Development of EST Derived Microsatellite Markers in Buffel Grass and Their Cross Transferability to Other Forage Grasses

Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris L.) is an important perennial grass grown widely in arid and semiarid regions of the world. It is one of the prominent species of the Dichanthium-Cenchrus-Lasiurus grass cover spread over the Peninsular India (Dabadghao and Shankarnarayan, 1973). C. ciliaris is a warm season, C4 grass well adapted to survive harsh conditions, elevated CO2 levels and wide range of climates and soil regimes. It is considered an excellent pasture grass as it provides highly nutritious and palatable forage during drought periods. Despite its excellent forage characteristics genetic improvement through conventional breeding methods has been difficult due to its apomictic mode of reproduction, and is mostly confined to the selection of elite lines from natural variants. (Bhat et al., 2001). Knowledge of genetic diversity and phenetic relationships among accessions is prerequisite for breeding programmes. The study of morphological variability is the only approach for assessing genetic diversity especially in minor crops. An assessment based only on agro-morphological traits might be biased because distinct morphotypes can result from spontaneous mutations. However, with molecular markers, genetic resources can accurately be assessed and characterized (Capo-chichi et al., 2004). Buffel grass has been extensively studied to understand the genetic regulation of apomixis targeting the genomic regions shared and conserved across grass family, while limited studies have been done so far to assess the genetic variation and utilization in breeding for agronomically important traits and absence of adequate genomic resources impeded further improvement. Cenchrus cultivars and accessions have previously been characterized using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP), inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) and Sequence tagged site (STS) markers. While microsatellites are the most preferred markers due to their locus specificity, codominant nature, high polymorphism and reproducibility, their development and application is highly time consuming and expensive and has been limited to a few agriculturally important crops (Powell et al., 1996). An alternative way is to search the abundant sequence data already available in public databases to identify SSR’s. Nevertheless, markers developed in this way present a valuable resource for subsequent comparison between the model species and the related species. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to develop EST based SSR markers and test their transferability potential in other related forage grasses

Establishment of High-Efficiency Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation of Callus Derived from \u3cem\u3eSehima nervosum\u3c/em\u3e, an Important Range Grass Species

Sehima nervosum is one of the important rangeland grass in India, It is commonly known as Saen grass in India, white grass in Australia, and has also been reported from the Central East Africa and Sudan. It is a good forage grass and maybe utilized for grazing as well as for hay preparation. It is a perennial grass, prefers hot and dry climate and survive even in limited rainfalls. As this natural grass is found inherently rich in precursors for several industrially important biomolecules, fractionation of these precursors seems to be a promising endeavour. Production of nutraceuticals (prebiotic xylo-oligosaccharides) from the lignocellulosic biomass of this grass is promising, as this grass does not compete with food crops, and is comparatively less expensive than conventional agricultural food-stocks. However, germplasm of this grass has narrow genetic variability. Being largely apomictic in reproduction, generation of variability through hybridization approaches have been limited. Utilization of biotechnological tools is one of the potential ways for introducing variability and transfer of desirable traits. The development of an efficient genetic transformation procedure for Sehima could facilitate physiological and molecular biology studies as well as the production of transgenic cultivars for higher productivity and quality. To the best of our knowledge there are no reports on in vitro callus induction, regeneration and transformation in Sehima. Herein, for the first time, efficient in vitro callus induction from mature seed explant and transformation efficiency in Sehima is reported. Here we standardized a reproducible, rapid and efficient Agrobacterium mediated transformation using Agrobacterium strain EHA105 harbouring binary vector pCAMBIA 1305

Optimal power flow solution with current injection model of generalized interline power flow controller using ameliorated ant lion optimization

Optimal power flow (OPF) solutions with generalized interline power flow controller (GIPFC) devices play an imperative role in enhancing the power system’s performance. This paper used a novel ant lion optimization (ALO) algorithm which is amalgamated with Lévy flight operator, and an effectual algorithm is proposed named as, ameliorated ant lion optimization (AALO) algorithm. It is being implemented to solve single objective OPF problem with the latest flexible alternating current transmission system (FACTS) controller named as GIPFC. GIPFC can control a couple of transmission lines concurrently and it also helps to control the sending end voltage. In this paper, current injection modeling of GIPFC is being incorporated in conventional Newton-Raphson (NR) load flow to improve voltage of the buses and focuses on minimizing the considered objectives such as generation fuel cost, emissions, and total power losses by fulfilling equality, in-equality. For optimal allocation of GIPFC, a novel Lehmann-Symanzik-Zimmermann (LSZ) approach is considered. The proposed algorithm is validated on single benchmark test functions such as Sphere, Rastrigin function then the proposed algorithm with GIPFC has been testified on standard IEEE-30 bus system

Anti-hyperlipidaemic effects of fresh and cured Bhallataka Kshaudra (Semecarpus anacardium L.) in animals

Bhallataka Phala (fruit of Semecarpus anacardium L.), is a well-known anti-hyperlipidaemic drug. Bhallataka is described in all Ayurvedic classics as Rasayana and advocated for various therapeutic purposes such as Kushtha (skin diseases), Arsha (piles), Krimi (worm infestations), Prameha (urine disorders), Medodosha (lipid disorders), etc. Though its anti-hyperlipidaemic activity has been studied; actual differentiation in their therapeutic efficacy due to storage period has yet not been attempted on experimental animals. This prompted to initiate a comparative anti-hyperlipidemic activity of fixed oil (expressed oil) i.e. non-volatile in nature collected from fresh Bhallataka and four months old (cured) Bhallataka samples against cholesterol diet induced hyperlipidaemia in rats. Hyperlipidemia was induced by oral administration of cholesterol (20 % suspension in coconut oil, 5 mL/kg) in morning hours and hydrogenated vegetable oil (5 mL/kg) in evening. The effect of drugs was assessed on body weight, serum biochemical and histological parameters. Both drugs produced significant attenuation of the relative weight of liver in cholesterol-fed animals. Cured sample of Bhallataka provided better effect in lowering serum cholesterol (21.98 %), triglyceride (60.23 %), VLDL (56.82 %); while fresh sample of Bhallataka also found to be effective in lowering serum cholesterol (20.69 %), serum triglyceride (45.59 %), VLDL (46.59 %) in comparison to control group. From the result of the present study, it is concluded that the cured sample of Bhallataka has pronounced anti-hyperlipidemic effect than the fresh sample in experimentally-induced hyperlipidemia in rats

Transcriptome Analysis of Differentially Expressed Genes at Pre-Meiotic Developmental Stage in Pennisetum Hybrids with Contrasting Modes of Reproduction

Apomixis is an asexual reproduction through seeds where embryo develops without meiosis and fertilization. It is widely distributed throughout plant kingdom, but is more prevalent in families like Asteraceae, Rosaceae and Poaceae (Carman, 1997). This trait is highly desirable for fixing heterosis in F1 hybrids with significant implications for crop improvement (Dwivedi et al., 2007). Therefore it is necessary to unravel the molecular and genetic basis of apomixis to tap its potential. Pennisetum is an important genus of the Poaceae family which contains a wide range of species exhibiting wide variability in morphological, molecular, and reproductive traits (Jauhar, 1998). It includes many apomictic wild relatives of cultivated pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), some of them used extensively for introgression and molecular studies on apomixis, such as P. squamulatum, P. ciliare, and P. orientale (Ozias-Akins and Van Dijk, 2007; Kaushal et al., 2010). In order to identify putative genes involved in expression of apomixis, the genes showing differential expression across sexual and apomictic genotypes may be identified and characterized. A variety of methods are available for such molecular differential screening. These include differential display, fingerprinting techniques like cDNA AFLP, Subtractive hybridization, Micro array and Gene Chip technologies. These methods are employed for different purposes based on their convenience, sensitivity, automation and throughput. Texa with contrasting modes of reproduction are resources to identify genes involved in apomixis phenomenon. Broadly, the differentiation in reproduction pathway between apomictic and sexual lines is at three steps viz. pre-meiotic (including genes involved in preparing of ovule to enter into apomeiotic pathway), meiotic (genes involved in apomeiosis and embryo-sac development) and post-meiotic (genes involved in embryo-sac maturation and preparing for parthenogenesis). The present study was aimed to carry out a comprehensive transcriptome survey to identify differentially expressed transcripts in ovules of aposporous Pennisetum hybrid during the pre-meiotic stage of apomictic reproduction

Synthesis of 2, 5 Dimethyl Furan from Renewable Lignocellulosic Biomass

Renewable biomass resources could reduce the dependency on the fossil fuels by conversion of its lignocellulose into bio-fuels and other valuable chemicals. Depolymerisation of lignocellulose, hydrolysis of cellulose to monomer glucose and its subsequent dehydration results 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF). HMF is an important platform chemical for fuels and various other applications. The hydrogenation of HMF results 2, 5-dimethylfuran (DMF), which may be a biofuel with 40 per cent greater energy density than that of ethanol. The homogeneous catalytic method is preferred for lignocellulosic biomass conversion to cellulose, its hydrolysis and further dehydration to HMF. The Cu-Ru/C and related catalysts are preferred for hydrogenation of HMD to 2, 5-dimethylfuran. This review is an attempt to summarise the current research and developments in the field of lignocellulose derived HMF and further conversion to DMF as a potential biofuel

Ploidy Dependent Expression of Apomixis Components in Guinea Grass (\u3cem\u3ePanicum maximum\u3c/em\u3e Jacq.)

Apomixis is an asexual method of reproduction through seeds. The potential of apomixis has been envisaged as “asexual revolution” by virtue of its capacity to fix hybrid vigour, a much desirable feature in breeding of agricultural crops. The genetic mechanism of apomixis regulation is complex and is believed to be largely affected by polyploidy (Nogler 1984). Expression of apomixis essentially contains three components, viz. apomeiosis (formation of unreduced egg cell), parthenogenesis (fertilization independent embryo development) and functional endosperm development (autonomous or psuedogamous). In contrast to previous reports, the evidence has now gathered that these three components can be functionally uncoupled and recombination is possible between these components (Kaushal, et al., 2008). Such recombinations lead to diversity in seed development pathways and also provide a mechanism to modify the ploidy levels. Uncoupling of apomeiosis from parthenogenesis may yield high frequency of triploids and haploids. Utilizing this partitioning principle we have generated a ploidy series following a Hybridization–supplemented Apomixis-components Partitioning Approach (HAPA) in guinea grass, a model crop for polyploidy and apomixis research, (Kaushal et al., 2009). From a single 4x (2n=32) progenitor, a ploidy series has been developed represented by 3x, 4x, 5x, 6x, 7x, 8x, 9x and 11x cytotypes. This ploidy series offers advantage of studying ploidy regulated gene expression. There have been sporadic reports on effect of polyploidy in expression of apomixis per se; however information on effect of polyploidy on individual apomixis components is not available. The guinea grass ploidy series with sequentially added monoploid genome doses has been used in present study to understand the effect of ploidy levels on phenotypic expression of partitioned apomixis components

Investigation of some trace elements in Raipur Industrial area and its surrounding, Raipur District.

The paper deals with determination of eight trace metals namely. Copper, Iron, Mangnese, Zinc, Nickel,, Chromium  Lead and Mercury  in the ground water of different sites of Raipur Industrial area of Raipur district . All activities carried out on the ground surface have direct or indirect impact on the ground water whether associated with urban ,industrial or agricultural activities large scale concentrated source of pollutants, such as industrial discharges and sub surface injection of chemicals and hazardous are obvious source of ground water pollutants. This study was carryout in the month of during summer 2013. The samples were collected from seven different source of Raipur Industrial area of Raipur. The results obtained are compared with safe limits in ppm for heavy metals laid down by BIS, WHO, ICMR, APHA

An important role of coal and its calorific value on the performance of thermal power station: A case study

An investigation was undertaken to study the Physical and Chemical properties of coal in Korba district. Due to the Presence of lot of Coal mines, number of coal based thermal power stations are established in Korba district. So study has been carried out for assessment of coal quality, whether it is suitable for thermal power stations, by collectying sample from Gevra Coal mines. This paper presents Grade of the coal available in Korba district. Three different Coal samples were collected from  different areas of Gevra Coal mines  and analyzed for Proximate, Ultimate and  Calorific value as per Standard methods. The useful heat values (UHV) of three coal samples are 2482K.Cal/Kg, 2917K.Cal/Kg, and 2786K.Cal/Kg. From overall analysis, and according to UHV of coal samples  we can conclude that  the grade of Gevra Coal is” F”and is very much  useful for Coal based thermal power stations

Formation of a gold-carbon dot nanocomposite with superior catalytic ability for the reduction of aromatic nitro groups in water

We report the synthesis of a gold-carbon dot nanocomposite and its utility as a recyclable catalyst for the reduction of aromatic nitro groups. The presence of carbon dots on gold nanosurfaces enhanced the reduction rate by two-fold