Development of organic indica rice cultivar (Oryza sativa L.) for the wetlands of Kerala, India through new concepts and strategies of crop improvement

Developing crop varieties that are less dependent on the heavy application of synthetic fertilizers is essential for the sustainability of agriculture. Here we report the development of a new rice cultivar, the first of its kind possessing the general criteria for an organic rice variety, at the same time suitable for chemical agriculture as well, and with favourable cooking and nutritive qualities. The method adopted for cultivar development was a combined strategy of pedigree breeding, organic plant breeding, and farmer participatory breeding approaches. Considering its high grain and straw yield potential even under organic management and unfavorable soil conditions, and its other favorable quality and organic varietal traits, farmers have started large scale cultivation of this cultivar even before its commercial release. The cultivar, namely culture MK 157, is at the pipe end of variety release in the Kerala state of India

Cerebrospinal fluid adenosine deaminase and lysozyme levels in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis

Adenosine Deaminase Activity (ADA) and Lysozyme Activity (LYSA) were measured in the CSF of tuberculous meningitis (TBM) cases : 26 bacteriologically positive TBM (Group 1), 61 bacteriologically negative TBM (Group 2), 10 non-tuberculous meningitis (Group 3) and 17 control subjects (Group 4). The mean ADA levels in different groups in that order were found to be 11.6, 4.5, 4.4 and 0.8 U/l respectively. The mean LYSA levels in the same groups were 6.3, 2.1, 2.2 and 0.5 mcg/ml respectively. In bacteriologically positive TBM, the mean ADA and LYSA levels were significantly higher than the other three groups (p < 0.0001). An ADA level of 4U/l and LYSA tests were 96%, 82% and 85%, 95% respectively. When both the criteria were considered, the sensitivity and specificity were 91% and 93% respectively. Combination of both test definitions could give additional support to the diagnosis in 49% of 61 clinically suspected but bacteriologically negative TBM cases. Correlation of ADA and LYSA levels in CSF was found to be statistically significant (r = 0.59; p < 0.01)

Improvement of Mechanical, Thermal and Optical Properties of Barium Mixed Cobalt Tartrate Hydrate Crystals Grown by Gel Method

In this present work, CTH and BCTH crystals have been prepared by gel technique by using single diffusion method at room temperature. The as grown crystals were characterized by using XRD, FT-IR, UV, TG / DTA and Micro hardness studies. X-ray powder diffraction results analyzed by using suitable software suggest that a CTH and BCTH crystals belong to cubic crystal system. The unit cell volume is observed to increase with increase in the concentration of barium in cobalt tartrate due to the lattice distortion. The band gap and optical properties have analyzed by UV-Visible spectrum. The functional groups and compound formation of the crystals have been studied by FT-IR spectrum. The mechanical properties of the grown crystals were tested by using Vicker’s microhardness studies. The work hardening coefficient (n) was determined to be 3.7 for CTH, 5.3 for BCTH (1 : 1) and 6.4 for BCTH (2 : 1) and the stiffness constants for different loads were calculated and reported. Thermal analysis suggests that pure cobalt tartrate starts decomposing at 73.2 C whereas the barium mixed cobalt tartrate brings about better thermal stability which increases with an increase in barium concentration

Improvement of Mechanical, Thermal and Optical Properties of Barium Mixed Cobalt Tartrate Hydrate Crystals Grown by Gel Method

In this present work, CTH and BCTH crystals have been prepared by gel technique by using single diffusion method at room temperature. The as grown crystals were characterized by using XRD, FT-IR, UV, TG / DTA and Micro hardness studies. X-ray powder diffraction results analyzed by using suitable software suggest that a CTH and BCTH crystals belong to cubic crystal system. The unit cell volume is observed to increase with increase in the concentration of barium in cobalt tartrate due to the lattice distortion. The band gap and optical properties have analyzed by UV-Visible spectrum. The functional groups and compound formation of the crystals have been studied by FT-IR spectrum. The mechanical properties of the grown crystals were tested by using Vicker’s microhardness studies. The work hardening coefficient (n) was determined to be 3.7 for CTH, 5.3 for BCTH (1 : 1) and 6.4 for BCTH (2 : 1) and the stiffness constants for different loads were calculated and reported. Thermal analysis suggests that pure cobalt tartrate starts decomposing at 73.2 C whereas the barium mixed cobalt tartrate brings about better thermal stability which increases with an increase in barium concentration

Preliminary screening for antibacterial and antimycobacterial activity of actinomycetes from less explored ecosystems

Actinomycetes from less explored ecosystems were screened for antibacterial and antimycobacterial activity. Crude bioactive compounds were produced by growing these strains by shake flask fermentation using soybean meal medium. Culture supernatant and mycelia were extracted with ethyl acetate and methanol, respectively. Antibacterial activity of crude extracts was tested by disc diffusion method against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Actinomycete strains D10, D5, NEK5, ANS2, M104 and R2 showed prominent activity. Culture filtrates and crude extracts were tested against standard strain Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv and drug sensitive and drug resistant clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis by luciferase reporter phage (LRP) assay. Considerable variation was observed in antimycobacterial activity between actinomycete culture filtrates and solvent extracts. Actinomycete strains viz., D10, D5 (desert), CSA14 (forest), CA33 (alkaline soil), NEK5 (Neem plant), MSU,ANS2, R2 and M104 (marine) screened in the present study were found to be highly potent showing good antibacterial and antimycobacterial activity. Five of them such as A3, CSA1, EE9, ANS5 and R9 were exclusively active against M. tuberculosis. Secretary products of actinomycetes of rare ecosystems are meant to antagonize organisms in their respective environments. These are likely to be novel antimycobacterial compounds as they unknown to human pathogens

Genetic diversity of maize genotypes on the basis of morpho-physiological and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers

In this investigation, an attempt was made to assess the genetic diversity among 91 maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes using morpho-physiological and molecular markers. Variability was observed for six morpho-physiological traits namely, SPAD chlorophyll meter reading, canopy temperature, plant height, yield per plant, fodder yield and plant biomass as well as with simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. All the amplification products with 40 SSRs were in the range of 58 to 410 bp. A total of 124 alleles were generated and the number of alleles scored for 40 SSR loci ranged from 2 to 5 with a mean of 3.1 alleles per locus. Polymorphism information content ranged from 0.054 to 0.82 with a mean of 0.55 suggesting that all the selected genotypes possessed high level of polymorphism. The study indicates that five genotypes, RJR-247, RJR-159, NSJ-179, RJR-55 and Z101-15 were most diverse, so it is suggested that they may be used as genetic resources for maize improvement programme in future quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping for different agronomic traits and for developing new varieties with adaptation to a broad range of environments.Key words: Maize, SSR markers, genetic diversity, dendrogram

Genetic variability for grain yield and water use efficiency in blackgram genotypes

Transpiration efficiency (TE, g biomass kg-1 water transpired) is the preferred measure for examining po- tential genetic variation in crop water use efficiency (WUE). TE was assessed gravimetrically from sowing to grain harvest in fifteen blackgram accessions, two checks and two local varieties under well-watered conditions during kharif season. TEbiomass varied from 2.87 - 5.27 g kg-1 and TEseed varied from 1.10 - 2.03 g kg-1 among genotypes. High coefficient of variability was observed for seed yield and TEseed.Total biomass, TEbiomass, HI and water transpired recorded medium coefficient of variability. High heritability in broad sense was observed for seed yield, TEseed and total biomass. High genetic advance as percent of mean was observed for seed yield, TEseed, total biomass and TEbiomass. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was observed for seed yield, total biomass and TEseed.TEseed is significantly positively correlated with TEbiomass (0.883**), seed yield/ plant (0.805**), HI (0.757**) and biomass (0.572*). TEbiomass, seed yield per plant, total biomass and HI were the important components of TEseed as revealed by correlation studies.D2 analysis partitioned the nineteen genotypes in to five clusters. The maximum inter cluster distance was observed between cluster II and V (24.94) and III and IV (22.6). Genotypes IC436665, IC343952 and Local II (Cluster III) had high mean values for TEbiomass and TEseed along with total biomass and seed yield. These genotypes should be useful in future breeding programs for higher water use efficiency

Bacterial RNA:DNA hybrids are activators of the NLRP3 inflammasome

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) is an extracellular pathogen that causes hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. The proinflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1beta, has been linked to hemolytic uremic syndrome. Here we identify the nucleotide-binding domain and leucine rich repeat containing family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome as an essential mediator of EHEC-induced IL-1beta. Whereas EHEC-specific virulence factors were dispensable for NLRP3 activation, bacterial nucleic acids such as RNA:DNA hybrids and RNA gained cytosolic access and mediated inflammasome-dependent responses. Consistent with a direct role for RNA:DNA hybrids in inflammasome activation, delivery of synthetic EHEC RNA:DNA hybrids into the cytosol triggered NLRP3-dependent responses, and introduction of RNase H, which degrades such hybrids, into infected cells specifically inhibited inflammasome activation. Notably, an E. coli rnhA mutant, which is incapable of producing RNase H and thus harbors increased levels of RNA:DNA hybrid, induced elevated levels of NLRP3-dependent caspase-1 activation and IL-1beta maturation. Collectively, these findings identify RNA:DNA hybrids of bacterial origin as a unique microbial trigger of the NLRP3 inflammasome