Viral aetiology of acute respiratory infections in children in North India

Two hundred and thirty children clinically diagnosed as suffering from acute respiratory infection were tested for four major groups of viral aetiological agents, i.e. influenza para-influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and adenoviruses using indirect immunofluorescence technique. At least one of the respiratory viruses was identified in 51 (22 per cent) specimens, which included influenza A in 6 (3 per cent), influenza B in 3 (1 per cent), para-influenza type 1 in 3 (1 per cent), para-influenza type 3 in 13 (6 per cent), RSV in 11 (5 per cent) adenovirus in 12 (5 per cent), and dual virus infections in 3 (1 per cent) cases. Maximum number of virus identification was noted in children below 1 year of age, particularly infection with RSV followed by para-influenza and adenoviruses. Value of rapid diagnosis by indirect immunofluorescence technique is stressed

Genetic Resistance in Desi and Kabuli Chickpea Lines to Fusarium Wilt Caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris

Twenty five lines each of desi and of kabuli chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) were evaluated for Fusarium wilt resistance during 2008–09 season in the field (wilt sick plot) and greenhouse at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, India. Fifteen desi and nine kabuli lines were found resistant (d"10% mortality) to Fusarium wilt. Significant positive correlation was found between greenhouse and field screening techniques (r = > 0.84, P < 0.0001). Additionally, phenological traits and yield were also recorded for all the lines in the disease free field at ICRISAT, Patancheru. Six wilt resistant desi lines (ICCV 09118, ICCV 09113, ICCV 09115, ICCX-030042-F4-P12-BP-BP, ICCX-030037-F4-P9-BP-BP, ICCX-030042-F4-P1-BP-BP) and two kabuli lines (ICCV 09308, ICCV 09314) matured early between 99–107 days and yielded more than the control cultivars JG 11 for desi (2208 kg/ha yield) and JGK 1 for kabuli (2243 kg/ha). These early maturing, high maturng, high yielding and wilt resistant desi and kabuli chickpea lines can be useful sources for breeding wilt resistant varietie

Phytophthora blight of Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.]: An updating review of biology, pathogenicity and disease management

Phytophthora blight (PB), Phytophthora drechsleri Tucker f.sp. cajani (Pal et al.) Kannaiyan et al. is reoccurring as an economically important disease of pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.], especially when excessive rains fall with in short span of time and hot and humid weather persists during the crop season. A few years after the initial reviews of Kanniyan et al. (1984), the disease was coming to halt. Despite earlier investigations on pathological and physiological characteristics of P. drechsleri f. sp. cajani, the nature of infection process and genetic basis of pathogen variability have not been clearly established. Therefore, information on the biology and survival of the pathogen is needed to devise effective management strategies. Attempts have been made to develop green-house and field screening techniques three decades ago for identification of HPR. However, only few pigeonpea germplasm and breeding lines belonging to cultivated and wild Cajanus spp. were found tolerant to PB. The recent frequent recurrence of PB epidemics in the major pigeonpea growing areas prioritized the search for higher levels of disease resistance. There is a need to study the biology of the pathogen, epidemiology of the disease and refinement of the resistance screening techniques and develop integrated disease management (IDM) technology for the disease. In this review, the symptomatology of the disease, biology of pathogen including its variability, epidemiology, sources of resistance, other management options, and available information on biochemical and genetic basis of disease resistance have been updated and discussed with the identification of future research priorities

Alternaria tenuissima Causing Alternaria Blight on Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] in India

Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] is a major grain legume of the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In India, pigeonpea is the third most important food legume after chickpea and field pea. Blight symptoms on pigeonpea were observed in alarming proportion during 2009-2011 crop seasons in Andhra Pradesh state in India. The disease incidence ranged between 20-80% irrespective of cultivars sown. The infected plants in the field showed symptoms on all the aerial parts of the plant (leaves, stems, buds and pods) irrespective of age of the plant and leaves. Symptoms on leaves were small, circular, necrotic spots that develop quickly forming typical concentric rings (Kannaiyan and Nene (1977)..

New sources of resistance to Fusarium wilt and sterility mosaic disease in a mini-core collection of pigeonpea germplasm

Fusarium wilt (FW) and Sterility mosaic disease (SMD) are important biotic constraints to pigeonpea production worldwide. Host plant resistance is the most durable and economical way to manage these diseases. A pigeonpea mini-core collection consisting of 146 germplasm accessions developed from a core collection of 1290 accessions from 53 countries was evaluated to identify sources of resistance to FW and SMD under artificial field epiphytotic conditions during 2007–08 and 2008–09 crop seasons. Resistant sources identified in the field were confirmed in the greenhouse using a root dip screening technique for FW and a leaf stapling technique for SMD. Six accessions (originated from India and Italy were found resistant to FW (<10% mean disease incidence). High level of resistance to SMD was found in 24 accessions (mean incidence <10%). These SMD resistant accessions originated from India, Italy, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines and United Kingdom. Combined resistance to FW and SMD was found in five accessions (ICPs 6739, 8860, 11015, 13304 and 14819). These diverse accessions that are resistant to FW or SMD will be useful to the pigeonpea resistance breeding program

Reintroduction of Extra Short Duration Pigeonpea (ICPL 88039) in Rice-Wheat Systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains: RWC Technical Bulletin No. 9.

Rice–wheat cropping systems (RWCS) are managed on 10 million ha in the Indo Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India. Recent reports, however, indicate that the system is under fatigue and the growth rate of rice and wheat has started declining. Natural resources, particularly soil and water, are threatened because of their over exploitation. Water efficient legumes such as pigeonpea can play an important role in reversing the process of degradation of soil and water resources, and improving the production potential of RWCS. Among legumes, pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millesp] has been an integral part of RWCS and was widely grown in early sixties. However, agricultural polices of the Green Revolution era beginning 1970 focused on increased production through the introduction of input-responsive cultivars of rice and wheat, which not only replaced or marginalized the traditional long and short duration cultivars of pigeonpea but also made them unsuitable even to be used as a break crop in the existing RWCS. It is in this context that ICRISAT developed extra short duration pigeonpea (ESDP) cultivar ICPL 88039. This genotype was evaluated along with traditional cultivars for its suitability as a break crop to restore soil heath, and improve productivity of RWCS. A large volume of literature is available on studies related to the beneficial effects of legumes on the productivity of rice and wheat. In this bulletin, attempts have been made to briefly describe the process and important findings of reintroducing pigeonpea, particularly ESDP genotype ICPL 88039 in the pigeonpea–wheat rotation by scientists from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Rice–Wheat Consortium (RWC) of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in partnership with farmers. Efforts were made to identify the constraints and opportunities in growing ICPL 88039 in rotation with wheat for its long term sustainability and resource conservation in RWCS in the IGP. This technical bulletin provides information on the abiotic, biotic and socio-economical constraints that can limit ICPL 88039 production in the RWCS. Color photographs are included to facilitate identification of insect and diseases. A package of practices for ICPL 88039 is also included for use of the farmers, researchers and scientists

Surface Plasmon Resonance from Bimetallic Interface in Au–Ag Core–Shell Structure Nanowires

Transverse surface plasmon resonances (SPR) in Au–Ag and Ag–Au core–shell structure nanowires have been investigated by means of quasi-static theory. There are two kinds of SPR bands resulting from the outer surface of wall metal and the interface between core and wall metals, respectively. The SPR corresponding to the interface, which is similar to that of alloy particle, decreases and shifts obviously with increasing the wall thickness. However, the SPR corresponding to the outer surface, which is similar to that of pure metal particle, increases and shifts slightly with increasing the wall thickness. A mechanism based on oscillatory surface electrons under coulombic attraction is developed to illuminate the shift fashion of SPR from bimetallic core–shell interface. The net charges and extra coulombic force in metallic wall affect the SPR energy and the shift fashion

High-Capacity Conductive Nanocellulose Paper Sheets for Electrochemically Controlled Extraction of DNA Oligomers

Highly porous polypyrrole (PPy)-nanocellulose paper sheets have been evaluated as inexpensive and disposable electrochemically controlled three-dimensional solid phase extraction materials. The composites, which had a total anion exchange capacity of about 1.1 mol kg−1, were used for extraction and subsequent release of negatively charged fluorophore tagged DNA oligomers via galvanostatic oxidation and reduction of a 30–50 nm conformal PPy layer on the cellulose substrate. The ion exchange capacity, which was, at least, two orders of magnitude higher than those previously reached in electrochemically controlled extraction, originated from the high surface area (i.e. 80 m2 g−1) of the porous composites and the thin PPy layer which ensured excellent access to the ion exchange material. This enabled the extractions to be carried out faster and with better control of the PPy charge than with previously employed approaches. Experiments in equimolar mixtures of (dT)6, (dT)20, and (dT)40 DNA oligomers showed that all oligomers could be extracted, and that the smallest oligomer was preferentially released with an efficiency of up to 40% during the reduction of the PPy layer. These results indicate that the present material is very promising for the development of inexpensive and efficient electrochemically controlled ion-exchange membranes for batch-wise extraction of biomolecules

Inversion of the balance between hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions in protein folding and aggregation.

Identifying the forces that drive proteins to misfold and aggregate, rather than to fold into their functional states, is fundamental to our understanding of living systems and to our ability to combat protein deposition disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and the spongiform encephalopathies. We report here the finding that the balance between hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions is different for proteins in the processes of folding to their native states and misfolding to the alternative amyloid structures. We find that the minima of the protein free energy landscape for folding and misfolding tend to be respectively dominated by hydrophobic and by hydrogen bonding interactions. These results characterise the nature of the interactions that determine the competition between folding and misfolding of proteins by revealing that the stability of native proteins is primarily determined by hydrophobic interactions between side-chains, while the stability of amyloid fibrils depends more on backbone intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions