Suitability of Various Substrates for Cultivation of Pleurotus Pulmonarius in Konkan Region of Maharashtra

Mild tropical humid climate persists in Konkan region throughout the year within a range of 23 - 35 0 C. This climate is conducive for the commercial cultivation of oyster mushroom. Locally available substrates such as paddy straw, arecanut husk, coconut husk, banana pseudostem, groundnut shells, sugarcane bagasse and wheat straw alone and in combination with rice bran and wheat bran were used. Maximum biological efficiency of P. pulmonarius was recorded on paddy straw (76.30%) followed by wheat straw (74. 53 %). In case of supplemented substrates, the maximum biological efficiency of the mushroom was recorded on paddy straw supplemented with wheat bran (85.40%). This was followed by paddy straw supplemented with rice bran (82.63%) and wheat straw supplemented with wheat bran (82.26)

Suitability of Various Substrates for Cultivation of Pleurotus Pulmonarius in Konkan Region of Maharashtra

Mild tropical humid climate persists in Konkan region throughout the year within a range of 23 - 35 0 C. This climate is conducive for the commercial cultivation of oyster mushroom. Locally available substrates such as paddy straw, arecanut husk, coconut husk, banana pseudostem, groundnut shells, sugarcane bagasse and wheat straw alone and in combination with rice bran and wheat bran were used. Maximum biological efficiency of P. pulmonarius was recorded on paddy straw (76.30%) followed by wheat straw (74. 53 %). In case of supplemented substrates, the maximum biological efficiency of the mushroom was recorded on paddy straw supplemented with wheat bran (85.40%). This was followed by paddy straw supplemented with rice bran (82.63%) and wheat straw supplemented with wheat bran (82.26)

New genomic regions identified for resistance to spot blotch and terminal heat stress in an interspecific population of triticum aestivum and T. spelta

Wheat is one of the most widely grown and consumed food crops in the world. Spot blotch and terminal heat stress are the two significant constraints mainly in the Indo–Gangetic plains of South Asia. The study was undertaken using 185 recombinant lines (RILs) derived from the interspecific hybridization of ‘Triticum aestivum (HUW234) × T. spelta (H+26)’ to reveal genomic regions associated with tolerance to combined stress to spot blotch and terminal heat. Different physiological (NDVI, canopy temperature, leaf chlorophyll) and grain traits (TGW, grain size) were observed under stressed (spot blotch, terminal heat) and non-stressed environments. The mean maturity duration of RILs under combined stress was reduced by 12 days, whereas the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was 46.03%. Similarly, the grain size was depleted under combined stress by 32.23% and thousand kernel weight (TKW) by 27.56% due to spot blotch and terminal heat stress, respectively. The genetic analysis using 6734 SNP markers identified 37 significant loci for the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) and NDVI. The genome-wide functional annotation of the SNP markers revealed gene functions such as plant chitinases, NB-ARC and NBS-LRR, and the peroxidase superfamily Cytochrome P450 have a positive role in the resistance through a hypersensitive response. Zinc finger domains, cysteine protease coding gene, F-box protein, ubiquitin, and associated proteins, play a substantial role in the combined stress of spot blotch and terminal heat in bread wheat, according to genomic domains ascribed to them. The study also highlights T. speltoides as a source of resistance to spot blotch and terminal heat tolerance

IMA Genome - F16 – Draft genome assemblies of Fusarium marasasianum, Huntiella abstrusa, two Immersiporthe knoxdaviesiana isolates, Macrophomina pseudophaseolina, Macrophomina phaseolina, Naganishia randhawae, and Pseudocercospora cruenta

Draft genome assembly of Fusarium marasasianum Introduction Many plants are thought to have at least one Fusarium-associated disease with more than 80% of economically important plants affected by at least one Fusarium disease (Leslie and Summerell 2006). The socioeconomic importance of Fusarium is particularly evident when considering the Fusarium fujikuroi species complex (FFSC, sensu Geiser et al. 2021). This monophyletic group contains 65 species and numerous cryptic species (Yilmaz et al. 2021). More than 50 species in the FFSC have publicly available genomes (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), indicative of their economic importance. A number of recent studies showed that the FFSC complex contains four large clades (Herron et al. 2015; Sandoval-Denis et al. 2018; Yilmaz et al. 2021). One of these corresponds to the so-called “American” clade that was initially proposed to reflect the biogeography of the species it contains (O’Donnell et al. 1998). For example, Fusarium circinatum, the pine pitch canker pathogen, is thought to be native to Mexico and Central America (Drenkhan et al. 2020), where it likely co-evolved with its Pinus hosts (Herron et al. 2015; O’Donnell et al. 1998; Wikler and Gordon 2000). The American clade also includes five additional species associated with Pinus species in Colombia. These species are F. fracticaudum, F. pininemorale, F. parvisorum, F. marasasianum, and F. sororula, of which F. parvisorum, F. marasasianum, and F. sororula displayed levels of pathogenicity that were comparable to those of F. circinatum on susceptible Pinus species (Herron et al. 2015). The risk that the various American clade species pose to forestry in Colombia and globally has provided the impetus for projects aiming to sequence their genomes. To complement the genomic resources available for F. circinatum (Fulton et al. 2020; van der Nest et al. 2014a; Van Wyk et al. 2018; Wingfield et al. 2012, 2018a), the genomes of F. pininemorale (Wingfield et al. 2017), F. fracticaudum (Wingfield et al. 2018b) and F. sororula (van der Nest et al. 2021) have been published. Here we present the whole genome sequence for the pine pathogen F. marasasianum, named after the late South African professor Walter “Wally” F.O. Marasas (Wingfield and Crous 2012) who specialised in the taxonomy of Fusarium species and their associated mycotoxins

IMA Genome - F16 : Draft genome assemblies of Fusarium marasasianum, Huntiella abstrusa, two Immersiporthe knoxdaviesiana isolates, Macrophomina pseudophaseolina, Macrophomina phaseolina, Naganishia randhawae, and Pseudocercospora cruenta

Draft genome assemblies of Fusarium marasasianum, Huntiella abstrusa, two Immersiporthe knoxdaviesiana isolates, Macrophomina pseudophaseolina, Macrophomina phaseolina, Naganishia randhawae, and Pseudocercospora cruenta.Department of Science and Technology (DSI) , South Africa National Research Foundation (NRF) , South Africa Centre of Excellence in Tree Health Biotechnology, South Africa.https://imafungus.biomedcentral.comBiochemistryForestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)GeneticsMicrobiology and Plant Patholog

Mushroom diversity of Konkan region of Maharashtra, India

The forays conducted in the diverse habitats of the Konkan region of Maharashtra for four consecutive monsoon seasons during 2008–2012, revealed the occurrence of 29 mushrooms.  Among the collected mushrooms, six belonged to the family Agaricaceae, five to Lyophyllaceae, two each to Pleurotaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Marasmiaceae and Tricholomataceae; one each to Phallaceae, Physalacriaceae, Xylariaceae, Tremellaceae, Sclerodermataceae, Decrymycetaceae, Cantharellaceae, Entolomaceae, Plutaceae and Ganodermataceae.  The morphology of Tremella, Dictyophora, Daldinia, Pisolithus and Calocera were quite distinct and interesting. </div

Mushroom diversity of Konkan region of Maharashtra, India

The forays conducted in the diverse habitats of the Konkan region of Maharashtra for four consecutive monsoon seasons during 2008–2012, revealed the occurrence of 29 mushrooms.  Among the collected mushrooms, six belonged to the family Agaricaceae, five to Lyophyllaceae, two each to Pleurotaceae, Hygrophoraceae, Marasmiaceae and Tricholomataceae; one each to Phallaceae, Physalacriaceae, Xylariaceae, Tremellaceae, Sclerodermataceae, Decrymycetaceae, Cantharellaceae, Entolomaceae, Plutaceae and Ganodermataceae.  The morphology of Tremella, Dictyophora, Daldinia, Pisolithus and Calocera were quite distinct and interesting. </div

Interrelationships among different grain characteristics of wheat grown under optimum and late sowning date conditions in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic plains of India

Wheat growth has been severely affected by increases in global temperature. The Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India face similar constraints due to the traditional wheat–rice cropping system where wheat planting is often delayed leading to high temperature induced terminal heat stress. Grain characters like grain length, width, area along with starch synthesis are affected severely during heat stress. Considering the importance of grain traits, we screened the response of 55 wheat genotypes under terminal heat stress conditions to ten grain characteristics. We found that the means of all the grain traits were reduced in heat stress conditions. The effect of heat stress shows a significantly reduced grain width and perimeter, but the extent of damage is less on different grain starch characteristics e.g., grain starch area (GSA), grain starch length (GSL) and grain starch volume (GSV). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that grain starch area and grain volume are the best predictors of yield under optimum sowing date conditions whereas, grain width is the best predictor under late sowing date conditions. Interrelationship studies among ten grain characters showed that the genotypes with higher levels of grain starch characteristics (GSA, GSL and GSV) in combination with the five grain size characters (grain length, grain width, grain perimeter, grain area, A/B-type starch granules) under late sowing date conditions should be promoted for the cultivation of wheat in heat stress prone areas. The present study identified and recommends some heat tolerant wheat genotypes in terms of higher yield and grain starch characteristics namely, CRPW-33, CRPW-17, CRPW-12, CRPW-126 and CRPW-21

Natural Variation in Elicitation of Defense-Signaling Associates to Field Resistance Against the Spot Blotch Disease in Bread Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Spot blotch, caused by the hemibiotropic fungus Bipolaris sorokiniana, is amongst the most damaging diseases of wheat. Still, natural variation in expression of biochemical traits that determine field resistance to spot blotch in wheat remain unaddressed. To understand how genotypic variations relate to metabolite profiles of the components of defense-signaling and the plant performance, as well as to discover novel sources of resistance against spot blotch, we have conducted field studies using 968 wheat genotypes at 5 geographical locations in South-Asia in 2 years. 46 genotypes were identified as resistant. Further, in independent confirmatory trials in subsequent 3 years, over 5 geographical locations, we re-characterized 55 genotypes for their resistance (above 46 along with Yangmai#6, a well characterized resistant genotype, and eight susceptible genotypes). We next determined time-dependent spot blotch-induced metabolite profiles of components of defense-signaling as well as levels of enzymatic components of defense pathway (such as salicylic acid (SA), phenolic acids, and redox components), and derived co-variation patterns with respect to resistance in these 55 genotypes. Spot blotch-induced SA accumulation was negatively correlated to disease progression. Amongst phenolic acids, syringic acid was most strongly inversely correlated to disease progression, indicating a defensive function, which was independently confirmed. Thus, exploring natural variation proved extremely useful in determining traits influencing phenotypic plasticity and adaptation to complex environments. Further, by overcoming environmental heterogeneity, our study identifies germplasm and biochemical traits that are deployable for spot blotch resistance in wheat along South-Asia