Plant Growth Regulators in Water Stress Tolerance

The present review provides an insight into the relationship between plant growth regulators and water stress with emphasis on metabolic events that regulate growth regulator balance and physiological responses. Possible mechanisms by which ABA controls stomatal function and growth under stress, and interacts with proteins and important osmo-protectants, have been discussed. ABA involvement in signal transduction and root-shoot communication through its effects on gene and gene products is also included. A brief description of involvement of other growth regulators such as cytokinins, ethylene, polyamines and brasssinosteroids in water stress tolerance is also provided. Salient achievements in exploiting the potential of growth regulators in the resistance to water stress in some horticultural crops are also given. Gaps in existing information on plant growth regulator research in water stress tolerance have been summarized

Screening of probiotic strains for development of ready- to -serve probioticated mango beverage

Out of the thirteen probiotic strains procured from different sources or isolated from the commercially available sachets, seven isolates showed growth in the ready to serve (RTS) mango beverage. Among the seven strains, only three strains, i.e., Lactobacillus helveticus MTCC 5463, L. rhamnosus MTCC 5946 and Saccharomyces boulardii showed significant growth in the mango beverage. These three strains were further evaluated for population build-up, physico-chemical and sensory evaluation parameters in the fermented mango beverage. Based on the results of sensory scores, minimum threshold population required for classification as probioticated beverage and physico-chemical characteristics, L. helveticus was used for probiotication of the RTS mango beverage. Mango beverage fermented with L. helveticus MTCC 5463 showed an average score of 7.34 on a hedonic scale of 9 for overall acceptability, had an acidity of 0.29%, sugar concentration of 7.6% and pH of 4.4. Probioticated mango beverage also had about 20 and 13% higher phenolics and flavonoids, respectively, compared to uninoculated RTS mango beverage. This study has shown that the RTS mango beverage inoculated with L. helveticus MTCC 5463 has potential for developing probioticated mangobeverage

Distribution, biomonitoring and conservation studies of pyrenocarpous lichens in India

India is represented by the occurrence of the 382 species of pyrenocarpous lichens belonging to 49 genera and 12 families. Pyrenulaceae with six genera and 102 species is dominant family followed by Porinaceae with six genera and 88 species. Pyrenocarpous lichen genus Pyrenula with 82 species exhibits its dominance over Porina with 72 spe­cies. A total 25 pyrenocarpous genera are represented by a one or two species. The Western Ghats region exhibit rich diversity of pyrenocarpous lichens in India. The pyrenocarpous lichens commonly grows on smooth bark of trees or sometimes on rock, soil or leaves in tropical and temperate region of the country

Comparative analysis of the area of existing land use and master plan of Adigrat Town

In this paper area of existing land use and master plan of Adigrat town was compared. To map the existing landuse of the town Areal images with 15 cm spatial resolution were used. Geodatabase created be Ethiopian mapping agency was used to collect information of land parcels. Land parcels were classified, codified, analyzed with percentage analysis and mapped based on field survey and master plan of Adigrat town. Master plan map prepared by municipal office was changed from CAD format to shape file format. The area of existing land use was compared with the area master plan of the town.As a result growth was calculated in the area of ward no. one as 5.17%, ward no. two as 26.59% ward no. three as 7.25%, ward no. four as 33.23%, ward no. five as 4.49% and ward no. six as 6.02%

Effect of elevation gradient on the distribution of lichens and mosses of central Himalayan region, Uttarakhand, India

The present investigation aimed to determine the distribution pattern of 27 species of lichens and 7 species of mosses within five altitudinal bands between 3100-4000m near Badrinath area in the Central Himalaya. Melanelia infumata, Xanthoria elegans were the dominant among the lichens, whereas Bryum argenteum was dominant among mosses. The species diversity exhibits a distinct pattern at different altitudinal band. The number of both lichens and moss species decline towards the higher elevation gradient. The rock inhabiting species exhibit their dominance in higher altitude while soil inhabiting lichens dominates in the lower altitudes. The chlorolichens dominates all the sites in lower and higher elevation while cyanolichens have a restricted distribution in the area

Lichen diversity of Padder Valley Kishtwar (J&K), India

Lichens are one of the most successful group of organisms and form an important aspect of biodiversity of any region. But still lichens are under explored in most of regions.  The present work has been carried out in Padder Valley, Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). A thorough survey of the lichen diversity from all the possible habitats was conducted in the study area which indicated the presence of 110 species belonging to 54 genera and 23 families. Parmiliaceae has been recorded as the largest family (16 genera, 27 species) and is followed by Physciaceae (8 genera, 14 species). Four families have been observed to be monotypic. Lecanora has been recorded as dominant genera with 7 species followed by Peltigera with 5 species. Corticolous was most preferred substratum exhibited by 61 species while foliose was the most dominant type of growth form represented by 52 species. The study has added 94 lichen taxa as new records for district Kishtwar and is first of its kind in Padder Valley, J&K

Distribution, Diversity of Lichens in Terai region of Kumaun with reference to Environmental Pollution

The present study is an attempt to explore the diversity and distribution of lichen flora of Terai region of Kumaun Himalaya of Uttarakhand, which includes different localities of district Udham Singh Nagar, Ramnagar and Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve. An enumeration of 146 species belonging to 46 genera and 24 families is provided, based on the account of lichen species published in literature, specimens preserved in herbarium and fresh collection of lichens from localities not explored earlier. Based on the available diversity and distribution pattern of lichens, an attempt has been made to map, distinguish the polluted and non-polluted localities of the study area

Lichen flora of Surinsar-Mansar wildlife sanctuary, J&K

The present study conducted to enumerate the lichens from the so far unexplored Surinsar-Mansar wildlife sanctuary, J&K, revealed the presence of 30 species belonging to 18 genera from 14 families. The species belonged to different growth forms (21 crustose, 8 foliose and 1 fruticose) and are also growing on various substrata (corticolous-17 and saxicolous-13). Mangifera indica hosted the maximum number (12) while Pinus roxburghii did not host any lichen species in this area

Assessment of soil and water quality status of rose growing areas of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, India

Rose is a commercial flower crop widely grown across India. It is highly sensitive to salinity and alkalinity. In the process of identification of salt and alkalinity resistant rootstocks of rose cultivars, a survey was conducted in the rose growing areas of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Rajasthan. Total of 28 representative surface soil samples were collected from rose fields of these regions, processed and analyzed for the soil quality parameters. Similarly water samples (20 samples) from the bore wells of these fields were collected and analyzed. The results revealed that most of the soils of rose growing fields in UP were alkaline (pH >8.0) with normal salt content (electrical conductivity, EC < 0.5 dS m-1). Many of these soils also had higher bicarbonates (> 3 meq 100 g-1). In case of Rajasthan, few samples had higher pH, EC, chloride (>2 meq 100 g-1) and bicarbonate contents. Exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) of UP and Rajasthan samples ranged from 5.21-20.7% and 2.94-24.9%, respectively. In case of water parameters in these areas, pH was slightly in alkaline range, EC of some of the samples were high (>1 dSm-1). Sodium content was slightly higher than other cations. Soluble sodium percentage (SSP) of water samples was also slightly higher than normal range (0-50%). Few samples had slightly higher chloride above the threshold limit. From the results, it is concluded that soil and water quality of the rose growing areas of UP and Rajasthan is marginal and proper management/reclamation measures need to be carried out for sustaining the production system