Qualitative Changes during Storage of Different Ginger-Based Spice Sauces

Ready-to-eat sauces have become a trend in all kinds of meals. Five ginger-based sauces viz., ginger, ginger-black pepper, ginger-nutmeg, ginger-kokum and ginger-nutmeg-kokum were prepared as per standard procedures. Physical, biochemical, microbiological and rheological properties of the sauces were recorded at regular intervals for 135 days. There was no significant variation in physical properties (total soluble solids) during storage but colour value varied significantly. Variation in chemical parameters like pH, content of moisture, proteins, carbohydrates and total sugars was non-significant, but variation in titratable acidity and reducing sugars was significant. Storage period did not affect total plate count, consistency index and flow behavior index of the sauces, which remained constant during the entire storage period. Sensory score of the sauces showed that acceptability was high for ginger sauce, followed by ginger-black pepper and ginger-nutmeg sauce

Distribution of Pythium myriotylum Drechsler causing soft rot of ginger

Fourteen of the 29 Pythium isolates pathogenic to ginger (Zingiber officinale) collected fromvarious parts of India such as Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh wereidentified as Pythium myriotylum based on the size of the species-specific amplicon (150 bp)using the oligo primers Pmy5 and ITS2. The suitability of the primer combination Pmy5 (5’-gTC gCT gTT ATg gCg gAg-3’) and ITS2 (5’-gCT gCg TTC TTC ATC gAT gC-3’) (Wang et al.2003a) at the species level identification of P. myriotylum was further confirmed through thisstudy. &nbsp

Ensembl Genomes 2022: an expanding genome resource for non-vertebrates

Ensembl Genomes (https://www.ensemblgenomes.org) provides access to non-vertebrate genomes and analysis complementing vertebrate resources developed by the Ensembl project (https://www.ensembl.org). The two resources collectively present genome annotation through a consistent set of interfaces spanning the tree of life presenting genome sequence, annotation, variation, transcriptomic data and comparative analysis. Here we present our largest increase in plant, metazoan and fungal genomes since the project’s inception creating one of the world’s most comprehensive genomic resources and describe our efforts to reduce genome redundancy in our Bacteria portal. We also detail our new efforts in gene annotation, our emerging support for pangenome analysis and efforts to accelerate data dissemination through the Ensembl Rapid Release resource. We also present our new AlphaFold visualisation. Finally, we present details of our future plans including updates on our integration with Ensembl, and how we plan to improve our support for the microbial research community. Software and data are made available without restriction via our website, online tools platform and programmatic interfaces (available under an Apache 2.0 license). Data updates are synchronised with Ensembl’s release cycle

Pneumococcal lineages associated with serotype replacement and antibiotic resistance in childhood invasive pneumococcal disease in the post-PCV13 era: an international whole-genome sequencing study

Background: Invasive pneumococcal disease remains an important health priority owing to increasing disease incidence caused by pneumococci expressing non-vaccine serotypes. We previously defined 621 Global Pneumococcal Sequence Clusters (GPSCs) by analysing 20 027 pneumococcal isolates collected worldwide and from previously published genomic data. In this study, we aimed to investigate the pneumococcal lineages behind the predominant serotypes, the mechanism of serotype replacement in disease, as well as the major pneumococcal lineages contributing to invasive pneumococcal disease in the post-vaccine era and their antibiotic resistant traits. / Methods: We whole-genome sequenced 3233 invasive pneumococcal disease isolates from laboratory-based surveillance programmes in Hong Kong (n=78), Israel (n=701), Malawi (n=226), South Africa (n=1351), The Gambia (n=203), and the USA (n=674). The genomes represented pneumococci from before and after pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) introductions and were from children younger than 3 years. We identified predominant serotypes by prevalence and their major contributing lineages in each country, and assessed any serotype replacement by comparing the incidence rate between the pre-PCV and PCV periods for Israel, South Africa, and the USA. We defined the status of a lineage as vaccine-type GPSC (≥50% 13-valent PCV [PCV13] serotypes) or non-vaccine-type GPSC (>50% non-PCV13 serotypes) on the basis of its initial serotype composition detected in the earliest vaccine period to measure their individual contribution toward serotype replacement in each country. Major pneumococcal lineages in the PCV period were identified by pooled incidence rate using a random effects model. / Findings: The five most prevalent serotypes in the PCV13 period varied between countries, with only serotypes 5, 12F, 15B/C, 19A, 33F, and 35B/D common to two or more countries. The five most prevalent serotypes in the PCV13 period varied between countries, with only serotypes 5, 12F, 15B/C, 19A, 33F, and 35B/D common to two or more countries. These serotypes were associated with more than one lineage, except for serotype 5 (GPSC8). Serotype replacement was mainly mediated by expansion of non-vaccine serotypes within vaccine-type GPSCs and, to a lesser extent, by increases in non-vaccine-type GPSCs. A globally spreading lineage, GPSC3, expressing invasive serotypes 8 in South Africa and 33F in the USA and Israel, was the most common lineage causing non-vaccine serotype invasive pneumococcal disease in the PCV13 period. We observed that same prevalent non-vaccine serotypes could be associated with distinctive lineages in different countries, which exhibited dissimilar antibiotic resistance profiles. In non-vaccine serotype isolates, we detected significant increases in the prevalence of resistance to penicillin (52 [21%] of 249 vs 169 [29%] of 575, p=0·0016) and erythromycin (three [1%] of 249 vs 65 [11%] of 575, p=0·0031) in the PCV13 period compared with the pre-PCV period. / Interpretation: Globally spreading lineages expressing invasive serotypes have an important role in serotype replacement, and emerging non-vaccine serotypes associated with different pneumococcal lineages in different countries might be explained by local antibiotic-selective pressures. Continued genomic surveillance of the dynamics of the pneumococcal population with increased geographical representation in the post-vaccine period will generate further knowledge for optimising future vaccine design. / Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Sanger Institute, and the US Centers for Disease Control

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Not AvailableA survey was undertaken in the major black pepper growing belts of Kerala and Karnataka for studying the distribution and diversity of actinobacteria in the rhizosphere of black pepper. A total of 129 morphologically different actinobacteria were isolated from 123 samples collected from different agro climatic niche. The 129 actinobacteria were morphologically characterized on the basis of the colour of aerial mycelia, substrate mycelia, spore chain morphology and production of diffusible pigments. The isolates were also tested for their antagonistic ability against major pathogens of black pepper. Morphologically the isolates fall into 7 groups in which majority were found to be in the genus Streptomyces (100). Other groups are Actinoplanes (10), Micromonospora (10), Nocardiopsis (2), Actinomyces (3), Actinopolyspora (1), and Dactylosporium (1). Functionally, more than 50% of the isolates showed 51-94% inhibition against the major pathogens. Key words: Actinobacteria, Antagonism, Black pepper, Diversity, P. capsici, Rhizosphere, Spore chain morphologyNot Availabl

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Not AvailableBacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum race 4 is a devastating disease of ginger, for which almost all control measures met with limited success. In this study, 150 bacteria isolated from the apoplastic fluid of ginger were screened for antagonism against R. pseudosolanacearum both in vitro and in planta and shortlisted six isolates which were further characterized for biocontrol and plant growth promoting traits. The promising isolates were identified as Bacillus subtilis (IISRGAB 5), B. marisflavi (IISRGAB 43), B. licheniformis (IISRGAB 107), Agrobacterium tumefaciens (IISRGAB24), Micrococcus luteus (IISRGAB 48) and Staphylococcus haemolyticus (IISRGAB 146). Green house evaluation against R. pseudosolanacearum, by seed priming and soil drenching showed that B. licheniformis strain GAP107–MTCC 12725, was able to reduce bacterial wilt incidence up to 67%. Hence, this bacterium was identified as a suitable candidate for developing a potential biocide for the management of bacterial wilt in ginger.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableBacterial wilt in ginger caused by Ralstonia pseudosolanacearum race 4 causes significant economic loss in several Asian and Polynesian countries. Since the pathogen being soil and rhizome borne, an early detection would prevent the occurrence and spread of the disease. The present study aimed at developing a strain specific detection methodology for race 4 strain infecting ginger using Real Time Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (real-time LAMP). LAMP primers were designed from the gyrB gene, which can specifically detect race 4 R. pseudosolanacearum infecting Zingiberaceae plants. In real-time LAMP, a sigmoid amplification curve with a Ta value of 92 ± 1 °C was obtained only with race 4 with a detection limit of 103 CFU/g of soil or rhizomes. For on-farmdiagnosis, the protocol was customized with soil supernatant as template instead of genomic DNA, the extraction of which is cumbersome under field conditions. The real-time LAMP thus developed can be used as an indexing tool for seed rhizomes and soil for latent infectionNot Availabl

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Not AvailableThe present work was undertaken with an objective to study the effect of culture filtrates and secondary metabolites of three Streptomyces spp. from black pepper rhizosphere having promising biocontrol and growth promoting traits on different developmental stages of pathogens like Phytophthora capsici and Sclerotium rolfsii. The study also focuses on identification of compounds responsible for the antimicrobial and growth promotive activity. Crude culture filtrate of IISRBPAct1 and IISRBPAct25 were found inhibitory to mycelial growth of P. capsici. Diluted culture filtrate of IISRBPAct1 (2 %) and IISRBPAct25 (5 %) were found inhibitory to the sporangia formation. Crude culture filtrate of IISRBPAct1 can completely inhibit the zoospore germination while it was inhibited to 98.6 % and 87 % by 10 % diluted extracts of IISRBPAct1 and IISRBPAct25 respectively. IISRBPAct1 showed 51.27 % inhibition of mycelial growth of S. rolfsii, while IISRBPAct25 and IISRBPAct42 showed 57.63 % and 26.90 % inhibition respectively. IISRBPAct1 is highly inhibitory to sclerotial formation even at 1 % concentration. The secondary metabolites of the three isolates were extracted in three solvent systems and their activity profile was detected and characterized by HPTLC. High resolution UPLC- (ESI)-QToF-MS analysis of the extracts revealed the presence of a vast array of antifungal compounds that supports the antimicrobial activity of culture filtrate and metabolites of the isolates.Not Availabl

Effect of biocontrol agents on production of rooted back pepper cutting by serpentine method

Not AvailableAvailability of disease free quality planting material is a major limiting factor in black pepper cultivation. In order to meet the increasing demand and also to create awareness on good agricultural practices for healthy disease free planting material production to farmers, a nursery experiment was started with improved varieties of black pepper by adopting a non-chemical bio- intensive management strategy. Here solarization of potting mixture was the main concern followed my amending the solarized potting mixture with potential bioagents. The experiment was designed in a two factor CRD with four improved varieties and five treatments. Each treatment contains a combination of two bioagents with antifungal and nematicidal properties respectively. The common recommended fungicide Metalaxyl-Mancozeb (0.125%) and nematicide carbsosulfan (0.1%) was used as control. The treatments were incorporated individually into solarized potting mixture and planted with improved varieties used viz., IISR Girimunda, IISR Malabar Excel, IISR Shakti and IISR Thevam, The plants in each treatment were kept for multiplication by serpentine method with proper irrigation and phytosanitation. The results of plant growth and establishment in different treatments, showed that fortification of solarized potting mixture with Trichoderma harzianum + Pochonia chlamydosporia combination or combination of Streptomyces strains (Act 2+9) are significantly superior (35.46% and 21% respectively) for the production of healthy rooted planting material. IISR Malabar Excel and IISR Thevam produced the maximum number of plants from a single node cutting in treatment with T. harzianum + P. chlamydosporia (T1) (59 nos. and 51 nos. respectively) followed by IISR Malabar Excel with Act 2+9 and Act 5+9 (45 nos. each). So an average of 6-7 plants/month/cutting was produced in the potential treatment while it was only 3-4 plants in control. The advantage of the method is that, after solarization and fortification with respective bioagents, there is no need for further application of any fungicides, insecticides or any other nutrient spray as usually done. Thus the method of soil solarization followed by fortification of either with T. harzianum+ P. chlamydosporia or combination of Streptomyces strains viz., Ketasatospora setae (Act 2) and S. tauricus (Act9) is found suitable for the production of healthy quality planting material of high yielding varieties to meet the increasing demand of planting material with a C:B ratio of 1:2.Not Availabl