Research Notes : India : Induced variability for quantitative characters

Gamma rays were used to induce the genetic variability for different quantitative characters in Bragg and Type-49 varieties of soybean. Materials and methods : Samples of 200 seeds of Bragg and Type-49 soybeans were irradiated with 10 krad, 15 krad and 20 krad doses of gamma rays, a week before planting time. These irradiated seeds, along with the unirradiated controls, were planted in split-plot design with three replications

Genetic resources: from Mendel’s peas to underutilized legumes pecies

Plant domestication is evolution in a human-made environment. A diversity “bottleneck” changed the sample of genes passing from one generation to another. Today’s crops depend on humans for habitat and propagation because some of desired traits are often maladaptive in nature. Legume genetic resources (wild species, landraces, cultivars, breeding lines, segregating populations, genetic stocks and mutants) are most often used for studying genetic diversity, agro-morphological and nutritional quality traits, and host plant resistance to pathogens and insect pests. They also offer means for understanding plant domestication. Their diversity also shows a great potential for improving crops. Advances in omics are providing new knowledge for using this germplasm diversity in legume genetic enhancement

Atomic scale friction studies on single crystal gallium arsenide using atomic force microscope and molecular dynamics simulation

This paper provides a fresh perspective and new insights on the nanoscale friction investigated using molecular dynamics simulation and atomic force microscope (AFM) nanoscratch experiments. The work considered Gallium Arsenide, an important III-V direct bandgap semiconductor material residing in the zinc-blende structure as a reference sample material due to its growing usage in 5G communication devices. In the simulations, the scratch depth was tested as a variable in the fine range of 0.5 nm to 3 nm to understand the behaviour of material removal as well as to gain insights into the nanoscale friction. Scratch force, normal force and average cutting forces were extracted from the simulation to obtain two scalar quantities namely, the scratch cutting energy (defined as the work done in removing a unit volume of material) and kinetic coefficient of friction (defined as the force ratio). A strong size effect was observed for scratch depths below 2 nanometres from the MD simulations and about 15 nm from the AFM experiments. A strong quantitative corroboration was obtained between the MD simulations and the AFM experiments in the specific scratch energy and more qualitative corroboration with the pile up and the kinetic coefficient of friction. This conclusion suggested that the specific scratch energy is insensitive to the tool geometry and the speed of scratch used in this investigation but the pile up and kinetic coefficient of friction are dependent on the geometry of the tool ti

Genetic relationships among seven sections of genus Arachis studied by using SSR markers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The genus <it>Arachis</it>, originated in South America, is divided into nine taxonomical sections comprising of 80 species. Most of the <it>Arachis </it>species are diploids (2<it>n </it>= 2<it>x </it>= 20) and the tetraploid species (2<it>n </it>= 2<it>x </it>= 40) are found in sections <it>Arachis</it>, <it>Extranervosae </it>and <it>Rhizomatosae</it>. Diploid species have great potential to be used as resistance sources for agronomic traits like pests and diseases, drought related traits and different life cycle spans. Understanding of genetic relationships among wild species and between wild and cultivated species will be useful for enhanced utilization of wild species in improving cultivated germplasm. The present study was undertaken to evaluate genetic relationships among species (96 accessions) belonging to seven sections of <it>Arachis </it>by using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers developed from <it>Arachis hypogaea </it>genomic library and gene sequences from related genera of <it>Arachis</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The average transferability rate of 101 SSR markers tested to section <it>Arachis </it>and six other sections was 81% and 59% respectively. Five markers (IPAHM 164, IPAHM 165, IPAHM 407a, IPAHM 409, and IPAHM 659) showed 100% transferability. Cluster analysis of allelic data from a subset of 32 SSR markers on 85 wild and 11 cultivated accessions grouped accessions according to their genome composition, sections and species to which they belong. A total of 109 species specific alleles were detected in different wild species, <it>Arachis pusilla </it>exhibited largest number of species specific alleles (15). Based on genetic distance analysis, the A-genome accession ICG 8200 (<it>A. duranensis</it>) and the B-genome accession ICG 8206 (<it>A. ipaënsis</it>) were found most closely related to <it>A. hypogaea</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A set of cross species and cross section transferable SSR markers has been identified that will be useful for genetic studies of wild species of <it>Arachis</it>, including comparative genome mapping, germplasm analysis, population genetic structure and phylogenetic inferences among species. The present study provides strong support based on both genomic and genic markers, probably for the first time, on relationships of <it>A. monticola </it>and <it>A. hypogaea </it>as well as on the most probable donor of A and B-genomes of cultivated groundnut.</p

Crossed-Beams and Theoretical Studies of Hyperthermal Reactions of O(\u3csup\u3e3\u3c/sup\u3eP) with HCl†

The reaction of O(3 P) with HCl at hyperthermal collision energies (45-116 kcal mol-1 ) has been investigated with crossed-molecular beams experiments and direct dynamics quasi-classical trajectory calculations. The reaction may proceed by two primary pathways, (1) H-atom abstraction to produce OH and Cl and (2) H-atom elimination to produce H and ClO. The H-atom abstraction reaction follows a stripping mechanism, in which the reagent O atom approaches the HCl molecule at large impact parameters and the OH product is scattered in the forward direction, defined as the initial direction of the reagent O atoms. The H-atom elimination reaction is highly endoergic and requires low-impact-parameter collisions. The excitation function for ClO increases from a threshold near 45 kcal mol-1 to a maximum around 115 kcal mol-1 and then begins to decrease when the ClO product can be formed with sufficient internal energy to undergo secondary dissociation. At collision energies slightly above threshold for H-atom elimination, the ClO product scatters primarily in the backward direction, but as the collision energy increases, the fraction of these products that scatter in the forward and sideways directions increases. The dependence of the angular distribution of ClO on collision energy is a result of the differences in collision geometry. Collisions where the H atom on HCl is oriented away from the incoming reagent O atom lead to backward-scattered ClO and those where the H atom is oriented toward the incoming O atom lead to forward-scattered ClO. The latter trajectories do not follow the minimum energy path and involve larger translational energy release. Therefore, they become dominant at higher collision energies because they lead to lower internal energies and more stable ClO products. The H-atom abstraction and elimination reactions have comparable cross sections for hyperthermal O(3 P) + HCl collisions

Genetic structure, diversity, and allelic richness in composite collection and reference set in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Plant genetic resources (PGR) are the basic raw materials for future genetic progress and an insurance against unforeseen threats to agricultural production. An extensive characterization of PGR provides an opportunity to dissect structure, mine allelic variations, and identify diverse accessions for crop improvement. The Generation Challenge Program <url>http://www.generationcp.org</url> conceptualized the development of "composite collections" and extraction of "reference sets" from these for more efficient tapping of global crop-related genetic resources. In this study, we report the genetic structure, diversity and allelic richness in a composite collection of chickpea using SSR markers, and formation of a reference set of 300 accessions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The 48 SSR markers detected 1683 alleles in 2915 accessions, of which, 935 were considered rare, 720 common and 28 most frequent. The alleles per locus ranged from 14 to 67, averaged 35, and the polymorphic information content was from 0.467 to 0.974, averaged 0.854. Marker polymorphism varied between groups of accessions in the composite collection and reference set. A number of group-specific alleles were detected: 104 in Kabuli, 297 in desi, and 69 in wild <it>Cicer</it>; 114 each in Mediterranean and West Asia (WA), 117 in South and South East Asia (SSEA), and 10 in African region accessions. Desi and kabuli shared 436 alleles, while wild <it>Cicer </it>shared 17 and 16 alleles with desi and kabuli, respectively. The accessions from SSEA and WA shared 74 alleles, while those from Mediterranean 38 and 33 alleles with WA and SSEA, respectively. Desi chickpea contained a higher proportion of rare alleles (53%) than kabuli (46%), while wild <it>Cicer </it>accessions were devoid of rare alleles. A genotype-based reference set captured 1315 (78%) of the 1683 composite collection alleles of which 463 were rare, 826 common, and 26 the most frequent alleles. The neighbour-joining tree diagram of this reference set represents diversity from all directions of the tree diagram of the composite collection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The genotype-based reference set, reported here, is an ideal set of germplasm for allele mining, association genetics, mapping and cloning gene(s), and in applied breeding for the development of broad-based elite breeding lines/cultivars with superior yield and enhanced adaptation to diverse environments.</p

Design and optimisation of process parameters in an in-line CIGS evaporation pilot system

Substantial efforts have been made globally towards improving Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin film solar cell efficiencies with several organisations successfully exceeding the 20% barrier on a research level using the three-stage CIGS process, but commercial mass production of the three-stage process has been limited due to the technological difficulties of scaling-up. An attempt has been made to identify these issues by designing and manufacturing an in-line pilot production deposition system for the three-stage CIGS process which is capable of processing 30 cm × 30 cm modules. The optimisation of the process parameters such as source and substrate temperature, deposition uniformity, flux of copper, indium, gallium and selenium and thickness control has been presented in this investigation. A simplistic thickness distribution model of the evaporated films was developed to predict and validate the designed deposition process, which delivers a comparable simulation compared with the experimental data. These experiments also focused on the optimisation of the temperature uniformity across 30 cm × 30 cm area using a specially designed graphite heating system, which is crucial to form the correct α-phase CIGS in the desired time period. A three-dimensional heat transfer model using COMSOL Multiphysics 4.2a software has been developed and validated with the help of experimental data