Pigeonpea improvement: An amalgam of breeding and genomic research

In the past five decades, constant research has been directed towards yield improvement in pigeonpea resulting in the deployment of several commercially acceptable cultivars in India. Though, the genesis of hybrid technology, the biggest breakthrough, enigma of stagnant productivity still remains unsolved. To sort this productivity disparity, genomic research along with conventional breeding was successfully initiated at ICRISAT. It endowed ample genomic resource providing insight in the pigeonpea genome combating production constraints in a precise and speedy manner. The availability of the draft genome sequence with a large‐scale marker resource, oriented the research towards trait mapping for flowering time, determinacy, fertility restoration, yield attributing traits and photo‐insensitivity. Defined core and mini‐core collection, still eased the pigeonpea breeding being accessible for existing genetic diversity and developing stress resistance. Modern genomic tools like next‐generation sequencing, genome‐wide selection helping in the appraisal of selection efficiency is leading towards next‐generation breeding, an awaited milestone in pigeonpea genetic enhancement. This paper emphasizes the ongoing genetic improvement in pigeonpea with an amalgam of conventional breeding as well as genomic research.     

Sensitivity of Seeds to Chemical Mutagens,Detection of DNA Polymorphisms and Agro-Metrical Traits in M1 Generation of Coffee (Coffea arabica L.)

Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology - Coffee (Coffea Arabica L.) is threatened by biotic and abiotic stresses. Nevertheless, the breeding of Arabica coffee is restricted due to its low...     

Location of gene for beta subunit of human T-cell receptor at band 7q35, a region prone to rearrangements in T cells

The T-cell receptor is formed by two chains, alpha and beta, for which specific clones were recently obtained. In this report the gene for the beta chain of the human T-cell receptor was located on the long arm of chromosome 7, band q35, by means of in situ hybridization. This chromosome region in T cells is unusually prone to develop breaks in vivo, perhaps reflecting instability generated by somatic rearrangement of T-cell receptor genes during normal differentiation in this cell lineage.     

Squamous cell carcinoma of the footpad with systemic metastasis in a captive crowned solitary eagle (Buteogallus coronatus)

Squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) are one of the most common tumors of the tegument that can have a misdiagnosis of chronic skin wounds. An adult captive crowned solitary eagle presented an indolent wound-like ulcer on the footpad and a fatal outcome. An infiltrating tumoral mass in the foot and multiple tumoral metastatic nodules in visceral organs were detected. The neoplasm was composed of atypical squamous cells with strong positivity for cytokeratin, “keratin pearl” structures, and marked invasion of tissues confirming a diagnosis of metastatic SCC. This might be the first report of an SSC with metastasis on the footpad in a captive Chaco eagle, which is one of the endangered species of birds of prey.     

Feeding behavior of feedlot lambs fed diets containing levels of cassava wastewater

In this study, we evaluated the effects of including cassava wastewater in the diet on the feeding behavior of feedlot lambs in 35 male uncastrated Santa Inês × Dorper crossbred lambs at an approximate age of 3 months, with an average live weight of 20.0?±?3.4 kg. Diets were formulated with hay of cassava shoots (roughage) and a concentrate based on corn and soybean, with a roughage:concentrate ratio of 50:50, plus inclusion of cassava wastewater at the levels of 0, 12, 24, 36, or 48 g/kg of the total diet. Feeding behavior was evaluated between the 46th and 52nd days of the experiment. Increasing cassava wastewater levels in the diet reduced (P?<?0.05) the intakes (kg/day) of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber as well as the efficiency of rumination (g/cud and g/h) of dry matter and neutral detergent fiber. The other behavioral parameters were not affected by wastewater inclusion in the diet. Therefore, the inclusion of up to 48 g/kg of cassava wastewater on fresh matter of diets is not recommended for feedlot lambs.     

A pear rootstock trial in Israel

The pear cultivars ‘Spadona Estiva’, ‘Coscia’, ‘Beurré Superfin’ and a ‘Bartlett’ clone of South African origin (termed ‘Bartlett Sport’) were tested on 5 quince rootstock types, 5 Pyrus species and on 5 or 30 cm long interstocks of the pear cultivars ‘Bergamotte Esperen’ and ‘Spadona Estiva’ on quince MA, while ‘Dr. Jules Guyot’ was used as an interstock on ‘Bartlett’ seedlings.At the age of 10 years only ‘Spadona Estiva’ showed no signs of decline on quince rootstocks, ‘Coscia’ showed moderate decline, while the remaining cultivars had already declined severely. When the trunk circumference of ‘Beurré Superfin’ trees on the various quince clones was taken as an indicator for the degree of graft incompatibility, a negative correlation was found between this parameter and cyanogenic glycoside content in the stem bark of ungrafted quince plants belonging to the same clones. Pear interstocks on quince MA rootstocks did in some cases increase crops compared to the same quince alone, but did not prevent the decline of ‘Beurré Superfin’ and Bartlett Sport' on quince.The most vigorous and most prolific rootstock was Pyrus betulaefolia. However, with ‘Spadona Estiva’ differences in vigor between the rootstocks were only small and crops on the Israeli quince CI 7 were similar to those on Pyrus betulaefolia, but fruit size was larger on quince. Cropping of this cultivar at the age of 4 years was closely related to the intensity of flowering, whereas with ‘Coscia’ this relation was much less evident.Leaf fall in autumn and the opening of the vegetative buds of ‘Beurré Superfin’ in spring were earlier on quince than on Pyrus rootstocks.