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.     

Barriers to Open Government Data (OGD) initiative in Tanzania: Stakeholders’ perspectives

Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives are picking up across the globe with their emphasis upon the tenets of transparency, collaboration, and participation. While much of the research has remained confined at unraveling the theoretical and conceptual dimensions of OGD, empirical investigations are visibly lacking, especially in the African context. Using a qualitative research methodology, we analyze the responses received from relevant stakeholders—representatives from public and private sector—regarding their views about the OGD initiative in Tanzania. Our findings show that the OGD initiative in Tanzania is in an emerging stage and there are barriers (organizational, social, legal, and technical) toward instituting a robust OGD initiative in the country. Further, we find that there is inertia among the government departments in terms of publishing data sets. Our findings provide a sounding board for further research on the sustainability of OGD initiatives in Tanzania and the other African countries, by and large.     

Effects of Neem Seed Derivatives on Brown Planthopper Symbiotes

Populations of intracellular symbiotes declined significantly in brachypterous females of the brown planthopper,Nilaparvata lugens (Stål), which were stressed during nymphal development by caging them on IR20 rice plants treated with 3% neem oil, 5% neem seed kernel aqueous extract, or 10% neem cake aqueous extract. In addition, nymphs grew poorly and symbiote populations in prospective females declined, when reared on rice plants grown in soil treated with neem cake; this indicates systemic action of bioac-tive neem constituents. Addition of custard-apple oil to neem oil did not enhance the inhibitory effects. The effects of neem derivatives on the symbiotes may be either host-mediated — possibly through disturbed neuroendocrine homeostasis, or direct — leading to perturbations of host-symbiote equilibrium.     

Studies on effects of certain quinones: III. Photosynthetic 14CO2 incorporation by Rhodospirillum rubrum

Substituted naphthoquinones, 2,3,-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone, and 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone produced marked changes in the pattern of ¹⁴C-distribution during ¹⁴CO₂-fixation by photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum. The most obvious change in the labeling pattern during photoautotrophic ¹⁴CO₂-fixation was a several-fold increase in 3-phosphoglyceric acid accompanied with a decrease in the amount of glutamate. In photoheterotrophic cells, quinones caused an appreciable increase in ¹⁴C-glycolic acid and concomitant decrease, although not proportional, in the amount of ¹⁴C-sugar phosphate. The level of ¹⁴C-incorporated in poly-β-hydroxybutyrate and ether-extractable lipids was considerably decreased in photoautotrophic and photoheterotrophic cells treated with quinones. The ability of quinones to interfere with the synthesis of NADH and ATP, and their ability to interact with sulfhydryl enzymes and coenzymes appears to be responsible for the changes observed.     

Characterisation of caecum and crop microbiota of Indian indigenous chicken targeting multiple hypervariable regions within 16S rRNA gene

1. A comparative analysis of caecum and crop microbiota of chick, grower and adult stages of Indian indigenous chickens was conducted to investigate the role of the microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract, which play an important role in host performance, health and immunity.

2. High-throughput Illumina sequencing was performed for V3, V4 and V4-V6 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene. M5RNA and M5NR databases under MG-RAST were used for metagenomic datasets annotation.

3. In the crop, Firmicutes (~78%) and Proteobacteria (~16%) were the predominant phyla whereas in the caecum, Firmicutes (~50%), Bacteroidetes (~29%) and Actinobacteria (~10%) were predominant. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index suggested that sample richness and diversity increased as the chicken aged.

4. For the first time, the presence of Lactobacillus species such as L. frumenti, L. antri, L. mucosae in the chicken crop along with Kineococcus radiotolerans, Desulfohalobium retbaense and L. jensenii in the caecum are reported. Many of these bacterial species have been found to be involved in immune response modulation and disease prevention in pigs and humans. The gut microbiome of the indigenous chicken was enriched with microbes having probiotic potential which might be essential for their adaptability.

     

Effect of certain substituted naphthoquinones on growth and respiration of Rhodospirillum rubrum

The effect of dichlone (2,3-dichloro-1,4-naphthoquinone) on photoautotrophic, photoheterotrophic and heterotrophic growth, and respiration of Rhodospirillum rubrum (a nonsulfur purple bacterium) was studied to elucidate the mechanism of action of this toxicant on photosynthetic bacteria. The photosynthetic growth with malate or with hydrogen and CO₂ was inhibited by dichlone. Light respiration of photoheterotrophically grown cells, unlike their dark respiration, was found to be insensitive to dichlone. Although dichlone caused an inhibition of the respiration of dark-grown cells, such cells were able to grow in the presence of dichlone after a lag. Light-dependent ¹⁴C-substrate incorporation by photoheterotrophic or photoautotrophic cells was found to be relatively more sensitive to dichlone than oxidative substrate incorporation by heterotrophic cells. Short-term exposure of the light-grown cells to dichlone resulted in an irreparable loss of their ability to grow photosynthetically and photoassimilate ¹⁴C-substrates. Menadione (2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone), a synthetic vitamin K, failed to affect these reactions to a significant extent at comparable concentrations. The findings suggest that dichlone causes an irreversible damage to some primary photosynthetic reaction in chromatophores, whereas the damage caused to the dark heterotrophic metabolism of the cell is less severe and repairable. The inhibitory action of dichlone does not appear to be via the formation of semiquinone free radicals.     

Effect of immunization with bovine luteinizing hormone receptor on ovarian function in cats

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of immunization with bovine luteinizing hormone receptor (LH-R) on ovarian function of cats. ANIMALS: 9 adult female domestic cats. PROCEDURE: 7 cats were immunized with 0.5 mg of LH-R encapsulated in a silastic subdermal implant (3 x 10 mm); 2 served as control cats. Receptors had 80% specific binding to 125I-human chorionic gonadotropin with a binding capacity of 2,682 pM/mg. Cats received booster injections of LH-R. Cats were induced to ovulate with luteinizing hormone (LH) releasing hormone on day 345. Samples of venous blood and vaginal cells were collected through day 395. Observation of estrus behavior continued until day 516. Serum concentrations of estradiol, progesterone, thyroid gland hormones, LH, and LH-R antibody were determined. RESULTS: LH-R antibody was detected in the sera of immunized cats within 21 days after implantation. Detection of LH-R antibody was associated with suppression of serum progesterone to < or = 0.5 ng/mL during the study period, compared with concentrations of 5 to 10 ng/mL in control cats. Immunized cats did not display signs of estrus. Release of LH after administration of LH-releasing hormone indicated an intact hypothalamic-pituitary axis but poor corpus luteum function. Serum estradiol concentrations remained between 30 to 40 pg/mL in immunized and control cats. With the decrease antibody titers, hormone concentrations returned to a pattern consistent with that during fertility. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Active immunization with LH-R suppressed corpus luteum function in cats. The effect was reversible. An LH-R-based antifertility vaccine may have clinical application in other vertebrates.     

Chemical Manipulation of Reproductive Efficiency of Chickpea (Cicer arietinnum L.) by Triadimefon in Relation to Changes in Ethylene

Reproductive efficiency was successfully manipulated by the application of different concentrations of triadimefon at pre‐flowering, flowering and post‐flowering stages in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Triadimefon improved the parameters determining reproductive efficiency. Yield was significantly improved due to reductions in flower and pod abscission by the application of triadimefon, which also lowered the ethylene levels in leaves, flowers and pods and delayed senescence. These findings suggest a relationship between ethylene level and reproductive efficiency in chickpea. Further, they indicate that triadimefon can be used for chemical manipulation of the reproductive efficiency of chickpea under field conditions.