Effect of nitrogen deficiency on growth and some biochemical characteristics in salt‐tolerant and salt‐sensitive lines of Lentil (lens cul1naris medic.)

The response of a salt‐tolerant line ILL 6793 and a salt‐sensitive line ILL 6439 of lentil (Lens culinaris) to N deficiency was studied in a pot experiment under glasshouse conditions. Plants of the two lines were treated with 56, 28, 14 and 7 mg N L^?1 in Rorison's nutrient solution. The salt‐tolerant line excelled the salt‐sensitive line in relative biomass production (per cent of control basis) under varying N regimes. Of the various physiological/biochemical variables measured in the present study only chlorophyll b and total soluble sugars proved to be helpful in discriminating the lines. Chlorophyll b was significantly greater in ILL 6793 as compared with ILL 6439 at the two lower N levels. Total soluble sugars increased consistently in both lines with decrease in N level of the growth medium and the salt‐tolerant line ILL 6793 had significantly greater soluble sugars than the salt‐sensitive ILL 6439 at 28 and 14 mg N L^?1. Chlorophyll a and free amino acids were uniformly reduced in both lines with decrease in N levels. The salt‐tolerant line showing high efficiency for N utilization could be of great economic value in terms of its use in salt‐affected soils which are usually deficient in N provided it also produces reasonable grain yield.     

Molecular simulations of Taxawallin I inside classical taxol binding site of β-tubulin

A new taxoid Taxawallin I (1) along with two known taxoids (2-3) were isolated from methanolic bark extract of Taxus wallichiana Zucc. Structural characterization was confirmed by mass and NMR spectral techniques. Taxawallin I exhibited significant in-vitro anticancer activity against HepG2, A498, NCI-H226 and MDR 2780AD cancer lines. Tubulin binding assay was performed to assess its tubulin binding activity. Molecular docking analysis was performed to study the potential binding mode inside the taxol binding site of β-tubulin.     

Determination of dietary phosphorus requirement of stinging catfish Heteropneustes fossilis based on feed conversion,growth, vertebrae phosphorus,whole body phosphorus,haematology and antioxidant status

A 12‐week feeding trial was conducted to determine the dietary phosphorus requirement of Heteropneustes fossilis fingerlings (7.7 ± 0.04 g). Fish were fed casein–gelatine‐based purified diets in triplicate groups near satiation with seven different levels of dietary phosphorus (3.2, 5.2, 7.2, 9.2, 11.2, 13.2 and 15.2 g/kg dry diet). All diets were formulated to be isoproteic (400 g/kg) and isoenergetic (17.89 kJ/g). Highest absolute weight gain (68.38 g/fish), best feed conversion ratio (1.48), protein retention efficiency (30.74%), protein gain (12.44 g/fish), haemoglobin (11.19 g/dL), RBCs (3.12 x10⁶/mm³), haematocrit (33.44%) and serum phosphate (2.82 mg/L) were found at 9.2 g/kg phosphorus. Hepatic superoxide dismutase and catalase activity were also significantly influenced by the dietary phosphorus levels. Whole body and vertebrae phosphorus concentrations increased significantly as the amount of dietary phosphorus increased from 3.2 to 11.2 g/kg dry diet and then plateaued. More accurate information on dietary phosphorus requirement was obtained by subjecting the AWG, FCR, vertebrae phosphorus and whole body phosphorus concentrations data against various levels of dietary phosphorus to broken‐line analysis, which yielded the requirement in the range of 9.0–11.0 g/kg for optimum growth and mineralization of H. fossilis.     

Ethnoveterinary health management practices using medicinal plants in South Asia – a review

Animal rearing is the major occupation of most population of South Asian countries. Due to lack of resources and limited approach to modern medicine, most of the livestock raisers prefer to use plant-based traditional medicine also referred to as ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM). Indeed, the use of medicinal plants in South Asia dates back to several centuries with documented evidences. However, there is currently a dearth of documentation and compilation of use of medicinal plants for animal diseases in this part of the world. This review aims to provide an up-to-date compilation of common medicinal plants used for the treatment and/or management of common animal diseases in South Asian countries. Extensive literature search was conducted online and relevant data was retrieved from well-known scientific databases. A total of 276 plants belonging to 95 families have been documented to be in common use for managing 14 different categories of animal diseases. Solanaceae, Lamiaceae, Fabaceae, and Leguminosae were most common plant families in terms of their plant species used for EVM. Gastric diseases were commonly reported and accounted for 72 species of plants used for its treatment followed by the miscellaneous disorders category and skin diseases comprising of 65 and 39 plant species respectively. Herbs accounted for 46% of the total plant species, followed by trees (33%), and shrubs (18%). The EVM were applied through different routes of administration; oral administration accounted for 72% followed by topical application 27%, while burning of plant parts to create smoke around animals to repel insects was less common (1%). It is anticipated that the present review will stimulate further ethnoveterinary research among livestock disease management practices in South Asia.     

The effect of chilling,defoliation and hydrogen cyanamide on dormancy release,bud break and fruiting of Anna apple cultivar

The effect of defoliation (DEF) alone or combined with hydrogen cyanamide (HC) on dormancy state, fruit quality and yield of Anna apple cultivar was studied. Trees were manually defoliated on three successive dates, November 15th, December 1st and December 15th. The flower buds (FB) entered the endodormancy synchronized with vegetative buds (VB) for most of the treatments. Most of the treatments terminated endodormancy between January 27th and February 8th during the season 2004/2005 and between January 18th and February 8th during the season 2005/2006. The treatments were effective in dormancy release of FB and somewhat with VB. Defoliation on November 15th + HC recorded the lowest chilling accumulation needed to reach 50% bud break. All the treatments exceeded the control considering the percentage of flower (FBB) and vegetative bud break (VBB) either in the lab or at the field. Growing degree hours and the number of days required to reach each stage of fruiting were differed between the two studied seasons. The control and DEF on December 15th exceeded all the treatments regarding initial fruit set percentage (IFS). The defoliation treatments alone gave the highest yield (kg/tree). Defoliation + HC treatments gave the best fruit quality, while the control gave the least values.     

Introduction of composted rock phosphate and poultry manure enhances winter wheat phosphorus use efficiency,grain yield and soil quality

This field study evaluates the integrated impact of poultry manure (PM), rock phosphate (RP), composted rock phosphate (CRP) and single super phosphate (SSP) on the growth, yield, and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) of winter wheat and their effect on postharvest soil characteristics. The seven treatments were as follows: T₁ = control; T₂ = SSP full; T₃ = PM full; T₄ = RP full; T₅ = CRP full; T₆ = 50% SSP + 50% CRP (50:50); T₇ = 50% PM + 50% CRP (50:50) at a recommended P rate of 90 kg ha^?1. The combined treatment with PM + CRP produced the highest straw yield of 3582 kg ha^?1, grain yield of 2226 kg ha^?1, P uptake of 21.3 kg ha^?1, and PUE of 18%. The postharvest soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and soil available phosphorus were sig-nificantly higher in integrated treatments.