Screening of wild crucifers for resistance to mustard aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach) and attempt at introgression of resistance gene(s) from Brassica fruticulosa to Brassica juncea

A diverse array of wild and weedy crucifers was screened under laboratory conditions for their resistance to Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach) (Homoptera: Aphididae). Among these, Brassica fruticulosa and Brassica montana were found to be the most promising. The availability of a synthetic amphiploid, AD-4(B. fruticulosa × Brassica rapa var. brown sarson) as well as a set of Brassica juncea lines carrying genomic introgressions from B. fruticulosa allowed us to investigate B. fruticulosa resistance in greater detail. This assessment was carried out along with susceptible check B. rapa ssp. brown sarson cv. BSH-1 in a series of choice and no choice experiments. The mustard aphid showed maximum preference for feeding on BSH-1 while least preference was recorded for B. fruticulosa followed by AD-4 as evidenced by the number of aphids that settled on circular leaf bits of these genotypes 24 and 48 h after release in a choice experiment. Brassica fruticulosa exhibited strong antibiosis against mustard aphid in no choice experiment and all the released aphids died within 5–8 days of their release, while the maximum survival (76.7%) was recorded on BSH-1. The survival on AD-4 (40%) was significantly lower than that on BSH-1. Almost similar trend was observed with respect to other demographic parameters of L. erysimi viz. development time, fecundity and longevity. In the screen house studies, there was no seedling mortality in B. fruticulosa and AD-4 after 30 days of aphid release while 80% mortality was observed on BSH-1. Excellent variation for aphid resistance was recorded in B. juncea introgression lines, emphasizing heritable nature of fruticulosa resistance. The biochemical analysis suggested the possibility of high concentration of lectins to be associated with low aphid infestation in B. fruticulosa.     

Evaluation of genetic and non-genetic factors on foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus vaccine-elicited immune response in Hardhenu (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Bos taurus</Emphasis> x <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bos indicus</Emphasis>) cattle

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is the most contagious disease of mammals and a major threat to animal husbandry sector. In India, vaccination with the inactivated trivalent (O, A and Asia1) vaccine is one proven way for protecting the livestock from FMD. However, many outbreaks have been reported in different parts of the country. Therefore, present study was aimed at elucidating the effects of genetic and non-genetic factors on FMD viral vaccine-elicited immune response in Hardhenu cattle. The effect of season of vaccination was not consistent. The effect of status of animal was significant for all the pre and post AB titres except for pre AB titre of serotype O and post AB titre of Asia1.The estimates of heritability for response to vaccination were low to high ranging from 0.11 to 0.45. The highest heritability estimate was obtained for serotype O and the lowest for Asia1. The heritability estimates for pre and post AB titres ranged from 0.15 to 0.33. All the pre and post AB titres and responses to vaccination had genetic correlations ranged from high negative to high positive among them. Results of this study highlight the variation in vaccine response which needs to be further exploited on large-scale animal data for better immunization and protection against highly contagious viral vesicular disease of cloven-hoofed animals.     

Synthesis and characterization of sodium acrylate and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulphonate (AMPS) copolymer gels

A series of superabsorbents based on acrylic acid (AA), sodium acrylate, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulphonic acid, N,N′-methylene bis-acrylamide (MBA) were prepared by inverse suspension polymerization. These hydrogels were further crosslinked on the surface with polyethylene glycol-600 (PEG-600). The water absorbency or swelling behaviors for these xerogels in water and 0.9% saline solutions, both under free condition and under load were investigated. Absorption characteristics of these hydrogels were found to depend on nature and concentration of crosslinker in the system. It was also found that the saline absorption was significantly improved as the incorporation of AMPS in the polymer was increased. The surface crosslinking introduced in the polymers was found to improve the absorption under load characteristics without lowering the free water absorption capacities of the polymer to a considerable extent.     

Improved dispersion of carbon nanotubes in chitosan

Carbon nanotubes (CNT)/chitosan films and fibers can find use in specialized applications like the artificial muscles and other intelligent switching devices. The dispersion state of the single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in chitosan matrix plays a major role in deciding the ultimate properties of composite. A suitable chemical treatment for purification and functionalization of SWCNTs is reported. Optimal conditions to prepare water soluble and stable, dispersion of SWCNT in chitosan are presented. The dispersion behavior of purified and functionalized SWCNT was characterized by visual observations, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. The dispersion obtained using functionalized SWCNT was stable, while the purified SWCNT dispersion showed limited stability. The better stability of functionalized SWCNT dispersion in chitosan was evidenced by improved interaction between chitosan and carboxyl functional groups of SWCNT.     

Hybridization between diploid (Gossypium arboreum) and tetraploid (Gossypium hirsutum) cotton through ovule culture

Summary With in vitro culture of ovules, interspecific hybrids have been obtained in an otherwise incompatible cross between a diploid (Gossypium arboreum) and a tetraploid (G. hirsutum) cultivated cotton. The early abortion of the embryo was prevented by repeated treatment of the flowers, immediately after pollination with a solution of gibberellic acid and naphthalene acetic acid. The ovules excised three days after pollination and cultured in a liquid medium underwent profuse proliferation, whereas on an agar-solidified medium supplemented with casein hydrolysate, indoleacetic acid and kinetin they germinated to form hybrid plants.     

Controlling molecular weight and degree of deacetylation of chitosan by response surface methodology

Response surface methodology (RSM) was used for controlling molecular weight (MW) and degree of deacetylation (DOD) of chitosan in chemical processing. In a reduced model, MW of chitosan is y = 1736166.406 - 250.745X(1)X(2) - 265.452X(2)X(3), with R( 2) = 0.86, and DOD of chitosan is y = 30.6069 + 0.3396X(1) + 0.4948X(2) + 0.0094X(3)(2), with R( 2) = 0.89. MW of chitosan depends on the crossproduct of temperature and NaOH concentration and the crossproduct of NaOH concentration and time, and DOD depends linearly on temperature and NaOH concentration, and quadratically on time. Chitosan was widely depolymerized in a range from 1,100 kDa to 100 kDa and deacetylated from 67.3 to 95.7% by NaOH alkaline treatment. MW and DOD of chitosan were drastically decreased and increased, respectively, with increase of temperature, reaction time, and NaOH concentration. Furthermore, the rate of MW decrease and DOD increase of chitosan gradually decreased with prolonged reaction time.     

Recognition of host immune activation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

It is generally reasoned that lethal infections caused by opportunistic pathogens develop permissively by invading a host that is both physiologically stressed and immunologically compromised. However, an alternative hypothesis might be that opportunistic pathogens actively sense alterations in host immune function and respond by enhancing their virulence phenotype. We demonstrate that interferon-gamma binds to an outer membrane protein in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, OprF, resulting in the expression of a quorum-sensing dependent virulence determinant, the PA-I lectin. These observations provide details of the mechanisms by which prokaryotic organisms are directly signaled by immune activation in their eukaryotic host.     

Interspecific hybridization in the genus Gossypium through embryo culture

Summary With embryo rescue and culture techniques interspecific hybrids have been obtained amongst diploid cultivated (Gossypium arboreum, G. herbaceum) and wild species (G. stocksii, G. anomalum) of cotton. The early abscission of the young bolls was prevented by repeated application of growth regulators followed by the culture of immature hybrid embryos (15 days after pollination). The best growth and development were obtained on modified Murashige and Skoog's medium with supplements. The plants were stouter when the cultures were first incubated in the dark for 15–25 days, followed by exposure to light. The hybrid plants transferred to soil developed further and matured, and were more or less intermediate between their respective parents.     

Antistatic effect of atmospheric pressure glow discharge cold plasma treatment on textile substrates

Hydrophobic synthetic textile substrates, nylon and polyester fabrics, were continuously treated in an atmospheric-pressure-glow-discharge-cold-plasma reactor using He and air. The samples were evaluated for antistatic properties by measuring the static charge build-up and half charge decay time. The 60 sec air-plasma treated nylon fabric produced only 1.53 kV of charge and showed a significantly smaller half decay time of 0.63 sec compared to static voltage of 2.76 kV and a half decay time of 8.9 sec in the untreated nylon fabric. In comparison, the He plasma treated nylon fabrics showed relatively less improvement by producing static charge built-up of 2.12 kV and half charge decay time of 1.1 sec. Similar improvements were obtained for polyester (PET) fabrics as well. The treated samples showed good antistatic properties even after five laundry wash cycles. The surface characteristics of the samples were investigated using SEM, AFM, and ATR-FTIR. The results revealed that the improvement on antistatic properties are attributable to increase in the surface energy of the fabrics due to the formation of hydrophilic groups and increase in the surface area due to the formation of nano-sized horizontal and vertical channels on the fibre surface. The study suggests that plasma treatment may be used for imparting effective antistatic finish on otherwise hydrophobic substrates.     

Role of elasticity in control of diameter of electrospun PAN nanofibers

A series of poly(acrylonitrile-co-methylacrylate) copolymers (PAN) with varying molecular weight were synthesized by radical copolymerization using α-α′-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as initiator. These copolymers were dissolved at different concentrations in DMF and electrospun at Minimum electrospinning voltage (MEV) to correlate electrical energy required to perform the mechanical work during the spinning of the fibers. The diameters of the resultant fibers were correlated with the Berry number and average number of entanglements per chain of the spinning solution. It was observed that number of entanglements per chain, which represents the capacity of the polymer system to store elastic energy, could correlate well with the ultimate diameter of the fiber. Interestingly, the diameters of the nanofibers were found to increase linearly with increase in number of entanglements per chain with two distinct regions having transition of the slope at number of entanglement value of 3.5.