Leveraging quick response (QR) Codes for horticultural information access: A stakeholder perspective

In the context of horticulture’s crucial role in economic growth, nutritional security and employment, the sector faces challenges related to dissemination of credible scientific information, particularly in rural areas. The gap in information access leads farmers to rely on experiential knowledge and peer opinions. Leveraging information and communication technology (ICT), specifically quick response (QR) codes, presents an innovative solution to bridge this information gap. This paper investigates stakeholders’ awareness, utilization, size and display distance and constraints in utilizing QR codes for accessing horticultural information. The findings indicated that 93.33% of the respondents reported previous usage, highlighting the technology’s ubiquity and acceptance. Moreover, stakeholders expressed positive inclination towards QR code adoption for accessing horticultural information, with 53.33% expressing likelihood to embrace QR technology. Effect of QR code size on the display board and their display distance on the usability and adoption was also studied, which indicated, 71.22% accessed QR codes on large displays of size 8" x 11", while, 16.66% accessed them on small displays of size 4" x 5". However, despite the positive reception, several challenges impede QR code utilization. Poor internet network connectivity (mean score: 71.00) during National Horticultural Fair (NHF-2024) emerges as a significant barrier, alongside entrenched preferences for traditional methods (mean score: 69.00). By aligning QR code designs with stakeholders’ preferences and addressing constraints, horticultural stakeholders can leverage QR codes more effectively, fostering knowledge dissemination and driving horticultural development

Fatty acid desaturase-2 (ahFAD2) mutant alleles in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) pre-breeding lines: an insight into the source, features, discourse, and selection of novel pre-breeding lines

High oleic peanuts and derived food products offer longer shelf life benefits to the food processing industry in addition to multiple health benefits to the consumers. The two mutant alleles, ahFAD2A and ahFAD2B control composition of oleic, linoleic and palmitic acid content in peanut. A total of 563 peanut pre-breeding lines were tested for the presence ahFAD2A and ahFAD2B mutant alleles using allele specific markers. The ahFAD2A mutant allele was present in 82 lines, while none of these lines had ahFAD2B mutant allele. Among botanical types, ahFAD2A mutant allele was more frequent in lines with Virginia growth habit than Spanish bunch although no correlation of ahFAD2A mutant allele with high oleic acid content and growth habit could be established. Oleic and linoleic acid content in 82 prebreeding lines ranged from 39.70 to 62.70% and 17.76 to 31.95%, respectively, with maximum oleic to linoleic acid ratio of 4. Oleic acid was found to be negatively correlated with linoleic and palmitic acid. Further, pre-breeding lines with ahFAD2A mutant allele, high oleic content and high oleic to linoleic ratio were investigated and novel lines were identified for resistance to late leaf spot, short duration, higher pod yield and other yield related traits. These novel pre-breeding lines can be used as a potential donor in peanut improvement programme and to diversify the primary gene pool including initiating further research on induction of fresh ahFAD2B mutant allele

Advances in Crop Improvement and Delivery Research for Nutritional Quality and Health Benefits of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Groundnut is an important global food and oil crop that underpins agriculture-dependent livelihood strategies meeting food, nutrition, and income security. Aflatoxins, pose a major challenge to increased competitiveness of groundnut limiting access to lucrative markets and affecting populations that consume it. Other drivers of low competitiveness include allergens and limited shelf life occasioned by low oleic acid profile in the oil. Thus grain off-takers such as consumers, domestic, and export markets as well as processors need solutions to increase profitability of the grain. There are some technological solutions to these challenges and this review paper highlights advances in crop improvement to enhance groundnut grain quality and nutrient profile for food, nutrition, and economic benefits. Significant advances have been made in setting the stage for marker-assisted allele pyramiding for different aflatoxin resistance mechanisms—in vitro seed colonization, pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination, and aflatoxin production—which, together with pre- and post-harvest management practices, will go a long way in mitigating the aflatoxin menace. A breakthrough in aflatoxin control is in sight with overexpression of antifungal plant defensins, and through host-induced gene silencing in the aflatoxin biosynthetic pathway. Similarly, genomic and biochemical approaches to allergen control are in good progress, with the identification of homologs of the allergen encoding genes and development of monoclonal antibody based ELISA protocol to screen for and quantify major allergens. Double mutation of the allotetraploid homeologous genes, FAD2A and FAD2B, has shown potential for achieving >75% oleic acid as demonstrated among introgression lines. Significant advances have been made in seed systems research to bridge the gap between trait discovery, deployment, and delivery through innovative partnerships and action learning

Assessment of trace metal contamination in a historical freshwater canal (Buckingham Canal), Chennai, India

The present study was done to assess the sources and the major processes controlling the trace metal distribution in sediments of Buckingham Canal. Based on the observed geochemical variations, the sediments are grouped as South Buckingham Canal and North Buckingham Canal sediments (SBC and NBC, respectively). SBC sediments show enrichment in Fe, Ti, Mn, Cr, V, Mo, and As concentrations, while NBC sediments show enrichment in Sn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, and Hg. The calculated Chemical Index of Alteration and Chemical Index of Weathering values for all the sediments are relatively higher than the North American Shale Composite and Upper Continental Crust but similar to Post-Archaean Average Shale, and suggest a source area with moderate weathering. Overall, SBC sediments are highly enriched in Mo, Zn, Cu, and Hg (geoaccumulation index (Igeo) class 4– 6), whereas NBC sediments are enriched in Sn, Cu,Zn, and Hg (Igeo class 4–6). Cu, Ni, and Cr show higher than Effects-Range Median values and hence the biological adverse effect of these metals is 20%; Zn, which accounts for 50%, in the NBC sediments, has a more biological adverse effect than other metalsfound in these sediments. The calculated Igeo, Enrichment Factor, and Contamination Factor values indicate that Mo, Hg, Sn, Cu, and Zn are highly enriched in the Buckingham Canal sediments, suggesting the rapid urban and industrial development of Chennai MetropolitanCity have negatively influenced on the surrounding aquatic ecosystem

Improving oil quality by altering levels of fatty acids through marker-assisted selection of ahfad2 alleles in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Peanut plays a key role to the livelihood of millions in the world especially in Arid and Semi-Arid regions. Peanut with high oleic acid content aids to increase shelf-life of peanut oil as well as food products and extends major health benefits to the consumers. In peanut, ahFAD2 gene controls quantity of two major fatty acids viz, oleic and linoleic acids. These two fatty acids together with palmitic acid constitute 90% fat composition in peanut and regulate the quality of peanut oil. Here, two ahfad2 alleles from SunOleic 95R were introgressed into ICGV 05141 using marker-assisted selection. Marker-assisted breeding effectively increased oleic acid and oleic to linoleic acid ratio in recombinant lines up to 44% and 30%, respectively as compared to ICGV 05141. In addition to improved oil quality, the recombinant lines also had superiority in pod yield together with desired pod/seed attributes. Realizing the health benefits and ever increasing demand in domestic and international market, the high oleic peanut recombinant lines will certainly boost the economical benefits to the Indian farmers in addition to ensuring availability of high oleic peanuts to the traders and industry

6-Shogaol reduced chronic inflammatory response in the knees of rats treated with complete Freund's adjuvant

BACKGROUND: 6-Shogaol is one of the major compounds in the ginger rhizome that may contribute to its anti-inflammatory properties. Confirmation of this contribution was sought in this study in Sprague- Dawley rats (200–250 g) treated with a single injection (0.5 ml of 1 mg/ml) of a commercial preparation of complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA) to induce monoarthritis in the right knee over a period of 28 days. During this development of arthritis, each rat received a daily oral dose of either peanut oil (0.2 ml-control) or 6-shogaol (6.2 mg/Kg in 0.2 ml peanut oil). RESULTS: Within 2 days of CFA injection, the control group produced maximum edematous swelling of the knee that was sustained up to the end of the investigation period. But, in the 6-shogaol treated group, significantly lower magnitudes of unsustained swelling of the knees (from 5.1 ± 0.2 mm to 1.0 ± 0.2 mm, p < 0.002, n = 6) were produced during the investigation period. Unsustained swelling of the knees (from 3.2 ± 0.6 mm to 0.8 ± 1.1 mm, p < 0.00008, n = 6) was also produced after 3 days of treatment with indomethacin (2 mg/Kg/day) as a standard anti-inflammatory drug, but during the first 2 days of drug treatment swelling of the knees was significantly larger (11.6 ± 2.0 mm, p < 0.0002, n = 6) than either the controls or the 6-shogaol treated group of rats. This exaggerated effect in the early stage of indomethacin treatment was inhibited by montelukast, a cysteinyl leukotriene receptor antagonist. Also, 6-shogaol and indomethacin were most effective in reducing swelling of the knees on day 28 when the controls still had maximum swelling. The effect of 6-shogaol compared to the controls was associated with significantly lower concentration of soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in the blood and infiltration of leukocytes, including lymphocytes and monocytes/macrophages, into the synovial cavity of the knee. There was also preservation of the morphological integrity of the cartilage lining the femur compared to damage to this tissue in the peanut oil treated control group of rats. CONCLUSION: From these results, it is concluded that 6-shogaol reduced the inflammatory response and protected the femoral cartilage from damage produced in a CFA monoarthritic model of the knee joint of rats

Antiulcer, wound healing and hepatoprotective activities of the seaweeds Gracilaria crassa, Turbinaria ornata and Laurencia papillosa from the southeast coast of India

Seaweeds have bioactive compounds of interest in the pharmaceutical industry. In India, seaweeds are used exclusively for phycocolloids production and have not yet received consideration as a dietary supplement. So, it has become imperative to explore the biomedical potential of seaweeds and promote their utilization as a functional food. The seaweeds Turbinaria ornata, Gracillaria crassa and Laurencia papillosa, collected from the Tuticorin coast of the Southeast coast of India and selected based on preliminary screening, were extracted with acetone and evaluated for antiulcer, wound healing and hepatoprotective activities. L. papillosa showed the highest level of gastric protection activity (81%) at 200 mg/kg, comparable to the standard drug ranitidine (90%). G. crassa followed with 76%. G. crassa and L. papillosa, showed marked wound-healing activity. G. crassa at 200 mg/kg, showed a marked effect on the serum marker enzymes indicating prominent hepatoprotective activity. The noteworthy wound-healing and hepato-protective properties of G. crassa besides anti-ulcer activity next to L. papillosa were indicative of its potential for further consideration

Chromosomal organization at the level of gene complexes

Metazoan genomes primarily consist of non-coding DNA in comparison to coding regions. Non-coding fraction of the genome contains cis-regulatory elements, which ensure that the genetic code is read properly at the right time and space during development. Regulatory elements and their target genes define functional landscapes within the genome, and some developmentally important genes evolve by keeping the genes involved in specification of common organs/tissues in clusters and are termed gene complex. The clustering of genes involved in a common function may help in robust spatio-temporal gene expression. Gene complexes are often found to be evolutionarily conserved, and the classic example is the hox complex. The evolutionary constraints seen among gene complexes provide an ideal model system to understand cis and trans-regulation of gene function. This review will discuss the various characteristics of gene regulatory modules found within gene complexes and how they can be characterized