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This review article gives a clear idea of the utility of genome editing in oilseed crops. It provides a list of traits and prospective genes that could be targeted for genome editing in the oilseed crops and thus can act as a ready reckoner to the researchers interested in embarking onto genome editing work in the oilseed crops.The ever-increasing demand for vegetable oil requirement has necessitated increasing the production of oilseeds crops. Productivity is compromised in these crops due to biotic and abiotic stresses. Albeit the substantial progress made in this direction through conventional breeding approaches, breeding for certain traits like stress tolerance is limited by the nonavailability of genetic variability for these traits in primary germplasm, the time required for selection and the realization of a suitable genetic assemblage from the segregating populations, etc. This situation has necessitated adopting alternate approaches to achieve the objectives. Genome editing technology offers a solution to modify the genome precisely with least genetic perturbation in the least possible time frame and it has been adopted in several crops including oilseeds. Genome editing technology depends on the genetic transformation step for introducing the machinery required for altering the genome. However, the recalcitrance for in vitro manipulations observed in oilseed crops such as castor, sesame, jatropha, etc. has set a limit for exploiting this powerful technology in oilseed crops. In this review, we have summarized the genome editing work carried out in oilseed crops and also discuss the possibility of employing such technologies along with the promising gene targets that could be manipulated to generate required variants in oilseed crops.ICA

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Not AvailableThe ever-increasing demand for vegetable oil requirement has necessitated increasing the production of oilseeds crops. Productivity is compromised in these crops due to biotic and abiotic stresses. Albeit the substantial progress made in this direction through conventional breeding approaches, breeding for certain traits like stress tolerance is limited by the nonavailability of genetic variability for these traits in primary germplasm, the time required for selection and the realization of a suitable genetic assemblage from the segregating populations, etc. This situation has necessitated adopting alternate approaches to achieve the objectives. Genome editing technology ofers a solution to modify the genome precisely with least genetic perturbation in the least possible time frame and it has been adopted in several crops including oilseeds. Genome editing technology depends on the genetic transformation step for introducing the machinery required for altering the genome. However, the recalcitrance for in vitro manipulations observed in oilseed crops such as castor, sesame, jatropha, etc. has set a limit for exploiting this powerful technology in oilseed crops. In this review, we have summarized the genome editing work carried out in oilseed crops and also discuss the possibility of employing such technologies along with the promising gene targets that could be manipulated to generate required variants in oilseed crops.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableTransglycosylation (TG) by Enterobacter cloacae subsp. cloacae chitinase 2 (EcChi2) has been deciphered by site-directed mutagenesis. EcChi2 originally displayed feeble TG with chitin oligomer with a degree of polymerization (DP4), for a short duration. Based on the 3D modelling and molecular docking analyses, we altered the substrate interactions at the substrate-binding cleft, catalytic center, and catalytic groove of EcChi2 by mutational approach to improve TG. The mutation of W166A and T277A increased TG by EcChi2 and also affected its catalytic efficiency on the polymeric substrates. Whereas, R171A had a drastically decreased hydrolytic activity but, retained TG activity. In the increased hydrolytic activity of the T277A, altered interactions with the substrates played an indirect role in the catalysis. Mutation of the central Asp, in the conserved DxDxE motif, to Ala (D314A) and Asn (D314N) conversion yielded DP5-DP8 TG products. The quantifiable TG products (DP5 and DP6) increased to 8% (D314A) and 7% (D314N), resulting in a hyper-transglycosylating mutant. Mutation of W276A and W398A resulted in the loss of TG activity, indicating that the aromatic residues (W276 and W398) at +1 and +2 subsites are essential for the TG activity of EcChi2.Not Availabl

Bacillus sonorensis, a novel plant growth promoting rhizobacterium in improving growth, nutrition and yield of chilly (Capsicum annuum L.)

Plant growth promoting rhizomicroorganisms (PGPR) play an important role in improving plant growth, nutrition and yield of different crops. Chilly is one of the major commercial crops of India with large export potential. The first experiment was conducted with 10 PGPR to investigate their effects on growth and yield of chilly. Although most of the plant parameters studied were statistically not significant, 2 PGPR viz. Paenibacillus polymyxa and Pantoea dispersa showed agronomic improvement in plant growth as compared to control and other treatments. The second experiment was conducted with these 2 PGPR plus 8 more PGPR in order to select the best PGPR for inoculating chilly. Inoculation significantly improved the growth, nutrition and fruit yield as compared to uninoculated control. Considering plant dry biomass and fruit yield, Methylobacterium radiotolerans proved to be the best PGPR. Further screening with M. radiotolerans plus 2 more PGPR viz. Bacillus sonorensis and Paenibacillus elgii on 2 common varieties of chilly resulted in enhanced plant dry biomass, nutrition and fruit yield. The results clearly brought out that B. sonorensis is the most promising PGPR inoculant for chilly. The plant growth promoting traits revealed that B. sonorensis is a P-solubilizer and able to produce indole acetic acid, siderophore, chitinase, hydrogen cyanide and good in biofilm formation

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Not AvailableGenome editing has become a breakthrough technology this decade to precisely modify the genome in short time. This technology has paved way for manipulating the traits of agronomic importance with ease in many crop plants. Even though plant transformation is necessary in the first step, the final product is non-transgenic; thus, attractive for social acceptance. Lack of robust transformation procedures is a limitation to use the genome editing in some crop plants. It becomes even harder when the frequency of precise editing effected by the reagents is low. Recent reports show that genome editing can be performed bypassing the tissue culture procedures; therefore, offer hope for its use in crops that are unresponsive. We briefly discuss these breakthrough techniques here.Not Availabl

Preferential promotion of lycopersicon esculentum (tomato) growth by plant growth promoting bacteria associated with tomato

A total of 74 morphologically distinct bacterial colonies were selected during isolation of bacteria from different parts of tomato plant (rhizoplane, phylloplane and rhizosphere) as well as nearby bulk soil. The isolates were screened for plant growth promoting (PGP) traits such as production of indole acetic acid, siderophore, chitinase and hydrogen cyanide as well as phosphate solubilization. Seven isolates viz., NR4, NR6, RP3, PP1, RS4, RP6 and NR1 that exhibited multiple PGP traits were identified, based on morphological, biochemical and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, as species that belonged to four genera Aeromonas, Pseudomonas,Bacillus and Enterobacter. All the seven isolates were positive for 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase. Isolate NR6 was antagonistic to Fusarium solani and Fusarium moniliforme, and both PP1 and RP6 isolates were antagonistic to F. moniliforme. Except RP6, all isolates adhered significantly to glass surface suggestive of biofilm formation. Seed bacterization of tomato, groundnut, sorghum and chickpea with the seven bacterial isolates resulted in varied growth response in laboratory assay on half strength Murashige and Skoog medium. Most of the tomato isolates positively influenced tomato growth. The growth response was either neutral or negative with groundnut, sorghum and chickpea. Overall, the results suggested that bacteria with PGP traits do not positively influence the growth of all plants, and certain PGP bacteria may exhibit host-specificity. Among the isolates that positively influenced growth of tomato (NR1, RP3, PP1, RS4 and RP6) only RS4 was isolated from tomato rhizosphere. Therefore, the best PGP bacteria can also be isolated from zones other than rhizosphere or rhizoplane of a plant

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Not AvailableClimate change is continuously aiding new vulnerable challenges to agriculture sector. Severe changes in temperature, rainfall, drought, soil salinity level are some of its examples. Since climate change affects the available natural resources like water, soil and existing biodiversity patterns, the requirement of assured food supply in future depends on the use of modern agricultural technologies. Biotechnological being an interdisciplinary science had the potential to develop interventions which can mitigate these climate changes in economical and sustainable manner. Various sub-disciplines of biotechnology like molecular breeding, plant tissue culture, recombinant DNA technology and genomics have contributed immensely in crop improvement programmes. Here in this chapter it is tried to discuss about the concept, application and examples of all these subdiscipline of biotechnology including advance genome editing techniques with respect to climate change have been enlisted.Not Availabl