Studies on the baking properties of wheat: Pigeonpea flour blends

Pigeonpea flour was substituted at levels of 0, 5, 10, 15,20, 25% to wheat flour and whole wheat meal for bread andChapatti making, respectively. Blends were prepared up to50% for cookie making. Increasing levels of pigeonpeas inthe blends significantly increased the protein and mineralcontent of the baked products. The bread from 10%pigeonpea flour blend with 2–3% vital gluten and 0.5%SSL had high loaf volume and loaf quality. Blends containing 15% pigeonpea flour were acceptable for Chapatti and 30% pigeonpea flour with 0.25% SSL wereacceptable for cookie making.     

Biochemical and physiological changes on Bacillus thuringiensis cotton after imidacloprid foliar spray

Bacillus thuringiensis cotton is a variety of cotton genetically modified to contain a gene derived from B. thuringiensis bacteria; which results in expression of toxin protein that confers resistance to bollworm complex (the most destructive pest of cotton). Introduction of Bt cotton lowered the need of insecticides, but still a number of insecticides are used for other insects like jassids, whitefly, aphids and tobacco caterpillar to which Bt gene does not provide effective control. Imidacloprid (tradename Imidacel 17.8 SL) is an insecticide designed for control of these major sucking/piercing insects that affect cotton. So in the present work we studied the post effect of imidacloprid insecticide on plant health of three Bt cotton hybrids (RCH-134, JKCH-1947, NCEH-6R) as there are reports of this insecticide causing growth and yield enhancements in absence of insect pests. Imidacloprid was first sprayed at recommended concentration (40 ml/acre) on 3 months old plants sown in randomly designed plots with three replications of each hybrid. The spray was repeated three times at 10 days interval. The level of B. thuringiensis gene expression, peroxidase activity and total phenols was measured on third day after every spray in leaves along with growth and yield of plants. The insecticide has shown to increase the level of B. thuringiensis protein, peroxidase enzyme activity, total phenols, height, number of bolls retained on plants and yield. These observations suggested that the imidacloprid treated plants showed better growth and development, thereby imidacloprid has growth enhancing effect on Bt cotton plants in addition to its insecticidal properties.     

Studies on the development of nutritious cookies utilizing sunflower kernels and wheat germ

Wheat germ and sunflower kernels were substituted at a level of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 percent of wheat flour for the preparation of cookies. The crude protein, ash and crude fiber contents increased with the addition of sunflower kernels. Similarly, with the addition of wheat germ, protein, ash and crude fibre contents increased significantly. The cookies containing 30% wheat germ and 20 percent sunflower kernels were found to be superior in overall acceptability.     

Hermaphrodite inbreds with better combining ability improve antioxidant properties in ridge gourd [Luffa acutangula (Roxb.) L.]

An experiment was conducted with the objectives to evaluate the breeding potential of hermaphrodite lines and to suggest suitable breeding approaches following half-diallel mating design for genetic improvement of antioxidant content and activity in ridge gourd [Luffa acutangula (Roxb.) L.] fruits. Twenty-eight genotypes, including seven parental lines and 21 crosses, were grown in randomized block design with three replications for fruit sample collection. The highly significant mean squares due to parents, hybrids and parents versus hybrids; and GCA and SCA for yield and antioxidants (ascorbic acid, total carotenoids, total phenolics, DPPH-RSA, ABTS-RSA and CUPRAC assay) indicate the existence of abundant genetic variation. The per se performance and combining ability of hermaphrodite parents (Satputia Long and Satputia Small) and hybrids of “monoecious × hermaphrodite” cross were found to be superior for antioxidants along with yield potential. The cross combinations with superior per se performance coupled with high SCA estimates and having at least one hermaphrodite parent would be useful for concentrating desirable alleles to improve the antioxidants and yield simultaneously. Thus, hermaphrodite lines in combination with monoecious counterpart have enormous potential to breed “genotypes for higher antioxidants” without compromising yield in ridge gourd.     

Antifeedent and toxic activity of endophytic Alternaria alternata against tobacco caterpillar Spodoptera litura

Fungal endophytes play a significant role in plant resistance to insects by altering the nutritional quality of plants or by production of various alkaloid-based defensive compounds. Ethyl acetate extract of endophytic Alternaria alternata isolated from Azadirachta indica A. Juss was tested for its bioactivity against Spodoptera litura (Fab.). Effect of different concentrations of ethyl acetate extract of A. alternata was assessed on growth and development of S. litura larvae. The results indicate higher larval mortality on diet supplemented with the fungal extract than control. Adverse effects of A. alternata were also observed on development of the insect. Ethyl acetate extract of the fungus also significantly reduced the adult emergence, longevity and reproductive potential of S. litura. Larvae feeding on diet supplemented with fungal extract showed significant reduction in relative growth and consumption rate, as well as efficiency of ingested and digested food. The antifeedant and toxic effects of A. alternata may be due to production of bioactive molecules by this fungus.     

Antiviral lead compounds from marine sponges

Marine sponges are currently one of the richest sources of pharmacologically active compounds found in the marine environment. These bioactive molecules are often secondary metabolites, whose main function is to enable and/or modulate cellular communication and defense. They are usually produced by functional enzyme clusters in sponges and/or their associated symbiotic microorganisms. Natural product lead compounds from sponges have often been found to be promising pharmaceutical agents. Several of them have successfully been approved as antiviral agents for clinical use or have been advanced to the late stages of clinical trials. Most of these drugs are used for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV). The most important antiviral lead of marine origin reported thus far is nucleoside Ara-A (vidarabine) isolated from sponge Tethya crypta. It inhibits viral DNA polymerase and DNA synthesis of herpes, vaccinica and varicella zoster viruses. However due to the discovery of new types of viruses and emergence of drug resistant strains, it is necessary to develop new antiviral lead compounds continuously. Several sponge derived antiviral lead compounds which are hoped to be developed as future drugs are discussed in this review. Supply problems are usually the major bottleneck to the development of these compounds as drugs during clinical trials. However advances in the field of metagenomics and high throughput microbial cultivation has raised the possibility that these techniques could lead to the cost-effective large scale production of such compounds. Perspectives on biotechnological methods with respect to marine drug development are also discussed.     

Molecular mapping of adult plant stripe rust resistance in wheat and identification of pyramided QTL genotypes

The Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst) pathotype, 134 E16A+, detected in 2002 in Australia, produced relatively lower and higher adult plant stripe rust responses, respectively, on cultivars Kukri and Janz in comparison to the pre-2002 Pst pathotype 110 E143A+. Molecular mapping of adult plant stripe rust response variation among 180 Kukri/Janz-derived doubled haploid lines over 4 years, two each with Pst pathotypes 110 E143A+ and 134 E16A+, was performed. QYr.sun-7B and QYr.sun-7D were consistently contributed by Kukri and Janz, respectively. QYr.sun-7D corresponded to the genomic location of Yr18 and QYr.sun-7B remains to be formally named. QYr.sun-1B, QYr.sun-5B, and QYr.sun-6B were detected during more than one season irrespective of the Pst pathotypes used, whereas QYr.sun-3B was identified only during the 2003 crop season. QYr.sun-1A contributed by Janz, and QYr.sun-2A from Kukri, were detected only against Pst pathotypes 110 E143A+ and 134 E16A+, respectively. The DH lines showing better resistance than the either parent carried combinations of 4 to 6 QTL. These lines are currently being used as stripe rust resistance donors in wheat breeding programs.     

Identification of QTLs for resistance to Fusarium wilt and Ascochyta blight in a recombinant inbred population of chickpea (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cicer arietinum</Emphasis> L.)

Fusarium wilt (FW; caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris) and Ascochyta blight (AB; caused by Ascochyta rabiei) are two major biotic stresses that cause significant yield losses in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). In order to identify the genomic regions responsible for resistance to FW and AB, 188 recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross JG 62 × ICCV 05530 were phenotyped for reaction to FW and AB under both controlled environment and field conditions. Significant variation in response to FW and AB was detected at all the locations. A genetic map comprising of 111 markers including 84 simple sequence repeats and 27 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci spanning 261.60 cM was constructed. Five quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were detected for resistance to FW with phenotypic variance explained from 6.63 to 31.55%. Of the five QTLs, three QTLs including a major QTL on CaLG02 and a minor QTL each on CaLG04 and CaLG06 were identified for resistance to race 1 of FW. For race 3, a major QTL each on CaLG02 and CaLG04 were identified. In the case of AB, one QTL for seedling resistance (SR) against ‘Hisar race’ and a minor QTL each for SR and adult plant resistance against isolate 8 of race 6 (3968) were identified. The QTLs and linked markers identified in this study can be utilized for enhancing the FW and AB resistance in elite cultivars using marker-assisted backcrossing.     

Effect of Tillage,Crop Residues of Preceding Wheat Crop and Nitrogen Levels on Biological and Chemical Properties of Soil in the Soybean–Wheat Cropping System

A 2-year field experiment was conducted to study the influence of three planting methods (Happy Seeder, Straw Chopper + Zero Tillage, and Conventional tillage) and four nitrogen rates (control, 75, 100, and 125% of recommended nitrogen) on the chemical and biological properties of soil. The results revealed that after soybean harvest, dehydrogenase activity and population of Bradyrhizobium sp. (LSBR 3) and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) were increased significantly in Happy Seeder sowing and Straw Chopper + Zero Tillage sowing than conventional sowing and population of Bradyrhizobium sp. significantly increased up to the 100% nitrogen level. There was no significant effect of different planting methods on soil chemical properties. Organic carbon and available nitrogen were increased significantly with an increase in the nitrogen level up to 100% nitrogen (N).