Ensuring biological safety of drinking water at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India

Potability of drinking water from various sources at the campus of International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Andhra Pradesh, India had been assessed for 17 years (1994 to 2010). All four sources of drinking water at ICRISAT, including Manjeera water (Municipal corporation supplied drinking water), borewell 1, borewell 2 and ICRISAT water (mixture of both Manjeera as well as borewells after treatment), were tested for their potability once in two months by most probable number (MPN) method. The results indicated that water from borewells were not safe to drink without treatment as Escherichia coli was found in 10 and 12 years out of 17 tested years for bore wells 1 and 2, respectively. Manjeera water samples were also found unsafe in two out of the 17 years, whereas ICRISAT water was found safe to drink throughout the study period. This study indicated that even deep borewells (of about 135 ft) can get contaminated, and its water is not safe to drink without treatment, and an additional treatment of municipal water supply is required in order to have safe drinking water.Keywords: Potability, drinking water, Escherichia coli, borewell water, municipal wate

Deploying QTL-seq for rapid delineation of a potential candidate gene underlying major trait-associated QTL in chickpea

A rapid high-resolution genome-wide strategy for molecular mapping of major QTL(s)/gene(s) regulating important agronomic traits is vital for in-depth dissection of complex quantitative traits and genetic enhancement in chickpea. The present study for the first time employed a NGS-based whole-genomeQTL-seq strategy to identify one major genomic region harbouring a robust 100- seed weight QT Lusinganintra-specific 221 chickpea mapping population (desicv.ICC7184×desicv.ICC 15061). The QTL-seq-derived major SW QTL (CaqSW1.1) was further validated by single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker-based traditional QTL mapping (47.6% R2 at higher LOD >19). This reflects the reliability and efficacy of QTL-seq as a strategy for rapid genome-wide scanning and fine mapping of major trait regulatory QTLs in chickpea. The use of QTL-seq and classical QTL mapping in combination narrowed down the 1.37 Mb (comprising 177genes) major SWQTL (CaqSW1.1) regionintoa 35 kb genomic intervalondesi chickpea chromosome 1 containing six genes. One coding SNP (G/A)-carrying constitutive photomorphogenic 9 (COP9) signalo some complex subunit (CSN8) gene of the see xhibited seed-specific expression, including pronounced differential up-/down-regulation in low and high seed weight mapping parents and homo zygous individuals duringseed development.The coding SNP mined in this potential seed weight- governing candidate CSN8 genewas found to be present exclusively in all cultivated species/ genotypes, but notin any wild species/genotypes of primary, secondary and tertiary gene pools.This indicates the effect of strong artificial and/or natural selection pressure on target SW locus during chickpea domestication. The proposed QTL-seq-driven integrated genome-wide strategy has potential to delineate major candidate gene(s) harbouring a robust trait regulatory QTL rapidly with optimal use of resources. This will further assist us to extrapolate the molecular mechanism underlying complex quantitative traits at a genome-wide scale leading to fast-paced marker-assisted genetic improvement in diverse crop plants, including chickpea

Exploiting genomic resources for efficient conservation and utilization of chickpea, groundnut, and pigeonpea collections for crop improvement

Both chickpea and pigeonpea are important dietary source of protein, while groundnut is one of the major oil crops. Globally, ~1.1 million grain legume accessions are conserved in genebanks, of which, ICRISAT genebank holds ~50,000 accessions of cultivated species and wild relatives of chickpea, pigeonpea, and groundnut from 133 countries. These genetic resources are reservoirs of many useful genes for the present and future crop improvement programs. Representative subsets in the form of core and mini core collections have been used to identify trait-specific genetically diverse germplasm for use in breeding and genomic studies in these crops. Chickpea, groundnut and pigeonpea have moved from ‘orphan’ to ‘genomic resources rich crops’. The chickpea and pigeonpea genomes have been decoded, and the sequences of groundnut genome will soon be available. With the availability of these genomic resources, the germplasm curators, breeders and molecular biologists will have abundant opportunities to enhance the efficiency of genebank operations, mine allelic variations in germplasm collection, identify genetically diverse germplasm with beneficial traits, broaden the cultigen’s genepool, and accelerate the cultivar development to address new challenges to production, particularly with respect to climate change and variability. Marker-assisted breeding approaches have already been initiated for some traits in chickpea and groundnut, which should lead to enhanced efficiency and efficacy of crop improvement. Resistance to some pests and diseases has been successfully transferred from wild relatives to cultivated species

Allelic relationships of flowering time genes in chickpea

Flowering time and crop duration are the most important traits for adaptation of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) to different agro-climatic conditions. Early flowering and early maturity enhance adaptation of chickpea to short season environments. This study was conducted to establish allelic relationships of the early flowering genes of ICC 16641, ICC 16644 and ICCV 96029 with three known early flowering genes, efl-1 (ICCV 2), ppd or efl-2 (ICC 5810), and efl-3 (BGD 132). In all cases, late flowering was dominant to early-flowering. The results indicated that the efl-1 gene identified from ICCV 2 was also present in ICCV 96029, which has ICCV 2 as one of the parents in its pedigree. ICC 16641 and ICC 16644 had a common early flowering gene which was not allelic to other reported early flowering genes. The new early flowering gene was designated efl-4. In most of the crosses, days to flowering was positively correlated with days to maturity, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per plant and seed yield per plant and negatively correlated or had no correlation with 100-seed weight. The double-pod trait improved grain yield per plant in the crosses where it delayed maturity. The information on allelic relationships of early flowering genes and their effects on yield and yield components will be useful in chickpea breeding for desired phenology

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Not AvailablePearl millet is a major cereal in the arid and semiarid regions of Asia and Africa. It is primarily cultivated for grain production, but its stover is also valued as dry fodder. Pearl millet is resilient to climate change due to its inherent adaptability to drought and high temperatures. It is also tolerant of saline and acid soils, and is well adapted to marginal lands with low productivity. Pearl millet germplasm exhibits large genetic variability for yield components; and various agronomic, adaptation and nutritional traits. Open pollinated varieties and hybrids are two important cultivar options, but higher productivity is realized through hybrids. Pearl millet has fewer pest and disease problems compared to other cereals and is suited to different cropping systems. It is highly responsive to improved crop management practices, as witnessed in parts of India where it is grown as an irrigated summer crop that produces higher yields and better quality grain. Pearl millet has high nutritional value in terms of high levels of energy, dietary fibre, proteins with a balanced amino acid profile, many essential minerals, some vitamins, and antioxidants. These play a significant role in prevention of important human ailments such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. There is great potential for harnessing these positive attributes through genetic improvement, improved crop management, and grain processing and food products technologies. These should help to develop greater global awareness of the importance of this crop for food and nutritional security.Not Availabl