The Gene Ontology resource: enriching a GOld mine

The Gene Ontology Consortium (GOC) provides the most comprehensive resource currently available for computable knowledge regarding the functions of genes and gene products. Here, we report the advances of the consortium over the past two years. The new GO-CAM annotation framework was notably improved, and we formalized the model with a computational schema to check and validate the rapidly increasing repository of 2838 GO-CAMs. In addition, we describe the impacts of several collaborations to refine GO and report a 10% increase in the number of GO annotations, a 25% increase in annotated gene products, and over 9,400 new scientific articles annotated. As the project matures, we continue our efforts to review older annotations in light of newer findings, and, to maintain consistency with other ontologies. As a result, 20 000 annotations derived from experimental data were reviewed, corresponding to 2.5% of experimental GO annotations. The website (http://geneontology.org) was redesigned for quick access to documentation, downloads and tools. To maintain an accurate resource and support traceability and reproducibility, we have made available a historical archive covering the past 15 years of GO data with a consistent format and file structure for both the ontology and annotations

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Not AvailableA field experiment was conducted during 2010-12 in banana cv. Robusta (AAA) to study the effects of combined application of fertigation and consortium of biofertilizers on some of the biological properties of the soil. The results indicated that the application of fertigation with consortium of biofertilizers significantly enhanced the soil respiration (19 to 83 per cent), dehydrogenese activity (52 to 97 per cent), Glomalin content (21 to 72 per cent) and phosphatase activities (Acid phosphatase from 53 to 92 per cent and alkaline phosphatase from 40 to 82 per cent) as compared to only fertigation treatment. In both main and ratoon crops, the fertigation treatment without consortium of biofertilizers recorded the lowest values for these soil biological properties. This study indicated that the soil biological properties can be significantly enhanced by combining fertigation with consortium of biofertilizers which also substantially reduces the requirement of chemical fertilizers up to 25-50 per cent.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableA field experiment was conducted during Rabi seasons of 2012 and 2013 at fixed organic experimental plot of ICAR-India Institute of Horticultural Research farm, Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru to study the effect of different levels of farm yard manure (FYM) in organic as compared to chemical and conventional practices on growth, yield and quality of onion. The trial included five levels of farm yard manure and two inorganic nutrient supply treatments consisting of only chemical treatment (NPK fertilizers + chemical plant protection) and conventional practice (Recommended dose of FYM + NPK fertilizers + chemical plant protection).Conventional treatment recorded highest plant height (50.1 cm) as well as bulb yield (34.8 t/ha),while onion crop which had received organic manure equivalent to 100 per cent recommended dose of nitrogen (RDN) recorded highest number of leaves (10.5) per plant. This bulb yield was on par with the yields obtained in organic treatments receiving FYM equivalent to 50 to 100 per cent RDN. The lower bulb yields were with organic treatment receiving manures equivalent to 25 per cent RDN and treatment receiving only NPK fertilizers. There were no marked differences among the treatments for the quality parameters such as bulb dry matter and shelf life.Not Availabl

Legislation and policy options for conservation and management of seagrass ecosystems in India

Not AvailableSeagrassmeadowsarerecognizedasoneofthemostproductiveecosystemsinthecoastalzonesupportingawide variety of keystone and ecologically important marine species from diverse trophic levels. This paper examines existing policiesand legislations thatcanhelpinthe protection, conservation andthreats toseagrass ecosystems. The paper (i) reviews the key legislations with provisions to conserve seagrass ecosystems in India such as the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification (2011) issued under the Environment (Protection), Act 1986, the Wildlife (Protection) Act, (1972), Biodiversity Act, 2002 and the Marine Fishing Regulation Acts of different coastal states in India; (ii) identifies threats to the seagrass meadows and (iii) suggests measures for enhancing conservation of seagrass.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableRice is one of the principal staple foods, essential for safeguarding the global food and nutritional security, but due to different natural and anthropogenic sources, it also acts as one of the biggest reservoirs of potentially toxic metal(loids) like As, Hg, Se, Pb and Cd. This review summarizes mobilization, translocation and speciation mechanism of these metal(loids) in soil-plant continuum as well as available cost-effective remediation measures and future research needs to eliminate the long-term risk to human health. High concentrations of these elements not only cause toxicity problems in plants, but also in animals that consume them and gradual deposition of these elements leads to the risk of bioaccumulation. The extensive occurrence of contaminated rice grains globally poses substantial public health risk and merits immediate action. People living in hotspots of contamination are exposed to higher health risks, however, rice import/export among different countries make the problem of global concern. Accumulation of As, Hg, Se, Pb and Cd in rice grains can be reduced by reducing their bioavailability, and controlling their uptake by rice plants. The contaminated soils can be reclaimed by phytoremediation, bioremediation, chemical amendments and mechanical measures; however these methods are either too expensive and/or too slow. Integration of innovative agronomic practices like crop establishment methods and improved irrigation and nutrient management practices are important steps to help mitigate the accumulation in soil as well as plant parts. Adoption of transgenic techniques for development of rice cultivars with low accumulation in edible plant parts could be a realistic option that would permit rice cultivation in soils with high bioavailability of these metal(loid)s.ICA

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Not AvailableDespite the economic and ecological impact of the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens infestation associated with rice cultivation in India, studies on its genetic structure are lacking. Hence, the present study was conducted to assess the genetic variability of N. lugens in India. The study evaluated the diversity in N. lugens populations using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene sequences from India, and compared them with the Bangladesh, China and Japan populations. In all, 47 unique haplotypes were identified and the haplotype number varied from 6 to 18 in the sampled populations. Genetic diversity indices like nucleotide diversity (0.004), average number of nucleotide differences (1.98), haplotype diversity (0.667) and haplotype number (47) of N. lugens populations from India revealed a low level of genetic diversity. A highly significant negative correlation of the demographic history of N. lugens populations along with no significant sum of square deviations indicated possible recent expansion of the brown planthopper in India. A nonsignificant correlation in isolation pattern by distance results indicated that geographic barriers present in the country are not sufficient for genetic differentiation among N. lugens from different migratory populations. In this study, the genetic diversity of N. lugens populations from India is compared with other Asian populations.Not Availabl