A Study on Impact of Training for Efficient Water Management in Agriculture

Extension functionaries play a catalytic role in adoption of agricultural innovations where water management is no exception. Training plays a pivotal role for enhancing the competence of extension functionaries’ through diffusion of innovations at actual workplace. In this stride, training on scaling up of water productivity in agriculture was organized and evaluated at all the stages of the Knowledge, Attitude, and Skill and Aspiration (KASA) model. The model assumes that change in knowledge, attitude, skill and aspiration leads to modification in practices for creating desired changes in water management in agriculture. Significant change in acquiring knowledge, developing participatory skills, changing attitudes and fulfilling aspirations towards scaling-up of water productivity in agriculture was observed. Hence, the enhanced learning will be effectively diffused among the farmers at the actual workplace for effective water management

Expression of Genetic Variability and Character Association in Raspberry (Rubus ellipticus Smith) Growing Wild in North-Western Himalayas

The present investigation was carried out in various districts of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu&Kashmir and Uttarakhand States falling under north-western Himalayan region of India. As a result of sustained exploration, 170 wild raspberry genotypes were marked and studied for berry quality attributes. Variation ranged from 0.25 g-0.93 g for berry weight. Berry length varied between 6.31 mm and 14.46 mm, while, berry breadth was 7.02 mm to 15.91 mm. Variation in Total Soluble Solids (TSS) in berry ranged between 9.6oB and 18.6oB whereas, acidity in berries ranged between 1.02 and 1.72%. The range of variation was 2-4.90% for reducing sugars, 4.2° - 11.6° for non-reducing sugars and 2.4- 5.2 mg/100 g for ascorbic acid. Berry weight had significant and positive correlation with its length and its breadth. Berry length exhibited positively significant correlation with berry breadth

Neutrophil dynamics in the blood and milk of crossbred cows naturally infected with Staphylococcus aureus

Aim: The present study was designed to evaluate the neutrophil dynamics in terms of the functional competence during subclinical mastitis (SCM) and clinical mastitis (CM). Materials and Methods: A total of 146 Karan fries cows were screened and were divided into three groups as control (n=12), SCM, n=12 and CM, n=12 groups on the basis of California mastitis test scoring, bacteriological evaluation, gross and morphological changes in milk and by counting milk somatic cell count (SCC). Both blood and milk polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs) were isolated in the study. Phagocytic activity (PA) was studied by spectrophotometrically; neutrophil extracelluar traps (NETs) were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM); CD44 was quantified by flow cytometry and apoptosis was studied by fluorescent microscopy. Results: Significantly (p<0.05) higher SCC, PA was found in milk of CM cows as compared to SCM and control cows. Significantly lower (p<0.05) apoptosis was observed in PMNs isolated from both blood and milk of CM group of cows when compared to control and SCM group. The milk neutrophils of CM group of cows formed NETs as evidenced from the SEM images. Surface expression of CD44 revealed a significantly (p<0.05) lower expression in milk neutrophils of CM group of cows when compared to SCM and control group of cows. Conclusion: The study indicated a positive correlation between delayed neutrophil apoptosis, persistent staying of neutrophils at the site of infection along with formation of NETs as the strategies to fight against the pathogens in the udder during Staphylococcal mastitis. The study forms a strong base for future molecular research in terms of neutrophil recruitment and neutrophil removal from the site of infection

Surface expression of CD11b, CD62L, CD44 receptors on blood and milk neutrophils during subclinical and clinical mastitis in Sahiwal cows

Surface expression of cell adhering molecules and CD44 was studied in Sahiwal (SW) cows suffering naturally from subclinical (SCM) and clinical mastitis (CM). Cows were divided into groups, viz. healthy (12), SCM (12) and CM (12) groups on the basis of CMT scoring, bacteriological culture, gross morphological changes in the milk and by counting milk SCC after screening of 136 SW cows. Bacteriological culture indicated infection of Staphylococcus aureus as the causative agent of SCM and CM. Healthy cows showed significantly higher CD62L expression as compared to the SCM and CM group of animals in both blood and milk neutrophils but no significant difference was found between blood and milk neutrophils. The results revealed a significant upregulation of CD11b positive cells in the CM group of cows. Significantly higher expression of CD44 was found in the neutrophils of both blood and milk of SCM group as compared to CM group. From the study, it was evident that neutrophils exhibit dynamic interplay between the integrins (CD11b) and selectins (CD62L) along with CD44 during SCM and CM Staphylococcal mastitis to offer host protection against the foreign invaders

Agro-morphological characterization and nutritional profiling of traditional Himalayan crop landraces for their promotion toward mainstream agriculture

The northwest Indian Himalayas are often regarded as a biological hotspot for the presence of rich agro-biodiversity harboring locally adapted traditional crop landraces facing utter neglect owing to modern agricultural systems promoting high-yielding varieties. Addressing this challenge requires extricating the potential of such cultivars in terms of agro-morphological and nutritional attributes. In this study, 29 traditional crop landraces of maize (11), paddy (07), finger millet (03), buckwheat (05), and naked barley (03) were characterized and evaluated for target traits of interest. In maize, Chitkanu emerged as an early maturing landrace (107 days) with high concentrations of zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), and potassium (K), and Safed makki showed the highest 100-seed weight (28.20 g). Similarly, Bamkua dhan exhibited high concentrations of K and phosphorus (P), and Lamgudi dhan showed a high protein content (14.86 g/100 g) among paddy landraces. Ogla-I and Phapra-I showed high contents of protein (14.80 g/100 g) and flavonoids (20.50 mg/g) among buckwheat landraces, respectively, followed by Nei-I, which exhibited the highest protein content (15.66 g/100 g) among naked barley landraces. Most of the target traits varied significantly (p < 0.05) among evaluated samples, except those associated with finger millet landraces. The grouping pattern obtained by principal component analysis (PCA) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) was congruent with the geographical relationship among the crop landraces. This study led to the identification of elite crop landraces having useful variations that could be exploited in plant breeding programs and biofortification strategies for future crop improvement. Our endeavor would aid in conserving the depleting Himalayan agro-biodiversity and promoting versatile traditional crops toward mainstream agriculture vis-à-vis future nutritional security

DEVELOPMENT OF COMPOSITE BUBALINE CANCELLOUS BONE XENOGRAFTS BY SEEDING GUINEA PIG FETAL OSTEOBLASTS

Xenografts are considered as an alternative strategy to restore a critical-sized bone defect. The present study was conducted to standardize the technique for seeding and cryopreservation of decellularized bubaline cancellous bone with Guinea pig fetal osteoblast for the development of a composite bone xenograft. The composite bone grafts were prepared by seeding the expanded osteoblasts on the acellular bubaline cancellous bone matrix. The foetal osteoblast seeded scaffold, acellular bone scaffold, and native bovine bone were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and histological examination. Composite bone xenograft was cryopreserved in 10% glycerol at - 80°C for three months and evaluated for post-thaw viability. Findings from the in vitro study suggested that the seeding of acellular scaffold was adequate, and osteoblasts had good adhesion and proliferation inside pores of acellular bone matrix. Histologically the integrity of collagen matrix was best preserved in the acellular group as compared to the freshly seeded and cryopreserved scaffold. The osteoblast seeded decellularized bubaline cancellous bone xenografts can be preserved for three months with adequate cell viability in the post-thaw evaluation at – 80°C in sterile tubes containing 10% glycerol as the cryoprotectant

Modeling Natural Anti-Inflammatory Compounds by Molecular Topology

One of the main pharmacological problems today in the treatment of chronic inflammation diseases consists of the fact that anti-inflammatory drugs usually exhibit side effects. The natural products offer a great hope in the identification of bioactive lead compounds and their development into drugs for treating inflammatory diseases. Computer-aided drug design has proved to be a very useful tool for discovering new drugs and, specifically, Molecular Topology has become a good technique for such a goal. A topological-mathematical model, obtained by linear discriminant analysis, has been developed for the search of new anti-inflammatory natural compounds. An external validation obtained with the remaining compounds (those not used in building up the model), has been carried out. Finally, a virtual screening on natural products was performed and 74 compounds showed actual anti-inflammatory activity. From them, 54 had been previously described as anti-inflammatory in the literature. This can be seen as a plus in the model validation and as a reinforcement of the role of Molecular Topology as an efficient tool for the discovery of new anti-inflammatory natural compounds

Coding SNPs analysis highlights genetic relationships and evolution pattern in eggplant complexes

[EN] Brinjal (Solanum melongena), scarlet (S. aethiopicum) and gboma (S. macrocarpon) eggplants are three Old World domesticates. The genomic DNA of a collection of accessions belonging to the three cultivated species, along with a representation of various wild relatives, was characterized for the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using a genotype-by-sequencing approach. A total of 210 million useful reads were produced and were successfully aligned to the reference eggplant genome sequence. Out of the 75,399 polymorphic sites identified among the 76 entries in study, 12,859 were associated with coding sequence. A genetic relationships analysis, supported by the output of the FastSTRUCTURE software, identified four major sub-groups as present in the germplasm panel. The first of these clustered S. aethiopicum with its wild ancestor S. anguivi; the second, S. melongena, its wild progenitor S. insanum, and its relatives S. incanum, S. lichtensteinii and S. linneanum; the third, S. macrocarpon and its wild ancestor S. dasyphyllum; and the fourth, the New World species S. sisymbriifolium, S. torvum and S. elaeagnifolium. By applying a hierarchical FastSTRUCTURE analysis on partitioned data, it was also possible to resolve the ambiguous membership of the accessions of S. campylacanthum, S. violaceum, S. lidii, S. vespertilio and S. tomentsum, as well as to genetically differentiate the three species of New World Origin. A principal coordinates analysis performed both on the entire germplasm panel and also separately on the entries belonging to sub-groups revealed a clear separation among species, although not between each of the domesticates and their respective wild ancestors. There was no clear differentiation between either distinct cultivar groups or different geographical provenance. Adopting various approaches to analyze SNP variation provided support for interpretation of results. The genotyping-by-sequencing approach showed to be highly efficient for both quantifying genetic diversity and establishing genetic relationships among and within cultivated eggplants and their wild relatives. The relevance of these results to the evolution of eggplants, as well as to their genetic improvement, is discussed.This work has been funded in part by European Unions Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement No 677379 (G2P-SOL project: Linking genetic resources, genomes and phenotypes of Solanaceous crops) and by Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grant AGL2015-64755-R from MINECO/FEDER). Funding has also been received from the initiative "Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives", which is supported by the Government of Norway. This last project is managed by the Global Crop Diversity Trust with the Millennium Seed Bank of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and implemented in partnership with national and international gene banks and plant breeding institutes around the world. For further information see the project website:http://www.cwrdiversity.org/. Pietro Gramazio is grateful to Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for a pre-doctoral (Programa FPI de la UPV-Subprograma 1/2013 call) contract. Mariola Plazas is grateful to Spanish Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad for a post-doctoral grant within the Santiago Grisolia Programme (FCJI-2015-24835). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Acquadro, A.; Barchi, L.; Gramazio, P.; Portis, E.; Vilanova Navarro, S.; Comino, C.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.... (2017). Coding SNPs analysis highlights genetic relationships and evolution pattern in eggplant complexes. PLoS ONE. 12(7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0180774Se018077412