Tuber yield,soft rot resistance,bruising resistance and processing quality in a population of potato (cv. crystal) somaclones

Several important postharvest characteristics were evaluated in protoplast-derived somaclones after two consecutive growing seasons (1987, 1988). None of the somaclones had tuber yields significantly greater than the protoplast donor Crystal mother clone (MC), however, 8 of 37 clones had significantly lower yields. Of the 25 somaclones selected forErwinia soft rot resistance testing, 1 clone demonstrated significantly elevated resistance to soft rot while 12 clones were found to be significantly more susceptible relative to MC. Over half (20) of the 33 somaclones tested showed significant improvement in resistance to tuber bruising while only a single clone was more susceptible than MC. Based upon Agtron color analysis, 5 somaclones showed significantly enhanced chip color when processed directly out of cold storage (6 C). Six clones had significantly improved chip color after a reconditioning period (20 C). Four of the clones with significantly better cold processing characteristics were also among the 6 with significantly enhanced processing quality after reconditioning. Some clones showed improvement in two or more characteristics. Clone 72–93 had significantly elevated resistance to both bacterial soft rot and tuber bruising while the bruise resistant clones 74-14, 71-41, 71-18 and 71-2 demonstrated significant improvement in both cold and reconditioned processing characteristics.     

Influence of Iron Deficiency Anemia on Hemoglobin A1C Levels in Diabetic Individuals with Controlled Plasma Glucose Levels

Introduction: Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) reflects patient’s glycemic status over the previous 3 months. Previous studies have reported that iron deficiency may elevate A1C concentrations, independent of glycemia. This study is aimed to analyze the effect of iron deficiency anemia on HbA1c levels in diabetic population having plasma glucose levels in control. Methods: Totally, 120 diabetic, iron-deficient anemic individuals (70 females and 50 males) having controlled plasma glucose levels with same number of iron-sufficient non-anemic individuals were streamlined for the study. Their data of HbA1c (Bio-Rad D-10 HPLC analyzer), ferritin (cobas e411 ECLIA hormone analyzer), fasting plasma glucose (FPG, Roche Hitachi P800/917 chemistry analyzer), hemoglobin (Beckman Coulter LH780), peripheral smear examination, red cell indices, and medical history were recorded. Statistical analysis was carried out by student’s t-test, Chi-square test, and Pearson’s coefficient of regression. Results: We found elevated HbA1c (6.8 ± 1.4%) in iron-deficient individuals as compared to controls, and elevation was more in women (7.02 ± 1.58%). On further classification on the basis of FPG levels, A1C was elevated more in group having fasting glucose levels between 100-126 mg/dl (7.33 ± 1.55%) compared to the those with normal plasma glucose levels (<100 mg/dl). No significant correlation was found between HbA1c and ferritin and hemoglobin. Conclusion: This study found a positive correlation between iron deficiency anemia and increased A1C levels, especially in the controlled diabetic women and individuals having FPG between 100-126 mg/dl. Hence, before altering the treatment regimen for diabetic patient, presence of iron deficiency anemia should be considered. Key Words: Iron deficiency anemia, Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c), Diabetes     

Marker‐assisted backcross breeding for improvement of drought tolerance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. em Thell)

Drought stress is presently a major productivity limiting factor in wheat. This study developed five wheat lines with inbuilt tolerance to drought stress using marker‐assisted backcross breeding (MABB) approach employing three linked quantitative trait loci (QTLs) in an initial population of 516 BC₁F₁ plants. The high‐yielding wheat cultivar ‘HD2733’ grown over last few years extensively in the eastern plains of India is largely sensitive to drought and is used as the recurrent parent. ‘HI1500’ released for water‐limiting conditions and carrying drought‐tolerant QTLs was used as donor parent. MABB lines were advanced using foreground and background selection, coupled with stringent phenotyping. We identified 29 lines that were homozygous for targeted QTLs in different combinations with background recovery range of 89.2%–95.4%. Further evaluation of selected lines for physiological traits and distinctness, uniformity and stability (DUS) characters under rainfed condition identified five potential varieties for national varietal evaluation programme in the zone. The report is first of its kind in implementing known QTLs for the development of drought‐tolerant wheat lines through MABB approach.     

Protective Role of Mentha arvensis Aqueous Extract against Manganese Induced Toxicity by Reducing Mn Translocation and Promoting Antioxidative Defense in growing Indica Rice Seedlings

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - Mentha arvensis L. (Ma) leaf extract, a wide source of natural antioxidants is widely used to protect animal cells against oxidative stress. In the...     

Effect of Long-Term Soil Management on the Mutual Interaction Among Soil Organic Matter, Microbial Activity and Aggregate Stability in a Vineyard

Vineyard management practices to enhance soil conservation principally focus on increasing carbon (C) input, whereas mitigating impacts of disturbance through reduced tillage has been rarely considered. Furthermore, information is lacking on the effects of soil management practices adopted in the under-vine zone on soil conservation. In this work, we evaluated the long-term effects (22 years) of alley with a sown cover crop and no-tillage (S + NT), alley with a sown cover crop and tillage (S + T), and under-vine zone with no vegetation and tillage (UV) on soil organic matter (SOM), microbial activity, aggregate stability, and their mutual interactions in a California vineyard in USA. Vegetation biomass, microbial biomass and activity, organic C and nitrogen (N) pools, and SOM size fractionation and aggregate stability were analysed. Soil characteristics only partially reflected the differences in vegetation biomass input. Organic C and N pools and microbial biomass/activity in S + NT were higher than those in S + T, while the values in UV were intermediate between the other two treatments. Furthermore, S + NT also exhibited higher particulate organic matter C in soil. No differences were found in POM C between S + T and UV, but the POM fraction in S + T was characterized by fresher material. Aggregate stability was decreased in the order: S + NT > UV > S + T. Tillage, even if shallow and performed infrequently, had a negative effect on organic C and N pools and aggregate stability. Consequently, the combination of a sown cover crop and reduced tillage still limited SOM accumulation and reduced aggregate stability in the surface soil layer of vineyards, suggesting relatively lower resistance of soils to erosion compared to no-till systems.     

Phytoremediation of Mercury and Arsenic from Tropical Opencast Coalmine Effluent Through Naturally Occurring Aquatic Macrophytes

Under the present investigation phytoremediation of mercury and arsenic from a tropical open cast coalmine effluent was performed. Three aquatic macrophytes Eichhornia crassipes, Lemna minor and Spirodela polyrrhiza removed appreciable amount of mercury and arsenic during 21 days experiment. Removal capacities of these macrophytes were found in the order of E. crassipes > L. minor > S. polyrrhiza. Translocation factor (shot to root ratio of heavy metals) revealed low transportation of metals from root to leaves leading higher accumulation of metals in root as compared to leaves of the plant. It was evident from plant tissue analysis that mercury and arsenic up take by macrophytes had deteriorated the N, P, K, chlorophyll and protein content in these macrophytes. Correlations between removal of arsenic and mercury from mining effluent and its increase in plant parts were highly significant. Results favoured selected species to use as promising accumulator of metals.     

Impacts of Coriaria nepalensis colonization on vegetation structure and regeneration dynamics in a mixed conifer forest of Indian Central Himalaya

This study evaluated impacts of Coriaria nepalensis Wall.colonization on soil characteristics,vegetation structure and composition,regeneration status and expected future compositional changes,biomass and carbon stock in tree species of a mixed conifer forest of Central Himalaya.Three sites(1 ha each in an old landslide area)differing in Coriaria density(low:20 individuals ha^-1;medium:120 indiv.ha^-1;high:190 indiv.ha^-1)were used to enumerate the tree species.A total of 9 tree species and 2830 individuals were recorded from the three study sites that represented a gradient of Coriaria density.Number of species varied from 3 to 7 and the individuals from 690 to 1270 per site with lowest numbers at low Coriaria density and highest at medium Coriaria density.The number of seedlings increased with increasing Coriaria density,and the sites were unique in their seedling composition,indicating marked temporal dynamics.Site wise regeneration analysis showed that regeneration was poor at the site with low Coriaria density and good at the high-density site where many species emerged as seedlings.These results indicate that the ameliorative effects of Coriaria in terms of soil buildup,and accumulation of nutrients and organic matter helped more species to colonize the area.This facilitative ability of Coriaria can be used to restore degraded forest ecosystems of Indian Central Himalaya.     

Canine prostatic fluid: techniques of collection, quantitative bacterial culture, and interpretation of results

Specimens of prostatic fluid were collected by ejaculation from 104 dogs after collection of a specimen of urethral contents and after collection of a urine specimen by antepubic cystocentesis. For purposes of data analysis, results of bacterial culture of the specimens were grouped according to individual colony counts in each specimen group (ie, urine, urethra, prostatic fluid). For purposes of this study, prostatic infection was defined as greater than or equal to 2 log10 of one or more bacterial species in prostatic fluid over the number of colonies of the same species in the paired urethral specimens.