Comparative morphometrical studies on the skull bones of barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak) and sambar deer (Rusa unicolor)

The present study reports data on the skull bone morphometry of barking and sambar deer. The skulls of adult barking deer (n = 6) and sambar deer (n = 6) of either sex (n = 3 males and n = 3 females) were collected from the Aizawl Zoological Park, Aizawl, Mizoram, India, with official permission from the Government of Mizoram. Anatomically, barking and sambar deer's skulls were elongated, pyramid-like, dolichocephalic and consisted of thirty-two cranial and facial bones. The cranial bones were eleven (three single and four paired), comprising of occipital, sphenoid, ethmoid, frontal, interparietal, parietal and temporal. The facial bones were twenty-one (one single and ten were paired), consisting of the maxilla, premaxilla (incisive), palatine, pterygoid, nasal, lacrimal, zygomatic (malar), vomer, turbinates, mandible and hyoid. In the present study, altogether 41 different measurements were taken morphologically and 6 different indices were applied. The obtained morphometrical parameters were significantly (p < .01, p < .05) higher in males than females of both species. Species wise, all obtained parameters were higher in sambar deer than barking deer. The obtained 41 different skull parameters and 6 indices showed statistically significant differences (p < .01 and p < .05) between both sexes of barking and sambar deer; however, practically these differences were meagre. The present morphometrical study on the skull of both species can help the wildlife professionals and zoo veterinarians determine the sex of these animals and differentiate it from other domestic and wild small ruminants for solving veterolegal cases. This study's findings will also motivate and assist other comparative studies with various domestic and wild small ruminants.     

Economics,adoption determinants,and impacts of micro-irrigation technologies: empirical results from India

Micro-irrigation technologies are promoted for various reasons in India. Despite the reported significant economic advantages, and the concerted support of the government and NGOs, the current micro-irrigation area in India remains an insignificant proportion of its potential. This paper analyzes: (1) the economics of alternative micro-irrigation technologies, (2) the determinants of adoption, (3) the poverty outreach of the different micro-irrigation systems, and (4) the sustainability implications of micro-irrigation adoption. In line with the findings of other studies, this study indicates that micro-irrigation technologies result in a significant productivity and economic gains. The most important determinants of micro-irrigation adoption include access to groundwater, cropping pattern, availability of cash, and level of education, the social status and poverty status of the farmer. Contrary to the expectations, the majority of the current adopters of low-cost micro-irrigation systems are the better-off farmers. The study indicates that the impact of micro-irrigation systems on the sustainability of groundwater resources depends upon the magnitude of the overall productivity gain following the shift from traditional irrigation method to micro-irrigation system, the pattern of use of the saved water, and the type and potential number of adopters. This study was supported by the Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture (CA) and IWMI-TATA Water Policy Program.

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Chemical analysis of essential oils of Eupatorium adenophorum and their antimicrobial,antioxidant and phytotoxic properties

Essential oils from inflorescences and roots of Eupatorium adenophorum Spreng (Asteraceae) have been investigated for their antimicrobial, phytotoxic and antioxidant activities. Based on GC–MS, the oil from inflorescences is dominated by sesquiterpenes (55.9 %) with γ-cadinene (18.4 %), γ-muurolene (11.7 %), 3-acetoxyamorpha-4,7(11)-diene-8-one (7.4 %) and bornyl acetate (6.3 %) as the major constituents. The oil obtained from the roots contained both sesquiterpenes (34.3 %) and monoterpenes (32.5 %) in almost equal proportions with E,E-cosmene (19.9 %), γ-muurolene (10.1 %), isothymol (7.5 %), β-cadinene (7.0 %) and α-phellandren-8-ol (5.9 %) as the major constituents. Both oils exhibited significant antifungal activity against five phytopathogenic fungi. The inflorescence oil showed higher antibacterial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, while the root oil was more effective against Staphylococcus aureus. The oils strongly inhibited or delayed germination and seedling growth of the weed Phalaris minor in a dose-dependent manner. As evidenced by a DPPH assay, the essential oils also exhibited significant free radical scavenging activity.     

Identification of a diverse mini‐core panel of Indian rice germplasm based on genotyping using microsatellite markers

Identification of a small core germplasm set representing the available genetic diversity is essential for its proper evaluation and subsequent utilization in rice improvement programmes. For constituting a small diverse mini‐core panel of Indian rice germplasm, a representative set of 6912 accessions drawn based on their geographic origin from the whole rice germplasm collection available in the National Gene Bank was genotyped using 36 microsatellite markers. Automated fragment analysis of amplicons yielded a total of 435 alleles, with an average 12.4 and range of 3–29 alleles per locus. Polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.08 (RGNMS190) to 0.86 (RM552) with an average of 0.528. Based on genotyping data, a mini‐core consisting of 98 genotypes was identified. Ninety‐four per cent of the alleles present in the core set were present in the mini‐core. The identified small but diverse panel will be useful for further intensive trait‐specific evaluation and utilization in allele mining.     

Clonal propagation of triploid <Emphasis Type="Italic">Acorus calamus</Emphasis> Linn. Using dual-phase culture system

Acorus calamus is an important medicinal plant which has been used in Indian traditional medicine since time immemorial. Various bioactive molecules, viz., acorin, α- and β-asarone, asaryldehyde, caryophylene, isoasarone, methylisoeugenol, and safrol have been isolated from this plant. However, the use of this plant for medicinal purpose has been recently banned due to the high toxic property of β-asarone. The triploid Acorus calamus is reported to be low in β-asarone content and thus found to be the ideal raw material for medicinal use. The present investigation represents our finding for successful in vitro clonal propagation of the elite triploid accessions of Acorus calamus for mass propagation. In the dual-phase culture system consisting of agar-solidified Murashige and Skoog medium overlaid by liquid fraction of the same medium, maximum multiple shoot induction was favored by supplementation of α-naphthaleneacetic acid (0.5 mg L⁻¹) and 6-benzylaminopurine (2.0 mg L⁻¹). In vitro rooting of the microshoots was maximum in the medium supplemented with indolebutyric acid at 2.0 mg L⁻¹. The well-rooted microshoots could be successfully hardened and transplanted in the field. This result can be reproduced and is a viable protocol for successful clonal propagation of the seedless triploid Acorus calamus for conservation and sustainable development.     

V1 neurons signal acquisition of an internal representation of stimulus location

A fundamental aspect of visuomotor behavior is deciding where to look or move next. Under certain conditions, the brain constructs an internal representation of stimulus location on the basis of previous knowledge and uses it to move the eyes or to make other movements. Neuronal responses in primary visual cortex were modulated when such an internal representation was acquired: Responses to a stimulus were affected progressively by sequential presentation of the stimulus at one location but not when the location was varied randomly. Responses of individual neurons were spatially tuned for gaze direction and tracked the Bayesian probability of stimulus appearance. We propose that the representation arises in a distributed cortical network and is associated with systematic changes in response selectivity and dynamics at the earliest stages of cortical visual processing.     

An efficient method for the purification and characterization of nematicidal azadirachtins A,B, and H,using MPLC and ESIMS

Azadirachtin A enriched concentrate containing 60% active ingredient (a.i.) was prepared from the methanolic extract of the de-fatted neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss) seed kernels. Azadirachtins A, B, and H, the three major bioactive constituents of neem seed kernel, were purified from this methanolic concentrate by employing reverse phase medium-pressure liquid chromatography (MPLC), using methanol-water solvent system as an eluant. The three pure azadirachtin congeners thus obtained were characterized by their unique mass spectral fragmentation, using electrospray probe in positive ion mode (ESI). All three azadirachtins exhibited nematicidal and antifungal activities. Azadirachtin B was the most effective against the reniform nematode Rotylenchulus reniformis (EC(50) 96.6 ppm), followed by Azadirachtin A (119.1 ppm) and H (141.2 ppm). At 200-ppm concentration, the test compounds caused 50-65% mortality of Caenorhabditis elegans nematode. Azadirachtin H showed the highest activity against the phytophagous fungi Rhizoctonia solani (EC(50) 63.7 ppm) and Sclerotium rolfsii (EC(50) 43.9 ppm), followed by B and A. The isolation of pure azadirachtins A, B, and H directly by MPLC purification from its concentrate and their characterization by ESIMS are unique and less time-consuming.     

Cytokinins in developing fruits of Ziziphus mauritiana Lam.

Developing fruits of jujube, Ziziphus mauritiana Lam., contain 2 cytokinin-like compounds, the activities of which were tested by the soybean callus test. One of them appeared to be zeatin, and this was confirmed by its behaviour in paper and column chromatography, coupled with various physicochemical tests.     

Deltamethrin and cypermethrin resistance status of Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus collected from six agro-climatic regions of India

A cross sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of synthetic pyrethroids (SP) resistance in Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus in India. Twenty-seven areas located in six agro-climatic regions were selected for the collection of engorged ticks using two stage stratified sampling procedure. Adult immersion test (AIT) and larval packet test (LPT) were optimized using laboratory reared susceptible line of R.(B.) microplus (IVRI-I) for determination of 95% lethal concentration (LC(95)) of deltamethrin (29.6 ppm in AIT and 35.5 ppm in LPT) and cypermethrin (349.1 ppm in AIT and 350.7 ppm in LPT). The AIT with a discriminating dose (2 × LC(95)) was used to detect deltamethrin and cypermethrin resistance in the field isolates of R.(B.) microplus. On the basis of the data generated on three variables viz., mortality, egg masses and reproductive index, the resistance level was categorized as I, II, III and IV. The overall prevalence of SP-resistant R.(B.) microplus among the sampled farms was 66.6% (18/27). Out of these 18 areas, resistance to deltamethrin at level I was detected in 08 areas (resistance factor=2.0-4.9), at level II in 09 areas (RF=5.2-11.8), at level III in 01 area (RF=34.9) and at level IV in 01 area (RF=95.7). The resistance to cypermethrin was detected in 16 areas and level of resistance was detected at level I in 10 areas (RF=2.06-4.64) and at level II in 06 areas (RF=5.13-9.88). The middle-gangetic and trans-gangetic plains revealed higher density of resistant ticks where intensive cross bred cattle population are reared and the SP compounds are commonly used. The data generated on acaricide resistant status in ticks will help in formulating tick control strategy for the country.     

Growth traits of four maternal lines of rabbits founded on different criteria: comparisons at foundation and at last periods after selection

The objective was to compare growth traits in four maternal lines of rabbits (A, V, H and LP), with the aim of understanding the consequence of the different foundation and selection processes on the growth performance of the lines. The lines are currently in the 43th, 38th, 22th and 8th generations, respectively. Two comparisons were performed. One compared the values of the lines at their foundation, using the complete data set, the full pedigree and a two‐trait analysis, including data on the selection criteria, litter size. The other comparisons were done during the last period when all the lines were housed together with the same feeding and management. The numbers of records were 323 208 for weaning weight, and 300 553 for slaughter weight and average daily Gain (from 46 708 l). The pedigree file included 346 638 animals. The second analysis used only the data corresponding to each period, and the analysis was conducted using a one‐trait model. The model was the same as that defined for the comparisons at the foundation, but the additive effects were excluded. The H and LP lines showed highest values for all the traits compared. In the last periods, a good agreement was observed between the estimated differences, computed with the complete model and data set, or computed with an incomplete model and only data from the comparison period. At last periods, the differences were smaller than at foundation. The importance of the correlated response in growth after selection for litter size at weaning or the importance of a non‐programmed intramating selection for the growth traits can explain the changes since foundation.