Variability and Character Association in F2 Segregating Population of Different Commercial Hybrids of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

The F2 segregating generations of exotic tomato hybrids were studied to measure variability, character association and path coefficient analysis. Analysis of variance for each trait showed significant differences among the genotypes. Very little differences were observed between phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficients of variation (GCV) for the traits days to first flowering (pcv=9.21, gcv=7.82), fruit length (pcv=17.14, gcv=14.84) and fruit diameter (pcv=17.10, gcv=14.92). High heritability (>50%) was observed for all the yield contributing characters except flowers per cluster (47.83%). High heritability associated with high genetic advance was observed for fruit clusters per plant (105.11), fruits per plant (103.43), branches per plant (34.49), fruits per cluster (47.43), individual fruit weight (77.73) and fruit yield per plant (108.25). Selection for such traits might be effective for the fruit yield improvement of tomato. Significant positive genotypic and phenotypic correlation was observed between plant height at first flowering, flowers per plant, fruits per cluster, fruit clusters per plant, fruits per plant with fruit yield per plant. Fruits per plant showed the highest positive direct effect (1.096) on fruit yield per plant followed by individual fruits per plant (0.674). Direct selection may be executed considering these traits as the main selection criteria to reduce indirect effect of the other characters during the development of high yielding tomato variety. @ JASE

Morpho-molecular Divergence of Restorer Lines for Hybrid Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Development

Genetic diversity of 28 restorer lines of rice was studied under irrigated condition through Mahalanobis D2 statistics and simple sequence repeat (SSR) banding patterns. The cluster analysis grouped the lines into five clusters. The principal component analysis showed that the first four components with vector values > 1 contributed 76.32% of the total variations. The intra- and inter-cluster distances were the maximum in cluster V (0.86) and between clusters II and V (15.14), respectively. Flag leaf area, plant height, panicle length, five panicle weight, primary branches per panicle and secondary branches per panicle had maximum contribution towards genetic divergence. A total of 24 alleles varied from 2 to 5 with an average of 2.67 alleles per locus were detected for the nine microsatellite markers across 28 lines. The polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.12 to 0.71 with an average of 0.29. RM229 was considered as the best markers on the basis of the highest PIC value. Phylogenetic cluster analysis of the SSR data based on distance divided all lines into three groups (A, B and C), whereas the cluster analysis divided these lines into five groups (I, II, III, IV and V). Besides, evaluation of yield contributing traits demonstrated that the restorer lines under the current study possessed a considerable genetic diversity. Potential lines such as BU1IR, China2R, China1R, BHD3R, IR509R and Heera5R can be used as pollen parent in developing new commercial hybrid varieties. Therefore, potential restorer lines need to be conserved in Genebank for future hybrid rice breeding programs

Variability and Character Association in F2 Segregating Population of Different Commercial Hybrids of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

The F2 segregating generations of exotic tomato hybrids were studied to measure variability, character association and path coefficient analysis. Analysis of variance for each trait showed significant differences among the genotypes. Very little differences were observed between phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) and genotypic coefficients of variation (GCV) for the traits days to first flowering (pcv=9.21, gcv=7.82), fruit length (pcv=17.14, gcv=14.84) and fruit diameter (pcv=17.10, gcv=14.92). High heritability (>50%) was observed for all the yield contributing characters except flowers per cluster (47.83%). High heritability associated with high genetic advance was observed for fruit clusters per plant (105.11), fruits per plant (103.43), branches per plant (34.49), fruits per cluster (47.43), individual fruit weight (77.73) and fruit yield per plant (108.25). Selection for such traits might be effective for the fruit yield improvement of tomato. Significant positive genotypic and phenotypic correlation was observed between plant height at first flowering, flowers per plant, fruits per cluster, fruit clusters per plant, fruits per plant with fruit yield per plant. Fruits per plant showed the highest positive direct effect (1.096) on fruit yield per plant followed by individual fruits per plant (0.674). Direct selection may be executed considering these traits as the main selection criteria to reduce indirect effect of the other characters during the development of high yielding tomato variety. @ JASE

ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF INTERCROPPING OF CHILI WITH SWEET GOURD

A field experiment was conducted at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Ishurdi, Pabna during two consecutive years of 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 to find out the suitable combination of intercropping of chili with sweet gourd for increasing the productivity and economic return. The treatments were T1=100% sweet gourd (2m x 2m) + 40% chili (50cm x 100cm) + 100% recommended fertilizer (RF) of chili, T2=100% sweet gourd (2m x 2m) + 40% chili (50cm x 100cm) + 75% RF of chili, T3=100% sweet gourd (2m x 2m) + 40% chili (50cm x 100cm) + 50% RF of chili, T4=100% sweet gourd (2m x 2m) + 50% chili (50cm x 80cm) + 100% RF of chili, T5=100% sweet gourd (2m x 2m) + 50% chili (50cm x 80cm) + 75% RF of chili, T6=100% sweet gourd (2m x 2m) + 50% chili (50cm x 80cm) + 50% RF of chili, T7=Sole sweet gourd, T8= Sole chili. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Fruit yield was calculated for sweet gourd and chili in ton per hectare considering the whole plot as harvested area. Results revealed that the yield of both sweet gourd and chili significantly affected by plant population and fertilizer dose in the intercropping systems. The highest equivalent yield of sweet gourd (21.21 t ha1), land equivalent ratio (1.59), gross return (Tk. 318150.00 ha-1), gross margin (Tk. 237935.00 ha-1) and benefit cost ratio (3.97) were obtained from 100% sweet gourd (2m x 2m) + 50% chili (50cm x 80cm) + 100% RF of chili (T4). Sole crop of chili (T8) gave the lowest equivalent yield of sweet gourd (7.38 t ha1), gross return (Tk. 110700.00 ha-1), gross margin (Tk. 37455.00 ha-1) and benefit cost ratio (1.51). Therefore, sweet gourd (100%) and chili (50%) with recommended fertilizer (100%) of chili might be economically profitable for chili with sweet gourd intercropping system

Variability Assessment of Aromatic Rice Germplasm by Pheno-Genomic traits and Population Structure Analysis

While the pleasant scent of aromatic rice is making it more popular, with demand for aromatic rice expected to rise in future, varieties of this have low yield potential. Genetic diversity and population structure of aromatic germplasm provide valuable information for yield improvement which has potential market value and farm profit. Here, we show diversity and population structure of 113 rice germplasm based on phenotypic and genotypic traits. Phenotypic traits showed that considerable variation existed across the germplasm. Based on Shannon–Weaver index, the most variable phenotypic trait was lemma-palea color. Detecting 140 alleles, 11 were unique and suitable as a germplasm diagnostic tool. Phylogenetic cluster analysis using genotypic traits classified germplasm into three major groups. Moreover, model-based population structure analysis divided all germplasm into three groups, confirmed by principal component and neighbors joining tree analyses. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and pairwise FST test showed significant differentiation among all population pairs, ranging from 0.023 to 0.068, suggesting that all three groups differed. Significant correlation coefficient was detected between phenotypic and genotypic traits which could be valuable to select further improvement of germplasm. Findings from this study have the potential for future use in aromatic rice molecular breeding programs

The Trial of the Expert Witness: Negotiating Credibility in Child Abuse Correspondence

This article reports on forensic letters written by physicians specializing in identifying children who have experienced maltreatment. These writers face an extraordinary exigence in that they must provide an opinion as to whether a child has experienced abuse without specifically diagnosing abuse and thus crossing into a legal domain. Their credibility was also at issue because, in this jurisdiction, child abuse identification was not recognized as a medical subspecialty and because the status of expert witnesses is currently being challenged. Through an analysis of 72 forensic letters combined with interview data from six letter writers and five letter readers, we determined that these writers used linguistic and rhetorical strategies that allowed these letters to function as boundary objects or objects that traverse several communities of practice. The most salient strategy was the use of evaluative lexis—adjectives and adverbs which allowed for a range of interpretations and constrained those interpretations at the same time