Genetic diversity in grain quality and nutrition of aromatic rices

The study was conducted at Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Gazipur in 2005 to assess the genetic divergence of aromatic rices for grain quality and nutrition aspects. Forty genotypes composedof 32 local aromatic, five exotic aromatic and three non-aromatic rice varieties were used. Univariate and multivariate analyses were done. Enormous variations were observed in majority of characters viz.grain length, breadth, kernel weight, milling yield, kernel length, L/B ratio of kernel, volume expansion ratio (VER), protein content, amylose content, elongation ratio (ER) and cooking time. In multivariateanalysis, genotypes were grouped into six clusters. In the discriminant function analysis (DFA), function 1 alone absorbed 61.7% of the total variance. The most contributing variables were kernel weight, kernel length and L/B ratio in function 1. The inter-cluster D2 value was maximum (26.53) between I and VI followed by 21.28 (between I and V). Minimum D2 value was found (5.90) between II and III. Majority of the local aromatic rice varieties with smaller kernels were included in the cluster I. The cluster III contains Elai, sarwati and sugandha-1 with long-slender kernel and ‘very good’ appearance. Thus, these varieties can be used in breeding programme for improvement of germplasms in cluster-I

Virus free seed potato production through sprout cutting technique under net-house

In order to evaluate the performance of sprout cutting for seed potato production against virus infection, a study was conducted at Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) Foundation Seed Potato Production Farm, Domar, Nilphamary, Bangladesh in 2005 - 2006. Sprout cut seedlings were grown under three production practices viz. Net-house practice, BADC practice and farmers’ practice. Sprout cutting technique was proved to be an effective method of seed potato production against potato virus Y (PVY) and potato leaf roll virus (PLRV). The incidence of PVY and PLRV was detected as nil in net-house practice. However, PVY and PLRV were prevalent in BADC practice and farmers’ practice although, BADC practice performed better over farmers’ practice. Yield of seed potato and non-seed tubers along with yield attributes were found to be higher in all the five varieties (Diamant, Baraka, Asterix, Raja and Provento) in net-house practice followed by BADC practice and farmers’ practice. Among the varieties Diamant, Asterix and Raja seemed to be better in performance as compared to the others. In most of the cases net-house practice differed significantly (p = 0.05) with the others.Keywords: Potato virus Y, potato leaf roll virus, seed potato, sprout cuttingAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(36), pp. 5852-5858, 6 September, 201

Efficiency of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for the enhancement of rice growth

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are beneficial bacteria that colonize plant roots and enhance plant growth by a wide variety of mechanisms. The use of PGPR is steadily increasing in agriculture and offers an attractive way to replace chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and supplements. Here, we have isolated and characterized the PGPR from the rhizosphere soil of rice field for the enhancement of growth of rice. Rhizosphere soils were collected from different areas of Mymensingh inBangladesh. Ten isolates of bacteria, designated as PGB1, PGB2, PGB3, PGB4, PGB5, PGT1, PGT2, PGT3, PGG1 and PGG2, were successfully isolated and characterized. Subsequently, to investigate the effects of PGPR isolates on the growth of rice, a pot culture experiment was conducted. Prior to seeds grown in plastic pots, seeds were treated with PGPR isolates and seedlings were harvested after 21days of inoculation. Isolates PGB4, PGT1, PGT2, PGT3, PGG1 and PGG2 induced the production of indole acetic acid (IAA), whereas only PGT3 isolate was able to solubilize phosphorus. Most of isolatesresulted in a significant increase in plant height, root length, and dry matter production of shoot and root of rice seedlings. Furthermore, PGPR isolates remarkably increased seed germination of rice.Among the ten isolates, PGB4 and PGG2 were found almost equally better in all aspects such as dry matter production, plant height and root length of rice, and IAA production. Isolate PGT3 was alsofound to be promising in IAA production having an additional property of phosphate solubilization. The present study, therefore, suggests that the use of PGPR isolates PGB4, PGG2 and PGT3 as inoculantbiofertilizers might be beneficial for rice cultivation as they enhanced growth of rice, and induced IAA production and phosphorus solubilization

Safety and effi cacy of alternative antibiotic regimens compared with 7 day injectable procaine benzylpenicillin and gentamicin for outpatient treatment of neonates and young infants with clinical signs of severe infection when referral is not possible: a randomised, open-label, equivalence trial

Background Severe infections remain one of the main causes of neonatal deaths worldwide. Possible severe infection is diagnosed in young infants (aged 0–59 days) according to the presence of one or more clinical signs. The recommended treatment is hospital admission with 7–10 days of injectable antibiotic therapy. In low-income and middle-income countries, barriers to hospital care lead to delayed, inadequate, or no treatment for many young infants. We aimed to identify eff ective alternative antibiotic regimens to expand treatment options for situations where hospital admission is not possible. Methods We did this randomised, open-label, equivalence trial in four urban hospitals and one rural fi eld site in Bangladesh to determine whether two alternative antibiotic regimens with reduced numbers of injectable antibiotics combined with oral antibiotics had similar effi cacy and safety to the standard regimen, which was also used as outpatient treatment. We randomly assigned infants who showed at least one clinical sign of severe, but not critical, infection (except fast breathing alone), whose parents refused hospital admission, to one of the three treatment regimens. We stratifi ed randomisation by study site and age (<7 days or 7–59 days) using computer-generated randomisation sequences. The standard treatment was intramuscular procaine benzylpenicillin and gentamicin once per day for 7 days (group A). The alternative regimens were intramuscular gentamicin once per day and oral amoxicillin twice per day for 7 days (group B) or intramuscular procaine benzylpenicillin and gentamicin once per day for 2 days, then oral amoxicillin twice per day for 5 days (group C). The primary outcome was treatment failure within 7 days after enrolment. Assessors of treatment failure were masked to treatment allocation. Primary analysis was per protocol. We used a prespecifi ed similarity margin of 5% to assess equivalence between regimens. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00844337. Findings Between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2013, we recruited 2490 young infants into the trial. We assigned 830 infants to group A, 831 infants to group B, and 829 infants to group C. 2367 (95%) infants fulfi lled per-protocol criteria. 78 (10%) of 795 per-protocol infants had treatment failure in group A compared with 65 (8%) of 782 infants in group B (risk diff erence –1·5%, 95% CI –4·3 to 1·3) and 64 (8%) of 790 infants in group C (–1·7%, –4·5 to 1·1). In group A, 14 (2%) infants died before day 15, compared with 12 (2%) infants in group B and 12 (2%) infants in group C. Non-fatal relapse rates were similar in all three groups (12 [2%] infants in group A vs 13 [2%] infants in group B and 10 [1%] infants in group C). Interpretation Our results suggest that the two alternative antibiotic regimens for outpatient treatment of clinical signs of severe infection in young infants whose parents refused hospital admission are as effi cacious as the standard regimen. This fi nding could increase treatment options in resource-poor settings when referral care is not available or acceptable

Hypothermia for moderate or severe neonatal encephalopathy in low-income and middle-income countries (HELIX): a randomised controlled trial in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh

Background: Although therapeutic hypothermia reduces death or disability after neonatal encephalopathy in high-income countries, its safety and efficacy in low-income and middle-income countries is unclear. We aimed to examine whether therapeutic hypothermia alongside optimal supportive intensive care reduces death or moderate or severe disability after neonatal encephalopathy in south Asia. Methods: We did a multicountry open-label, randomised controlled trial in seven tertiary neonatal intensive care units in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. We enrolled infants born at or after 36 weeks of gestation with moderate or severe neonatal encephalopathy and a need for continued resuscitation at 5 min of age or an Apgar score of less than 6 at 5 min of age (for babies born in a hospital), or both, or an absence of crying by 5 min of age (for babies born at home). Using a web-based randomisation system, we allocated infants into a group receiving whole body hypothermia (33·5°C) for 72 h using a servo-controlled cooling device, or to usual care (control group), within 6 h of birth. All recruiting sites had facilities for invasive ventilation, cardiovascular support, and access to 3 Tesla MRI scanners and spectroscopy. Masking of the intervention was not possible, but those involved in the magnetic resonance biomarker analysis and neurodevelopmental outcome assessments were masked to the allocation. The primary outcome was a combined endpoint of death or moderate or severe disability at 18–22 months, assessed by the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (third edition) and a detailed neurological examination. Analysis was by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02387385. Findings: We screened 2296 infants between Aug 15, 2015, and Feb 15, 2019, of whom 576 infants were eligible for inclusion. After exclusions, we recruited 408 eligible infants and we assigned 202 to the hypothermia group and 206 to the control group. Primary outcome data were available for 195 (97%) of the 202 infants in the hypothermia group and 199 (97%) of the 206 control group infants. 98 (50%) infants in the hypothermia group and 94 (47%) infants in the control group died or had a moderate or severe disability (risk ratio 1·06; 95% CI 0·87–1·30; p=0·55). 84 infants (42%) in the hypothermia group and 63 (31%; p=0·022) infants in the control group died, of whom 72 (36%) and 49 (24%; p=0·0087) died during neonatal hospitalisation. Five serious adverse events were reported: three in the hypothermia group (one hospital readmission relating to pneumonia, one septic arthritis, and one suspected venous thrombosis), and two in the control group (one related to desaturations during MRI and other because of endotracheal tube displacement during transport for MRI). No adverse events were considered causally related to the study intervention. Interpretation: Therapeutic hypothermia did not reduce the combined outcome of death or disability at 18 months after neonatal encephalopathy in low-income and middle-income countries, but significantly increased death alone. Therapeutic hypothermia should not be offered as treatment for neonatal encephalopathy in low-income and middle-income countries, even when tertiary neonatal intensive care facilities are available. Funding: National Institute for Health Research, Garfield Weston Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Translations: For the Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Singhalese, Tamil, Marathi and Bangla translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section

Substrate affects growth and yield of shiitake mushroom

Lentinus edodes (Berk.), the shiitake mushroom, is worldwide one of the most widely cultivated mushrooms. Sawdust is the most popular basal ingredient used in synthetic substrate formulations for producing shiitake spawn. However, the best sawdust for this uses needs to be determined. Shiitake mushroom was cultivated on sawdust from the woody plants Babla (Acacia nilotica L.), Champa (Michelia champaca L.), Garzon (Dipterocarpus alatus Roxb.), Ipil-ipil [Leucaena glauca (Linn) Benth], Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam), Mango (Mangifera indica L.), Raintree [Albizia saman (Jacq.) F Müll], Segun (Tectona grandis L), Shimul (Bombax ceiba L), Shisoo (Dalbergia sissoo Roxb) or mixtures of sawdust from all of the trees with equal ratio or rice straw to determine growth and fruiting characteristics. Cultivation on Jackfruit resulted in significantly faster mycelial growth compared toother substrates. With respect to fructification, culture on Jackfruit produced the first pinhead (primordium) earlier compared to other substrates. Numbers of primordial and effective fruiting bodieswas highest on Jackfruit sawdust. Rice straw, surprisingly, did not produce any fruiting bodies as well as showing no yield attributes. Yield attributes including stalk length, stalk diameter and diameter andthickness of the pileus were significantly higher on Jackfruit. The lowest biological and economic yields were found when culture was on Champa. Biological efficiency and biological yield, economic yield and dry yield at the first and final harvests were highest with culture on Jackfruit and its use is recommended in the production of shiitake mushroom in the tropics

Phenological characters and genetic divergence in aromatic rices

Phenological properties of rice cultivars determine their yield potential, local agronomic suitability and ability to escape from drought and natural calamities. This study was conducted to assess the geneticdiversity of aromatic rice genotypes on the basis of phenological characters. 40 genotypes composed of 32 local aromatic, 5 exotic aromatic and three non-aromatic rice cultivars were used in theexperiment. Multivariate analysis grouped the genotypes into 6 clusters. In discriminant function analysis (DFA) function 1 and function 2 together absorbed 99.9% of total dispersion. The mostcontributing characters participated in the clustering were growth duration, flowering duration, basic vegetative phase (BVP) and relative photoperiod sensitivity. Inter-cluster D2 value was the maximumbetween cluster i and iii and minimum was found between ii and iv. Cluster i and ii possessed the majority of genotypes having shorter BVP and strong photoperiod sensitivity. Therefore these genotypes can be used in the objective type of breeding programme and also for successful crop production in the post flood situation especially in the disaster-prone countries of south Asia

Regeneration potential of seedling explants of chilli (Capsicum annuum)

A study was conducted with hypocotyl, cotyledon and shoot tip of chilli as explants for regeneration on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations and combinations of auxins and cytokinins.Regeneration potential was determined by two ways. One is regeneration of shoot via callus formation from hypocotyls and cotyledon explants; another was direct shoot regeneration from shoot tip explant. The highest callus was induced from hypocotyl in a combination of BAP (5.0 mgL-1) with NAA (0.1 mgL-1) and cotyledon in a combination of BAP (5.0 mgL-1) with IAA ((1.0 mgL-1). The callus induction as well as shoot initiation was higher in hypocotyls than cotyledon. Shoot tips regenerated into plantletsdirectly with sporadic small callus at the base. Shoot elongation was accelerated by using additional supplementation of GA3 and AgNO3. Regenerated shoots rooted best on the MS medium supplementedwith 0.1 mg L-1 NAA + 0.05 mg L-1 IBA