Co-pyrolysis of scrap tire and plastic using coal derived flyash

Used automobile tires and thermoplastics (e.g. polypropylene) have become liability of modern societies and several avenues have been explored for their suitable disposal. Pyrolytic liquefaction of tires and plastics have attracted significant attention since the process can provide value-added products such as liquid transportation fuels and chemicals while mitigating the waste disposal issues. Pyrolysis can be done both in absence (thermal) or presence (catalytic) of a catalyst. Catalytic pyrolysis is favored by less demanding reaction conditions and better quality of product. Catalytic copyrolysis has the additional advantage in using a wider feedstock and a possible synergistic effects from different feeds during molecular transformations. This work investigates the effect of untreated fly-ash (class F) as catalyst for the copyrolysis of scrap tire and polypropylene at 300oC and atmospheric pressure using batch type pyrolysis reactor and also studied the effect of fly-ash during pyrolysis of scrap tire using Pyro-GC/MS. Copyrolysis was carried out using various ratio of scrap tire and polypropylene at 300oC, whereas the pyrolysis of scrap tire in pyro-GC/MS was carried out at 500oC. The maximum yield (23.33%) of oil was obtained at a ratio of 60:40 (w/w) of scrap tire and polypropylene in presence of 20wt% of fly ash catalyst. The oils were characterized by NMR, GC-MS, FT-IR and elemental analysis

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Not AvailableDRR 17A, a stable, wild abortive cytoplasmic male sterile line possessing fine grains and developed by Indian Institute of Rice Research(IIRR), Hyderabad. DRR17A and its maintainer line DRR17B and highly susceptible to bacterial blight (BB) disease and the insect pest, gall midge. In order to address this problem, we have introgressed two dominant genes, Xa21 (for BB resistance) and Gm4 (for gall midge resistance) in the genetic background of DRR17B through Marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). A breeding line in the background of Samba Mahsuri (RP Bio Ent-2) possessing Xa21 and Gm4 served as donor for both the genes. Molecular markers specific for target genes were used at each backcross generation to identify plants possessing the target genes and backcrossing was continued till BC3 generation. At BC3F2 generation, plants homozygous for both the genes and closely resembling DRR 17B were identified and advanced. At BC3F4 generation, five elite lines possessing both Xa21 and Gm4 were screened against bacterial blight under glass house condition; the lines were subjected to screening for resistance. All the five lines were observed to show high level of resistance against BB and possessed yield, grain quality and plant type similar to DRR17B and we are in the process of converting them to WA-CMS lines through marker-assisted breedingNot Availabl

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Not AvailableBacterial blight (BB) disease reduces the yield of rice varieties and hybrids considerably in many tropical rice growing countries like India. The present study highlights the development of durable BB resistance into the background of an elite maintainer of rice, DRR17B, by incorporating two major dominant genes, Xa21 and Xa33 through marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). Through two sets of backcrosses, the two BB resistance genes were transferred separately to DRR17B. In this process, at each stage of backcrossing, foreground selection was carried out for the target resistance genes and for non-fertility restorer alleles concerning the major fertility restorer genes Rf3 and Rf4, using gene-specific PCR-based markers, while background selection was done using a set of 61 and 64 parental polymorphic SSR markers respectively. Backcross derived lines possessing either Xa21 or Xa33 along with maximum genome recovery of DRR17B were identified at BC3F1 generation and selfed to develop BC3F2s. Plants harboring Xa21 or Xa33 in homozygous condition were identified among BC3F2s and were intercrossed with each other to combine both the genes. The intercross F1 plants (ICF1) were selfed and the intercross F2(ICF2) plants possessing both Xa21 and Xa33 in homozygous condition were identified with the help of markers. They were then advanced further by selfing until ICF4 generation. Selected ICF4 lines were evaluated for their resistance against BB with eight virulent isolates and for key agro-morphological traits. Six promising two-gene pyramiding lines of DRR17B with high level of BB resistance and agro-morphological attributes similar or superior to DRR17B withcomplete maintenance ability have been identified. These lines with elevated level of durable resistance may be handy tool for BB resistance breedingNot Availabl

Expanding the diversity of mycobacteriophages: insights into genome architecture and evolution.

Mycobacteriophages are viruses that infect mycobacterial hosts such as Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. All mycobacteriophages characterized to date are dsDNA tailed phages, and have either siphoviral or myoviral morphotypes. However, their genetic diversity is considerable, and although sixty-two genomes have been sequenced and comparatively analyzed, these likely represent only a small portion of the diversity of the mycobacteriophage population at large. Here we report the isolation, sequencing and comparative genomic analysis of 18 new mycobacteriophages isolated from geographically distinct locations within the United States. Although no clear correlation between location and genome type can be discerned, these genomes expand our knowledge of mycobacteriophage diversity and enhance our understanding of the roles of mobile elements in viral evolution. Expansion of the number of mycobacteriophages grouped within Cluster A provides insights into the basis of immune specificity in these temperate phages, and we also describe a novel example of apparent immunity theft. The isolation and genomic analysis of bacteriophages by freshman college students provides an example of an authentic research experience for novice scientists.</p