Development of bacterial blight resistance versions of basmati rice genotypes from Jammu, Northern Himalaya using marker-assisted selection

341-348Bacterial blight (BB) of rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) is a major constraint that negatively impacts rice production. Here, we explored developing potential BB resistance donors having basmati quality characteristics. The 20 BC1F1 cross combinations generated by randomly crossing four elite basmati cultivars with 10 bacterial blight resistant donor lines possessing resistant genes in different combinations were used for screening. Out of 20 BC1F1, one combination Basmati-370 x IRBB-55 was found to have basmati quality traits like intermediate amylose and high aroma content. Twenty two BC1F2 genotypes were selected from this cross combination for screening Xa21 and xa13 BB resistance genes as well as aromagene through marker-assisted selection (MAS). Five genotypes namely, Basmati-370 x IRBB-55-4, Basmati-370 x IRBB-55-5, Basmati-370 x IRBB-55-13, Basmati-370 x IRBB-55-17 and Basmati-370 x IRBB-55-18 carrying both Xa21 and xa13 along with fgr gene in homozygous conditions identified phenotypically to show complete resistance to BB along with intermediate amylose and high aroma. It is suggested that these genotypes can be effectively used as basmati donors

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Not AvailableThe most important evolutionary event in the success of commercial tea cultivation outside China in ~30 countries came about by the origin of India hybrid tea in India, derived from the extensive spontaneous hybridization that took place between the Assam type tea growing in the forest regions of Assam, North-East India and China type tea introduced from China in ~1875 to many regions of North-East India. The release of an enormous pool of vigorous and highly variable plants of India hybrid tea in North-East India was a significant step forward for the origin and evolution of tea as a highly successful crop plant. The 1,644 accessions and clones of India hybrid tea, representatives of known 15 morphotypes, were screened by 412 AFLP markers amplified by 7 AFLP primer pair combinations. All the 412 genetic loci were polymorphic across the 1,644 accessions and clones. The analysis was done with distance (PCoA and NJ) methods, and the STRUCTURE (Bayesian) model. Both PCoA and NJ analysis clustered 1,644 tea accessions and clones into six major groups with one group in each, constituted mostly by China hybrid, Assam China hybrid and Assam hybrid morphotypes, of distinct genetic identity. No group was exclusive for any particular morphotype. The accessions and clones belonging to morphotypes, Assam type, Assam hybrid, China hybrid and China Cambod were distributed in all the groups. It is the Assam type/Assam hybrid morphotypes which exhibit much broader genetic variability than in China type/China hybrid/Cambod type/Cambod hybrid morphotypes. The STRUCTURE analysis inferred 16 populations (K = 16), for which the greatest values of probability were obtained. Nine of the 16 clusters were constituted by the tea accessions and clones of ‘pure’ ancestry. The remaining clusters were of ‘mixed’ ancestry. This analysis provides evidence that the accessions and clones of the same morphotype are not always of same genetic ancestry structure. The tea accessions and clones obtained from outside North-East India shared the same groups (distance method) and clusters (STRUCTURE model) which were constituted by North-East India accessions. The present study also demonstrates very narrow genetic diversity in the commercial tea clones vis-à-vis the profound genetic diversity existing in the tea accessions. These clones were distributed in hardly two of the six groups in NJ tree. The identified 105 core accessions and clones, capturing 98% diversity, have their origin from almost all groups/subgroups of NJ treeNot Availabl

Further advances in the synthesis of endocannabinoid-related ligands

Recent advances in the synthesis of endocannabinoid-related ligands for the period 2001–2004 are covered in this review. During this period the first solid phase synthesis of anandamide (AEA) analogs was developed, which allows modification at both the head group and the end pentyl chain. Synthesis of water-soluble prodrugs of noladin, ether was reported, which are chemically stable, rapidly release noladin ether under enzymatic conditions and are shown to reduce intraocular pressure. The structure-activity relationships (SAR) of alkylcarbamic acid aryl esters and the discovery of potent, archidonylsulfonyl derivatives as fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitors are summarized. Recent synthetic developments in the controversial area of anandamide membrane transporter (AMT) inhibitors are also discussed