Physical properties of large cardamom cultivated in north eastern Himalayan region of Sikkim, India

The large cardamom is one of the most important spice crops grown in Himalayan region of Sikkim, India.  The capsules of the harvested large cardamom are dried before consumption.  The paper presents the physical properties of  freshly harvested and dried large cardamom capsules.  The geometrical mean diameter, sphericity, bulk density and mean values of angle of repose of the freshly harvested large cardamom capsules were observed to be 18.53±1.73 mm, 0.76, 332.21±14.24 kg m-3 and 28.74±4.04°, respectively.  Whereas for dried large cardamom capsules the values were found to be 11.113±0.92 mm, 0.56, 393.109±9.622 kg m-3 and 29.84±2.93°, respectively.  The peak static coefficient of friction of freshly harvested large cardamom over mild steel, plywood and plastic film surfaces were 0.386, 0.463 and 0.359, respectively.  However, for dried large cardamom capsules, the observed values were 0.436, 0.394 and 0.155, respectively.   Keywords: large cardamom, spice crop, physical propertie

Identification of Deleterious Mutations in Myostatin Gene of Rohu Carp (Labeo rohita) Using Modeling and Molecular Dynamic Simulation Approaches

The myostatin (MSTN) is a known negative growth regulator of skeletal muscle. The mutated myostatin showed a double-muscular phenotype having a positive significance for the farmed animals. Consequently, adequate information is not available in the teleosts, including farmed rohu carp, Labeo rohita. In the absence of experimental evidence, computational algorithms were utilized in predicting the impact of point mutation of rohu myostatin, especially its structural and functional relationships. The four mutations were generated at different positions (p.D76A, p.Q204P, p.C312Y, and p.D313A) of MSTN protein of rohu. The impacts of each mutant were analyzed using SIFT, I-Mutant 2.0, PANTHER, and PROVEAN, wherein two substitutions (p.D76A and p.Q204P) were predicted as deleterious. The comparative structural analysis of each mutant protein with the native was explored using 3D modeling as well as molecular-dynamic simulation techniques. The simulation showed altered dynamic behaviors concerning RMSD and RMSF, for either p.D76A or p.Q204P substitution, when compared with the native counterpart. Interestingly, incorporated two mutations imposed a significant negative impact on protein structure and stability. The present study provided the first-hand information in identifying possible amino acids, where mutations could be incorporated into MSTN gene of rohu carp including other carps for undertaking further in vivo studies