Does oil price matter for Indian stock markets?

This paper investigates the long run relationship between oil prices and stock prices for India over the period April 2000- June 2011. We employ Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model that takes into consideration the long run relationship. The results obtained suggest that volatility of stock prices in India have a significant impact on the volatility of oil prices. But a change in the oil prices does not have impact on stock prices.Oil Prices; Stock prices; ARDL cointegration

In vitro conservation of Ceropegia elegans, an endemic plant of South India

The purpose of this study was to develop in vitro techniques for conserving endemic species, Ceropegia elegans by axillary shoot multiplication. Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with kinetin (Kn) 23.20 μM + indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) 5.71 μM was the best for axillary bud proliferation inducing a mean of 7.11 ± 0.07 shoots per node. Shoots developed were rooted best on half strength MS medium with 4.90 μM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). Plantlets established in pots exhibited 72% survival rate.Keywords: Ceropegia elegans, endemic species, micropropagatio

Does oil price matter for Indian stock markets?

This paper investigates the long run relationship between oil prices and stock prices for India over the period April 2000- June 2011. We employ Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Model that takes into consideration the long run relationship. The results obtained suggest that volatility of stock prices in India have a significant impact on the volatility of oil prices. But a change in the oil prices does not have impact on stock prices

De novo genome assembly and annotation of rice sheath rot fungus Sarocladium oryzae reveals genes involved in Helvolic acid and Cerulenin biosynthesis pathways

Morphology of Saro-13 isolate used for whole genome sequencing. (PDF 13621 kb

DNA-based marker systems and their utility in entomology

Morphological differences and similarities have been used to group and classify organisms, such as insects, into major taxonomic groups. However, discerning finer differences among strains, races and biotypes is usually difficult due to the influence of environment. Protein-basedmarking of individuals was used extensively before DNA-basedmarkers were employed. Variation at the DNA level is remarkable, and the unit change is heritable in a simple manner. At present, many DNA-based marker systems are available to address specific questions, both in basic and applied entomological research, that can circumvent the limitations of conventional approaches to a large extent. DNA-basedmarkers, being neutral to environmental influence and abundant, have helped understand genetics of complex traits in animal and plant systems. The present review primarily aims at familiarizing the DNA-based marker systems along with their utility. The techniques described include restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs), randomly amplified polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs), microsatellites/simple sequence repeats (SSRs), expressed sequence tag (EST) based marker system, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and other derivedmarker systems along with their genetic nature and relative comparison

Regulation of Branching by Phytochrome and Phytohormones

Light is the fundamental source of energy and information throughout the plant life cycle. Light signals regulate plant architecture and branching, key processes that determine biomass production and grain yield. Low red (R) to far-red (FR) light ratios (R:FR) perceived by phytochromes serve as a warning signal about impending competition for light resources and lead to shade avoidance responses (SARs), including reduced branching. The R:FR regulates branching in both a bud autonomous and non-bud autonomous manner, however a detailed mechanistic understanding of the process remains unclear. We hypothesized that high R:FR promotes bud outgrowth by differentially regulating branching-related genes (transcriptome) within the axillary bud and that increased apical dominance under low R:FR or with phyB deficiency is mediated by auxin or other novel signal/s. We analyzed the branching phenotype of Arabidopsis Columbia-60000 ecotype in response to different R:FR treatments and conducted a microarray study to identify early (within 3 hours) changes in the transcriptome of buds from different rosette positions in response to altered R:FR. Physiological experiments were also conducted to determine if auxin concentration, transport rate, sensitivity, and establishment of an auxin transport stream were important in determining the branching phenotype of shade avoiding plants. The results revealed that the duration of low R:FR determines plant architecture and the branching phenotype and that bud outgrowth is regulated by the R:FR in a spatial and temporal manner. Low R:FR promoted the elongation of branches at top rosette nodes while it suppressed the outgrowth of axillary buds at lower nodes. High R:FR could reverse the effects of previous low R:FR by promoting the outgrowth of buds from lower axils within 24 hours of treatment. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that the R:FR differentially regulated the expression of genes related to hormone biosynthesis/transport/signaling, cell-cycle regulation and cell wall modification. Cis-elements responsive to light and hormone signaling pathways were overrepresented in several gene clusters. Apical dominance related studies discovered that loss of phyB function results in a slower auxin transport rate, fewer xylem parenchyma cells, and reduced sensitivity to auxin. These results, in addition to estimates of correlative inhibition, suggested that auxin is at least partially responsible for increased apical dominance under low R:FR or with phyB deficiency, but may be acting in conjunction with other undefined regulators

Identification of RAPD Marker Linked to Mungbean Yellow Mosaic Virus Resistance in French Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) causes yield loss up to 80 % and is becoming problematic in French bean growing areas. Molecular marker linked selection to MYMV resistance is helpful in rapid identification of genotypes carrying resistant genes. Hence, the present study was undertaken to identify the RAPD marker associated with MYMV resistance in French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Bulk segregant analysis (BSA) was used to identify RAPD marker linked to MYMV resistance. More than 140 random decamers were surveyed for identification of polymorphic markers between the DNA bulks of resistant and susceptible F2 individuals and their contrasting parents. Ninety eight per cent of these primers amplified DNA in both parents and bulks. Twenty two primers produced specific bands for resistant parent which was absent in the susceptible parent. Out of 22 primers, four primers produced specific fragments viz., OPG 13458, OPX 5670, OPW 17380 and OPP 07730, respectively in resistant parent and bulk, which were absent in susceptible parent and bulk. Amplification of individual DNA samples of segregating F2 resistant individuals using putative marker, OPP 07730, a decamer revealed polymorphism in all four resistant and four susceptible F2 segregants, indicating that the marker OPP 07730 was associated with MYMV resistance in IC-525260, a resistant genotype

Validated RP-HPLC and HPTLC methods for simultaneous estimation of febuxostat and diclofenac sodium in pharmaceutical dosage form

The present work reports a reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method and high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method for the simultaneous determination of febuxostat and diclofenac sodium in pharmaceutical dosage form. HPLC was performed using a Thermo Hypersil C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm i.d., 5 μm particle size) using a mixture of methanol: KH2PO4 (0.02 M) (70:30, v:v) as mobile phase. Ultraviolet detection was carried out at 280 nm. The retention time of febuxostat and diclofenac sodium were found to be 6.725 and 8.892 min, respectively. The HPTLC separation was conducted on Merck HPTLC aluminum sheets of silica gel 60 F254 as stationary phase using toluene:methanol in the ratio of 7:3 (v:v) as the mobile phase. The detection of febuxostat and diclofenac sodium was carried out at 297 nm. The Rf values of febuxostat and diclofenac sodium were found to be 0.48 and 0.60, respectively. Both the methods were validated as per ICH guidelines. The proposed methods were found to be suitable for the quantification of the selected combination of drugs in pharmaceutical dosage form

Optical detection of a GMRT-detected candidate high-redshift radio galaxy with 3.6-m Devasthal optical telescope

Large scale structure and cosmolog