Molecular Breeding for Abiotic Stresses in Maize (Zea mays L.)

Abiotic constraints resulting from climate changes have widespread yield reducing effects on all field crops and therefore should receive high priority for crop breeding research. Conventional breeding has progressed a lot in building tolerant genotypes but abiotic stress tolerance breeding is limited by the complex nature of abiotic stress intensity, frequency, duration and timing, linkage drag of undesirable traits/genes with desirable traits; and transfer of favorable genes/alleles from diverse plant genetic resources limited by gene pool barriers giving molecular breeding a good option for breeding plant genotypes that can thrive in stress environments. Molecular breeding (MB) approaches viz., marker-assisted selection (MAS), marker-assisted backcrossing breeding (MABB), marker assisted recurrent selection (MARS) and genomic selection (GS) or genome wide selection (GWS) offer opportunities for plant breeders to develop high yielding maize cultivars with resilience to diseases in less time duration precisely. For complex traits (mainly abiotic stresses) where multiple QTLs control the expression, new strategies like marker assisted recurrent selection (MARS) and genomic selection (GS) are employed to increase precision and to reduce cost of phenotyping and time duration with disease resilience. This review discusses recent developments in molecular breeding for developing and improving abiotic stress resilience in field crops

On Morphology and Morphometry of Trichuris ovis Abildgaard, 1795 Recovered from Ruminants of Ladakh, India

Abstract: Morphology and morphometry is used as tools for parasite identification since times immemorial, however this trend has been no longer used since the last decades and the identification became dependent on molecular characterization. However, this is possible in developed Countries while as the developing and underdeveloped Countries, like India, still largely depend on the traditional techniques. In this investigation an attempt was made to study the morphology and morphometry of adult Trichuris ovis recovered from caecum of the ruminants in Ladakh in order to access the effect of the study area, host, intensity, age, sex of the host and methodology on morphology of the parasite. It has been found that all these factors pose a little effect on the parasite identification were of minor importance because they were found within the range of similarity and were not good enough to label it as a new species as was expected. However, some descriptive features might be helpful in the parasite identification

Studies on drought tolerance in maize inbred lines using morphological and molecular approaches

A set of hundred homozygous maize inbred lines were analyzed for drought toleranceby studying twenty-four traits related to maturity, morphological, physiological, yield, quality and few root traits. Evaluation confirmed a wide range of variability revealing significant response of main effects (lines, irrigations and years and their respective digenic and trigenic interactions). These lines were subjected to different stress regimes over years leading to identification of fifteen elite lines which performed well under droughtstress showing inbuilt drought tolerance. A set of 32 SSR markers, having genome-wide coverage, were chosen for genotyping the inbred lines. These markers generated a total of 239 polymorphic alleles with an average of 7.47 alleles per locus. The minimum and maximum PIC value was 0.886 and 0.608 with a mean of 0.782. The coefficient of genetic dissimilarity ranged from 0.215 to 0.148. DARwin derived cluster analysis grouped 15 elite maize lines in three major clusters with five lines each in cluster-III and II and four lines in cluster-I with KDM-361A as root. Molecular diversity however, confirmed diverse genetic nature of six lines (KDM-372, KDM-343A, KDM-331, KDM-961, KDM-1051 and KDM-1156) showing drought tolerance. Exploitation of identified elite lines in a crossing program involving all possible combinations would help to develop hybrids with inbuilt mechanism to drought tolerance. Markers viz., umc -1766, umc-1478 and phi-061 recorded PIC >8 and alleles per locus more than 9 and therefore, discriminated the set of lines more efficiently. Genotyping data complemented by morpho- hysiological parameters were used to identify a number of pair-wise combinations for the development of mapping population segregating for drought tolerance and potential heterotic pairs for the development of drought tolerant hybrids.

Effect of Different Levels of Phosphorus and Sulphur on Seed & Stover Yield of Soybean (Glycine max L. Merill) under 'Eutrochrepts'

A field experiment was conducted at KVK, Srinagar during two consecutive kharif seasons of 2010 and 2011 to study the “Effect of phosphorus and sulphur on yield and quality of soybean (Glycine max L. Merill) under Eutrochrepts”. The experiment was laid down under 16 treatment combinations viz four levels of phosphorus (0, 30, 60, 90 kg P2O5 ha-1) and four levels of sulphur (0,15, 30, 45 kg S ha-1) in randomized complete block design with three replications .The soil of the experimental site was typic Eutrochrepts, silty clay loam in texture having pH 7.18, EC 0.18 dSm-1, organic carbon 0.74 per cent, available N, P, K 250.52, 11.45, 120.62, kg ha-1, respectively. Soil was sufficient in available Fe, Cu, Mn and deficient in available Zn and sulphur. Total and organic phosphorus content in soil was 345 and 173 ppm, respectively while as total and organic sulphur content was 232 and 162 ppm, respectively. Both seed and stover yield of soybean increased significantly due to individual as well as combined application of phosphorus and sulphur. Combined application of 45 kg S with 90 kg P2O5 produced highest seed (24.39 q ha-1) and stover (43.51 q ha-1) yield of soybean. Application of increasing levels of both phosphorus and sulphur resulted in a significant increase in macro and micronutrient content of soybean seed. With application of 90 kg P2O5 ha-1, maximum nutrient content of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S in seed was 6.42, 0.56, 1.876, 0.324 0.440, 0.466 per cent, respectively while as Fe, Cu, Mn was 100.01, 2.86 and 3.74 mg kg-1, respectively

Reactive Oxygen Species, Oxidative Damage and Their Production, Detection in Common Bean (<em>Phaseolus vulgaris</em> L.) under Water Stress Conditions

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) being small and highly reactive oxygen containing molecules play significant role in intracellular signaling and regulation. Various environmental stresses lead to excessive production of ROS causing progressive oxidative damage and ultimately cell death. This increased ROS production is, however, tightly controlled by a versatile and cooperative antioxidant system that modulates intracellular ROS concentration and controls the cell’s redox status. Furthermore, ROS enhancement under stress serves as an alarm signal, triggering acclimatory/defense responses via specific signal transduction pathways involving H2O2 as a secondary messenger. Nevertheless, if water stress is prolonged over to a certain extent, ROS production will overwhelm the scavenging action of the anti-oxidant system resulting in extensive cellular damage and death. DAB (3,3′-diaminobenzidine) test serves as an effective assessment of oxidative damage under stress. It clearly differentiates the lines on the basis of darker staining of leaves under water stress. The lines showing greater per cent reduction in yield parameters show greater staining in DAB assay underlining the reliability of using this assay as a reliable supplement to phenotyping protocols for characterizing large germplasm sets

Quantitative response of wheat to sowing dates and irrigation regimes using ceres-wheat model

An experiment was conducted at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana during 2014–15 and 2015–16, keeping four sowing dates {25th Oct (D1), 10th Nov (D2), 25th Nov (D3) and 10th Dec (D4)} in main plots and five irrigation schedules {irrigation at 15 (FC15), 25 (FC25), 35 (FC35) and 45 (FC45) % depletion of soil moisture from field capacity (FC) and a conventional practice} in sub plots. The objective of the study was to evaluate the performance of CERES-Wheat model for simulating yield and water use under varying planting and soil moisture regimes. The simulated and observed grain yield was higher in D1, with irrigation applied at FC15 as compared to all other sowing date and irrigation regime combinations. Simulated grain yield decreased by 19% with delay in sowing from 25th October to 10th December because of 8% reduction in simulated crop evapotranspiration. Simulated evapotranspiration decreased by 16%, wheat grain yield by 23% and water productivity by 15% in drip irrigation at 45% depletion from field capacity as compared to drip irrigation at 15% of field capacity. It was further revealed that the model performed well in simulating the phenology, water use and yield of wheat

Drug standardization through pharmacognostic approaches and estimation of anticancer potential of chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.) using prostate-cancer cell lines : an in-vitro study

Cancer is the major challenge across world and the adenocarcinoma of prostate malignancy is the second most prevalent male cancer. Various medicinal plants are used for the treatment and management of various cancers. Matricaria chamomilla L., is one of the extensively used Unani medicament for the treatment of various type of diseases. In the current study we evaluated most of the parameters prescribed for drug standardization using pharmacognostic approaches. The 2,2 Diphenyl-1-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) method was utilized for the analysis of antioxidant activity in the flower extracts of M. chamomilla. Moreover, we analyzed the antioxidant and cytotoxic activity of M. chamomilla (Gul-e Babuna) through in-vitro method. DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazl-hydrate) method was utilized for the analysis of antioxidant activity in the flower extracts of M. chamomilla. CFU and wound healing assay were performed to determine the anti-cancer activity. The results demonstrated that various extracts of M. chamomilla fulfilled most of the parameters of drug standardization and contained good antioxidant and anticancer activities. The ethyl acetate showed higher anticancer activity followed by aqueous, hydroalcoholic, petroleum benzene and methanol by CFU method. Also, the wound healing assay demonstrated that ethyl acetate extract has more significant effect followed by methanol and petroleum benzene extract on prostate cancer cell line (C4-2). The current study concluded that the extract of M. chamomilla flowers could act as good source of natural anti-cancer compounds.CCRUM, New Delhi; Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; SERB research grant; Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the National Research Foundation (NRF).https://www.jcancer.orgam2024Medical OncologySDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein

Meta analysis on the evaluation and application of DSSAT in South Asia and China: Recent studies and the way forward

The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology transfer (DSSAT) is a global modelling platform that encompasses crop models for more than 40 different crops. The models have been used extensively throughout the world, including South Asia and China. From the web of science database, we reviewed 205 papers that were published from January 2010 to February 2022 containing examples of the evaluation and application of the DSSAT crop simulation models. In South Asia and China, more than 50 traits and variables were analyzed for various experiments and environmental conditions during this period. The performance of the models was evaluated by comparing the simulated data with the observed data through different statistical parameters. Over the years and across different locations, the DSSAT crop models simulated phenology, growth, yield, and input efficiencies reasonably well with a high coefficient of determination (R2), and Willmott d-index, together with a low root mean square error (RMSE), normalized RMSE (RMSEn), mean error (ME) or percentage error difference. The CERES models for rice, wheat and maize were the most used models, followed by the CROPGRO models for cotton and soybean. Grain yield, anthesis and maturity dates, above ground biomass, and leaf area index were the variables that were evaluated most frequently for the different crop models. The meta-analysis of the data of the most common simulated variables (Anthesis, maturity, leaf area index, grain yield and above ground biomass) for the four commonly used DSSAT models (CERES-Rice, CERES-Wheat, CERES-Maize and CROPGRO-Cotton) showed that the models predicted anthesis with an RMSE of ~2 (CERES-Maize) and -4 days (CERES-Wheat), a normalized RMSE of ~2.5 (CERES-Maize) and -3.8% (CERES-Rice), and a R2 ~ 0.98-0.99. The maturity was predicted with an RMSE~ 3.0 (CERES-Maize)-6.1 days (CROPGRO-Cotton), normalized RMSE~2.3 (CERES-Wheat)-5.0% (CERES-Rice) and R2 ~ 0.90-0.99. The leaf area index was predicted with an RMSE~ 0.3-0.7, normalized RMSE~6 (CROPGRO-Cotton)-16% (CERES-Maize) and R2 ~ 0.75-0.98. The model performance for simulating grain yield was best with CROPGRO-cotton with a normalized RMSE of 4.4%, RMSE of 138.8 kg and R2 of 0.99.  The lowest R2 and highest RMSEn was found for CERES-Wheat. Among all the variables that were evaluated, above ground biomass was least accurately simulated with a RMSEn as high as 18% and R2 as small as 0.50 by CERES-Wheat.  The models were used for studying the crop response under various soil, weather, and management conditions. The review will be helpful to identify the research gap in the use of crop models for different crops in South Asia and China. It can also aid scientists to target their research for specific applications to address food and nutrition security based on sustainable management practices.

Studies in relation to floral biology and variability for economic traits in wild ecotypes of Black Caraway (Bunium persicum Bioss. Fedts).

Black Caraway (Bunium persicum Boiss.) is a perennial aromatic and medicinal umbellifer. It belongs to the family Apiaceae. Its aromatic fruits are commercially known as Kala Zeera and are used as a spice to add flavour to the dishes, delicacies and bakery, besides being used in perfumery and in the preparation of ayurvedic medicines. In J&K state it is confined to the hilly areas of Gurez, Keran, Machil, Tangdar, Kargil, Paddar, Pulwama and Char-e-Sharief. The crop mostly grows in the wild under natural conditions and the steps are yet to be taken to domesticate this high priced commodity. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant genotypic differences for all the characters under study. The estimates of phenotypic, genotypic and environmental variances revealed that environmental variances were smaller in magnitude than the corresponding genotypic variances except for plant height and tertiary branches plant-1 suggesting that most of the variation was genetic in nature. Phenotypic coefficient of variation for all the traits was higher than genotypic coefficient of variation indicating that all these characters had interacted with the environment. The present investigation revealed high heritability (b.s) for almost all the traits which were taken into consideration. High heritability (b.s) estimates for various characters have also been reported by Puschmann et al. (1992), Pank and Quilitzsch (1996) in Caraway (carum carvi L.) and Kapila et al. (1997) in Black Caraway (Bunium persicum Boiss).In the present investigation, the most important character as seed yield m-2 exhibited positive significant correlation with plant height, number of primary branches plant-1, umbel diameter of primary and secondary umbels , seeds in primary and secondary umbels,1000-seed weight , tuber size and tuber weight. It showed significant negative correlation with number of secondary and tertiary branches plant-1. Oil content extracted at 80 per cent and at full maturity stages revealed that seeds harvested at 80 per cent maturity have higher oil content as compared to seeds harvested at full maturity. It was evident that although Char-e-Sharief ecotype was rich in essential oil content as compared to Gurez and Drass ecotypes, but was inferior with respect to constituents imparting flavour (i.e., cuminaldehyde and p-mentha-1, 4-dien 7al). Cytological studies revealed that Black Caraway is a diploid species with 2n=14 chromosomes which is in conformity with findings of. Sheidai et al. (1996)

Role of Selenium in Regulation of Plant Antioxidants, Chlorophyll Retention and Osmotic Adjustment under Drought Conditions: A Review

Environmental change is ascending as one of the most unpredictable issue, the effects of which are observable as rise in the onset of regular abiotic stresses like no or irregular precipitation, ascend in worldwide normal temperature, floods and so on. Among all the abiotic stresses, drought stress has become a sector of interest for decades. Drought stress can be chronic in locations with low water accessibility or irregular precipitation during the time of plant development consequently decreasing its growth and yield through its impact on plant photosynthetic rate, increased load of reactive oxygen species, changes in plant water relations and so on. A great deal of examination has been done to study the varieties of changes in the plants at the morphological, physiological and cellular level to identify the methodologies for enhancing plant drought resistance. In this regard "selenium" (Se) is considered exceptionally significant for improving plant growth and development. Spraying drought stressed plants or pre-treating the seeds with low dosage of Se have been shown to be associated with upgraded plant drought resistance. The present study is aimed to frame a review on the regulation of plant defense system, chlorophyll retention and plant water relations so as to provide comprehensive understanding into the changes caused by the application of Se which inturn are liable for improved plant drought tolerance