Electrolyte ions and glutathione enzymes as stress markers in Argania spinosa subjected to drought stress and recovery

Understanding the mechanisms underlying Argania spinosa responses to drought stress is essential for its regeneration and domestication. Toward that end, an integrative study of tolerance responses to drought stress in four A. spinosa ecotypes (2 contrasting coastal ecotypes (Adm and Rab) and 2 contrasting inland ecotypes (Alz and Lks)) have been conducted. Responses to soil drying and re -watering were measured at physiological and biochemical levels. Soil drying resulted in significant increase in leaf concentrations of potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) with differential responses between ecotypes. The glutathione-related enzymes: glutathione peroxidase (GP), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) showed a significant increase in their enzymatic activity in A. spinosa plants subjected to drought stress. Additionally, a significant increase in thiol protein content in the four ecotypes was recorded, during drought stress. These antioxidant traits responded differently depending on ecotype. However, rapid and significant changes in the studied physiological and biochemical traits were observed during recovery from drought, only after four days. According to the traits having the most discriminating power, the both inland ecotypes, especially Lks ecotype, seem to be potential candidates for regeneration of argan forest and their domestication in arid and semi-arid environments.Key words: Argania spinosa, drought stress, glutathione enzymes, thiol compounds, recovery

Genes but Not Genomes Reveal Bacterial Domestication of Lactococcus Lactis

BACKGROUND: The population structure and diversity of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, a major industrial bacterium involved in milk fermentation, was determined at both gene and genome level. Seventy-six lactococcal isolates of various origins were studied by different genotyping methods and thirty-six strains displaying unique macrorestriction fingerprints were analyzed by a new multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme. This gene-based analysis was compared to genomic characteristics determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The MLST analysis revealed that L. lactis subsp. lactis is essentially clonal with infrequent intra- and intergenic recombination; also, despite its taxonomical classification as a subspecies, it displays a genetic diversity as substantial as that within several other bacterial species. Genome-based analysis revealed a genome size variability of 20%, a value typical of bacteria inhabiting different ecological niches, and that suggests a large pan-genome for this subspecies. However, the genomic characteristics (macrorestriction pattern, genome or chromosome size, plasmid content) did not correlate to the MLST-based phylogeny, with strains from the same sequence type (ST) differing by up to 230 kb in genome size. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The gene-based phylogeny was not fully consistent with the traditional classification into dairy and non-dairy strains but supported a new classification based on ecological separation between "environmental" strains, the main contributors to the genetic diversity within the subspecies, and "domesticated" strains, subject to recent genetic bottlenecks. Comparison between gene- and genome-based analyses revealed little relationship between core and dispensable genome phylogenies, indicating that clonal diversification and phenotypic variability of the "domesticated" strains essentially arose through substantial genomic flux within the dispensable genome

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-ansi-language: EN-IN;mso-fareast-language:EN-IN;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA" lang="EN-IN">Synthesis and reactions of some new 5-aryl-3-oxo-7 -(4'-aryl-2' ,5 '-dioxo-1', 2' ,3 ', 4'-tetrahydrofluoren-3'-yl)-5<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">H</i>, 8<i>H-</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">2,3<i>- </i>dihydrothiazolo[5<i>,</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic">4-<i>b</i>]pyrimidines of expected biological activity</span></span></span>

739-7422-Arylidene-indane-1,3-dione 1 on treatment with acetyl acetone in gl. acetic acid gives 3-acetyl-4-aryl-2,5-dioxo-1,2,3,4- tetrahydrofluorenes 2a-d which on reaction with benzaldehyde yield 4-aryl-3-cinnamoyl-2, 5-dioxo-1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydrofluorenes 3a-d. Compounds 3a-d when reacted with thiourea in gl. CH3COOH/Ac2O in the presence of anhyd. sodium acetate afford 4,5-diaryl-6-(4'-aryl-2', 5' -dioxo-1', 2', 3', 4'-tetrahydrofluoren- 3'-yl)-1, 2, 3, 4-tetrahydropyrimidine-2-thiones <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">4a-d which on treatment with chloroacetic acid furnish 5-aryl-3-oxo-7-(4'-aryl- 2', 5' -dioxo-1',2',3',4' -tetrahydrofluoren-3'-yl)-5H, 8H-2,3-dihydrothi azolo[5,4-b]pyrimidines 5a-d. Compounds <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">5a-d on condensation with benzaldehyde yield 2-arylmethylene-3-oxo-Sphenyl-7-(4' -aryl-2', 5' -dioxo-1',  2', 3', 4'-tetrahydrotluoren-3'yl)-5H, 8<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">H-2,3-dihydrothiazolo[5,4- b ]pyrimidines 6a-d.</span

Production and Profitability of Hybrid Rice Is Influenced by Different Nutrient Management Practices

The government of Nepal has recommended blanket fertilizer application for rice cultivation, which results in lower nutrient use efficiency (NUE) particularly under rainfed conditions. With the aim of finding an appropriate nutrient management practices concerning rice production and profitability, a field experiment was conducted during rainy season of 2017 and 2018 at Kavrepalanchowk and Dang district of Nepal. Altogether, five treatments comprising various nutrient management practices viz. Nutrient Expert Model (NE), use of Leaf Color Chart (LCC), Government Recommended Fertilizer Dose (GON), Farm Yard Manure (FYM), and Farmers’ Field Practice (FFP), were laid out in RCBD with four replications in farmers’ fields. The analysis of variance showed significant difference between treatments for test weight and grain yield in Kavrepalanchowk whereas all traits except number of effective tillers were significant in Dang. The significantly higher grain yield and harvest index were obtained in NE, followed by LCC; and the overall straw yield was highest in LCC, followed by NE in both the locations. Also, yield gap analysis suggested the NE had 44.44% and 23.97% increase in yield as compared to FPP in Kavrepalanchowk and Dang, respectively. The combined analysis with Best Linear Unbiased Estimator revealed the interaction of nutrient management and location significantly effects the straw yield and harvest index across both the locations. The estimated mean straw yield and harvest index were 10.93 t/ha and 34.98%, respectively. Both correlation study and biplot of principal component analysis signaled grain yield had positive correlation with all other traits. Furthermore, the net revenue was maximum for NE, followed by LCC in both the locations. The benefit: cost ratio was highest for NE which was 1.55 in Kavrepalanchowk and 2.61 in Dang. On the basis of these findings, NE and LCC can be effectively used as nutrient management practice by the farmers to obtain maximum production and profitability in Rice