Effects of rainwater harvesting on herbage diversity and productivity in degraded Aravalli hills in western India

Over-exploitation and rural growth have severely damaged native vegetations of Aravalli hills in Rajasthan, India. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different restoration practices (i.e., rainwater harvesting (RWH) and planting of tree seedlings) on improve- ment in soil water and nutrients and growth and biomass of herbaceous vegetation. Contour trench (CT), Gradonie (G), Box trench (BT), V-ditch (VD) and a control were imposed on 75 plots (each of 700 m 2 ) in natural slope gradient defined as <10%, 10% 20% and >20% slopes in 2005. Each plot had three micro-sites of 1-m 2 at up (USP), middle (MSP) and lower (LSP) part of the plot for observation in 2008. The existed gradient (due to soil texture and topographic features) of soil pH, EC, SOC, NH 4 - N, NO 3 -N and PO 4 -P in June 2005 between >20% to <10% slopes were decreased in 2008 after applying RWH techniques. Such improvement in soil status promoted vegetation growth and biomass in higher slope gra- dients. Soil water, species diversity and herbage biomass increased from USP to LSP, and RWH techniques had positive role in improving SOC, nutrients, vegetation population, evenness and growth at MSP. Despite of lowest SWC, regular rain and greater soil water usage enhanced green and dry herbage biomasses in 10% 20% and >20% slopes, compared with <10% slope. The highest diversity in CT treatment was related to herbage biomass, which was enhanced further by highest concentrations of SOC and PO 4 -P. Further, CT treatment was found to be the best treat- ment in minimizing biomass variance in different slopes. Conclusively, soil texture and topographic features controlled soil water and nutrients availability. Rainwater harvesting techniques increased soil water storage and nutrient retention and also enhanced vegetation status and biomass by minimizing the effects of hillslopes. Thus depending upon the site conditions, suitable RWH technique could be adopted to increase herb- age biomass while rehabilitating the degraded hills.     

Adventitious rhizogenesis in Bambusa nutans and Bambusa tulda: Influence of seasonal variation, IBA and cutting type

The influence of seasonal variation, indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) and type of cuttings was examined on induction and growth of adventitious roots in Bambusa nutans Wall. and Bambusa tulda Roxb. Singlenode culm and culm-branch cuttings from the mature culms were provided with immersion treatment for 24 h of either water (control) or 2 mM IBA in four different seasons, i.e., spring (mid February), summer (mid May), rainy (mid July), and winter (mid November) and maintained for two months in the mist chamber at the relative humidity of (70±5)% and the temperature of (30±2)°C. In B. nutans, adventitious rooting occurred in both types of cuttings in all the seasons with the best rooting in the summer season i.e., May (88% in culm cuttings) and the least in winter. On the contrary, adventitious rooting was recorded only in culm cuttings in spring and summer season in B. tulda. IBA treatment significantly enhanced rooting, root number and root length; registering 14 to 17 times improvement over control in the best rooting season. Three factor-interactions (season × cutting type × IBA treatment) were significant for rooting in B. nutans and all characteristics, except sprouting in B. tulda. Thus, single-node culm and culm-branch cuttings in B. nutans and culm cuttings in B. tulda treated with 2 mM IBA during spring (February) to summer (May) season are recommended for their clonal multiplication.     

Variation in drought response of sal (Shorea robusta) seedlings

Plant development and distribution in areas with seasonal rainfall are often related to the ability of plants to postpone desiccation or tolerate low water potentials during drought. Regeneration of Shorea robusta Gaertn. (sal), a commercially valuable, widely distributed tree of the Indian tropical belt, is unsuccessful at the base of the Himalaya. Seedling shoots die back repeatedly during the long drought that follows the monsoon rain. During the course of one year, we monitored changes in plant and soil water potentials (Psi), leaf conductance (gw), osmotic and elastic adjustment, and xylem conductance of sal seedlings of different sizes from three landforms: an alluvial plain at 540 m elevation, a slope at 510 m, and a montane site at 1370 m. Predawn plant Psi and gw were lowest in the smallest seedlings (< 20 cm tall). Across sites and seasons, seedlings > 100 cm tall had higher morning gw than seedlings in the other size classes. In all size classes, plant Psi was lowest during early summer, when leafing begins. Among sites, Psi and gw were lowest in seedlings at the montane site. Osmotic potential was lowest during leaf development and highest during the rainy season, and tissue elasticity was highest during winter. As leaf area increased during leaf development, xylem conductance per unit of xylem cross-sectional area also increased. We conclude that low Psi is unlikely to be a major cause of seedling mortality. Small seedlings, with low Psi, had low leaf conductance. Adjustments of osmotic and elastic properties appear to aid responses of seedlings to drought.     

Armillaria root rot: Artificial inoculation and development of the disease in greenhouse1

Inoculation of five softwood provenances have revealed that they vary considerably with regard to their percent infection, percent mortality, severity of disease symptoms and progress of infection. Sitka spruce was the most susceptible species and served as a better substrate for further development of mycelium and rhizomorphs as compared to Norway and black spruces and Scots pine. The fungus always entered through uninjured surface of root collar and/or roots, the latter with more than 2 mm diameter. There was a conspicuous reduction m the total and annual growth in height in A. mellea-infected seedlings.     

一些竹种在不同季节不定根诱导的形式

考察了季节和植物激素、非植物激素生长调节剂对不定根形成的影响,以进行黄竹、孝顺竹、马甲竹和龙竹无性繁殖。在冬天,夏天和雨季的3个生长季节,将成熟秆截取成单节扦插方式,并用IAA,IBA、NAA、硼酸和水进行24h处理。之后,将扦插秆水平放置,盖上沙子,在喷雾箱中放2个月。     

Leaf conductance of primary and mature leaves ofPinus roxburghii: A comparison

We used a null-balance porometer to measure leaf conductance of mature and primary leaves of natural seedlings, saplings, and trees ofPinus roxburghii (chir) during autumn at four sites at 1,320–1,930 m elevation in the central Himalaya of India. Our hypothesis that primary leaves had higher leaf conductance than mature leaves (needles in fascicles), based on measurements in other pines, was rejected. Comparisons on the same saplings and seedlings showed lower leaf conductance for primary leaves than for mature leaves. Primary leaves on seedlings and saplings also did not consistently have higher leaf conductance than mature leaves on near-by trees. Mature leaves on seedlings, however, did often have higher conductance than mature leaves on nearby trees. Mean values for leaf conductance (mmol m⁻² s⁻¹, based on total leaf surface area) ranged from 42–82 for mature leaves on trees, 60–121 for mature leaves on seedlings, and 28–67 for primary leaves on seedlings. Compared to published values for other pine species, conductance of mature leaves ofP. roxburghii is relatively low. Funding for this study was provided by grants from the United States National Science Foundation, INT-9312052 and INT-9404043. We appreciate the review of an early draft by Barbara Bond.     

A new phorbol diester from Aleurites moluccana

A new phorbol diester, 13-O-myristyl-20-O-acetyl-12-deoxyphorbol (1), has been isolated from the benzene extract of the heartwood of Aleurites moluccana. In addition, hentriacontane, 6,7-dimethoxycoumarin, 5,6,7-trimethoxycoumarin and beta-sitostenone are being reported for the first time from this species.     

An agroforestry practice for the development of salt lands usingProsopis juliflora andLeptochloa fusca

High salt concentration in the soil is a serious problem in vast areas of otherwise productive agricultural lands in India. Establishment of salt tolerant vegetation could be an effective way of ameliorating this problem. In an 8-year field trial on an alkali soil, growth and biomass production ofProsopis juliflora was greater in sole stand than when interplanted with the grassLeptochloa fusca, but soil improvement was greater for the mixed tree-grass treatment.Prosopis accumulated substantially more biomass nutrients when in sole stand, but total nutrient recycling was similar with and without grass. Less salt tolerant but more palatable fodder crops such asTrifolium resupinatum, T. alexandrium andMelilotus denticulata were successfully grown withProsopis after removingL. fusca in theProsopis plus grass treatment 50 months after commencement. Tentative economic analysis suggests theProsopis plus grass system gives higher returns. TheProsopis-Leptochloa system combines production with biological reclamation, and is an appropriate form of reclamation agroforestry for alkali lands.     

Verbascoside isolated from Tectona grandis mediates gastric protection in rats via inhibiting proton pump activity

Evidences have suggested that Tectona grandis (TG) attenuates gastric mucosal injury; however its mechanism has not yet been established. The aim of present study was to evaluate the gastroprotective mechanism of ethanolic extract of TG (E-EtOH), butanolic fraction (Fr-Bu) and to identify its active constituents. Anti-ulcer activities were evaluated against cold restraint (CRU) and pyloric ligation (PL) induced gastric ulcer models and further confirmed through H⁺ K⁺-ATPase inhibitory activity. Cytoprotective activity was evaluated in alcohol (AL) induced gastric ulcer model and further through PGE₂ level. E-EtOH and Fr-Bu attenuated ulcer formation in CRU. Moreover E-EtOH and Fr-Bu displayed potent anti-secretory activity as evident through reduced free acidity and pepsin activity in PL, confirmed further by in vitro inhibition of H⁺ K⁺-ATPase activity. In addition cytoprotective potential of E-EtOH and Fr-Bu were apparent with protection in AL model, increased PGE₂ content and enhanced mucin level in PL. Phytochemical investigations of Fr-Bu yielded terpenoides and a phenolic glycoside, verbascoside. The anti-secretory mechanism of verbascoside mediated apparently through inhibition of H⁺ K⁺-ATPase with corresponding decrease in plasma gastrin level, is novel to our finding. Gastroprotection elicited by TG might be through proton pump inhibition and consequent augmentation of the defensive mechanism.     

Permeability determination and pharmacokinetic study of nobiletin in rat plasma and brain by validated high-performance liquid chromatography method

In the present study, we are reporting permeability and pharmacokinetics of nobiletin in rat plasma and brain, using a validated reverse phase high performance liquid chromatographic method. Protein precipitation method was used for the extraction of nobiletin and coumarin (IS) from rat plasma and brain tissue. The system was run in isocratic mode with mobile phase consisting of potassium dihydrogen ortho-phosphate (pH 4.5; 0.04 mM) and acetonitrile in ratio of 50:50, v/v. The total chromatographic run time was 9.0 min. The method was proved to be accurate and precise at linearity range of 0.05–10 μg/mL with a correlation coefficient (r) of ≥ 0.994 in rat plasma and ≥ 0.995 in rat brain. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy values are found to be within the assay variability limits as per the FDA guidelines. Nobiletin was found stable in the battery of stability studies viz., bench-top, auto-sampler, freeze/thaw cycles and long term storage in a freezer at − 70 ± 10 °C. Maximum concentrations of nobiletin in both plasma and brain were observed at 1 h after single oral dosing (50 mg/kg). The maximum concentration in plasma and brain were 1.78 and 4.20 μg/mL, respectively. The AUC_0–t in plasma and brain were 7.49 and 20.66 μg·h/mL, respectively. The mean elimination half life (t_1/2) in plasma and brain were 1.80 and 11.42 h, respectively. The Parallel Artificial Membrane Permeability Assay (PAMPA) permeability of nobiletin was found to be high at both pH 4.0 and 7.0.