Variability in yield traits of TILLING population of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Mutagenesis is one of the powerful genetic strategies for crop improvement programmes. A chemically induced mutated genetic resource for detecting novel variations by Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes (TILLING) has been developed in recently released bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivar DPW621-50. A total of 3,478 M2 plants were evaluated for plant height, number of tillers/plant, thousand grain weight, number of seeds/spike and grain yield/plant. A large variation was observed for all the traits. The highest frequency (52.2%) of lines had similar height between 91-100 cm to the non-mutagenized DPW 621-50 control followed by 28.9% of lines with height between 81-90 cm. A large variation was observed in number of tillers/plant which ranged from 1-35 tillers/plant. The highest frequency (32.09%) lines had 31-40 seeds/spike followed by 29.84% lines with 41-50 seeds/spike. Few lines (0.35%) had more than 70 seeds/spike with normal seed size as their thousand grain weight ranged between 34.82-43.82g. Chlorophyll deficient, grassy type and sterile mutants were also observed. This population may serve as new genetic resource for functional genomics studies and novel variants for different traits in elite germplasm can be made available to the plant breeders for wheat improvement

Demographic and clinical profile of brought in dead cases to pediatric emergency department of a tertiary care hospital

Background: The incidence of brought in dead (BID) is high in tertiary hospitals, but there is a lack of proper audit and relevant data of these cases. Objective: The current study aimed to assess the demographic characteristics and clinical profile of BID patients presenting in emergency department (ED) of a tertiary hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective observational study. All children between 0 and 12 years who were BID at the pediatric ED in a tertiary hospital between February 2018 and December 2018 were included. Data were collected on demography, history of illness, treatment seeking history, and details about transport to the hospital. Microsoft Excel was used for analysis. Results: A total of 64 BID cases were included in the study, of which 39% cases belonged to the neonatal age group. Most of the referrals were from government hospitals. Of total neonatal deaths, 44% were preterm babies; 52% of neonates had a previous history of hospitalization. Among previously hospitalized cases, 56% were discharged and 22% took their child against medical advices. Conclusion: It is crucial that the government reinforces the measures to avoid the existence of clandestine health centers. Improving referralcounter-referral system will permit the limitation of fatal medical errors. This study expects to bring the focus on BID so that future studies explore the possible strategies to contain this problem

Molecular investigations on grain filling rate under terminal heat stress in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Grain yield under post anthesis high temperature stress is largely influenced by grain filling rate (GFR). To investigate molecular basis of this trait, a set of 111 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from Raj 4014, a heat sensitive genotype and WH 730, heat tolerant cultivar was phenotyped during 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 crop seasons, under field conditions. The difference in GFR (dGFR) between the timely and late sown conditions was used as a phenotypic parameter to find association with molecular markers, as parental lines exhibited significant difference for this trait. The mapping population showed clear-cut segregation pattern for differences in GFR between timely and late sown conditions. About 75% of the progenies showed no difference while 25% showed significant difference in GFR under high temperature stress created by late sown condition. To study the association of this trait with the markers, the parental lines were screened with 300 simple sequence repeat (SSR) microsatellite markers out of which 15% (45) were polymorphic between parental lines. These polymorphic markers were utilized for genotyping a subset, comprising of 43 RILs that had clear contrasting variation for dGFR. Regression analysis revealed significant association of dGFR of RILs with two markers viz., Xbarc04 and Xgwm314 with coefficients of determination (R2) values of 0.10 and 0.06, respectively.Keywords: Grain filling rate (GFR), simple sequence repeat (SSR), heat tolerance, wheatAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(28), pp. 4439-444

Uncovering Genomic Regions Associated With 36 Agro-Morphological Traits in Indian Spring Wheat Using GWAS

Wheat genetic improvement by integration of advanced genomic technologies is one way of improving productivity. To facilitate the breeding of economically important traits in wheat, SNP loci and underlying candidate genes associated with the 36 agro-morphological traits were studied in a diverse panel of 404 genotypes. By using Breeders’ 35K Axiom array in a comprehensive genome-wide association study covering 4364.79 cM of the wheat genome and applying a compressed mixed linear model, a total of 146 SNPs (-log10P ≥ 4) were found associated with 23 traits out of 36 traits studied explaining 3.7–47.0% of phenotypic variance. To reveal this a subset of 260 genotypes was characterized phenotypically for six quantitative traits [days to heading (DTH), days to maturity (DTM), plant height (PH), spike length (SL), awn length (Awn_L), and leaf length (Leaf_L)] under five environments. Gene annotations mined ∼38 putative candidate genes which were confirmed using tissue and stage specific gene expression data from RNA Seq. We observed strong co-localized loci for four traits (glume pubescence, SL, PH, and awn color) on chromosome 1B (24.64 cM) annotated five putative candidate genes. This study led to the discovery of hitherto unreported loci for some less explored traits (such as leaf sheath wax, awn attitude, and glume pubescence) besides the refined chromosomal regions of known loci associated with the traits. This study provides valuable information of the genetic loci and their potential genes underlying the traits such as awn characters which are being considered as important contributors toward yield enhancement

Sequestering and metamorphosis of molecular nitrogen at ambient conditions: role of bonding and back-bonding

The optical absorbance behavior of a molecule during the reaction is yet to be explored due to the deficiency in appropriate theoretical and experimental tools. In the present study, the Intrinsic Reaction Coordinate (IRC) trapping methodology is implemented in a new approach to capture the electronic motion during the nitrogen activation reaction by heterocyclic carbenes. This technique acts as a Handycam (Molecular Handycam) to shoot photographs of electrons in the event of a chemical reaction beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. The use of the newly designed molecular Handycam to analyse electron flow at the frontier molecular orbitals during the adduct formation reaction of molecular nitrogen with heterocyclic carbene corroborated that in the carbene −N 2 reaction, carbene operates as a σ −acceptor and π −donor where the bonding and the back bonding processes occur before and after the transition state of the reaction. There is a significant time delay between the bonding and the back bonding process, implying that the bonding back-bonding is not simultaneous for this reaction. These findings ameliorate the DFT-based designing of heterocyclic carbenes to model a congenial catalyst for the sequestering of atmospheric nitrogen and its metamorphosis to ammonia at an ambient and metal-free condition. It is also brought to light that the optical absorption behavior of a molecule may change along the reaction path. Though molecular nitrogen, model carbene and the carbene−N 2 adduct are non-responsive to visible light, an evanescent optical absorbance in the visible region is observed during the chemical reaction

Financial networks and systemic risk vulnerabilities: a tale of Indian banks

This study identifies the nature and direction of unprecedented upheavals in the Indian banking sector which is linked to credit market asymmetry. A tail-driven network approach with a mixed sample of banks and firms exhibits the characteristics of the twin-balance-sheet syndrome. We construct the networks with a degree of interconnectedness at different quantiles and identify major systemic risk emitters and receivers. Furthermore, we find a spillover of the riskiness of deep-in-debt firms to banks. Smaller banking institutions evince a greater connection to banks and firms than larger ones. Our results are valuable for policymakers formulating financial stabilization policies and investors considering Indian markets for various opportunities

STS marker based tracking of slow rusting <i>Lr34</i> gene in Indian wheat genotypes

207-213Bi-allelic STS marker was used to confirm the presence of adult plant durable rust resistance gene Lr34 in advance generation breeding lines. These lines were scored for leaf rust three times at an equal interval and the area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) was calculated. The lower AUDPC values of Lr34 positive lines confirmed their slow rusting nature. In the absence of direct selection method, the breeders are selecting Lr34 gene carrying lines unintentionally as they showed better resistance. Lines possessing Lr34, an ‘undefeated gene’, should be used in breeding programme in order to have a broad-spectrum durable leaf rust resistance

High Resolution Mapping of QTLs for Heat Tolerance in Rice Using a 5K SNP Array

Abstract Background Heat stress is one of the major abiotic threats to rice production, next to drought and salinity stress. Incidence of heat stress at reproductive phase of the crop results in abnormal pollination leading to floret sterility, low seed set and poor grain quality. Identification of QTLs and causal genes for heat stress tolerance at flowering will facilitate breeding for improved heat tolerance in rice. In the present study, we used 272 F8 recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between Nagina22, a well-known heat tolerant Aus cultivar and IR64, a heat sensitive popular Indica rice variety to map the QTLs for heat tolerance. Results To enable precise phenotyping for heat stress tolerance, we used a controlled phenotyping facility available at ICAR-Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal, India. Based on ‘days to 50% flowering’ data of the RILs, we followed staggered sowing to synchronize flowering to impose heat stress at uniform stage. Using the Illumina infinium 5K SNP array for genotyping the parents and the RILs, and stress susceptibility and stress tolerance indices (SSI and STI) of percent spikelet sterility and yield per plant (g), we identified five QTLs on chromosomes 3, 5, 9 and 12. The identified QTLs explained phenotypic variation in the range of 6.27 to 21. 29%. Of these five QTLs, two high effect QTLs, one novel (qSTIPSS9.1) and one known (qSTIY5.1/qSSIY5.2), were mapped in less than 400 Kbp genomic regions, comprising of 65 and 54 genes, respectively. Conclusions The present study identified two major QTLs for heat tolerance in rice in narrow physical intervals, which can be employed for crop improvement by marker assisted selection (MAS) after development of suitable scorable markers for breeding of high yielding heat tolerant rice varieties. This is the first report of a major QTL for heat tolerance on chromosome 9 of rice. Further, a known QTL for heat tolerance on chromosome 5 was narrowed down from 23 Mb to 331 Kbp in this study

Audit of clinical use of red blood cells in a tertiary care setting: An algorithmic approach!

Objective: There have been quite a few publications on audit of clinical use of blood components. However, there is paucity of studies on red blood cell (RBC) clinical use. Therefore, a study was designed to determine the appropriate clinical use of RBC in various departments in a tertiary care setting. Materials and Methods: It was a prospective observational study conducted from January 2017 to April 2017 in a large tertiary care hospital in north India. The study population included all consecutive admitted patients who received RBC transfusion during the study period. Patients undergoing RBC transfusions the in operation theater were excluded. An algorithmic approach was used which analyzed the “appropriateness” on the basis of hemoglobin thresholds, symptoms in patient, comorbidities, and imminent blood loss in a sequential manner. Results and Discussion: Of a total of 1024 transfusions, 924 (90.02%) episodes were appropriate. This was higher than the previous published reports because of algorithmic approach, higher hemoglobin threshold (8 g%), and possibly better informed physicians in tertiary care setting. Conclusion: There were a high percentage of appropriate RBC transfusions in large tertiary care settings