Catalysing the host plant resistance: An insight into phyto-hormone mediated ISR against dry root rot of chickpea

Dry root rot (DRR) of chickpea caused by Rhizoctonia bataticola has become a serious concern to chickpea production. Changing climatic elements like frequent low soil moisture stress and high temperature are among the probable factors increasing DRR incidence in chickpea. Management of the DRR is challenging, owing to its wide host range, lack of resistant sources and uneconomical chemical control measures. Therefore, an alternate resistance management approach against this disease may be achieved by exploitation of host plant resistance through phyto-hormone mediated induced systemic resistance (ISR). The present study aims to identify the role of phyto-hormones in inducing systemic resistance against chickpea DRR. Two Phytohormones Methyl Jasmonic Acid (MeJA) and Salicylic Acid (SA) were used in this study to induce systemic resistance (ISR) against DRR. Of them MeJA was proved to be a robust in playing vital role in inducing resistance against targeted pathogen. The disease severity based on per-cent disease susceptibility index (derived from modified 0-9 rating scale) showed that plants treated with MeJA 50ppm displayed lower degree of DRR severity than the other subtreatments viz., MeJA at 25ppm and 75ppm. Also, the fungal propagule concentrations present in the root tissues sampled at different time points were analogous with theabove findings. A high positive correlation was observed in the results from real-time qPCR based absolute quantification

Diagnostic Techniques of Soil Borne Plant Diseases: Recent Advances and Next Generation Evolutionary Trends

All about 80000 diseases have been recorded in plants throughout the world, of them majority are associated with soil-borne diseases. Early, speedy and reliable detection of plant pathogens is prerequisite to optimize suitable and accurate management strategy. Traditionally, the most prevalent techniques used to identify plant pathogens relied upon culture-based morphological approaches; these methods were laborious, time-consuming. Molecular detection strategies could solve these limitations with improved accuracy and reliability. The DNA and protein based pathogen detection techniques such as DNA fingerprinting, biochemical assays, isothermal amplification techniques and serology are gaining importance in rapid soil borne pathogen detection due to their high degree of specificity to distinguish closely related organisms at different taxonomic levels. Here, we review the various molecular tools used for detection of several soil borne plant pathogens and its implementation in agriculture

Templeting of Thin Films Induced by Dewetting on Patterned Surfaces

The instability, dynamics and morphological transitions of patterns in thin liquid films on periodic striped surfaces (consisting of alternating less and more wettable stripes) are investigated based on 3-D nonlinear simulations that account for the inter-site hydrodynamic and surface-energetic interactions. The film breakup is suppressed on some potentially destabilizing nonwettable sites when their spacing is below a characteristic lengthscale of the instability, the upper bound for which is close to the spinodal lengthscale. The thin film pattern replicates the substrate surface energy pattern closely only when, (a) the periodicity of substrate pattern matches closely with the characteristic lengthscale, and (b) the stripe-width is within a range bounded by a lower critical length, below which no heterogeneous rupture occurs, and an upper transition length above which complex morphological features bearing little resemblance to the substrate pattern are formed.Comment: 5 pages TeX (REVTeX 4), other comments: submitted to Phys. Rev.Let

The revival-collapse phenomenon in the quadrature field components of the two-mode multiphoton Jaynes-Cummings model

In this paper we consider a system consisting of a two-level atom in an excited state interacting with two modes of a radiation field prepared initially in $l$-photon coherent states. This system is described by two-mode multiphoton (, i.e., $k_1, k_2$) Jaynes-Cummings model (JCM). For this system we investigate the occurrence of the revival-collapse phenomenon (RCP) in the evolution of the single-mode, two-mode, sum and difference quadrature squeezing. We show that there is a class of states for which all these types of squeezing exhibit RCP similar to that involved in the corresponding atomic inversion. Also we show numerically that the single-mode squeezing of the first mode for $(k_1,k_2)=(3,1)$ provides RCP similar to that of the atomic inversion of the case $(k_1,k_2)=(1,1)$, however, sum and difference squeezing give partial information on that case. Moreover, we show that single-mode, two-mode and sum squeezing for the case $(k_1,k_2)=(2,2)$ provide information on the atomic inversion of the single-mode two-photon JCM. We derive the rescaled squeezing factors giving accurate information on the atomic inversion for all cases. The consequences of these results are that the homodyne and heterodyne detectors can be used to detect the RCP for the two-mode JCM.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Microbial contamination of hydrogel contact lenses

Bacterial contamination of contact lenses (CLs) may contribute to CL-related corneal infection and inflammation. This study reports CL biota over time during daily and extended wear. Microbial contamination of a 58% water, ionic hydrogel CL and a 38% water, non-ionic hydrogel CL was evaluated in an Australian and an Indian population. Fifty wearers were repeatedly sampled over 18 months. Overnight CL use did not alter the frequency of positive cultures, nor the spectrum of organisms compared with daily CL wear. There were no differences in type and frequency of CL contamination between the CL types. Positive cultures were more frequently recovered from the Indian population compared with the Australian population. Streptococcus spp. and Propionibacterium spp. were more frequently isolated from the Australian population. Fungi and Bacillus spp. were more frequently isolated from the Indian population. Normal CL biota alone cannot explain the increased rate of infection and inflammation in extended wear

Phononic Self energy effects and superconductivity in CaC6_6

We study the graphite intercalated compound CaC$_6$ by means of Eliashberg theory, focusing on the anisotropy properties. An analysis of the electron-phonon coupling is performed, and we define a minimal 6-band anisotropy structure. Comparing with Superconducting Density Functional Theory (SCDFT) the condition under which Eliashberg theory is able to reproduce the SCDFT gap structure is determined, and we discuss the role of Coulomb interactions. The Engelsberg-Schrieffer polaron structure is computed by solving the Eliashberg equation on the Matsubara axis and analytically continuing it to the full complex plane. This reveals the polaronic quasiparticle bands anisotropic features as well as the interplay with superconductivity

New sources of resistance to Fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic disease in a mini-core collection of pigeonpea germplasm

Fusarium wilt (FW) and Sterility mosaic disease (SMD) are important biotic constraints to pigeonpea production worldwide. Host plant resistance is the most durable and economical way to manage these diseases. A pigeonpea mini-core collection consisting of 146 germplasm accessions developed from a core collection of 1290 accessions from 53 countries was evaluated to identify sources of resistance to FW and SMD under artificial field epiphytotic conditions during 2007–08 and 2008–09 crop seasons. Resistant sources identified in the field were confirmed in the greenhouse using a root dip screening technique for FW and a leaf stapling technique for SMD. Six accessions (originated from India and Italy were found resistant to FW (<10% mean disease incidence). High level of resistance to SMD was found in 24 accessions (mean incidence <10%). These SMD resistant accessions originated from India, Italy, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines and United Kingdom. Combined resistance to FW and SMD was found in five accessions (ICPs 6739, 8860, 11015, 13304 and 14819). These diverse accessions that are resistant to FW or SMD will be useful to the pigeonpea resistance breeding program

Twenty-First Century Research Needs in Electrostatic Processes Applied to Industry and Medicine

From the early century Nobel Prize winning (1923) experiments with charged oil droplets, resulting in the discovery of the elementary electronic charge by Robert Millikan, to the early 21st century Nobel Prize (2002) awarded to John Fenn for his invention of electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy and its applications to proteomics, electrostatic processes have been successfully applied to many areas of industry and medicine. Generation, transport, deposition, separation, analysis, and control of charged particles involved in the four states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma are of interest in many industrial and biomedical processes. In this paper, we briefly discuss some of the applications and research needs involving charged particles in industrial and medical applications including: (1) Generation and deposition of unipolarly charged dry powder without the presence of ions or excessive ozone, (2) Control of tribocharging process for consistent and reliable charging, (3) Thin film (less than 25 micrometers) powder coating and Powder coating on insulative surfaces, (4) Fluidization and dispersion of fine powders, (5) Mitigation of Mars dust, (6) Effect of particle charge on the lung deposition of inhaled medical aerosols, (7) Nanoparticle deposition, and (8) Plasma/Corona discharge processes. A brief discussion on the measurements of charged particles and suggestions for research needs are also included