Open access journals in library and information science: a study

Open access spurred by the Internet has brought in new vistas for dissemination of scholarly content in almost all thedisciplines. It has enabled agencies, publishers and individuals to distribute scholarly content online, free from licensingrestrictions and cost. Like other fields, the growth of open access has also benefited the field of library and informationscience (LIS). In this paper an attempt has been made to assess the current status of open access journals in LIS covered inDirectory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) based on various parameters

Genetic variation and diversity for grain iron, zinc, protein and agronomic traits in advanced breeding lines of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] for biofortification breeding

Genetic improvements of iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) content in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] may reduce the problems of anemia and stunted growth among millet dependent staple food consumers. The availability of variation in diversebreeding lines is essential to improve grain micronutrients in high-yielding cultivars. This study aimed to determine the extent of variability, heritability and diversity for grain Fe, Zn and protein, along with key agronomic traits, in 281 advanced breeding lines bred at ICRISAT and evaluated across two seasons (environments). A pooled analysis of variance displayed significant variation for all these traits. Highest variability was recorded for Fe (35–116 mg kg-1), Zn (21–80 mg kg-1), and protein (6–18%), and a three-fold variation was observed for panicle length, panicle girth and 1000-grain-weight (TGW). Diversity analysis showed 10 clusters. Cluster-III had maximum lines (25%) and Cluster-V showed the highest mean values for Fe, Zn, protein and TGW. These results highlight the success of breeding program that aimed both the maintenance and creation of genetic variability and diversity. A significant positive correlation among Fe, Zn, protein and TGW indicated the potential for simultaneous improvement. Grain yield had a non-significant association with Fe and Zn, while protein showed a negative correlation. These results suggest that significant variability exists in elite-breeding lines, thus highlighting an opportunity to breed for biofortified varieties without compromising on the grain yield. The lines with high Fe, Zn and protein content can be used as hybrid parents and may also help in further genetic investigations

Morphological Characteristics of ICRISAT-bred Pearl Millet Hybrid Seed Parents (2005-2018)

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L) R. Br.) is a major warm-season nutri-cereal grown on ~34 million ha across the world with the majority of area (>95%) in the arid and semi-arid tropical (SAT) regions of Asia (~11 million ha) and Africa (~22 million ha) (FAO, 2020). India is the largest producer with an average production of 9.35 million tonnes and productivity of 1391 kg ha-1 occupying an area of 7.41 million ha (Directorate of Millets Development, 2021-22). It is a highly cross-pollinated crop with an outcrossing rate of more than 85%. The protogynous flowering and wind-borne pollination favor cross-pollination, making open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) as the natural cultivar state of this crop. However, OPVs, are not amenable to achieving as much heterozygosity and the consequent heterosis as possible in single-cross hybrids. Furthermore, OPVs are highly heterogeneous and hence morphologically more variable than single-cross hybrids. It has been observed that single-cross hybrids generally give 20-30% more grain yield than OPVs (Rai et al. 2006). Based on these considerations, and with the availability of a commercially exploitable cytoplasmic-nuclear male sterility (CMS), the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) in India took the first significant step in the world to embark on grain hybrid development. With the rapid growth of vibrant seed industry, pearl millet research in India, both in the private and the public sector, is now almost all directed towards hybrid breeding. In alignment with the regional priority in Asia region, ICRISAT’s pearl millet improvement research at Patancheru plays a pivotal role in developing diverse range of improved breeding lines and potential hybrid parents, leaving the development, testing and release of hybrids to the NARS and the private sector....

Effect of isogenic-alloplasmic cytoplasmic male sterility system on grain yield traits in pearl millet

Pearl millet is a nutri-cereal and is grown predominantly by subsistence farmers in semi-arid regions of India and Africa. Considering highly cross pollination nature and availability of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), pearl millet hybrids are becoming a dominant cultivar type in India. Present study aims to assess the effect of isonucleus-alloplasmic, A1, A4 and A5 cytoplasmic male sterility system on agronomic performance of pearl millet hybrids. Five isogenic females each having 3 alloplasmic (A1, A4 and A5) cytoplasm were crossed with 6 male-parents to generate 120 hybrids and were evaluated in two contrasting season in splitsplit- plot design (SSPD). The significant cytoplasm per se and restorer per se indicate the both contribution to most of the traits, however, greater magnitude of contribution arises from restorers (74% grain yield; 95% 1000-grain weight). The significant hybrids × environment shows the mandatory of multi location testing for yield traits while non-significant of CMS × environment interactions reveals the greater stability of CMS. Further, no significant mean yield differences exhibited in A1, A4 and A5 hybrids (2.53-2.81 t ha-1) indicates not any adverse effect of cytoplasm on grain yield and associated traits. Also, diverse genetic backgrounds used in this study exhibited significant contributions to grain yield and its component traits. These results imply the prospects for utilization of potential alternative cytoplasm (A4 and A5) to widen the cytoplasm base together with development of counterpart restorers to produce future high-yielding hybrids

Genetic diversity analysis among advanced breeding lines in pearl millet for grain iron, zinc and agronomic traits

Evaluation of genetic diversity within breeding populations will help in parents’ diversification and identification of trait-specific inbred sources. Total of 294 inbreds were evaluated for grain iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and agronomic traits in two contrasting seasons using alpha-lattice field design. There was a significant variability observed for all traits. Three-to-four-fold variability noticed for Fe (31-120 mg kg-1), Zn (19-88 mg kg-1), yield (0.6-2.6 tha-1) and 1000- grain weight (6-16 g 1000-1). The magnitude of genetic coefficient of variation explained by traits were varied in the order of Fe (25%)>Zn>TGW>PL>PH>GY>PG>DF (7%) and heritability (broad sense) was very high as >84% for all traits except grain yield (56%). Nine clusters formed at 90% genetic similarity. Clusters I to IV and VII had higher mean value for Fe density (78-100 mg kg-1) and agronomic traits. Highest number of genotypes grouped in cluster I (63) followed by cluster III (54) having higher yield,1000-grain weight, panicle girth, Fe and Zn. Top-10% of high-Fe lines had significantly higher Fe (64%), Zn (49%), grainweight (29%) and panicle girth (19%) than bottom-10% genotypes. This implies that high- Fe/Zn sources are available with eliteness and can be incorporated into any genetic background without compromising agronomic superiority. Higher heritability and genetic advance as percentage of mean were observed for Fe, Zn and grain-weight suggesting these traits are predominantly determined by additive gene and can be improved through selection

Effect of isonuclear-alloplasmic cytoplasmic male sterility system on grain yield traits in pearl millet

Pearl millet is a nutri-cereal and is grown predominantly by subsistence farmers in semi-arid regions of India and Africa. Considering it’s highly cross pollinated nature and availability of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), hybrids have become a dominant cultivar type in India. Present study aims to assess the effect of isonuclear alloplasmic A1, A4 and A5 CMS on agronomic performance of pearl millet hybrids. Five isogenic females each having 3 alloplasmic (A1, A4 and A5) cytoplasm were crossed with 6 male-parents to generate 120 hybrids. All these were evaluated in two contrasting seasons (E) in split-split-plot design. The significant cytoplasm per se and restorer per se indicate the both contribution to most of the traits, however, greater magnitude of contribution arises from restorers significantly (75%grain yield; 95% 1000-grain weight). The significant, hybrids x E shows the mandatory of multilocation testing for yield traits while non-significant of CMS × E interaction reveals the greater stability of CMS. Further, non-significant mean yield differences exhibited in A1, A4 and A5 hybrids (2.84-3.14 t ha–1) indicated no adverse effect of cytoplasm on grain yield and associated traits. Also, diverse genetic backgrounds used in this study displayed significant contributions to grain yield and its component traits. These results imply the prospects for utilization of potential alternative cytoplasm (A4 and A5) to widen the cytoplasm base together with development of counterpart restorers to produce future high-yielding hybrids

Novel hybrids of 1,2,3-triazole-benzoxazole:design, synthesis, and assessment of DprE1 enzyme inhibitors using fluorometric assay and computational analysis

Decaprenylphosphoryl-β-D-ribose-oxidase (DprE1), a subunit of the essential decaprenylphosphoribose-2'-epimerase, plays a crucial role in the synthesis of cell wall arabinan components in mycobacteria, including the pathogen responsible for tuberculosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, we designed, synthesised, and evaluated 15 (BOK-1-BOK-10 and BOP-1-BOP-5) potential inhibitors of DprE1 from a series of 1,2,3-triazole ligands using a validated DprE1 inhibition assay. Two compounds, BOK-2 and BOK-3, demonstrated significant inhibition with IC 50 values of 2.2 ± 0.1 and 3.0 ± 0.6 μM, respectively, whereas the standard drug (TCA-1) showed inhibition at 3.0 ± 0.2 μM. Through molecular modelling and dynamic simulations, we explored the structural relationships between selected 1,2,3-triazole compounds and DprE1, revealing key features for effective drug-target interactions. This study introduces a novel approach for designing ligands against DprE1, offering a potential therapeutic strategy for tuberculosis treatment. </p

DESIGN, SYNTHESIS AND IN VITRO ANTI-CANCER ACTIVITY OF NOVEL 1,2,4-TRIAZOLE DERIVATIVES

Objective: DNA topoisomerase is one of the important targets for anticancer agents. Many triazole derivatives have been shown to possess cytotoxic activity. In this paper, we present the design and in silico docking of a virtual library of molecules with DNA topoisomerase II along with their synthesis and In vitro cytotoxicity profile. Methods: Sybyl X 2.1 programmesss were used to perform the docking experiments on DNA topoisomerase II using etoposide as ligand. In vitro anticancer activity was carried out by trypan blue exclusion assay against EAC cells. DNA fragmentation studies were performed by Gel electrophoresis to identify the cause of cell death induced by these compounds. Results: Among the compounds studied for docking, 12c generated the highest docking score (13.66) and showed hydrogen bonding interactions with glycine 778 at a distance of 1.879 A˚. the compounds 12c &amp; 12g showed the highest level of cytotoxicity with IC50 value of 0.55 μM and 0.62 μM respectively. Compounds 12c and12g were subjected to DNA fragmentation studies to identify the cause of cell death induced by these compounds. Gel electrophoresis of these compounds showed a typical feature of apoptosis ladders in agarose gel. Compound 12c was able to induce apoptosis at a concentration of about 3 μM. Conclusion: A series of bis-triazoles were synthesized targeted to DNA topoisomerase II and evaluated their In vitro cytotoxicity. The compound 12c was found to be most active and also exhibited apoptosis inducing potential

Genome-wide association study uncovers genomic regions associated with grain iron, zinc and protein content in pearl millet

Pearl millet hybrids biofortified with iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) promise to be part of a long-term strategy to combat micronutrient malnutrition in the arid and semi-arid tropical (SAT) regions of the world. Biofortification through molecular breeding is the way forward to achieving a rapid trait-based breeding strategy. This genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to identify significant marker-trait associations (MTAs) for Fe, Zn, and protein content (PC) for enhanced biofortification breeding. A diverse panel of 281 advanced inbred lines was evaluated for Fe, Zn, and PC over two seasons. Phenotypic evaluation revealed high variability (Fe: 32–120 mg kg−1, Zn: 19–87 mg kg−1, PC: 8–16%), heritability (hbs2 ≥ 90%) and significantly positive correlation among Fe, Zn and PC (P = 0.01), implying concurrent improvement. Based on the Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) seq assay, 58,719 highly informative SNPs were filtered for association mapping. Population structure analysis showed six major genetic groups (K = 6). A total of 78 MTAs were identified, of which 18 were associated with Fe, 43 with Zn, and 17 with PC. Four SNPs viz., Pgl04_64673688, Pgl05_135500493, Pgl05_144482656, and Pgl07_101483782 located on chromosomes Pgl04 (1), Pgl05 (2) and Pgl07 (1), respectively were co-segregated for Fe and Zn. Promising genes, ‘Late embryogenesis abundant protein’, ‘Myb domain’, ‘pentatricopeptide repeat’, and ‘iron ion binding’ coded by 8 SNPs were identified. The SNPs/genes identified in the present study presents prospects for genomics assisted biofortification breeding in pearl millet