Impact of Tandem Repeats on the Scaling of Nucleotide Sequences

Techniques such as detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and its extensions have been widely used to determine the nature of scaling in nucleotide sequences. In this brief communication we show that tandem repeats which are ubiquitous in nucleotide sequences can prevent reliable estimation of possible long-range correlations. Therefore, it is important to investigate the presence of tandem repeats prior to scaling exponent estimation.Comment: 14 Pages, 3 Figure

Accumulation of Arsenic and Fluoride in Lichen Pyxine cocoes (Sw.) Nyl., Growing in the Vicinity of Coal-based Thermal Power Plant at Raebareli, India

ABSTRACT: Levels of arsenic (As) and fluoride (F) were determined in an epiphytic lichen Pyxine cocoes (Sw.) Nyl., collected from the vicinity of coal based thermal power plant of Raebareli, India. Both the elements are abundant in lichen thallus, while their substratum contained negligible amount. The As ranged between 8.9±0.7 to 77.3±2.0 µg g-1 dry weight in thallus and 1.0±0.0 to 9.7±0.2 µg g-1 dry weight in substratum; whereas F ranged between 9.3±0.52 to 105.8±2.3 µg g-1 dry weight in thallus however, it not detected in the substratum. The quantities of As in thallus increased with decreasing distance from the power plant, but F showed an opposite trend. The distribution of As and F around the power plant showed positive correlation with distance in all directions with better dispersion in western side as indicated by the concentration coefficient (R2). The F accumulaiton patterns in lichens clearly indicate that the  coal burning in power plant is the major contributor, and has its maximum levels on the down wind side. The analysis of variance and LSD indiacted that the As, F concentrations among lichen thallus is significant at p< 0.01% level. Key words: Bioaccumulation, Arsenic, Fluoride, Lichen, Thermal Power Plant Please Cite This Article As: R. Bajpai et al. 2010. Accumulation of Arsenic and Fluoride in Lichen Pyxine cocoes (Sw.) Nyl., Growing in the Vicinity of Coal-based Thermal Power Plant at Raebareli, India. J. Exp. Sci. 1(4):34-37

Plant Growth Regulators in Water Stress Tolerance

The present review provides an insight into the relationship between plant growth regulators and water stress with emphasis on metabolic events that regulate growth regulator balance and physiological responses. Possible mechanisms by which ABA controls stomatal function and growth under stress, and interacts with proteins and important osmo-protectants, have been discussed. ABA involvement in signal transduction and root-shoot communication through its effects on gene and gene products is also included. A brief description of involvement of other growth regulators such as cytokinins, ethylene, polyamines and brasssinosteroids in water stress tolerance is also provided. Salient achievements in exploiting the potential of growth regulators in the resistance to water stress in some horticultural crops are also given. Gaps in existing information on plant growth regulator research in water stress tolerance have been summarized

Impact of COVID-19 on journalism in Nepal.

This bilingual rapid response report presents findings from a national survey undertaken to ascertain the impact of Covid-19 on Nepali journalists and their working conditions. Covid-19 spread as Nepal was approaching the fifth anniversary of the devastating 2015 earthquakes, the effects of which can still be felt in the nation. As such, Nepal faces additional economic, cultural, and social pressures because of the global pandemic. This report outlines how national and regional journalists, and news organisations responded to the pandemic, and identifies the training and capacity building requirements of Nepali journalists to strengthen future disaster resilience

Assessment of soil and water quality status of rose growing areas of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, India

Rose is a commercial flower crop widely grown across India. It is highly sensitive to salinity and alkalinity. In the process of identification of salt and alkalinity resistant rootstocks of rose cultivars, a survey was conducted in the rose growing areas of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Rajasthan. Total of 28 representative surface soil samples were collected from rose fields of these regions, processed and analyzed for the soil quality parameters. Similarly water samples (20 samples) from the bore wells of these fields were collected and analyzed. The results revealed that most of the soils of rose growing fields in UP were alkaline (pH &gt;8.0) with normal salt content (electrical conductivity, EC &lt; 0.5 dS m-1). Many of these soils also had higher bicarbonates (&gt; 3 meq 100 g-1). In case of Rajasthan, few samples had higher pH, EC, chloride (&gt;2 meq 100 g-1) and bicarbonate contents. Exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) of UP and Rajasthan samples ranged from 5.21-20.7% and 2.94-24.9%, respectively. In case of water parameters in these areas, pH was slightly in alkaline range, EC of some of the samples were high (&gt;1 dSm-1). Sodium content was slightly higher than other cations. Soluble sodium percentage (SSP) of water samples was also slightly higher than normal range (0-50%). Few samples had slightly higher chloride above the threshold limit. From the results, it is concluded that soil and water quality of the rose growing areas of UP and Rajasthan is marginal and proper management/reclamation measures need to be carried out for sustaining the production system

Performance of different weed control chemicals for control of Little seed canary grass (Phalaris minor Retz.) in wheat

Field experiment was conducted during 2005-06 and 2006-07 to evaluate the effect of Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl, Metribuzin and Metsulfuron -methyl for control of little seed canary grass in wheat crop. The pooled analysis of two years data revealed that little seed canary grass (53.52%) was the most dominant weed in the experimental field of wheat crop. Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl showed the most potent direct effect and caused maximum decrease in little seed canary grass (P. minor) population and its dry weight production in comparison to other chemicals as evidenced by its relative population (8.17 plants/m2) at harvest of the wheat crop due to its selective nature. Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl at 90 g.a.i.ha-1 treated plot lowered the growth characters of Phalaris minor like plant height, number of tillars, leaf area and dry weight production as compared to metribuzin, metsulfuron-methyl and weedy check. The dry weight production of P. minor was reduced from 70.53 g m-2 in weedy check to 9.96 gm-2 in fenoxaprop-p-ethyl at 90 g.a.i.ha-1 treated plot. Metribuzin at 70g a.i.ha-1 was the second best chemical treatment in reducing the population and dry weight production of P. minor followed by metsulfuron-methyl at 4.0 g.a.i.ha-1. Fenoxaprop-p-ethyl at 90ga.i.ha-1 provided excellent control of little seed canary grass (P. minor) and produced effective tillers and grain yield of wheat in comparison to other weed control chemicals

Comparative bioaccumulation potential of Pyxine cocoes and Bacidia submedialis in and around Faizabad city, Uttar Pradesh, India

Spatial trend in lichens diversity pattern with respect to pollution source provides vital information regarding environmental condition of the study area. In order to assess lichen diversity changes in one of the cultural centre of Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad city, lichen zone mapping technique was employed to observe spatial trends of lichen diversity in a grid of 1x1 km within 0-5,6-12 and 13-20 km distance from city centre in all the four directions. Overall 15 species were recorded from different directions. Among the different lichen species, Pyxine cocoes and Bacidia submedialis were common in most of the grids. Changes in physiological parameters and metal profile with respect to distance from city centre to the outskirts of the city in both P. cocoes and B. submedialis were analyzed. It was observed that the physiological parameters varied from site to site and in different directions, but the metal profile clearly indicates a decreasing trend of metal concentration with increasing distance from the city centre. The present study provides baseline data for future biomonitoring studies and further confirms the lichen biomonitoring study as an effective tool to monitor changes in environmental condition

Response of Grape Rootstocks to Soil Moisture Stress

Studies on root and shoot morphology, endogenous hormones and water use efficiency in five grape rootstocks namely Dogridge, 1613 C, Salt Creek, St. George and Vitis champinii clone (VC Clone) at three levels of moisture stress viz., no stress (100% irrigation), 50% stress (50% irrigation) and 100% stress (without irrigation) for 14 days revealed that Dogridge and Salt Creek rootstocks maintained the highest ratios of root to shoot length and root to shoot dry weight as compared to other rootstocks. Water use efficiency increased with increased soil moisture stress and was the highest in Dogridge and Salt Creek. The abscisic acid content in the leaves of Dogridge was maximum at 50% stress followed by that of Salt Creek. Similarly the cytokinin content (both t-ZR and DHZR) was minimum in Dogridge and Salt Creek at 50% stress while it was maximum in 1613 C and St.George. The root to shoot length ratio was positively correlated with ABA content under moisture stress conditions. The higher levels of abscisic acid content in Dogridge and Salt Creek under soil moisture stress suggested their better drought tolerance capacity through a reduction of stomatal conductance and increased water use efficiency

Genetic diversity study of indigenous cattle (Gir and Kankrej) population of Rajasthan using microsatellite markers

The genetic diversity study of native Gir and Kankrej (Bos indicus) cattle populations were evaluated using nine microsatellite markers (ETH-225, CSRM-60, HEL-9, INRA-005, ETH-10, HAUT-24, BM1818, ILSTS-002 and ILSTS-006) suggested by FAO (ISAG). A total of 60 cattle were sampled from different places of local Rajasthan region. For each, 30 individuals were sampled. The mean number of observed and effective alleles in Kankrej were high (5.222 and 3.714) comparatively and the average expected heterozygosity values (0.5403) indicated high diversity in the Kankrej population than Gir (0.4520). High polymorphism information content (PIC) values observed for most of the markers with an average of 0.5116 are indicative of high polymorphism of these markers in Kankrej breed than in Gir (0.4202), which showed high informativeness of all the microsatellite markers in Kankrej breed. Three microsatellites markers (HAUT24, BM1818 AND ILSTS006) did not show amplification in both breeds. INRA005 was the only markers amplified in Kankrej. The allele diversity (mean observed number of alleles was 6.11; mean effective number of alleles was 5.187) and gene diversity (0.2771) values implied a substantial amount of genetic variability in both populations. Reasonably high PIC values observed for most of the markers, with an average PIC value of 0.5116 across all the loci implied that this set of microsatellite are very informative for evaluation of genetic diversity in both the breeds. This informativeness of microsatellite markers showed it can be used for various applications like, conservation, disease diagnosis and polymorphism in different populations.Key words: Genetic diversity, polymorphism information content (PIC), heterozygosity, polymorphism, marker