Socio-Economic and Scientific Impact Created by Whitefly-Transmitted,Plant-Virus Disease Resistant Tomato Varieties in Southern India

Research carried out to assess the impact of open-pollinated Tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV)-resistant tomatoes and hybrids on the livelihoods of resource-poor farmers in Southern India is described and discussed. Three high-yielding ToLCV-resistant tomato varieties were developed initially using conventional breeding and screening techniques involving inoculation by ToLCV-viruliferous whitefly, Bemisia tabaci. In 2003 and 2004, respectively, these varieties were released officially by the Karnataka State Seed Committee and the Indian Ministry of Agriculture through notification in the Gazette of India. From 2003 to 2005, eleven seed companies bought breeder seed of the ToLCV-resistant varieties and used them to begin breeding F₁ hybrids from them. Socio-economic studies carried out to assess the benefits obtained from growing the ToLCV-resistant varieties found that farmers could gain up to 10 times the profit by growing the ToLCV-resistant varieties compared to the pre-existing ToLCV-susceptible varieties. Adoption of ToLCV-resistant tomatoes was also associated with reduced pesticide use. Extra income from tomato sales was prioritised by farmers to pay for children's education, better nutrition and medicines. In a joint effort with the commercial seed sector in India, a promotional field day was organised in 2007. As well as the three ToLCV-resistant varieties, 62 ToLCV-resistant hybrid tomatoes were exhibited during a farmer-field day by 17 commercial seed companies and several public institutes. Tomatoes with ToLCV-resistance are now grown widely in South India and seeds of the three open-pollinated varieties have been distributed to more than 12 countries. In 2007, a conservative estimate of the financial-benefit to cost of the research ratio was already more than 837:1.     

Study on splicing performance of different types of staple yarns

The present paper reports the detailed study on the splicing behavior of viscose staple fiber yarns made from ring, rotor, friction and air-jet spinning technologies. The linear density of all the yearns was kept constant at 29.5 tex. The splicing parameters like splicing pressure and duration of the splicing were taken as variables. Three levels of splicing pressure at constant splicing duration and three levels of splicing durations at constant splicing pressure were considered. Splices were introduced at all these levels for the four different technologies. These splices were tested for their tensile properties and the properties of splices were evaluated in terms of retained splice strength (RSS) and splice break ratio (SBR). The splice photographs were taken and splices were analyzed for their structure and for diameter profile along the length of the splice.     

“Kukkavaminta” [Arivela viscosa (L.) Raf. (Cleomaceae)]: a less-known “seasoning spice” from West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh,India

Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution - During survey and study of local useful plants in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh a less-known species, Arivela...     

Immunopathogenic pathways in canine inflammatory myopathies resemble human myositis

Progress in the treatment of inflammatory myopathies is impeded by the lack of suitable animal models. Inflammatory myopathies occur spontaneously in the dog, are a heterogeneous group of disorders, and are more common than in humans. Clinical signs of weakness and muscle atrophy are reliably present, and there are histological and immunohistological similarities to forms of human myositis. In this study, microarray technology followed by quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry on muscle biopsy sections was used to investigate gene expression in cases of canine inflammatory myopathies. Several genes involved with innate and adaptive immunity were highly upregulated including those that participate in macrophage and dendritic cell activation and migration, and antigen processing and presentation. Other genes including those that participate in B cell growth, development, migration and activation, immunoglobulin genes, genes in pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory pathways, and genes involved with tissue remodeling were upregulated. In previous reports utilizing microarray technology in human myositis, there was activation of similar pathways involved in the immune response. This study strengthens the argument that forms of canine myositis may be important animal models of human myositis and suggests useful biomarkers for therapeutic response using the dog in pre-clinical trials.     

Capillary electrophoresis is essential for microsatellite marker based detection and quantification of adulteration of Basmati rice (Oryza sativa)

Microsatellite markers are employed for genotyping of Basmati varieties and assaying purity of market samples. However, employment of diverse electrophoresis techniques across laboratories has resulted in inconsistent allele sizes, creating doubts about the suitability of the assay. This study evaluated agarose gel electrophoresis, slab gel electrophoresis, and capillary electrophoresis techniques for their efficiency in the detection and quantification of adulteration in Basmati samples. Comparative analysis across 8 microsatellite loci in 12 rice varieties demonstrated that the capillary electrophoresis method showed less error (+/-0.73 bp) in the estimation of allele sizes compared to slab gel (+/-1.59 bp) and agarose gel (+/-8.03 bp) electrophoretic methods. Capillary electrophoresis showed greater reproducibility (<0.5 bp deviation) compared to slab gel (1 bp) and agarose (>3 bp) based methods. Capillary electrophoresis was significantly superior in quantification of the adulterant, with a mean error of +/-3.91% in comparison to slab gel (+/-6.09%). Lack of accuracy and consistency of the slab gel and agarose electrophoretic methods warrants the employment of capillary electrophoresis for Basmati rice purity assays.     

In vitro methyl farnesoate secretion by mandibular organs isolated from different molt and reproductive stages of the crab Oziotelphusa senex senex

ABSTRACT:   Considerable evidences indicate that mandibular organ (MO) of crustaceans secrete terpenoid hormone (methyl farnesoate [MF]), which regulates molting and reproduction. In the freshwater south Indian rice field crab Oziotelphusa senex senex , MO isolated during premolt and vitellogenesis, secreted greater amounts of MF, which indicates that the regulation of the crustacean molt and reproduction is complex and also involves MF, besides steroid (ecdysteroid) and peptide (sinus gland peptide) hormones.     

Antibiotic resistance,antimicrobial residues,and bacterial community diversity in pasture-raised poultry,swine, and beef cattle manures

Animal manure can be a source of antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) and pharmaceutical residues; however, few studies have evaluated the presence of ARG in pasture-raised animal production systems. The objective of this study was to examine changes in microbiome diversity and the presence of antibiotic residues (ABRs) on three farms that contained a diverse range of animal species: pasture-raised poultry (broiler and layer), swine, and beef cattle. Total bacterial communities were determined using 16S rRNA microbiome analysis, while specific ARGs (sulfonamide [Sul; Sul1] and tetracycline [Tet; TetA]) were enumerated by qPCR (real-time PCR). Results indicated that the ARG abundances (Sul1 [P < 0.05] and TetA [P < 0.001]) were higher in layer hen manures (16.5 × 10⁻⁴ and 1.4 × 10⁻⁴ µg kg⁻¹, respectively) followed by broiler chickens (2.9 × 10⁻⁴ and 1.7 × 10⁻⁴ µg kg⁻¹, respectively), swine (0.22 × 10⁻⁴ and 0.20 × 10⁻⁴ µg kg⁻¹, respectively) and beef cattle (0.19 × 10⁻⁴ and 0.02 × 10⁻⁴ µg kg⁻¹, respectively). Average fecal TetA ABR tended to be greater (P = 0.09) for broiler chickens (11.4 µg kg⁻¹) than for other animal species (1.8 to 0.06 µg kg⁻¹), while chlortetracycline, lincomycin, and oxytetracycline ABRs were similar among animal species. Furthermore, fecal microbial richness and abundances differed significantly (P < 0.01) both among farms and specific species of animal. This study indicated that the microbial diversity, ABR, ARG concentrations, and types in feces varied from farm-to-farm and from animal species-to-animal species. Future studies are necessary to perform detailed investigations of the horizontal transfer mechanism of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms (ARMs) and ARG.