Challenges and prospects of endosperm balance number in potato (Solanum tuberosum) improvement

Endosperm Balance Number (EBN) is a genome-specific ploidy, which is not necessarily equivalent to the chromosome ploidy. The EBN is the ‘effective ploidy’ that determines crossability in Solanum species. It varies from 1 to 4 and the two Solanum species are crossable if they have the same EBN so that maternal to paternal ratio of EBN in the endosperm is 2:1. However, a number of significant exceptions to this rule have been observed in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). EBNs have been experimentally assigned to a number of Solanum species after crosses with standard species whose EBN was arbitrarily established. Neither specific genes nor the molecular basis of EBN have been established in potato, but 2-3 unlinked loci with equal additive effects are known to determine the EBN in Solanum species. EBN acts as a powerful isolating mechanism in the sexual reproduction of Solanum species. EBN incompatibility played an important role in the speciation of polyploids from diploids, complementing the role of 2n gametes in the polyploidy evolution of potato species. EBN has great predictive value for planning interpsecific crosses in potato. EBN of a species can be modified through sexual or somatic polyploidization. This has facilitated the transfer of useful disease and pest resistance genes from 1 EBN and 2EBN wild species to 4EBN cultivated potatoes. Besides direct, indirect gene transfer through bridge species from otherwise incompatible Solanum species has been accomplished for improving cultivated potatoes. The concept, inheritance and role of EBN in speciation, and its prospects in potato varietal improvement are reviewed in this paper. The problems associated in transfer of useful traits from wild species to cultivated potatoes due to EBN barriers are also highlighted

REVIEW ON PHORBOL ESTER DEGRADATION OF JATROPHA SEED CAKE FOR ITS USE AS ANIMAL FEED

Jatropha curcas is an oil-seed plant with good adaptability to grow in unfavourable conditions like infertile soil with scanty rainfall. It had been exploited for the extraction of oil for bio-diesel. The compressed seed cake, after the oil extraction, is a rich source of protein with certain toxic and anti-nutritional factors. The major toxins in the seed cake are phorbol esters and trypsin inhibitors that lead to various health problems if ingested. Even though the application of the various extracts carries a lot of beneficial advantages, yet the toxicity in oil and the compressed cake does not allow the by-products and the oil to be used elsewhere. Various physicochemical and biological methods have been described for the detoxification of Jatropha seed cake and oil of which the chemical extraction with methanol and ethanol have shown promising results in reducing the toxin contents by 97-100% while UV-irradiation reduced the phorbol esters completely. Submerged fermentation by Bacillus sp. achieved complete detoxification of phorbol esters within a week. A new strain was found to degrade the phorbol esters to phorbol, myristic acid and acetic acid within 12 h of incubation in submerged fermentation process. The detoxified products, in future, can be used as animal feed and food supplement to help utilize the by-products as a healthy diet

Airborne Infection Control measures among Government and Private Health Facilities in a hilly district of North India

Introduction: Guidelines for Airborne Infection Control in Health Care Settings were published in the 2010 to reduce Airborne Infections in health service providers and visitors to health facilities. Objectives: To evaluate healthcare facilities regarding implementation of Guidelines for Airborne Infection Control in Health Care Settings. Methods: An analytic, cross- sectional, health care facility-based study in the district Solan of Himachal Pradesh. A total 53 health care facilities from both public and private sectors were assessed and compared. Results: The implementation of these guidelines was unsatisfactory. Government health care facilities were better implementing the guidelines, compared to the private sector. Conclusion: The guidelines are over a decade old and implementation is not optimal. Efforts and emphasis are required to be put into implementation of these guidelines in health care facilities. An update of policy with stringent penalties are advocated for better compliance in the private sector

Assessment of Indian Medical Graduate (IMG)’s knowledge about emergency contraception (EC) in a medical college of Himachal Pradesh

Background: Undergraduate curriculum of the medicine is created to ensure achievement of goal of “health for all” in India. In addition, it aspires graduates to meet or exceed global benchmark in knowledge, attitude, skills and communication (1). Objectives: 1) To assess undergraduates’ knowledge regarding the types and correct usage of available Emergency Contraceptives. 2) To utilize the data base for capacity building by focusing on the Core Competency of Emergency Contraceptives. Methods: This cross-sectional study was done among 442 undergraduates of all the Profs in our college in September 2017 after approval from Institutional Ethical Committee (17/66) and informed verbal consent from the participants. This pretested, pre-designed and self-administered 11-questionnaire proforma in English was used as a tool of investigation. Results: Maximum participation was from 3rd and 4th year. 7.2 % had a very poor knowledge, attempted 3 or less questions correctly.  Only 14.5% attempted 8 or more questions correctly. Conclusion:  Young population of our country forms the broad base of the pyramid, they should be provided with correct knowledge about EC for improving their reproductive health.  Since these graduates are going to serve the community, their knowledge and skill in this core competency is going to help the community

Molecular characterization of the Indian Andigena potato core collection using microsatellite markers

Twenty-four (24) microsatellite (SSR) markers of a new PGI kit were used to validate the genetic diversity of the 77 Indian Andigena potato core collections. In SSR analysis, polymorphic information content (PIC), allelic richness per locus of microsatellite loci and cluster analysis showed the high diversity of core collection. In total, 214 SSR alleles were detected in the core collection, out of which 208 alleles were polymorphic with absolute frequencies between 2 to 58. The PIC values of SSR loci ranged from 0.61 to 0.90. SSR-based dendrogram revealed eight main groups (Clusters I to VIII) including 26 single accessions at Dice similarity coefficient value of 0.37. None of the accession showed full similarity with any other accession, except that the maximum similarity (0.83) was observed between the accessions JEX/A-316 and JEX/A-317. PCA revealed 47.31% variation in the first three components. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) analysis which resulted into maximum variation was due to within country origins and yield types. The genetic diversity of the core collection based on the microsatellite data appeared to have quite distinct genotypes that were formed by the morph-agronomic traits. These findings not only demonstrate the diverse core collection but are also useful for selecting genetically distinct potato materials to widen the genetic background of the potato gene pool.Keywords: Core collection, genetic diversity, potato, Solanum tuberosum subsp. andigena, SSRAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(10), pp. 1025-1033, 6 March, 201

Diversity and Abundance of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria and Archaea in a Freshwater Recirculating Aquaculture System

The role of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea was evaluated using amoA gene in a freshwater recirculating system. Broken earthen pot pieces (BEP) were used as filter bed material. Five archaeal and four bacterial operational taxonomic units were retrieved from amoA genes. Shannon-Weiner and Simpson indices were higher in archaeal amoAsequence compared with the bacteria. Subtype diversity ratio and subtype diversity variance were 0.522 and 0.008, respectively, for archaea and 0.403 and 0.015, respectively, for bacteria. In archaea, 50% amoA sequences showed 99%–100% similarity with the known sequences of ammonia monooxygenase subunit A of uncultured archaeon clones and thaumarchaeote. In bacteria, 84% sequences showed 99% similarity with amoAsequences of different uncultured bacterial clone and Nitrosomonadaceae. Absolute quantification showed that the abundance of archaea was 12-fold higher compared with bacteria. In this recirculating system, ammonia-oxidizing archaea and bacteria played a major role; BEP supported the growth of these ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms

Mass Production of Lemna minor and Its Amino Acid and Fatty Acid Profiles

The surface floating duckweed Lemna minor (Lemnaceae) is a potential ingredient to replace the application of fish-meal in the aqua-feed. The culture technique of the duckweed was standardized in outdoor tanks and then applied in the pond. Three consecutive experiments were conducted in tanks (1.2 × 0.35 × 0.3 m). In experiment 1, four different manures were used. In manure 1 (organic manure, OM) and manure 3 (2x OM), cattle manure, poultry droppings, and mustard oil cake (1:1:1) were used; in manure 2 (inorganic fertilizer, IF), urea, potash, triple superphosphate were used; manure 4 (2x OM+IF) was a combination of manure 2 and manure 3. In experiment 2, manure 1 (OM) and manure 2 (IF) were used, and manure 3 (OM+IF) was a combination of both manures. In experiment 3, OM and IF were selected. In pond (20 × 10 × 0.5 m), OM was applied. Fresh duckweed was seeded after 5 days of manure application. In experiments 1 and 3, total production was significantly (P 0.05) difference in production between OM and IF. In pond, relative growth rate (RGR) of duckweed ranged from 0.422 to 0.073 g/g/day and total production was 702.5 Kg/ha/month (dry weight). Protein, lipid, and ash contents were higher in duckweed cultured in OM compared to IF. The duckweed was a rich source of essential (39.20%), non-essential (53.64%), and non-proteinogenic (7.13%) amino acids. Among essential amino acids, leucine, isoleucine, and valine constituted 48.67%. Glutamic acid was 25.87% of total non-essential amino acids. Citrulline, hydroxiproline, taurine, etc. were found in the duckweed. The fatty acid composition was dominated by PUFA, 60–63% of total fatty acids, largely α-linolenic acid (LNA, 18:3n-3) at around 41 to 47% and linoleic acid (LA, 18:2n-6) at 17–18%. The nutritional value of duckweeds and their production potential in the pond conditions were evaluated. Duckweed biomass may thus be used to replace commercial fish-meal that is currently used in aquaculture

Growth and digestive enzyme activities of rohu labeo rohita fed diets containing macrophytes and almond oil-cake

The impact of plant-based diets on the digestive physiology of rohu Labeo rohita fingerlings (10.66 ± 0.53 g) was evaluated. A diet with all protein supplied by fishmeal was included as a control (F). Four test diets containing 300 g/kg protein were formulated using the following plant ingredients and fishmeal in a 1:1 blend: almond oil-cake Terminalia catappa (FTC), duckweed Lemna minor (FLM), water fern Salvania molesta (FSM) and combination of these three ingredients (FTCLMSM). The final body weight and specific growth rate were significantly higher in rohu fed diet FLM compared to the other treatments. Significantly lower feed conversion ratio in rohu fed diet FLM showed that diet was utilized efficiently in this feeding regime compared to the other diets. The composition of diets also influenced the digestive enzyme activities of the fish. Thus, amylase, trypsin and chymotrypsin activities were significantly higher in rohu fed diet FLM compared to the rohu fed the other diets. Protease activity was significantly higher in rohu fed diets FTC and F and lipase activity was significantly higher in rohu fed diet FTC compared to the rohu fed the other diets. The inclusion of raw duckweed in feed replaced 300 g/kg of dietary fishmeal without affecting growth

Comparative evaluation of different Allium accessions for allicin and other allyl thiosulphinates

Allicin and other allyl thiosulphinates possess broad antimicrobial and health-promoting properties, which makes them natural and safe substitutes for synthetic preservatives. These thiosulphinate compounds were in- vestigated in 33 Allium accessions representing 14 species, and these species differed significantly in their content of allicin, allyl methyl thiosulphinates (AMThs), and allyl trans-1-propenyl thiosulphinates (ATPThs) as ascertained using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Total thiosulphinates were the highest in Allium sativum, Allium guttatum, Allium tuberosum, and Zimmu (an interspecific hybrid of Allium cepa L. and Allium sativum L.). Allicin and other allyl thiosulphinates content was higher in flat and non-waxy leaves than in fistular and waxy leaves. Total thiosulphinates content was also significantly higher in cultivated and semi-domesticated species. Cluster analysis revealed that both foliage type and thiosulphinate content had played a major role in the clustering. These findings are useful in finding alternative sources of allicin and other thiosulphinates, and some of the accessions may serve as sources of natural preservatives for application in other research-related or commercial activities