Molecular characterization,inductive expression and mechanism of interleukin‐10 gene induction in the Indian major carp,catla (Catla catla)

Interleukin‐10 (IL‐10) is a multifunctional cytokine and plays an important role in diseases. In this study, IL‐10 gene was cloned and characterized from catla (Catla catla), which is a highly commercially important fish species in the Indian subcontinent. The result indicated that the full‐length catla IL‐10 (cIL‐10) gene had five exons and four introns with an open reading frame of 540 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide of 179 amino acids. A phylogenetic analysis of cIL‐10 gene sequence showed that cIL‐10 clustered with freshwater carps group as expected. Quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that cIL‐10 was expressed in gill, liver, kidney, intestine, skin and heart and its expression profile was up‐regulated in bacterial infection and LPS treatment. A close relationship of high cIL‐10 expression and low pro‐inflammatory cytokine IL‐1β expression was observed in the treated group of fish, which might reveal the role of cIL‐10 as an anti‐inflammatory cytokine. Mechanism of cIL‐10 induction was investigated by blocking nuclear factor (NF)‐κB ‐signalling with BAY 11‐7082 in catla kidney cell culture. Blocking NF‐κB suppressed IL‐10 induction by LPS, and thus it revealed that cIL‐10 was induced through NF‐κB signalling. These data could be helpful to understand the function of IL‐10 in fish in response to vaccinations, probiotics and various diseases.     

Pathological and biochemical changes in Brassica juncea (mustard) infected with Albugo candida (white rust)

Components of disease reaction, including incubation period, pustule types, inoculum production and disease index (DI); and contents of protein, phenols, soluble sugars and reducing and non-reducing sugars were investigated in cotyledonary and true leaves of six genotypes of Brassica juncea : Varuna, Kranti, EC-399296, EC-399299, EC-399313 and EC-399301, inoculated with Albugo candida . Cotyledonary leaves were examined 14 days after inoculation (d.a.i.), whereas true leaves were scored 14 and 21 d.a.i. Disease indices were assessed on a 0% (resistant) to 100% (susceptible) scale. DIs at the cotyledonary leaf stage in the above six genotypes were 67, 65, 32, 31, 31 and 38%, respectively, whereas at the true-leaf stage they were 21, 28, 12, 17, 9 and 4%, respectively at 14 d.a.i., and 35, 45, 17, 19, 20 and 6%, respectively at 21 d.a.i. Protein contents were highest in the genotypes with the highest DIs, such as Varuna at the cotyledonary leaf stage and Kranti at the true-leaf stage, and lowest in the genotypes with the lowest DIs, such as EC-399299 at the cotyledonary stage and EC-399301 at the true-leaf stage. Total phenols, total sugars, reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars were generally negatively correlated with DI, but were not always consistent, particularly when differences in DI were small. The results indicated that factors conditioning the response of host genotypes to A. candida may differ or operate in different ways at different growth stages.     

Variability,heritability and character association analysis of chemoagronomic traits in Rauwolfia serpentina

An investigation was carried out with 25 populations of Rauwolfia serpentina to assess variability, association of yield components and their direct and indirect effects on yield. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among 25 populations of R. serpentina for all the traits. Heritability estimates in broad sense were high for most of the traits and moderate for number of primary root branch. As in case of heritability, expected genetic advance was the highest for plant height, number of primary stem branch, reserpine content (%) in root, the most important trait for commercial utilization. Correlation analysis indicated positive and significant phenotypic correlation of reserpine content with root length and total alkaloid content (%) and significant negative association with root diameter. The partitioning of genotypic correlation coefficient into direct and indirect effects revealed total alkaloid content and root yield were the most important direct contributors to reserpine percent in root. It is concluded that accessions with more alkaloid content and root length are likely to yield more reserpine content in root and these characters can be considered to be reliable traits for selection of high reserpine content in root.     

Pathogenic and molecularVariability of Colletotrichum falcatum Went. Isolates from sugarcane with red rot disease symptoms

Pathogenic variability of different isolates of Colletotrichum falcatum Went. collected from six varieties: Co 419, CoC 671 (from Andhra Pradesh), Co 86032, Co87044, 89V74, and a local variety in Bhadrak (from Orissa) were established. Six red rot isolates were differentiated into four distinct pathotypes, viz., pathotype A - Cf 419 and Cf Bdkh; pathotype B - Cf 671; pathotype C - Cf 89V74 and pathotype D - Cf 86032, and Cf 87044. Pathotype A showed a susceptible reaction to Khakai, CoC 671, CoJ 64, and Co 419. Also pathotype B showed a susceptible reaction to Baragua, CoC 671, Co 997, CoJ 64, Co 1148, and Co 975, whereas pathotype C showed a susceptible reaction to CoC 671, Co 7717, Co 997, CoJ 64, Co 975, and Co 419. But pathotype D showed a susceptible reaction to CoC 671 and Co 997. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and subsequent restricted fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of internal transcribed spacer region of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) of Cf 89V74, Cf 671 and Cf Vittal (C. falcatum isolate from Vittal, Karnatak) by four restriction enzymes, Alu I, Msp I, Rsa I, and Pvu II revealed two distinct groups viz.Group 1- Cf 89V74 and Cf Vittal; Group 2-Cf 671. Restriction enzymes Alu I, Msp I, Rsa 1, and Pvu II produced fragment lengths of 380, 520, 550, and 580 bp for Cf Vittal and Cf 89V74, whereas fragment lengths of 420, 370, 440, and 460 bp were observed in Cf 671, respectively. The present investigation with the red rot infected sugarcane samples clearly indicated the existence of two pathotypes viz., pathotype A and pathotype B in Andhra Pradesh and three pathotypes viz., pathotype A, pathotype C, and pathotype D in Orissa. Pathotype C (Cf 89V74) showed similar ITS-RFLP pattern in Cf Vittal which was isolated from Karnataka.     

Antifungal activity of some Himalayan medicinal plants and cultivated ornamental species

Extracts of roots of Rumex nepalensis, Berberis aristata, Arnebia benthamii, bark of Taxus wallichiana, Juglans regia and petals of Jacquinia ruscifolia were tested for their antifungal activity against twelve different fungal pathogens. Ethanolic extracts of R. nepalensis and J. ruscifolia extracts showed a broad spectrum of activity.     

Variability in physical properties of plantation-grown progenies of Melia composita and determination of a kiln-drying schedule

Plantation-grown progenies of Melia composita Willd.were studied for variability in several physical properties: density,radial and tangential shrinkage,longitudinal permeability of heartwood and sapwood.Furthermore,flat-sawn planks from each of the progeny were subjected to a quick-drying test for determination of kilndrying schedule.The mean density of the species was 0.39 g cm~(-3) and the wood may be categorized as light wood.Mean radial shrinkage(%) for the species was 2.8% with progeny-wise variation in radial shrinkage from 1.56 to 4.11%.Mean tangential shrinkage(%) for the species was 5.54% with progeny-wise variation in tangential shrinkage from 3.69 to 7.71%.The resultant tangentialradial shrinkage ratio was 1.98(less than two),which suggests that the wood is relatively stable with respect to drying behavior.Mean sapwood and heartwood longitudinal permeability of the species were 3.38 and 2.02 Darcy,respectively.Higher longitudinal permeability of sapwood and heartwood indicate better drying and preservative properties of the species.Terazawa quick-drying test method suggests that the species is less susceptible to drying defects.During the test,only moderate checks and cracks were observed.A tentative kiln-drying schedule was recommended based on these results.     

An improvised in vitro vegetative propagation technique for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bambusa tulda</Emphasis>: influence of season,sterilization and hormones

Season and concentration of sterilizing agents play a significant role for establishment of aseptic in vitro shoot cultures and sprouting of nodal explants from field growing culms of bamboo species. In the present investigation the nodal segment explants of Bambusa tulda Roxb collected in different seasons and treated with various concentrations of HgCl₂ showed significant variation in aseptic culture establishment and bud break. The rainy season (July–August) recorded with highest of 78% aseptic culture establishment whereas autumn recorded with lowest 46%. Summer and winter seasons emerged to be the best period, registering > 60% in vitro bud break. On the other hand, the autumn season had the lowest value for bud break, i.e. 42%. Among different doses of sterilizing agent tried, HgCl₂ 0.1% found to be suitable for maximum aseptic culture establishment (66%) as well as bud break (59%). However, among the interactions, summer season and the dose of 0.1% HgCl₂ exhibited maximum of 73% response for both aseptic culture establishment and bud break. MS medium (liquid) enriched with 5.0 µM BA + 5.0 µM Kn [Kinetin (N6-Furfuryladenine)] with additional supplementation of 100 µM glutamine + 0.1 µM IAA supported a maximum in vitro shoot multiplication of 4.75 fold. The proliferated shoots were successfully rooted on MS medium (liquid) supplemented 40 µM coumarin. The plantlets transferred to the polythene bags showed 98% survival.     

Genetics of Fe,Zn, β-carotene,GPC and yield traits in bread wheat (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Triticum aestivum</Emphasis> L.) using multi-locus and multi-traits GWAS

The present study was conducted to study the genetic architecture of grain micronutrients (Zn, Fe and β-carotene contents), grain protein content and four yield traits in a spring wheat reference set comprising 246 genotypes. Phenotypic data on these traits recorded at two locations and the genotyping data for 17,937 SNP markers (obtained through outsourcing) were used for genome wide association study, which gave following results after Bonferroni correction using four methods: (1) single locus single trait analysis gave 136 marker-trait associations; (2) multi-locus mixed model gave 587 MTAs; (3) multi-trait mixed model gave 28 MTAs and (4) matrix-variate linear mixed model gave 33 MTAs. As many as 73 epistatic interactions were also detected. Keeping all the results in mind, nine most important MTAs were selected for biofortification. These markers were associated with three traits (GPC, GFeC and GYPP). These MTAs can be used in wheat improvement programs either using marker-assisted recurrent selection or pseudo-backcrossing method.     

Investigation of phytosociological parameters and physico-chemical properties of soil in tropical semi-evergreen forests of Eastern Himalaya

The study of floral diversity in forest and its development are incomplete without taking consideration of plant-soil interactions. So with this view in mind, the present study was conducted in tropical semi-evergreen forests of the Mokukchung district, Nagaland, in eastern Himalaya. The aim of the study was to investigate the phytosociological parameters in relation to soil properties.Seven sites were randomly selected to study the soil properties at up to one meter in depth and a phytosociological study was carried out in nearby areas via the quadrate method. In the studied sites, the richness of tree species varied from 4 to 15 ha~(-1), with Gmelina arborea and Duabanga grandifloras being the common species.The highest total basal area was recorded in 10 mile village(47,998.16 cm~2ha~-1)) followed by Minkong village site(32,704.66 cm~2ha~(-1)). Soil physical and chemical properties—i.e. bulk density(BD), soil p H, organic carbon(OC),available nitrogen(N), available phosphorus(P), and available potassium(K) were analyzed using standard procedures. Significant differences were observed in the soil properties. The basal area of species showed significant positive correlation in terms of available K(0.754) and OM(0.302) content in soil, and the Shannon–Wiener diversity index(H) is also positively correlated with the available N content(0.402). The undisturbed nature of the sites played an important role in maintaining the soil fertility and floral diversity of the sites. Moreover, sites with maximum productivity and soil fertility are considered as potential carbon sequestration areas in the region while sites with the low soil fertility need restoration.