Effect of shade levels on production and quality of cordyline (Cordyline terminalis)

An investigation was carried out during 2013-14 to study the effect of different shade levels on the production and quality of cordyline (Cordyline terminalis Kunth.) under the subtropical condition of New Delhi, India. The effect of spectral control of light on physiology and vegetative development was evaluated at different crop growth stages. Shade nets did not only protect plants from high light intensities but also improved the vegetative growth, yield, vase life and quality of cordyline cut greens irrespective of shade level. Different shade levels modified microclimates, PAR, transmittance and canopy temperature. The shading improved plant characters like height, number of leaves, chlorophyll content, leaf area, fresh weight, harvest index and vase life. The plants grown under different shade levels showed improved photosynthetic activity and reduced transpiration rate. Plants grown under 50% shade level were taller, along with more number of leaves having longer petiole, chlorophyll content which can be attributed to higher photosynthetic rate, whereas harvest index and vase life was optimum. Overall, shade net with 50% shading was found best for commercial production of cordyline cut greens

Evaluation of methanol for reduced exhaust emissions in a single-cylinder research engine

The investigation examines the influence of different operating parameters on the formation of oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, unburned fuel and the aldehydes when fueled by methanol and methanol-water mixtures. Also, the effect of adding small quantities of aniline on the burning rate and aldehydes exhaust has been explored

Novel 4,8-benzobisthiazole copolymers and their field-effect transistor and photovoltaic applications

We are grateful to the EPSRC for funding through grants C, EP/L012294/1, EP/L017008/1 and EP/L012200/1 and to the European Research Council for funding from Grant 321305. Supporting data are accessible from 10.15129/9b457e8c-12bc-4a3a-9af3-7f53474f4e5c.A series of copolymers containing the benzo[1,2-d:4,5-d′]bis(thiazole) (BBT) unit has been designed and synthesised with bisthienyl-diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP), dithienopyrrole (DTP), benzothiadiazole (BT), benzodithiophene (BDT) or 4,4′-dialkoxybithiazole (BTz) comonomers. The resulting polymers possess a conjugation pathway that is orthogonal to the more usual substitution pathway through the 2,6-positions of the BBT unit, facilitating intramolecular non-covalent interactions between strategically placed heteroatoms of neighbouring monomer units. Such interactions enable a control over the degree of planarity through altering their number and strength, in turn allowing for tuning of the band gap. The resulting 4,8-BBT materials gave enhanced mobility in p-type organic field-effect transistors of up to 2.16 × 10-2 cm2 V-1 s-1 for pDPP2ThBBT and good solar cell performance of up to 4.45% power conversion efficiency for pBT2ThBBT.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Improvement of Basmati rice varieties for resistance to blast and bacterial blight diseases using marker assisted backcross breeding.

Marker assisted backcross breeding was employed to incorporate the blast resistance genes, Pi2 and Pi54 and bacterial blight (BB) resistance genes xa13 and Xa21 into the genetic background of Pusa Basmati 1121 (PB1121) and Pusa Basmati 6. Foreground selection for target gene(s) was followed by arduous phenotypic and background selection which fast-tracked the recovery of recurrent parent genome (RPG) to an extent of 95.8% in one of the near-isogenic lines (NILs) namely, Pusa 1728-23-33-31-56, which also showed high degree of resemblance to recurrent parent, PB6 in phenotype. The phenotypic selection prior to background selection provided an additional opportunity for identifying the novel recombinants viz., Pusa 1884-9-12-14 and Pusa 1884-3-9-175, superior to parental lines in terms of early maturity, higher yield and improved quality parameters. There was no significant difference between the RPG recovery estimated based on SSR or SNP markers, however, the panel of SNPs markers was considered as the better choice for background selection as it provided better genome coverage and included SNPs in the genic regions. Multi-location evaluation of NILs depicted their stable and high mean performance in comparison to the respective recurrent parents. The Pi2+Pi54 carrying NILs were effective in combating a pan-India panel of Magnaporthe oryzae isolates with high level of field resistance in northern, eastern and southern parts of India. Alongside, the PB1121-NILs and PB6-NILs carrying BB resistance genes xa13+Xa21 were resistant against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae races of north-western, southern and eastern parts of the country. Three of NILs developed in this study, have been promoted to final stage of testing during the ​Kharif 2015 in the Indian National Basmati Trial

EFFECT OF DEWATERING OF AMORPHOUS HYDROUS ZIRCONIA PRECIPITATES ON TETRAGONAL ZIRCONIA CONTENT IN CALCINED POWDERS

Des précipités d'hydroxydes de zircone amorphes ont été lavés avec différents liquides organiques avant calcination. Des différences significatives dans la stabilité de la phase ZrO2 ont été observées et sont discutées en fonction de la morphologie, de la taille des cristallites et des contraintes dans les poudres calcinées.Amorphous hydrous zirconia precipitates were washed with different organic liquids prior to calcination. Significant differences in ZrO2 phase stability were observed and discussed in terms of morphology, crystallite size and strains

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Not AvailableMarker assisted backcross breeding (MABB) is aimed at introgression of trait(s) into a popular variety to augment specific trait(s) in an otherwise popular variety. While MABB can improve a variety with respect to introgressed trait(s), it offers very little scope for improvement of other traits. Marker assisted restricted backcross breeding (MARBB) is an alternative which can help in identifying transgressive segregants especially, when the donor parent is an elite genotype with several desirable traits. In the present study, restricted backcrossing followed by pedigree selection was used for the development of improved genotypes of Basmati rice with BB and blast diseases using an early maturing Basmati rice variety, Pusa Basmati 1509 as recurrent parent and an elite restorer line, Pusa 1790 as donor. Foreground selection for xa13, Xa21, Pi2 and Pi54 in the backcross progenies was combined with phenotypic selection for agronomic and grain quality traits to ensure premium Basmati grain quality in the progenies. Multi-location yield trial was conducted to evaluate the performance of the improved Basmati rice genotypes with both BB and blast resistance. Pusa 1847-12-62-115-20-6 and Pusa 1847-12-62-190-39-7 recorded significantly higher yields of 68.88 and 62.44 q/ha, espectively, compared to PB 1509 (57.88 q/ha). The improved progenies exhibited resistance to BB with an average lesion length of 2 cm, and blast with scores between 0-2, while PB 1509 was highly susceptible. Another genotype, Pusa 1847-12-62-37-8-3 exhibited head rice recovery (HRR) of 63.99 %, which was significantly higher than in PB 1509 (56.40 %). Marker assisted selection was also effected for fertility restoration genes and improved grain quality traits based on which two improved Basmati rice genotypes pyramided with BB and blast resistance namely, Pusa 1847-12-62-115-20-6 and Pusa 1847-12-62-190-39-7 were found promising, along with improved grain and cooking quality as well as restoration potential, which could be used in breeding better quality hybrids.Not Availabl

Founder of the Rice Breeding Programme at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute

M. S. Swaminathan began his scientific career in India at the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack in 1954, where he focused on transferring genes for fertilizer responsiveness between different varieties of rice. Later the same year, he joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi as an Assistant Cytogeneticist and began working on varietal improvement in wheat. He went on to become the Head of the Division of Botany, renamed the Division of Genetics during his tenure, and Director of IARI. During the IARI years, he played a pivotal role in research and policy interventions relating to rice cultivation

Founder of the Rice Breeding Programme at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute

M. S. Swaminathan began his scientific career in India at the Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack in 1954, where he focused on transferring genes for fertilizer responsiveness between different varieties of rice. Later the same year, he joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi as an Assistant Cytogeneticist and began working on varietal improvement in wheat. He went on to become the Head of the Division of Botany, renamed the Division of Genetics during his tenure, and Director of IARI. During the IARI years, he played a pivotal role in research and policy interventions relating to rice cultivation