Seed Priming: An Interlinking Technology between Seeds, Seed Germination and Seedling Establishment

Biologically seed is a small embryonic plant along with either endosperm or cotyledons, enclosed with in an outer protecting covering called seed coat. During the time of seed development large metabolic conversions take place, including proper partitioning of photo-assimilates and the formation of complex polymeric forms of carbohydrate, protein and fats for storing as seed reserves. In developing phase of seeds, every detail information stored in the embryonic plant are genetically and sometimes epigenetically also predetermined and influenced by various environmental/external factors already faced by the mother plant. In the growth cycle of plants, seed germination and seedling establishment are the two critical phases where survivability of the seedlings in natural habitats is a matter of question until the onset of photosynthesis by the established seedling. The various sequence of complex processes known to occur in both the phases i.e., an array of metabolic activities are initiating which eventually leads to the renewal of embryo growth of the dormant seeds and ultimately seedlings are established. Efficient seed germination is an important factor for agricultural sciences and successful establishment of germinated seedling requires a rapid and uniform emergence and root growth. With these aspects of seed physiology kept in mind the present chapter will be designed in such a way where, a gap filling, inter linking, eco- and farmers\u27 friendly technology i.e., ‘seed priming’ (a pre-sowing partial hydration of seeds) will be considered to improve the rate and uniformity of germination and seedling establishment. Under optimal and adverse environmental conditions, the primed seeds of diversified species lead to an enhanced germination performance with increased vigor index has been reported by various scientists which indicates a good establishment of seedlings in the field and thereafter enhance the performance of crops as a whole

Prediction Equations for Body-fat Percentage in Indian Infants and Young Children Using Skinfold Thickness and Mid-arm Circumference

The objective of the study was to develop prediction equations for fat-mass percentage in infants in India based on skinfold thickness, mid-arm circumference, and age. Skinfold thicknesses and mid-arm circumference of 46 apparently-healthy infants (27 girls and 19 boys), aged 6–24 months, from among the urban poor attending a well baby clinic of a hospital in Kolkata were measured. Their body-fat percentage was measured using the D2O dilution technique as the reference method. Equations for body-fat percentage were developed using a stepwise forward regression model using skinfold thicknesses, mid-arm circumference, and age as independent variables, and the body-fat percentage was derived by D2O dilution as the dependent variable. The new prediction equations are: body-fat percentage=-69.26+5.76×B-0.33×T2+5.40×M+0.01×A2 for girls and body-fat percentage=-8.75+3.73×B+2.57×S for boys, where B=biceps skinfold thickness, T=triceps skinfold thickness, and S=suprailiac skinfold thickness all in mm, M=mid-arm circumference in cm, and A=age in month. Using the D2O dilution technique, the means (SD) of the calculated body-fat percentage were 17.11 (7.25) for girls and 16.93 (6.62) for boys and, using the new prediction equations, these were 17.11 (6.25) for girls and 16.93 (6.02) for boys. The mean of the differences of paired values in body-fat percentage was zero. The mean (SD) of the differences of paired values for body-fat percentage derived by the D2O technique and the new equations, applied on an independent sample of 23 infants (11 girls and 12 boys) were -0.93 (6.56) for girls and 1.14 (2.43) for boys; the 95% confidence limits of the differences of paired values for body-fat percentage were -2.03 to +3.89 for girls and -0.26 to +2.54 for boys. Given that the trajectories of growth during infancy and childhood are a major risk factor for a group of diseases in adulthood, including coronary heart disease and diabetes, these predictive equations should be useful in field studies

Prediction equations for body-fat percentage in Indian infants and young children using skinfold thickness and mid-arm circumference

The objective of the study was to develop prediction equations for fat-mass percentage in infants in In-dia based on skinfold thickness, mid-arm circumference, and age. Skinfold thicknesses and mid-arm cir-cumference of 46 apparently-healthy infants (27 girls and 19 boys), aged 6-24 months, from among the urban poor attending a well baby clinic of a hospital in Kolkata were measured. Their body-fat percent-age was measured using the D 2 O dilution technique as the reference method. Equations for body-fat per-centage were developed using a stepwise forward regression model using skinfold thicknesses, mid-arm circumference, and age as independent variables, and the body-fat percentage was derived by D 2 O dilu-tion as the dependent variable. The new prediction equations are: body-fat percentage=-69.26+5.76\u3a7B-0.33\u3a7T 2 +5.40\u3a7M+0.01\u3a7A 2 for girls and body-fat percentage=-8.75+3.73\u3a7B+2.57\u3a7S for boys, where B=biceps skinfold thickness, T=triceps skinfold thickness, and S=suprailiac skinfold thickness all in mm, M=mid-arm circumference in cm, and A=age in month. Using the D 2 O dilution technique, the means (SD) of the cal-culated body-fat percentage were 17.11 (7.25) for girls and 16.93 (6.62) for boys and, using the new predic-tion equations, these were 17.11 (6.25) for girls and 16.93 (6.02) for boys. The mean of the differences of paired values in body-fat percentage was zero. The mean (SD) of the differences of paired values for body-fat percentage derived by the D 2 O technique and the new equations, applied on an independent sample of 23 infants (11 girls and 12 boys) were -0.93 (6.56) for girls and 1.14 (2.43) for boys; the 95% confidence limits of the differences of paired values for body-fat percentage were -2.03 to +3.89 for girls and -0.26 to +2.54 for boys. Given that the trajectories of growth during infancy and childhood are a major risk factor for a group of diseases in adulthood, including coronary heart disease and diabetes, these predictive equations should be useful in field studies

Artificial Light at Night: A Global Threat to Plant Biological Rhythms and Eco-Physiological Processes

Light is crucial environmental factor for primary resource and signalling in plants and provide optimum fitness under fluctuating environments from millions of year. However, due to urbanization, and human development activities lot of excess light generated in environment during night time and responsible for anthropogenic generated pollution (ALAN; artificial night light pollution). This pollution has cause for serious problem in plants as it affects their processes and functions which are under the control of light or diurnal cycle. Plant biorhythms mostly diurnal rhythms such as stomatal movements, photosynthetic activity, and many more metabolic processes are under the control of period of light and dark, which are crucially affected by artificial light at night. Similarly, the crucial plant processes such as pollination, flowering, and yield determining processes are controlled by the diurnal cycle and ALAN affects these processes and ultimately hampers the plant fitness and development. To keep in mind the effect of artificial light at night on plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes, this chapter will focus on the status of global artificial night light pollution and the responsible factors. Further, we will explore the details mechanisms of plant biorhythm and eco-physiological processes under artificial light at night and how this mechanism can be a global threat. Then at the end we will focus on the ANLP reducing strategies such as new light policy, advanced lightening technology such as remote sensing and lightening utilisation optimisation

Absorption and accumulation of nitrate in plants: Influence of environmental factors

101-110<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt;font-family:" times="" new="" roman","serif""="">Plants adopt various strategies to fulfil their nitrogen nutrition requirement, the most important being the uptake of nitrate from the soil and its subsequent assimilation in to amino acids. The uptake of nitrate is energy dependent and is an active process involving high affinity and low affinity transport systems. The net uptake of the anion depends upon both influx as well as on its passive efflux. When the uptake far exceeds over its assimilation in the plant, there is considerable accumulation of nitrate in the plant parts making them unfit for human and cattle consumption. Various environmental factors affect the uptake and accumulation of nitrate, which along with the genetic component of the plant affecting the net uptake and accumulation of the nitrate, need to be considered and carefully manipulated for effective nitrogen management in the plant, soil and aquatic environment. </span

Sulfur in Seeds: An Overview

Sulfur is a growth-limiting and secondary macronutrient as well as an indispensable component for several cellular components of crop plants. Over the years various scientists have conducted several experiments on sulfur metabolism based on different aspects of plants. Sulfur metabolism in seeds has immense importance in terms of the different sulfur-containing seed storage proteins, the significance of transporters in seeds, the role of sulfur during the time of seed germination, etc. The present review article is based on an overview of sulfur metabolism in seeds, in respect to source to sink relationships, S transporters present in the seeds, S-regulated seed storage proteins and the importance of sulfur at the time of seed germination. Sulfur is an essential component and a decidable factor for seed yield and the quality of seeds in terms of oil content in oilseeds, storage of qualitative proteins in legumes and has a significant role in carbohydrate metabolism in cereals. In conclusion, a few future perspectives towards a more comprehensive knowledge on S metabolism/mechanism during seed development, storage and germination have also been stated

Crucial plant processes under heat stress and tolerance through heat shock proteins

Global crop production is facing a myriad of challenges and obstacles to achieving food security in the near future. Among all the challenges, heat stress (HS) is one of them. In HS, the temperature is a prime factor responsible for affecting the optimum growth of plants. Higher temperatures lead to changes in plants' functional processes and negatively affect plant productivity. In most plants, the reproductive stage is the sensible one and is greatly hampered by HS. However, some of the mechanisms were developed to mitigate the drastic impacts of HS. Although, there is a massive gap in achieving the sustainability goal under the climate change scenario. By considering these facts, the present analysis deals with the impact of HS on vital processes such as water and nutritional status, assimilate partitioning, photosynthetic activity, yield, and oxidative damages. This review further discussed the molecular mechanisms of heat shock proteins (HSPs) including sHSPs, HSP60, HSP70, HSP90, and HSP100 in HS tolerance. This review also highlights the advanced molecular techniques such as genome editing, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), and omics that open exciting avenues in several directions related to heat stress tolerance mechanisms. Further, this gathered information helps in the understanding of recent advances in HS tolerance through HSPs, which could used in developing future strategies for warming temperatures. Moreover, this information supports the crop breeding program for developing high-temperature tolerant lines

Artificial night light alters ecosystem services provided by biotic components

The global catastrophe of natural biodiversity and ecosystem services are expedited with the growing human population. Repercussions of artificial light at night ALAN are much wider, as it varies from unicellular to higher organism. Subsequently, hastened pollution and over exploitation of natural resources accelerate the expeditious transformation of climatic phenomenon and further cause global biodiversity losses. Moreover, it has a crucial role in global biodiversity and ecosystem services losses via influencing the ecosystem biodiversity by modulating abundance, number and aggregation at every levels as from individual to biome levels. Along with these affects, it disturbs the population, genetics and landscape structures by interfering inter- and intra-species interactions and landscape formation processes. Furthermore, alterations in normal light/dark (diurnal) signalling disrupt the stable physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes and modulate the regulating, cultural and provisioning ecosystem services and ultimately disorganize the stable ecosystem structure and functions. Moreover, ALAN reshapes the abiotic component of the ecosystem, and as a key component of global warming via producing greenhouse gases via emitting light. By taking together the above facts, this review highlights the impact of ALAN on the ecosystem and its living and non-living components, emphasizing to the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem. Further, we summarize the means of minimizing strategies of ALAN in the environment, which are very crucial to reduce the further spread of night light contamination in the environment and can be useful to minimize the drastic impacts on the ecosystem