strawberry, associated with the terms Fragaria × ananassa , strawberry and genetic variation . Thus, the present study provides a structured overview of the scientific evolution on somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa , identifying knowledge gaps and pointing out strategic directions for future research, contributing to advances in micropropagation techniques and genetic improvement of strawberry. Fragaria x ananassa clonal instability tissue culture scientometry Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Introduction The strawberry plant ( Fragaria x ananassa ) is a fruit tree of great economic importance in several regions of the world, appreciated for its flavor, aroma and nutritional value (Banerjee et al., 2023 ; Mondal & Valliath, 2023 ; Mukherjee & Gantait, 2024 ). Its traditional propagation occurs mainly through stolons, lateral stems that develop from the parent plant and form new plants (Sharma et al., 2025 ; Toyoda et al., 1991 ). However, this method has limitations, such as the low multiplication rate and the risk of spreading diseases, especially viruses, which can reduce productivity and fruit quality over successive production cycles (Banerjee et al., 2023 ; Mondal & Valliath, 2023 ). In this context, plant biotechnology, in particular micropropagation, acts as a promising tool for the propagation and improvement of strawberry plants. This technique allows for the rapid and large-scale multiplication of vigorous and disease-free plants from small tissue parts or cells grown under aseptic and controlled conditions (Banerjee et al., 2023 ; Neri et al., 2022 ). Despite the advantages of micropropagation, during the in vitro culture process a phenomenon known as somaclonal variation can occur (Krishna et al., 2016 ; Kumar Maurya & Bahadur, 2022 ). Somaclonal variation refers to genetic and, consequently, phenotypic changes that arise in cells of plants grown in vitro , resulting in differences between the regenerated plants and the mother plant(Kumar Maurya & Bahadur, 2022 ; Niemirowicz-Szczytt, 1990 ). These changes can be induced by several factors associated with the cultivation conditions, including the presence of growth regulators, the physiological stress resulting from the in vitro environment, and the number of subcultures performed (Krishna et al., 2016 ; Rodríguez-Enríquez et al., 2011). Somaclonal variation can manifest in different ways, affecting morphological characteristics, such as plant height, leaf morphology, and plant architecture, as well as agronomic characteristics, such as yield and fruit quality (Paul & Singh, 2021 ; Yoo et al., 2022 ). The genetic underpinnings of these changes are complex and can involve gene mutations, changes in the number and structure of chromosomes, somatic recombination, and epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation(Krishna et al., 2016 ; Kumar Maurya & Bahadur, 2022 ; Rodríguez-Enríquez et al., 2011). The occurrence of these modifications can compromise the uniformity of the micropropagated plants, which is undesirable for commercial production, which seeks homogeneous genetic materials (Naing et al., 2019 ). On the other hand, this variability can also be exploited as a source of genetic diversity for strawberry breeding, allowing the selection of plants with new desirable agronomic characteristics, greater resistance to diseases, tolerance to water or saline stresses, or improvement in fruit quality(Biswas et al., 2009 ; Yoo et al., 2022 ). Despite the relevance of somaclonal variation to producing strawberry seedlings, scientific knowledge about this phenomenon in Fragaria x ananassa is still fragmented in the literature, with studies distributed among different methodological approaches, scales of analysis and experimental approaches. Thus, there is still a lack of quantitative synthesis capable of integrating this information and allowing the understanding of the temporal evolution of research, the geographical distribution of scientific production, as well as the main authors, journals, collaboration networks and thematic trends associated with this field of study. Therefore, we aim with this work to perform a scientometric analysis of the global scientific production on somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa to identify temporal, geographic and collaborative patterns, map the conceptual structure of the area and highlight gaps and emerging trends in the research. By providing a systematized view of the scientific development of this theme, the study aims to contribute to the direction of future investigations and to the strengthening of research in biotechnology applied to horticulture. Material and methods Data collection and selection The search for publications was carried out on the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. Records were retrieved when they included topic-related terms in the title or abstract fields using the following search string: (" strawberry " OR " Fragaria x ananassa " OR " Fragaria ") AND (" somaclonal variation " OR " somaclonal variability " OR " genetic instability " OR " genetic variation " OR " epigenetic variation " OR " clonal instability "). The search covered the entire period of publication and indexing of databases, covering the years 1945 to December 2025 for Web of Science and from 1988 to December 2025 for Scopus. The screening and selection of studies were conducted according to the guidelines of the PRISMA method (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) (Page et al., 2021 ). Review articles, letters, corrected versions of previously published studies, as well as articles that did not fall within the scope of this study were excluded. For inclusion criteria, only articles that addressed somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa were considered. Scientometric analysis After the selection stage, the article records were processed in the statistical software R version 4.5.2 (R Core Team, 2025), where the files from the different databases were merged and the duplicates removed. The identification of the duplicates was initially carried out by the DOI and, in its absence, by the title of the publications. The compiled data were later analyzed in RStudio, using the Bibliometrix package, with the objective of carrying out the scientific mapping of the area (Aria & Cuccurullo, 2017 ). Bibliometric indicators were analyzed, such as number of publications per year, collaboration between countries, number of articles per author, most productive authors, and the temporal evolution of the scientific production of the main authors. The productivity of the researchers was evaluated using the h-index (Hirsch & Cardona, 2007) and the number of citations per article. The descriptive metrics were calculated considering the 10 most productive authors in the area. A three-field graph, based on the Sankey diagram, was generated to visualize the relationships between the top 10 authors, 10 keywords, and 10 journals, also using Bibliometrix (Aria & Cuccurullo, 2017 ). To analyze the conceptual structure of the research on somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa , the temporal trends of the main keywords were evaluated and the analysis of the conceptual structure of the scientific production was performed. Results Selection of studies and characterization of the base The search in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases resulted in the retrieval of 136 and 174 papers, respectively. After the application of the filtering protocol (PRISMA), 109 papers from WoS and 137 from Scopus were selected. Subsequently, duplicates were removed, resulting in 139 papers that were reliable for the scope of the study (Fig. 1 ). The first identified article was published in 1970. Thus, the period analyzed comprised the years 1970 to 2025. The 139 selected articles were published in 94 scientific journals. The average annual growth in the publication of scientific articles was 4.08 articles per year, with an average citation rate per document of 21.73. In total, 555 authors were identified as involved in publications on the subject, and 4.3% of the papers presented collaboration between authors from different countries (Table 1 ). Table 1 Main metrics analyzed from the studies screened on the somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa . Metrics Value Timespan 1970:2025 Sources (Journals, Books, etc) 94 Documents 139 Annual Growth Rate % 4.08 Document Average Age 11.4 Average citations per doc 21.73 References 4208 Keywords Plus (ID) 628 Author's Keywords (DE) 430 Authors 555 Co-Authors by Doc 4.9 International co-authorships % 4.317 Geographical distribution and scientific collaboration The geographical distribution of the publications showed a strong performance of research groups in the Asian continent, with 68 records, which represents the largest portion of the studies analyzed (Fig. 2 ). This result is mainly driven by China (28 publications) which leads the global ranking, followed by South Korea (14), Indonesia (11) and India (7). Together, these countries correspond to approximately 49% of the available publications. Europe represents another important center of scientific production in this area, with 18 publications, distributed mainly between Norway (6), Finland (4) and the United Kingdom (4), in addition to contributions in France, Germany and Italy. In North America, 13 publications were identified, mostly concentrated in the United States (12). Meanwhile, in South America, the highlight is Chile (6), responsible for all the publications of the continent in the set analyzed. The African continent and Oceania had a reduced participation, with 3 publications each, represented by Morocco and Australia, respectively. Brazil does not have any publications on the subject studied. The research groups from China and the USA led the number of publications and the international collaboration network confirms this leadership, revealing that they not only produce more, but also establish the main axis of scientific cooperation, with the most robust link in the graph. The European research groups act as important intermediaries in these connections, establishing links with Asian and North American countries as well as with South America, evidencing the globalized character of research on somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa . Temporal evolution of scientific production Scientific production on somaclonal variation in plants of the genus Fragaria began in 1970 and fluctuated over the decades, with a more significant increase from the 2010s onwards. The year 2020 concentrated the highest number of publications (13 articles), followed by 2023 (10), 2021 (9), and 2022 (9), indicating recent and growing interest in the topic (Fig. 3 ). Authorship and contribution standards Despite the increase in scientific production on the somaclonal variation in Fragaria over the years, it remains relatively fragmented, with low recurrence of authorship. Considering the 139 articles analyzed, 555 authors were identified, with an average of 0.25 articles per author, indicating that most researchers contributed with only one publication. This pattern suggests that studies on somaclonal variation in Fragaria are conducted, in large part, by different research groups, with occasional participation of the authors over time. Among the most productive authors are Whitaker VM (n = 8), Shaw DV (n = 6), and Ashman TL (n = 5), respectively linked to the University of Florida, Florida (USA), University of California, Davis (USA), and University of Pittsburgh (USA) (Fig. 4 ). When considering the h-index metric, the same authors also stand out within the set of publications analyzed: Whitaker VM (h = 7), Shaw DV (h = 5), and Ashman TL (h = 4). There is also a predominance of researchers linked to North American institutions among the most engaged authors. In terms of national distribution of publications, 28 articles were conducted by research groups from China, 14 from South Korea, and 12 from the United States, evidencing the international relevance of the theme. It is also noteworthy the absence of Brazilian publications related to the theme in the set analyzed. Among the most productive authors, Shaw DV stands out as one of the pioneers in the area, with publications between 1996 and 2009, followed by Ashman TL with publications between 1999 and 2015, and Whitaker VM with more recent publications from 2012 to 2024. The papers with the greatest impact, considering the total number of citations, are mainly concentrated between the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, a period in which studies were published that became references for the understanding of the somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa . The work of Bhat & Subbarao ( 1999 )(287) stands out, with the highest absolute number of citations, followed by classic studies of and Wilson et al. ( 1999 ) (100)and Ashman ( 2003 ) (97), which exerted a lasting influence on the area. In contrast, more recent publications, but with a lower total number of citations, exhibit high annual citation rates, indicating increasing scientific impact. In this context, the study reached the Zhang et al. ( 2020 ) highest average number of citations per year (11.84), evidencing the current relevance of contemporary approaches and recent methodologies for the advancement of knowledge about somaclonal variation in strawberry plants. Thematic structure and conceptual evolution The thematic structure of the scientific production on the somaclonal variation in strawberry was analyzed based on the relationship between authors, indexing terms and scientific journals (Fig. 5 ). A concentration of terms associated with the name of the species studied, both scientific and popular ( strawberry, Fragaria and Fagaria x ananassa ) was observed. These terms are predominantly connected to keywords related to genetic variability and plant biotechnology, such as somaclonal variation, genetic variation, genetic diversity, and micropropagation. This pattern indicates that the topic is mostly investigated in the context of tissue culture and applied genetics. In the publication channels, the studies are distributed in consolidated journals in the large area of agricultural sciences, such as the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, a journal whose terms are included in greater quantity, followed by horticulture research and Horticulture Research Frontiers in Plant Science. The conceptual structure of the research field was examined through the analysis of the conceptual structure based on the dimensional reduction of the keywords (Fig. 6 ). The dimensional reduction resulted in two main dimensions that, together, explain the significant variability of 89.16% of the data (Dimension 1: 65.99% and Dimension 2: 23.17%), indicating high representativeness of the model. The cluster analysis revealed the formation of three distinct thematic groups. The first group, located in the upper left quadrant (in blue), associates terms such as " evolution ", " selection ", " heritability " and " genetic diversity ", reflecting studies focused on population genetics, classical breeding and evolutionary aspects of the crop. The second group, positioned in the lower central region (in red), concentrates the taxonomic object of study (" strawberry ", " Fragaria ", " Fragaria x ananassa ") associated with " genetic variation ", serving as the nucleus that connects the crop to its variations. Finally, the third group, isolated in the upper right quadrant (in green), connects " micropropagation " and " somaclonal variation ", highlighting a small or little explored niche of specific research where biotechnology and tissue culture are the primary tools, clearly differentiating itself from conventional breeding approaches. The temporal evolution of the main keywords showed the progressive consolidation of approaches related to genetic variability in studies with Fragaria (Fig. 7 ). The use of the term ' Fragaria x ananassa' appears more consistently from 2003 onwards, following the taxonomic standardization of the crop in scientific literature. The term 'somaclonal variation' has been incorporated into studies since 2009, reflecting the increased interest in biotechnological approaches associated with tissue culture. Other terms such as 'genetic diversity' , 'evolution' and 'selection' have had greater recurrence in more recent periods, indicating the gradual integration between genetics, breeding and biotechnology studies in the investigation of genetic variability of strawberry plants. The scientometric analysis of the scientific production on somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa shows recent growth, although the area presents thematic fragmentation, low recurrence of authorship and geographic concentration of scientific production. Classical studies have established important bases for the understanding of the genetic mechanisms associated with somaclonal variation, it is observed, for example, that contemporary approaches remain concentrated in specific research niches, especially linked to micropropagation and tissue culture. The conceptual structure of the field reveals a partial dissociation between conventional genetic improvement studies and biotechnological-based research, indicating opportunities for greater methodological and interdisciplinary integration. In this context, the expansion of international collaborations, the strengthening of continuous lines of research, and the incorporation of molecular and epigenetic tools emerge as promising paths for the advancement of knowledge and for a more consistent application of somaclonal variation in the breeding and sustainable production of strawberry. Discussion The scientometric analysis of the scientific production on somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa revealed a recent growth in scientific interest in the subject, although the field still presents thematic fragmentation, low recurrence of authorship and geographical concentration of scientific production. These results indicate that, despite the relevance of somaclonal variation for strawberry micropropagation and breeding, the area remains relatively restricted to certain research groups and regions of the world. In recent years, several studies have contributed to evaluating the impacts of this anomaly and the functioning of tissue culture techniques, resulting in the establishment of different protocols aimed at understanding the causes and consequences of genetic and epigenetic alterations associated with in vitro culture. Even so, research on this topic remains relatively little disseminated in scientific literature. The panorama of world production shows a strong contribution from countries such as China, South Korea and the USA, which together represent approximately 49% of the publications identified in this study These countries also stand out for their world leadership in research related to plant tissue culture as described by Negi et al. ( 2024 ) andPérez-Molina et al. ( 2025 ). The Asian continent leads in number of publications, due to the high production of this crop on this continent, totaling 5 million tons (48.7%) in 2024 (FAO/ONU, 2025). In addition, the presence of consolidated scientific infrastructure and continuous investments in plant biotechnology favors the development of research in this area. The U.S. leads the Americas in the number of publications, as well as the most productive researchers. The collaboration network analysis showed that China and the US form the main axis of international cooperation, while European groups act as important intermediaries, establishing connections between different regions. The prevalence of these countries within this thematic axis corroborates the concern about geographic inequality within science, where the technological epicenter, investments and infrastructure of the entities and universities that apply and develop research with somaclonal variation are only in these countries, implying the exclusion of sub-regions. The temporal analysis of scientific production provides a comprehensive view of studies published over the time frame between 1970 and 2025. The evolution of the number of publications, although increasing, was not uniform with years such as 1971 to 1986 without any publications. The cumulative frequency of publications revealed that more than 57% of studies on somaclonal variation in strawberry were published in the last decade, reflecting the recent increase in this area. This growth may be associated with advances and refinement in tissue culture techniques and, especially, with the development of molecular tools and genotyping technologies capable of detecting genetic anomalies with greater precision. This growth trend coincides with the technological transition observed in literature, while the initial decades relied on dominant and less reproducible markers, such as the RAPD (Porebski & Catling, 1998 ). In contrast, the recent increase in the volume of publications goes hand in hand with the adoption of codominant markers, such as microsatellites (SSR), which allow for more robust assessments of the genetic stability of micropropagated plants (Park et al., 2010 ). The use of these tools enabled greater reliability in the genetic validation of regenerated plants, as demonstrated by Thakur et al. ( 2023 ), who combined different methodologies to assess genetic homogeneity in vitro propagated materials. The authorship analysis of these studies demonstrated that few researchers are engaged in research on this topic. Considering the 139 articles analyzed, the average was only 0.25 articles per author, and approximately 85% of the researchers contributed with only one publication. This pattern indicates that many studies are conducted in a punctual or exploratory manner, without continuity by the same research groups. This behavior may reflect both the thematic fragmentation identified in this study and the interdisciplinary nature of the theme, which often involves researchers in the areas of genetics, biotechnology, plant physiology and plant breeding. The conceptual structure of the research field was grouped into three main sets, which correspond to the grouping of words that occur and interconnect. The first, composed of the term’s evolution, selection e genetic diversity , which represents the classical theoretical basis associated with genetic diversity and the evolutionary processes involved in the domestication and improvement of the strawberry plant. Fan & Whitaker ( 2024 ) demonstrated that the process of recombination and artificial selection involves recurrent introgressions between wild and cultivated populations of Fragaria x ananassa , in addition to clear signatures of divergent selection throughout domestication and adaptation to different productive environments. This breadth of diverse collections of species indicates that the genetic variability and current population structure is the result of a continuous interaction between natural evolutionary processes and anthropogenic selection (Muñoz et al., 2024 ). Studies conducted in different regions, such as Europe (Prohaska et al., 2024 ) and the United States (Zurn et al., 2022 ), also indicate structural patterns associated with the geographic origin and selection history of cultivars. The cluster formed by evolution, selection and genetic diversity, therefore, represents the epistemological core of the field, from which more recent investigations on genetic stability, vegetative propagation and induced variation unfold. The second conceptual grouping, structured by the terms micropropagation and somaclonal variation , shows an inflection in the field of strawberry research, in which genetic variability is no longer interpreted as a product of evolutionary processes and becomes a possible consequence of in vitro cultivation conditions. Somaclonal variation, defined as genetic or epigenetic alterations observed in plants regenerated via tissue culture, has been described as a result of the interaction between oxidative stresses, hormonal imbalances, successive subcultures, and the type of explant used (Majumder et al., 2025 ). This study was conducted by Bae et al. ( 2022 ) a laboratory with cryopreserved and propagated in vitro accessions demonstrated that procedures such as vitrification and exposure to concentrated solutions can represent sources of cellular stress with risk of inducing polymorphisms detectable by molecular markers. The influence of the micropropagation protocol on genetic stability has also been demonstrated in different strawberry cultivars regenerated from meristems grown under different concentrations of cytokinin (Naing et al., 2019 ). Thus, the consolidation of the term somaclonal variation in the literature, which was initially described only as off-types or clonal instability, shows a conceptual maturity of the field, allowing molecular and epigenetic approaches to be incorporated. Therefore, cluster micropropagation – somaclonal variation represents the recognition that intensive clonal production requires close monitoring of genetic stability. As for the Fragaria x ananassa, strawberry and genetic variation grouping, which are different from the previous clusters, which emphasize distinct origins of variability, this axis presents itself as an integrating unit of these dynamics. Fragaria x ananassa has a complex genetic constitution, being an allo-octoploid species resulting from interspecific hybridization. This genomic architecture expands heterozygosity and favors high genetic plasticity, which has historically supported breeding and adaptation programs to different productive environments (Zurn et al., 2022 ). At the same time, this complexity also requires rigor in maintaining genetic stability during vegetative propagation, especially in commercial micropropagation systems (Fan & Whitaker, 2024 ). The term genetic variation assumes an ambivalent character. On the one hand, variation is a strategic resource for breeding, allowing the selection of superior genotypes. On the other hand, unplanned variations, resulting from in vitro processes, can compromise phenotypic uniformity and agronomic performance (Bae et al., 2022 ; Naing et al., 2019 ). The intermediate position of this cluster in the structural map indicates a conceptual transition in the field, which explains the growth of studies aimed at the molecular evaluation of genetic stability, whether for the purposes of breeding, germplasm conservation or seedling certification. This axis gives coherence to the conceptual structure identified in this study, indicating a field that evolves the understanding of diversity towards the refined control of genetic stability. The temporal evolution of the keywords evidences the recent inclusion of the term somaclonal variation, even with the description of the term being consolidated previously, other words were used to explain and name the changes, as well as effects because of the successive rebounds of the crops. In general, the results of this scientometric analysis demonstrate that research on somaclonal variation in strawberry has evolved from approaches focused on the characterization of genetic variability to more integrated investigations involving tissue culture, molecular genetics and plant breeding. However, important gaps persist related to the geographical distribution of scientific production, the continuity of research lines, and the integration between different methodological approaches. The expansion of international collaborations, combined with the incorporation of emerging genomic and epigenetic tools, can contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the development of more efficient strategies for clonal propagation and strawberry breeding. Conclusion Over the last 55 years, studies on somaclonal variation and genetic instabilities in fragaria x ananassa have consolidated as an important biotechnological tool within tissue culture, with wide application in several species, but the effects and uses of this technique are still scarce when analyzing the scientific publications in these databases. Even with the constant increase in the number of publications over the years, many gaps still corroborate the non-diffusion of this technique. The scientometric analysis carried out in this work shows that China, the USA and South Korea play a strong leadership in research on this topic, together representing more than 50% of the publications, as well as leading, together with Europe, the construction of international partnerships that connect the research communities. The results of this study allow us to understand the structure and evolution of scientific production on somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa, identifying influential authors, prominent journals and the main research topics. In addition, the mapping of trends and gaps in the field provides relevant subsidies to guide future research, especially those aimed at understanding the morphophysiological mechanisms associated with genetic instability and the potential use of this variability in micropropagation, adaptation and breeding programs of strawberry in global horticulture. Declarations Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank IF Goiano (Instituto Federal Goiano), CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico), and Goiás State Research Foundation (FAPEG) for the support and scholarships provided. The authors also acknowledge CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) for the scholarship granted to the second author. The authors declare that no additional external funding was received for this study beyond institutional support and scholarships. Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the Rio Verde campus of the Instituto Federal Goiano (IF Goiano) for the financial support and the Laboratory of Plant Tissue Culture for the structure provided. This study was funded through grants from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Author contributions JLPA, AKML, LAD, ARN, FBS, PSAF and FGS conceived the research; JLPA and AKML performed data collection and analysis; JLPA, AKML, LAD, ARN, FBS, PSAF, and FGS wrote the paper. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript. Ethics approval and consent to participate Not applicable. Consent for publication Not applicable. Competing interests We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, and there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the content of this paper. "The authors do not have any relevant financial or non-financial interests to declare." "The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this article." "All authors declare that they have no connection or involvement with any organization or entity that has a financial or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript." "The authors do not have any financial or ownership interests in relation to any material discussed in this article." References Aria M, Cuccurullo C (2017) bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. 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Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-02636-6_21 Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD, Shamseer L, Tetzlaff JM, Akl EA, Brennan SE, Chou R, Glanville J, Grimshaw JM, Hróbjartsson A, Lalu MM, Li T, Loder EW, Mayo-Wilson E, McDonald S, Moher D (2021) The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ, vol 372. BMJ Publishing Group. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71 Park YH, Ahn SG, Choi YM, Oh HJ, Ahn DC, Kim JG, Kang JS, Choi YW, Jeong BR (2010) Rose (Rosa hybrida L.) EST-derived microsatellite markers and their transferability to strawberry (Fragaria spp). Sci Hort 125(4):733–739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2010.05.012 Paul R, Singh G (2021) A REVIEW ON APPLICATION OF SOMACLONAL VARIATION IN IMPORTANT HORTICULTURE CROPS. Rev Article Plant Cell Biotechnol Mol Biology 22(36):161–175 Pérez-Molina JP, Carvajal-Campos P, Jiménez VM (2025) Mapping fifty-five years of somatic embryogenesis research: a bibliometric analysis of trends, global collaborations, and key advances across more than nine thousand articles. Planr Cell Tissue Organ Cult 162(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-025-03172-6 Porebski S, Catling PM (1998) RAPD analysis of the relationship of North and South American subspecies of Fragaria chiloensis. Can J Bot 76(10):1812–1817. https://doi.org/10.1139/b98-180 Prohaska A, Rey-Serra P, Petit J, Petit A, Perrotte J, Rothan C, Denoyes B (2024) Exploration of a European-centered strawberry diversity panel provides markers and candidate genes for the control of fruit quality traits. Hortic Res 11(7). https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhae137 Rodriguez-Enriquez J, Dickinson HG, Grant-Downton RT (2011) MicroRNA misregulation: An overlooked factor generating somaclonal variation? In Trends in Plant Science (Vol. 16, Number 5, pp. 242–248). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2011.03.002 Sharma N, Patil N, Wagh AM, Thakur V, Rodge RR (2025) Revolutionizing fruit breeding through multi-omics approaches: From genomics to synthetic biology. Plant Sci Today 12(4):1–9. https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.8024 Thakur A, Nath AK, Sharma V (2023) Genetic Homogeneity Analysis in Tissue Culture Raised Fragaria ananassa Duch. Revealed Through PCR Based Molecular Markers. Erwerbs-Obstbau . https://doi.org/10.1007/s10341-023-00995-5 Toyoda H, Horikoshi K, Yamano Y, Ouchi S (1991) Selection for Fusarium wilt disease resistance from regenerants derived from leaf callus of strawberry. In Plant Cell Reports (Vol. 10) Wilson ACC, Sunnucks P, Hales DF (1999) Microevolution, low clonal diversity and genetic affinities of parthenogenetic sitobion aphids in New Zealand. Mol Ecol 8(10):1655–1666. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294X.1999.00751.x Yoo C-M, Dalid C, Moyer C, Whitaker V, Lee S (2022) Improving Strawberry Varieties by Somaclonal Variation. EDIS 2022(5). https://doi.org/10.32473/edis-hs1448-2022 Zhang J, Lei Y, Wang B, Li S, Yu S, Wang Y, Li H, Liu Y, Ma Y, Dai H, Wang J, Zhang Z (2020) The high-quality genome of diploid strawberry (Fragaria nilgerrensis) provides new insights into anthocyanin accumulation. Plant Biotechnol J 18(9):1908–1924. https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.13351 Zurn JD, Hummer KE, Bassil NV (2022) Exploring the diversity and genetic structure of the U.S. National Cultivated Strawberry Collection. Horticulture Research , 9 . https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhac125 Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 28 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 16 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 16 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 15 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 08 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9359674","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":625443092,"identity":"2a1b5fd7-4d3f-4211-919e-befc033d9abc","order_by":0,"name":"João Lucas Parreira Araújo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Federal Goiano","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"João","middleName":"Lucas Parreira","lastName":"Araújo","suffix":""},{"id":625443093,"identity":"e4a577ef-79f0-4160-a8c1-16215d5b9777","order_by":1,"name":"Aimee Karla Moraes Leão","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Federal Goiano","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aimee","middleName":"Karla Moraes","lastName":"Leão","suffix":""},{"id":625443094,"identity":"aa9d4304-1c36-4302-9c2f-e44aaa28d732","order_by":2,"name":"Luciana Arantes Dantas","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Federal Goiano","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Luciana","middleName":"Arantes","lastName":"Dantas","suffix":""},{"id":625443095,"identity":"a92028de-9cf0-4ed5-9b6f-4098635961d2","order_by":3,"name":"Aurélio Rubio Neto","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Federal Goiano","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Aurélio","middleName":"Rubio","lastName":"Neto","suffix":""},{"id":625443096,"identity":"32695d33-1ac6-4ee5-bf11-5e527726b7aa","order_by":4,"name":"Fabia Barbosa da Silva","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Federal Goiano","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fabia","middleName":"Barbosa da","lastName":"Silva","suffix":""},{"id":625443097,"identity":"b653fb30-eac8-4daa-900b-cceb0b5b2562","order_by":5,"name":"Paula Sperotto Alberto Faria","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Federal Goiano","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Paula","middleName":"Sperotto Alberto","lastName":"Faria","suffix":""},{"id":625443098,"identity":"b9a1486b-bdf9-48ed-8488-80f64d0a8df9","order_by":6,"name":"Fabiano Guimarães Silva","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Instituto Federal Goiano","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Fabiano","middleName":"Guimarães","lastName":"Silva","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-08 16:54:03","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9359674/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9359674/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107697936,"identity":"7df75f6b-e18b-44c7-afdd-835d88bcc6f5","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-24 07:27:46","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":321074,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003ePRISMA Flowchart – Selection of studies included in the scientometric analysis.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9359674/v1/21ebe6c42fe6fe721d6ec291.png"},{"id":107708037,"identity":"442b0e51-7953-4592-a779-7114ccfbe55d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-24 09:21:43","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":259043,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eWorld map of scientific collaboration in somaclonal variation \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e (1970-2025). (Colors in stronger shades of blue indicate a higher volume of publications, while gray colors indicate a lack of publications on the subject).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9359674/v1/71b3fcdfea072791a8ee4d72.png"},{"id":107707315,"identity":"aace1d99-8a72-4c44-a92b-17f9cb9a4340","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-24 09:20:03","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":81700,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eScientific production on the somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa \u003c/em\u003ein the last 55 years (1970-2025).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9359674/v1/ac8ba9feacb797d7a9752813.png"},{"id":107697942,"identity":"9489d36f-47e5-4e50-8c42-c09d3ba5e799","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-24 07:27:46","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":83368,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTemporal distribution of publications by the most productive authors in studies on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e (1996-2024). (The circles indicate the volume of publications of the author, the larger the circle, the greater the number of publications)\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9359674/v1/2449766b18af4ccaeaaefd9e.png"},{"id":107697938,"identity":"82813dda-940a-4371-8915-c4fc50c70a7f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-24 07:27:46","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":258665,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eA three-field graph represents associations between authors, keywords and journals in the scientific production related to publications of somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9359674/v1/bb07fd8cd7d7b71c329ad2be.png"},{"id":107707214,"identity":"eb8cb221-7959-4e99-a298-1a1d35718e95","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-24 09:19:49","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":68753,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eConceptual structure of scientific production on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9359674/v1/05f63c998fd9e6502ed9ee84.png"},{"id":107707163,"identity":"bbb4752c-508a-497c-89ac-6838c2460352","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-24 09:19:40","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":74193,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eGraph of temporal trends of the Keywords referring to the publications on the somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"7.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9359674/v1/1714e01208f0a75324aff3af.png"},{"id":107709475,"identity":"23722b2d-99c6-4198-809f-df17073aa22b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-24 09:36:03","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1344427,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9359674/v1/4e85d2c6-89fb-4b01-b486-91887a43d333.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Global Scientific Overview of Somaclonal Variation in Strawberry Plant: Evolution, Networks and Research Frontiers","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe strawberry plant (\u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e) is a fruit tree of great economic importance in several regions of the world, appreciated for its flavor, aroma and nutritional value (Banerjee et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Mondal \u0026amp; Valliath, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Mukherjee \u0026amp; Gantait, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Its traditional propagation occurs mainly through stolons, lateral stems that develop from the parent plant and form new plants (Sharma et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e; Toyoda et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1991\u003c/span\u003e). However, this method has limitations, such as the low multiplication rate and the risk of spreading diseases, especially viruses, which can reduce productivity and fruit quality over successive production cycles (Banerjee et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Mondal \u0026amp; Valliath, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). In this context, plant biotechnology, in particular micropropagation, acts as a promising tool for the propagation and improvement of strawberry plants. This technique allows for the rapid and large-scale multiplication of vigorous and disease-free plants from small tissue parts or cells grown under aseptic and controlled conditions (Banerjee et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e; Neri et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDespite the advantages of micropropagation, during the \u003cem\u003ein vitro\u003c/em\u003e culture process a phenomenon known as somaclonal variation can occur (Krishna et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Kumar Maurya \u0026amp; Bahadur, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). Somaclonal variation refers to genetic and, consequently, phenotypic changes that arise in cells of plants grown \u003cem\u003ein vitro\u003c/em\u003e, resulting in differences between the regenerated plants and the mother plant(Kumar Maurya \u0026amp; Bahadur, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Niemirowicz-Szczytt, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1990\u003c/span\u003e). These changes can be induced by several factors associated with the cultivation conditions, including the presence of growth regulators, the physiological stress resulting from the \u003cem\u003ein vitro\u003c/em\u003e environment, and the number of subcultures performed (Krishna et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Rodr\u0026iacute;guez-Enr\u0026iacute;quez et al., 2011).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSomaclonal variation can manifest in different ways, affecting morphological characteristics, such as plant height, leaf morphology, and plant architecture, as well as agronomic characteristics, such as yield and fruit quality (Paul \u0026amp; Singh, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e; Yoo et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). The genetic underpinnings of these changes are complex and can involve gene mutations, changes in the number and structure of chromosomes, somatic recombination, and epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation(Krishna et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Kumar Maurya \u0026amp; Bahadur, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Rodr\u0026iacute;guez-Enr\u0026iacute;quez et al., 2011).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe occurrence of these modifications can compromise the uniformity of the micropropagated plants, which is undesirable for commercial production, which seeks homogeneous genetic materials (Naing et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). On the other hand, this variability can also be exploited as a source of genetic diversity for strawberry breeding, allowing the selection of plants with new desirable agronomic characteristics, greater resistance to diseases, tolerance to water or saline stresses, or improvement in fruit quality(Biswas et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e; Yoo et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDespite the relevance of somaclonal variation to producing strawberry seedlings, scientific knowledge about this phenomenon in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e is still fragmented in the literature, with studies distributed among different methodological approaches, scales of analysis and experimental approaches. Thus, there is still a lack of quantitative synthesis capable of integrating this information and allowing the understanding of the temporal evolution of research, the geographical distribution of scientific production, as well as the main authors, journals, collaboration networks and thematic trends associated with this field of study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTherefore, we aim with this work to perform a scientometric analysis of the global scientific production on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e to identify temporal, geographic and collaborative patterns, map the conceptual structure of the area and highlight gaps and emerging trends in the research. By providing a systematized view of the scientific development of this theme, the study aims to contribute to the direction of future investigations and to the strengthening of research in biotechnology applied to horticulture.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Material and methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eData collection and selection\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe search for publications was carried out on the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. Records were retrieved when they included topic-related terms in the title or abstract fields using the following search string: (\"\u003cem\u003estrawberry\u003c/em\u003e\" OR \"\u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e\" OR \"\u003cem\u003eFragaria\u003c/em\u003e\") AND (\"\u003cem\u003esomaclonal variation\u003c/em\u003e\" OR \"\u003cem\u003esomaclonal variability\u003c/em\u003e\" OR \"\u003cem\u003egenetic instability\u003c/em\u003e\" OR \"\u003cem\u003egenetic variation\u003c/em\u003e\" OR \"\u003cem\u003eepigenetic variation\u003c/em\u003e\" OR \"\u003cem\u003eclonal instability\u003c/em\u003e\"). The search covered the entire period of publication and indexing of databases, covering the years 1945 to December 2025 for Web of Science and from 1988 to December 2025 for Scopus. The screening and selection of studies were conducted according to the guidelines of the PRISMA method (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) (Page et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Review articles, letters, corrected versions of previously published studies, as well as articles that did not fall within the scope of this study were excluded. For inclusion criteria, only articles that addressed somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e were considered.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eScientometric analysis\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAfter the selection stage, the article records were processed in the statistical software R version 4.5.2 (R Core Team, 2025), where the files from the different databases were merged and the duplicates removed. The identification of the duplicates was initially carried out by the DOI and, in its absence, by the title of the publications. The compiled data were later analyzed in RStudio, using the Bibliometrix package, with the objective of carrying out the scientific mapping of the area (Aria \u0026amp; Cuccurullo, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). Bibliometric indicators were analyzed, such as number of publications per year, collaboration between countries, number of articles per author, most productive authors, and the temporal evolution of the scientific production of the main authors. The productivity of the researchers was evaluated using the h-index (Hirsch \u0026amp; Cardona, 2007) and the number of citations per article. The descriptive metrics were calculated considering the 10 most productive authors in the area.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA three-field graph, based on the Sankey diagram, was generated to visualize the relationships between the top 10 authors, 10 keywords, and 10 journals, also using Bibliometrix (Aria \u0026amp; Cuccurullo, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e). To analyze the conceptual structure of the research on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e, the temporal trends of the main keywords were evaluated and the analysis of the conceptual structure of the scientific production was performed.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eSelection of studies and characterization of the base\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe search in the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases resulted in the retrieval of 136 and 174 papers, respectively. After the application of the filtering protocol (PRISMA), 109 papers from WoS and 137 from Scopus were selected. Subsequently, duplicates were removed, resulting in 139 papers that were reliable for the scope of the study (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe first identified article was published in 1970. Thus, the period analyzed comprised the years 1970 to 2025. The 139 selected articles were published in 94 scientific journals. The average annual growth in the publication of scientific articles was 4.08 articles per year, with an average citation rate per document of 21.73. In total, 555 authors were identified as involved in publications on the subject, and 4.3% of the papers presented collaboration between authors from different countries (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMain metrics analyzed from the studies screened on the somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"2\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMetrics\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eValue\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTimespan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1970:2025\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSources (Journals, Books, etc)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e94\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDocuments\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e139\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnnual Growth Rate %\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.08\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDocument Average Age\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11.4\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAverage citations per doc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21.73\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eReferences\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4208\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKeywords Plus (ID)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e628\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAuthor's Keywords (DE)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e430\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAuthors\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e555\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCo-Authors by Doc\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.9\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eInternational co-authorships %\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.317\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGeographical distribution and scientific collaboration\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe geographical distribution of the publications showed a strong performance of research groups in the Asian continent, with 68 records, which represents the largest portion of the studies analyzed (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e). This result is mainly driven by China (28 publications) which leads the global ranking, followed by South Korea (14), Indonesia (11) and India (7). Together, these countries correspond to approximately 49% of the available publications. Europe represents another important center of scientific production in this area, with 18 publications, distributed mainly between Norway (6), Finland (4) and the United Kingdom (4), in addition to contributions in France, Germany and Italy. In North America, 13 publications were identified, mostly concentrated in the United States (12). Meanwhile, in South America, the highlight is Chile (6), responsible for all the publications of the continent in the set analyzed. The African continent and Oceania had a reduced participation, with 3 publications each, represented by Morocco and Australia, respectively. Brazil does not have any publications on the subject studied.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe research groups from China and the USA led the number of publications and the international collaboration network confirms this leadership, revealing that they not only produce more, but also establish the main axis of scientific cooperation, with the most robust link in the graph. The European research groups act as important intermediaries in these connections, establishing links with Asian and North American countries as well as with South America, evidencing the globalized character of research on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eTemporal evolution of scientific production\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eScientific production on somaclonal variation in plants of the genus \u003cem\u003eFragaria\u003c/em\u003e began in 1970 and fluctuated over the decades, with a more significant increase from the 2010s onwards. The year 2020 concentrated the highest number of publications (13 articles), followed by 2023 (10), 2021 (9), and 2022 (9), indicating recent and growing interest in the topic (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAuthorship and contribution standards\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDespite the increase in scientific production on the somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria\u003c/em\u003e over the years, it remains relatively fragmented, with low recurrence of authorship. Considering the 139 articles analyzed, 555 authors were identified, with an average of 0.25 articles per author, indicating that most researchers contributed with only one publication. This pattern suggests that studies on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria\u003c/em\u003e are conducted, in large part, by different research groups, with occasional participation of the authors over time.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAmong the most productive authors are Whitaker VM (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;8), Shaw DV (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;6), and Ashman TL (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5), respectively linked to the University of Florida, Florida (USA), University of California, Davis (USA), and University of Pittsburgh (USA) (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e). When considering the h-index metric, the same authors also stand out within the set of publications analyzed: Whitaker VM (h\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;7), Shaw DV (h\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5), and Ashman TL (h\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4). There is also a predominance of researchers linked to North American institutions among the most engaged authors. In terms of national distribution of publications, 28 articles were conducted by research groups from China, 14 from South Korea, and 12 from the United States, evidencing the international relevance of the theme. It is also noteworthy the absence of Brazilian publications related to the theme in the set analyzed. Among the most productive authors, Shaw DV stands out as one of the pioneers in the area, with publications between 1996 and 2009, followed by Ashman TL with publications between 1999 and 2015, and Whitaker VM with more recent publications from 2012 to 2024.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe papers with the greatest impact, considering the total number of citations, are mainly concentrated between the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, a period in which studies were published that became references for the understanding of the somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e. The work of Bhat \u0026amp; Subbarao (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e)(287) stands out, with the highest absolute number of citations, followed by classic studies of and Wilson et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e) (100)and Ashman (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2003\u003c/span\u003e) (97), which exerted a lasting influence on the area. In contrast, more recent publications, but with a lower total number of citations, exhibit high annual citation rates, indicating increasing scientific impact. In this context, the study reached the Zhang et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e) highest average number of citations per year (11.84), evidencing the current relevance of contemporary approaches and recent methodologies for the advancement of knowledge about somaclonal variation in strawberry plants.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThematic structure and conceptual evolution\u003c/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe thematic structure of the scientific production on the somaclonal variation in strawberry was analyzed based on the relationship between authors, indexing terms and scientific journals (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e). A concentration of terms associated with the name of the species studied, both scientific and popular (\u003cem\u003estrawberry, Fragaria and Fagaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e) was observed. These terms are predominantly connected to keywords related to genetic variability and plant biotechnology, such as somaclonal variation, genetic variation, genetic diversity, and micropropagation. This pattern indicates that the topic is mostly investigated in the context of tissue culture and applied genetics. In the publication channels, the studies are distributed in consolidated journals in the large area of agricultural sciences, such as the Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, a journal whose terms are included in greater quantity, followed by horticulture research and Horticulture Research Frontiers in Plant Science.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe conceptual structure of the research field was examined through the analysis of the conceptual structure based on the dimensional reduction of the keywords (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e). The dimensional reduction resulted in two main dimensions that, together, explain the significant variability of 89.16% of the data (Dimension 1: 65.99% and Dimension 2: 23.17%), indicating high representativeness of the model. The cluster analysis revealed the formation of three distinct thematic groups. The first group, located in the upper left quadrant (in blue), associates terms such as \"\u003cem\u003eevolution\u003c/em\u003e\", \"\u003cem\u003eselection\u003c/em\u003e\", \"\u003cem\u003eheritability\u003c/em\u003e\" and \"\u003cem\u003egenetic diversity\u003c/em\u003e\", reflecting studies focused on population genetics, classical breeding and evolutionary aspects of the crop. The second group, positioned in the lower central region (in red), concentrates the taxonomic object of study (\"\u003cem\u003estrawberry\u003c/em\u003e\", \"\u003cem\u003eFragaria\u003c/em\u003e\", \"\u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e\") associated with \"\u003cem\u003egenetic variation\u003c/em\u003e\", serving as the nucleus that connects the crop to its variations. Finally, the third group, isolated in the upper right quadrant (in green), connects \"\u003cem\u003emicropropagation\u003c/em\u003e\" and \"\u003cem\u003esomaclonal variation\u003c/em\u003e\", highlighting a small or little explored niche of specific research where biotechnology and tissue culture are the primary tools, clearly differentiating itself from conventional breeding approaches.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe temporal evolution of the main keywords showed the progressive consolidation of approaches related to genetic variability in studies with \u003cem\u003eFragaria\u003c/em\u003e (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e). The use of the term '\u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa'\u003c/em\u003e appears more consistently from 2003 onwards, following the taxonomic standardization of the crop in scientific literature. The term \u003cem\u003e'somaclonal variation'\u003c/em\u003e has been incorporated into studies since 2009, reflecting the increased interest in biotechnological approaches associated with tissue culture. Other terms such as \u003cem\u003e'genetic diversity'\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e'evolution'\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003e'selection'\u003c/em\u003e have had greater recurrence in more recent periods, indicating the gradual integration between genetics, breeding and biotechnology studies in the investigation of genetic variability of strawberry plants.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe scientometric analysis of the scientific production on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e shows recent growth, although the area presents thematic fragmentation, low recurrence of authorship and geographic concentration of scientific production. Classical studies have established important bases for the understanding of the genetic mechanisms associated with somaclonal variation, it is observed, for example, that contemporary approaches remain concentrated in specific research niches, especially linked to micropropagation and tissue culture.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe conceptual structure of the field reveals a partial dissociation between conventional genetic improvement studies and biotechnological-based research, indicating opportunities for greater methodological and interdisciplinary integration. In this context, the expansion of international collaborations, the strengthening of continuous lines of research, and the incorporation of molecular and epigenetic tools emerge as promising paths for the advancement of knowledge and for a more consistent application of somaclonal variation in the breeding and sustainable production of strawberry.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe scientometric analysis of the scientific production on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e revealed a recent growth in scientific interest in the subject, although the field still presents thematic fragmentation, low recurrence of authorship and geographical concentration of scientific production. These results indicate that, despite the relevance of somaclonal variation for strawberry micropropagation and breeding, the area remains relatively restricted to certain research groups and regions of the world. In recent years, several studies have contributed to evaluating the impacts of this anomaly and the functioning of tissue culture techniques, resulting in the establishment of different protocols aimed at understanding the causes and consequences of genetic and epigenetic alterations associated with \u003cem\u003ein vitro\u003c/em\u003e culture. Even so, research on this topic remains relatively little disseminated in scientific literature.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe panorama of world production shows a strong contribution from countries such as China, South Korea and the USA, which together represent approximately 49% of the publications identified in this study These countries also stand out for their world leadership in research related to plant tissue culture as described by Negi et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) andP\u0026eacute;rez-Molina et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e). The Asian continent leads in number of publications, due to the high production of this crop on this continent, totaling 5\u0026nbsp;million tons (48.7%) in 2024 (FAO/ONU, 2025). In addition, the presence of consolidated scientific infrastructure and continuous investments in plant biotechnology favors the development of research in this area. The U.S. leads the Americas in the number of publications, as well as the most productive researchers. The collaboration network analysis showed that China and the US form the main axis of international cooperation, while European groups act as important intermediaries, establishing connections between different regions. The prevalence of these countries within this thematic axis corroborates the concern about geographic inequality within science, where the technological epicenter, investments and infrastructure of the entities and universities that apply and develop research with somaclonal variation are only in these countries, implying the exclusion of sub-regions.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe temporal analysis of scientific production provides a comprehensive view of studies published over the time frame between 1970 and 2025. The evolution of the number of publications, although increasing, was not uniform with years such as 1971 to 1986 without any publications. The cumulative frequency of publications revealed that more than 57% of studies on somaclonal variation in strawberry were published in the last decade, reflecting the recent increase in this area. This growth may be associated with advances and refinement in tissue culture techniques and, especially, with the development of molecular tools and genotyping technologies capable of detecting genetic anomalies with greater precision. This growth trend coincides with the technological transition observed in literature, while the initial decades relied on dominant and less reproducible markers, such as the RAPD (Porebski \u0026amp; Catling, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1998\u003c/span\u003e). In contrast, the recent increase in the volume of publications goes hand in hand with the adoption of codominant markers, such as microsatellites (SSR), which allow for more robust assessments of the genetic stability of micropropagated plants (Park et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e). The use of these tools enabled greater reliability in the genetic validation of regenerated plants, as demonstrated by Thakur et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e), who combined different methodologies to assess genetic homogeneity \u003cem\u003ein vitro\u003c/em\u003e propagated materials.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe authorship analysis of these studies demonstrated that few researchers are engaged in research on this topic. Considering the 139 articles analyzed, the average was only 0.25 articles per author, and approximately 85% of the researchers contributed with only one publication. This pattern indicates that many studies are conducted in a punctual or exploratory manner, without continuity by the same research groups. This behavior may reflect both the thematic fragmentation identified in this study and the interdisciplinary nature of the theme, which often involves researchers in the areas of genetics, biotechnology, plant physiology and plant breeding.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe conceptual structure of the research field was grouped into three main sets, which correspond to the grouping of words that occur and interconnect. The first, composed of the term\u0026rsquo;s \u003cem\u003eevolution, selection e genetic diversity\u003c/em\u003e, which represents the classical theoretical basis associated with genetic diversity and the evolutionary processes involved in the domestication and improvement of the strawberry plant. Fan \u0026amp; Whitaker (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) demonstrated that the process of recombination and artificial selection involves recurrent introgressions between wild and cultivated populations of \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e, in addition to clear signatures of divergent selection throughout domestication and adaptation to different productive environments. This breadth of diverse collections of species indicates that the genetic variability and current population structure is the result of a continuous interaction between natural evolutionary processes and anthropogenic selection (Mu\u0026ntilde;oz et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Studies conducted in different regions, such as Europe (Prohaska et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e) and the United States (Zurn et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e), also indicate structural patterns associated with the geographic origin and selection history of cultivars. The cluster formed by evolution, selection and genetic diversity, therefore, represents the epistemological core of the field, from which more recent investigations on genetic stability, vegetative propagation and induced variation unfold.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe second conceptual grouping, structured by the terms \u003cem\u003emicropropagation and somaclonal variation\u003c/em\u003e, shows an inflection in the field of strawberry research, in which genetic variability is no longer interpreted as a product of evolutionary processes and becomes a possible consequence of \u003cem\u003ein vitro\u003c/em\u003e cultivation conditions. Somaclonal variation, defined as genetic or epigenetic alterations observed in plants regenerated via tissue culture, has been described as a result of the interaction between oxidative stresses, hormonal imbalances, successive subcultures, and the type of explant used (Majumder et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2025\u003c/span\u003e). This study was conducted by Bae et al. (\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e) a laboratory with cryopreserved and propagated \u003cem\u003ein vitro\u003c/em\u003e accessions demonstrated that procedures such as vitrification and exposure to concentrated solutions can represent sources of cellular stress with risk of inducing polymorphisms detectable by molecular markers. The influence of the micropropagation protocol on genetic stability has also been demonstrated in different strawberry cultivars regenerated from meristems grown under different concentrations of cytokinin (Naing et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). Thus, the consolidation of the term somaclonal variation in the literature, which was initially described only as off-types or clonal instability, shows a conceptual maturity of the field, allowing molecular and epigenetic approaches to be incorporated. Therefore, cluster micropropagation \u0026ndash; somaclonal variation represents the recognition that intensive clonal production requires close monitoring of genetic stability.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs for the \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa, strawberry and genetic variation\u003c/em\u003e grouping, which are different from the previous clusters, which emphasize distinct origins of variability, this axis presents itself as an integrating unit of these dynamics. \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e has a complex genetic constitution, being an allo-octoploid species resulting from interspecific hybridization. This genomic architecture expands heterozygosity and favors high genetic plasticity, which has historically supported breeding and adaptation programs to different productive environments (Zurn et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e). At the same time, this complexity also requires rigor in maintaining genetic stability during vegetative propagation, especially in commercial micropropagation systems (Fan \u0026amp; Whitaker, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). The term genetic variation assumes an ambivalent character. On the one hand, variation is a strategic resource for breeding, allowing the selection of superior genotypes. On the other hand, unplanned variations, resulting from \u003cem\u003ein vitro\u003c/em\u003e processes, can compromise phenotypic uniformity and agronomic performance (Bae et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2022\u003c/span\u003e; Naing et al., \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). The intermediate position of this cluster in the structural map indicates a conceptual transition in the field, which explains the growth of studies aimed at the molecular evaluation of genetic stability, whether for the purposes of breeding, germplasm conservation or seedling certification. This axis gives coherence to the conceptual structure identified in this study, indicating a field that evolves the understanding of diversity towards the refined control of genetic stability.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe temporal evolution of the keywords evidences the recent inclusion of the term somaclonal variation, even with the description of the term being consolidated previously, other words were used to explain and name the changes, as well as effects because of the successive rebounds of the crops. In general, the results of this scientometric analysis demonstrate that research on somaclonal variation in strawberry has evolved from approaches focused on the characterization of genetic variability to more integrated investigations involving tissue culture, molecular genetics and plant breeding. However, important gaps persist related to the geographical distribution of scientific production, the continuity of research lines, and the integration between different methodological approaches. The expansion of international collaborations, combined with the incorporation of emerging genomic and epigenetic tools, can contribute to the advancement of knowledge and the development of more efficient strategies for clonal propagation and strawberry breeding.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOver the last 55 years, studies on somaclonal variation and genetic instabilities in fragaria x ananassa have consolidated as an important biotechnological tool within tissue culture, with wide application in several species, but the effects and uses of this technique are still scarce when analyzing the scientific publications in these databases. Even with the constant increase in the number of publications over the years, many gaps still corroborate the non-diffusion of this technique. The scientometric analysis carried out in this work shows that China, the USA and South Korea play a strong leadership in research on this topic, together representing more than 50% of the publications, as well as leading, together with Europe, the construction of international partnerships that connect the research communities. The results of this study allow us to understand the structure and evolution of scientific production on somaclonal variation in Fragaria x ananassa, identifying influential authors, prominent journals and the main research topics. In addition, the mapping of trends and gaps in the field provides relevant subsidies to guide future research, especially those aimed at understanding the morphophysiological mechanisms associated with genetic instability and the potential use of this variability in micropropagation, adaptation and breeding programs of strawberry in global horticulture.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors would like to thank IF Goiano (Instituto Federal Goiano), CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient\u0026iacute;fico e Tecnol\u0026oacute;gico), and Goi\u0026aacute;s State Research Foundation (FAPEG) for the support and scholarships provided. The authors also acknowledge CAPES (Coordena\u0026ccedil;\u0026atilde;o de Aperfei\u0026ccedil;oamento de Pessoal de N\u0026iacute;vel Superior) for the scholarship granted to the second author. The authors declare that no additional external funding was received for this study beyond institutional support and scholarships.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors would like to thank the Rio Verde campus of the Instituto Federal Goiano (IF Goiano) for the financial support and the Laboratory of Plant Tissue Culture for the structure provided. This study was funded through grants from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq).\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAuthor contributions\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJLPA, AKML, LAD, ARN, FBS, PSAF and FGS conceived the research; JLPA and AKML performed data collection and analysis; JLPA, AKML, LAD, ARN, FBS, PSAF, and FGS wrote the paper. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot applicable.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, and there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the content of this paper.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;The authors do not have any relevant financial or non-financial interests to declare.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this article.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;All authors declare that they have no connection or involvement with any organization or entity that has a financial or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026quot;The authors do not have any financial or ownership interests in relation to any material discussed in this article.\u0026quot;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAria M, Cuccurullo C (2017) bibliometrix: An R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. 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Plant Biotechnol J 18(9):1908\u0026ndash;1924. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.13351\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1111/pbi.13351\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e \u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003eZurn JD, Hummer KE, Bassil NV (2022) Exploring the diversity and genetic structure of the U.S. National Cultivated Strawberry Collection. \u003cem\u003eHorticulture Research\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003e9\u003c/em\u003e. \u003cspan class=\"ExternalRef\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"RefSource\"\u003ehttps://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhac125\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan address=\"10.1093/hr/uhac125\" targettype=\"DOI\" class=\"RefTarget\"\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"plant-cell-tissue-and-organ-culture-pctoc","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"pcto","sideBox":"Learn more about [Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC)](https://www.springer.com/journal/11240)","snPcode":"11240","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11240/3","title":"Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC)","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Fragaria x ananassa, clonal instability, tissue culture, scientometry","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9359674/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9359674/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe strawberry plant (\u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e) has great economic and social importance, being widely propagated vegetatively by stolons. However, this method can favor the spread of diseases, making tissue culture an efficient alternative for the production of seedlings of high phytosanitary quality. Micropropagation, although widely used, can induce somaclonal variation, characterized by genetic and phenotypic alterations in plants regenerated \u003cem\u003ein vitro\u003c/em\u003e. This variation can compromise the commercial uniformity of seedlings, but also represent as a source of genetic variability for breeding programs. Despite the growing scientific interest on the subject, there are still few studies that systematically synthesize and analyze the evolution of scientific production in this area. The objective of this study was to perform a scientometric analysis of the global scientific production on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e. The analysis was carried out using the scopus and web of science databases, with the help of the RStudio software for the mapping of scientific production for the entire period between 1970 (first article found) and 2025. Publications on somaclonal variation in strawberry grew 4.08 per year, with growth from 2018 onwards. Asia concentrated the largest number of studies, with emphasis on China. Regarding international collaborations, it was observed that 4.32% of the articles were published in co-authorship between researchers from different countries. The analysis of the key terms indicated three main research axes: (i) studies based on classical concepts of genetic variability, represented by the terms \u003cem\u003eevolution\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eselection\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003egenetic diversity\u003c/em\u003e; (ii) research focused on the relationship between micropropagation and somaclonal variation, highlighting the terms \u003cem\u003emicropropagation\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003esomaclonal variation\u003c/em\u003e; and (iii) investigations directed to genetic variability in strawberry, associated with the terms \u003cem\u003eFragaria \u0026times; ananassa\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003estrawberry\u003c/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003egenetic variation\u003c/em\u003e. Thus, the present study provides a structured overview of the scientific evolution on somaclonal variation in \u003cem\u003eFragaria x ananassa\u003c/em\u003e, identifying knowledge gaps and pointing out strategic directions for future research, contributing to advances in micropropagation techniques and genetic improvement of strawberry.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Global Scientific Overview of Somaclonal Variation in Strawberry Plant: Evolution, Networks and Research Frontiers","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-24 07:27:37","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9359674/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-28T20:54:32+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"35439603447991345692520597411182311862","date":"2026-04-18T13:24:11+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"7746172500679607503652629151350366355","date":"2026-04-16T14:57:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-16T10:32:59+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-04-16T06:26:25+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-04-16T03:49:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC)","date":"2026-04-08T16:42:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"plant-cell-tissue-and-organ-culture-pctoc","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"pcto","sideBox":"Learn more about [Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC)](https://www.springer.com/journal/11240)","snPcode":"11240","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11240/3","title":"Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC)","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"71b8d43b-d596-4818-ad1d-4cbe602295e3","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 24th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-24T07:27:37+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-24 07:27:37","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9359674","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9359674","identity":"rs-9359674","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}