Heifers express G‐protein coupled receptor 153 in anterior pituitary gonadotrophs in stage‐dependent manner

We recently found that orphan G‐protein‐coupled receptor (GPR)153 is expressed in the anterior pituitary (AP) of heifers, leading us to speculate that GPR153 colocalizes with gonadotropin‐releasing hormone receptor (GnRHR) in the plasma membrane of gonadotrophs and is expressed at specific times of the reproductive cycle. To test this hypothesis, we examined the coexpression of GnRHR, GPR153, and either luteinizing hormone or follicle‐stimulating hormone in AP tissue and cultured AP cells by immunofluorescence microscopy. GPR153 was detected in the gonadotrophs, and was colocalized with GnRHR in the plasma membrane. GPR153 was also detected in the cytoplasm of cultured gonadotrophs. Real‐time PCR and western blot analyses found that expression was lower (P < 0.05) in AP tissues during early luteal phase as compared to pre‐ovulation or late luteal phases. The 5′‐flanking region of the GPR153 gene contained a consensus response element sequence for estrogen, but not for progesterone. These data suggest that some, but not all GPR153 colocalizes with GnRHR in the plasma membrane of gonadotrophs, and its expression changes stage‐dependently in the bovine AP.     

Impact of organic manure and chemical fertilizers on artemisinin content and yield in Artemisia annua L

Artemisinin isolated from the aerial parts of Artemisia annua L. is a promising and potent antimalarial drug. It posses remarkable activity against both chloroquinine resistant as well as chloroquinine sensitive strains of Plasmodium falciparum. It is also useful in the treatment of cerebral malaria. The relatively low content of artemisinin in A. annua and unavailability of cost effective and viable synthetic protocol however, are major obstacles to the commercial production of the drug. The enhanced production of artemisinin is hence, highly desirable, which can be achieved by adequate and judicious supply of plant nutrients. The present experiment was therefore, designed to study the effect of organic manure (15 tonnes ha⁻¹) and chemical fertilizers (N₄₀₊₄₀, P₄₀, K₄₀, S₁₅₊₁₅ kg ha⁻¹; nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur) on the accumulation of artemisinin and biomass in various plant parts through the developmental stages of A. annua L. Artemisinin yield (kg ha⁻¹) was also determined through the developmental stages of A. annua L. Artemisinin content and artemisinin yield of dried leaves were increased significantly at pre-flowering stage in the plants treated with NPKS (27.3% and 53.6%) and NPK (18.2% and 33.5%), respectively, when compared with control. Maximum dry yield of leaf ranging from 2596 to 3141 kg ha⁻¹ was observed at pre-flowering stage with various treatments.     

SCAR markers: A potential tool for authentication of herbal drugs

Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is easy to develop and simple molecular marker, but lack of reproducibility makes it less reliable for authentication of herbal drugs. Besides RAPD, other popular PCR and non-PCR based markers like AFLP, ISSR, SSR and RFLP are also used for authentication. However, these also have disadvantages like use of radioactive isotopes, high cost and absolute requirement of sequence information. Therefore, it is a better option to improve the reproducibility of RAPD by converting RAPD amplicons into Sequence Characterized Amplified Region (SCAR) markers. SCAR markers are easy, reliable and reproducible thus, have an advantage over RAPD markers for authentication of medicinal herbs used in the preparation of traditional medicines. These markers however, have been developed for only a few medicinal herbs. This review is an attempt to evaluate critically the role of SCAR markers in authentication of medicinal herbs used in traditional formulations.     

Dietary lipid influences gonadal maturation,digestive enzymes and serum biochemical indices of Cyprinus carpio reared in biofloc system

An experiment was conducted for 120 days to evaluate optimum dietary lipid requirements for gonadal maturation of Cyprinus carpio fed with varying dietary lipid levels under biofloc‐based systems (BFT). About 180 fingerlings (22 g ± 0.05) were randomly distributed in 15 tanks (300 L) at the rate of 48 no./m² and fed with varying lipid levels (T1—4% lipid with BFT, T2—6% lipid with BFT, T3—8% lipid with BFT, T4—10% lipid with BFT, control—10% lipid without BFT). The C/N ratio of 20:1 was maintained using tapioca flour as carbon source. Biofloc units supplemented with 8% dietary lipid (T3) showed advanced maturation in terms of absolute fecundity (9,913 ± 7.62), relative fecundity (229.0/g ± 11.92), gonadosomatic index (24.47% ± 1.27), hepatosomatic index (1.97% ± 0.07), condition factor (0.02 g/cm³ ± 0.00) compared with control (clear water with 10% lipid) (p < .05). Histological observations of gonads also revealed that the biofloc groups with supplementation of 8% dietary lipid promoted gonadal maturation for female oocyte and 6% dietary lipid promoted maturation for males, compared with control (clear water with 10% lipid). The results obtained in this experiment elucidate that the biofloc improves gonadal maturation of common carp broodstock at a dietary supplementation with 8% lipid compared with conventional system of broodstock management.     

Variation in rooting behavior of stem cuttings in relation to their origin in Taxus wallichiana Zucc.

The present study investigates optimal conditions for the vegetative propagation of Himalayan yew Taxus wallichiana Zucc., an important medicinal tree, during spring. Effect of four treatments: (a) sex of donor plant (male and female), (b) age/type of shoot (1, 2, 3 year old, long and dwarf shoots), (c) auxin treatment (IBA and NAA at 0, 0.5, 1.25, 5.0 & 50.0 mM) and (d) rooting environment (raised beds/polythene bags) on percentage rooting in stem cuttings was studied. Randomized complete block (RBD) designs were used for experimentation. Rooting ability of cuttings was significantly influenced by all these treatments. The overall rooting response was higher in long shoot cuttings taken from female tree. Age of shoot also influenced the rooting response and was highest in 1 year old long shoot cuttings of female tree. Exogenous application of auxin, α-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and indole-3 butyric acid (IBA), had significant positive effect on the percentage rooting. IBA significantly enhanced the rooting percentage in 1 year old long and dwarf shoots at lower doses and 2 and 3 year old long shoots from female tree at higher doses. Maximum percent rooting (90% ± 2.8) was obtained with interactive effect of 0.5 mM, NAA (22 h) × 1 year old long shoot from female tree; followed by the interactive effect of 50 mM IBA (5 s) × 3 year old long shoot from female tree (83% ± 4.1). Cuttings planted in soil: sand medium in polythene bags showed earlier rooting response (12 weeks) than cuttings planted in raised nursery beds (24 weeks). Overall, the findings of this study suggest that 0.5 mM IBA treatment is suitable for enhancing adventitious rooting in 1 year old long and dwarf shoots of male and female trees. IBA at higher doses is suitable for enhancing the rooting percentage of 2 and 3 year old long shoots from female tree. This study provides a significant lead towards the development of a simple and inexpensive technique for large scale propagation, aforestation of elite genotypes and raising of bush type plantation under ex-situ conditions.     

Evaluation of CERES-Wheat and CropSyst models for water–nitrogen interactions in wheat crop

Crop simulation models can provide an alternative, less time-consuming and inexpensive means of determining the optimum crop N and irrigation requirements under varied soil and climatic conditions. In this context, two dynamic mechanistic models (CERES (Crop Environment REsource Synthesis)-Wheat and CropSyst (Cropping Systems Simulation Model)) were validated for predicting growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L) under different nitrogen and water management conditions. Their potential as N and water management tool was evaluated for New Delhi representing semi-arid irrigated ecosystems in the Indo-Gangetic Plains. The field experiment was carried out on a silty clay loam soil at the Research Farm of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India during 2000–2001 to collect the input data for the calibration and validation of both the models on wheat crop (variety HD 2687). The models were evaluated for three water regimes [I4 (4 irrigations within the growing season), I3 (3 irrigations within the growing season) and I2 (2 irrigations within the growing season)] and five N treatments (N₀, N₆₀, N₉₀, N₁₂₀ and N₁₅₀). Both the models were calibrated using data obtained from the treatments receiving maximum nitrogen and irrigations, i.e., N₁₅₀ and I4 treatments. The models were then validated against other water and nitrogen treatments. For performance evaluation, in addition to coefficient of determination (R²), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and Wilmot's index of agreement (IoA) were estimated. Both CERES-Wheat and CropSyst provided very satisfactory estimates for the emergence, flowering and physiological maturity dates. For CERES-Wheat overall prediction (pooled result of the three water regimes) of grain yield was satisfactory with significant R² values (0.88). The model, however, under estimated the biomass under all water regimes and N levels except for N₀ level, under which biomass was overpredicted. CropSyst predicted yield and biomass of wheat more closely than CERES-Wheat. The combined RMSE for the three water regimes between predicted and observed grain yield was 0.36 Mg ha⁻¹ for CropSyst as compared to 0.63 Mg ha⁻¹ for CERES-Wheat. Similarly, RMSE between observed and predicted biomass by CropSyst was 1.27 Mg ha⁻¹ as compared to 1.94 Mg ha⁻¹ between observed and predicted biomass by CERES-Wheat. Wilmot's index of agreement (IoA) also indicated that CropSyst model is more appropriate than CERES-Wheat in predicting growth and yield of wheat under different N and irrigation application situations in this study.     

In vitro Screening of 75 Essential Oils Against Colletotrichum gloeosporioides: A Causal Agent of Anthracnose Disease of Mango

ABSTRACT

Colletotrichum gloeosporioides is a major plant pathogen worldwide. It is known to cause anthracnose in many crop plants, which ultimately leads to significant yield loss. In the present study, a fungus was isolated from the infected mango leaf and identified by 28S rDNA sequencing as C. gloeosporioides. Seventy-five different essential oils (EOs) were tested against C. gloeosporioides to evaluate the antifungal activities. Fungal suspension was spread on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and tested with 5 µL of different EOs on disc. The tested EOs against C. gloeosporioides showed various ranges of inhibitory activity. Amongst the tested 75 EOs, four EOs showed remarkably higher antifungal activities. Considering the promising utilities of these EOs, gas chromatography–mass spectral (GC-MS) analysis was performed and the probable role of the key components of the EOs in antifungal activities is discussed. The potential of these EOs as ecofriendly and economical biocontrol in agriculture is reported.     

The Effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Inoculation in Mitigating Salt Stress of Pea (Pisum Sativum L.)

ABSTRACT

Salinity is one of the major threats to an agriculture production system and limits crop growth and productivity. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form a mutualistic association with majority of land plants and play important role in stress tolerance. In the present study, effect of three mycorrhizal treatments, i.e., single-species AMF (Rhizoglomus intraradices), formulated AMF (Funneliformis mosseae and R. intraradices), and multispecies AMF (Rhizoglomus fasciculatum and Gigaspora sp.) along with control (nonmycorrhizal) on growth, yield performance, and metabolic changes in pea crop under salinity stress was examined in completely randomized design with four replications. The results revealed that AMF inoculation mitigated negative effects of salinity in pea due to higher nutrient uptake, accumulation of compatible osmolytes, and lower cellular leakage of electrolyte which in turn enhanced biomass production, chlorophyll synthesis, yield, and growth attributes. Overall, consortium-based application of R. fasciculatum and Gigaspora sp. was found most suitable approach to ameliorate the salt stress in pea crop and enhanced the yield by ~11%, 24%, and 54% than single-species, multispecies, and control treatments, respectively. The variation in results under different mycorrhizal treatment might be due to specific compatibility relationships that exist between symbionts.