Effect of Seed Disinfectants on in vitro Seed Germination and Seedling Development in Eggplant

The present investigation reports effects of disinfectants on culture contamination, seed germination and seedling growth in eggplant. Mercuric chloride hampers seed germination when seeds are treated with 0.1% solution above 2 min duration and lesser durations are not helpful in controlling in vitro contamination. The highest seed germination (89.97%) was recorded with 50% commercial bleach for 20 min in the genotype BL-3, followed by BR-16 (88.53%), BR-14 (86.19%), BL-5 (86.16%) and BSR-23 (85.57%). However, least number of seeds germinated in BR-18 (10.94%), BSR-25 (13.27%) and BL-7 (18.62%) when disinfected with 75% commercial bleach for 25min. Overall results revealed that 50% commercial bleach concentration (73.76%) was better than 75% (36.85%), and 20 min duration (60.82%) was better than 25 min (49.80%) for seed disinfection. Among the varieties, BL-3 was at the top (68.85%) and BR-18 at the lowest (34.16%) edge for per cent seed germination. Seedling growth (cm) with use of commercial bleach was quite satisfactory compared to disinfection with HgCl2, where, 50% commercial bleach favored a good stand of plant lets even after 10 days, showing a healthy root (3cm), hypocotyl (5cm) and cotyledons (1.5cm)

Genetic variability in CMS backcross generations and their maintainers in eggplant (Solanum melongena L.)

Twelve genotypes of eggplant in BC3, BC4 and BC5 generations of CMS-lines derived from Solanum ae-thiopicum × Solanum melongena cross along with their maintainers were evaluated for eighteen quantitative charac-ters at Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana. Analysis of variance depicted significant variation (P ? 0.05) for all the characters in all generations. High PCV and GCV values were observed for fruit length, fruit girth, fruit weight, number of fruits plant-1 and yield plant-1 in all generations indicating high variability in the germplasm. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was found for peduncle length, fruit length, fruit girth, fruit weight, number of fruits plant-1 and yield plant-1 in all generations indicating the predominance of additive gene action for these traits. Thus, selections can be made from present germplasm for the development of improved CMS inbred lines with varying fruit traits

Heterosis for Fruit Yield and its Components in Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)

An experiment was conducted with 14 parents and 40 F1s to study heterosis in brinjal. Crosses showing significant heterosis over the better parent were: HE12 X Aruna for first fruit set; BR-112 X Aruna for fruit length and diameter; Pant Samrat X Punjab Neelam for number of fruits per plant; H-7 X Aruna for fruit weight; H-9 X S-16 for total yield per plant; Negative heterosis were recorded in KT-4 X Aruna for borer and Pant in Rituraj X Punjab Neelam for nematode infestation

Studies on Combining Ability for Yield and Quality Traits in Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.)

The experimental material in brinjal (eggplant) comprised 19 parents (15 lines + 4 testers), 60 F1 crosses and two standard checks (BH-1 and BH-2). This was grown in Randomized Block Design, with three replications. Lines vs. testers showed significance for all characters except plant height, plant spread, number of primary branches, dry matter, total sugars and total phenol. Analysis for parents vs. hybrids showed significance for all the characters except average fruit weight, number of fruits per plant, plant spread and number of primary branches. Analysis of Variance for combining ability revealed mean squares due to lines and testers were significant for all the characters except plant height, plant spread, number of primary branches, total sugars, total phenol and content of anthocyanins. The ratio of variance due to specific combining ability and general combining ability (σ2SCA: σ2GCA) was greater than unity, indicating non-additive genetic control for all traits except plant spread and total phenols. Among the females, Punjab Barsati, PBR-91-1, RCMBL-1-1, BSR-11; and among the males, BB-93-C and U-8-61-3 were best general combiners for yield and yield components. Punjab Barsati was the best combiner for days to 50% flowering, days to first fruit harvest, number of fruits per plant and number of primary branches. The cross JBR-3-16 × PB-64 manifested best SCA effects for days to 50% flowering; PBR-91-1JBSR-98-2 for average fruit weight; BSR-11 × PB-64 for fruit length; BSR-11× U-8-61-3 for fruit girth, and the cross HABL-1 × JBSR-98-2 for yield per plant and per hectare

Semantic representation of monogenean haptoral Bar image annotation

Background Digitised monogenean images are usually stored in file system directories in an unstructured manner. In this paper we propose a semantic representation of these images in the form of a Monogenean Haptoral Bar Image (MHBI) ontology, which are annotated with taxonomic classification, diagnostic hard part and image properties. The data we used are basically of the monogenean species found in fish, thus we built a simple Fish ontology to demonstrate how the host (fish) ontology can be linked to the MHBI ontology. This will enable linking of information from the monogenean ontology to the host species found in the fish ontology without changing the underlying schema for either of the ontologies. Results In this paper, we utilized the Taxonomic Data Working Group Life Sciences Identifier (TDWG LSID) vocabulary to represent our data and defined a new vocabulary which is specific for annotating monogenean haptoral bar images to develop the MHBI ontology and a merged MHBI-Fish ontologies. These ontologies are successfully evaluated using five criteria which are clarity, coherence, extendibility, ontology commitment and encoding bias Conclusions In this paper, we show that unstructured data can be represented in a structured form using semantics. In the process, we have come up with a new vocabulary for annotating the monogenean images with textual information. The proposed monogenean image ontology will form the basis of a monogenean knowledge base to assist researchers in retrieving information for their analysis

Metabolomics characterization of Senna tora (L.) Roxb. using different approaches

The present study aimed to investigate the variety of elements, chemical compounds and their corresponding functional groups in the whole plant, leaves, and seeds of Senna tora. A preliminary phytochemical analysis has revealed the presence of secondary metabolites including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids, cardiac active glycosides, phenolics, etc. Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrophotometry (GC-MS) analysis of leaves and seeds of S. tora has depicted 31 and 27 compounds, respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy has further unveiled the presence of different functional groups such as amines, aromatic compounds, carboxyl groups, ketones etc. associated with different metabolites. Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (WD-XRF) has revealed the presence of more than 20 elements (macro and micro) including Ca, Mg, Fe, K, etc. This study has highlighted the detailed account of the chemical compounds and elements present in the plant species under investigation and substantiated its medicinal importance in the traditional health care system

Studies on Genetic Diversity in Growth, Yield and Quality Traits in Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

Evaluation of 35 genotypes of tomato for yield, quality and fruit characters under net-house revealed that PCV was higher than GCV for most traits. High heritability, with moderate to high GCV and genetic gain, was recorded for number of fruits per plant, yield per plant, fruit weight, number of fruit-clusters per plant, polar diameter and number of flower-clusters per plant indicating, that, these characters could be improved by simple selection. Total yield per plant had positive and highly significant correlation with number of fruit-clusters per plant, number of flowerclusters per plant and fruit weight. Number of locules per fruit showed positive and significant correlation with fruit weight and equatorial diameter but, significant negative correlation with polar diameter. Maximum direct contribution to total yield per plant was made by number of fruits per plant, followed by number of locules per fruit

Human Claustrum Activation During Pain

Chronic pain is one of the principal causes of disability in the world. Many if not all of us deal with or know of someone who deals with chronic pain. Interestingly, it appears that a mysterious part of the brain known as the claustrum has a hand in chronic pain. Although little is known about the actual function of the claustrum, it is hypothesized to synchronize cortical networks during tasks which have a cognitive load. Recent literature has indicated that during chronic pain conditions, neural network recruitment is modified. In addition, an analysis of an existing fMRI data set determined that chronic pain patients have altered claustrum activation as opposed to healthy controls. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect(s) of pain on claustrum activation in healthy controls using fMRI

Progressive myoclonic epilepsy due to rare mitochondrial ND6 mutation, m.14487T>C

INTRODUCTION: Mitochondrial diseases exhibit wide phenotypic heterogeneity, and can present as progressive myoclonic epilepsy. SUMMARY: We report a case of adult-onset drug-resistant epilepsy, cortical myoclonus and bilateral optic neuropathies due to m.14487T>C, a rare mitochondrial gene mutation identified on whole-genome sequencing. This mutation, which affects the NADH dehydrogenase 6 (ND6) subunit of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, is most commonly implicated in cases of infantile-onset Leigh syndrome, although a broader phenotypic spectrum including migraine with aura and progressive myoclonic epilepsy have been described. Serial MRI scans over a 2-year period demonstrated the interval development of bihemispheric stroke-like lesions. Giant somatosensory evoked potentials and short-duration myoclonic jerks with craniocaudal spread on surface electromyography were consistent with cortical myoclonus. Optical coherence tomography showed bilateral symmetric thinning of the nerve fibre layer in the papillomacular bundles. CONCLUSION: Whole-genome sequencing can help to provide a definitive diagnosis for mitochondrial disease and should be considered in situations where clinical suspicion remains high despite normal genetic panels or muscle histopathology. Mitochondrial disease can present as adult-onset progressive myoclonic epilepsy, and bilateral optic neuropathies can be a striking feature of ND6 mitochondrial gene mutations. In our case, severe cortical myoclonus affecting speech and swallowing remained highly drug-resistant, however, symptomatic benefit was derived from targeted onabotulinum toxin A injections