September 2013
Transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) chickpea: India’s most wanted genetically modified (GM) pulse crop
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is grown widely in India because the seeds are rich source of protein for the vegetarian population of country. However, chickpea cultivation is declining over the period of time due to heavy incidences of pests and diseases.Helicoverpa armigera is a major pest in the field and non-availability of resistant varieties lead to heavy losses of yield per year. Crop management practices...
September 2013
Genetic variability among Andrographis paniculata in Chhattisgarh region assessed by RAPD markers
Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to estimate the genetic variability and dissimilarity among the Andrographis paniculata (family- Acanthance), an important medicinal herb. Twenty-four (24) plants were collected from five districts of different places of Chhattisgarh region. Sixteen (16) primers generated a total of 159 polymorphic bands out of 182 total bands...
September 2013
Determination of genetic polymorphism among indigenous and exotic maize inbreds using microsatellite markers
Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important cereal crop of different countries of world. Undoubtedly, the concerted efforts of plant breeders and their breeding strategies have helped to increase the production and productivity to the tune of two to three folds in many crops including maize. Hybrid cultivars have played a vital role in increasing the acreage and productivity of maize. The success in identifying heterotic...
September 2013
Molecular and functional diversity in Capsicum landraces of Andaman Islands
The present study analyzed the diversity in 26 landraces of Capsicum from Andaman Islands using 20 morphological, 16 biochemical and 10 DNA markers. Significant differences were observed in tested landraces and 16 reference genotypes from mainland India. Biochemical markers grouped all the genotypes into eight clusters with inter-cluster distance of 0.5 to 1.9 while seven quantified...
September 2013
Plant regeneration protocol of Andrographis paniculata (Burm. f.) - an important medicinal plant
Rapid direct plant regeneration of Andrographis paniculata was achieved from leaf and stem explants on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with 1.5 to 3.0 mg/l 6-benzyladenine (BA), 50 mg/l adenine sulfate (Ads) and 3% (m/v) sucrose. Inclusion of 1.0 mg/l 1-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) in the culture medium along with BA + Ads promoted a higher rate of shoot bud regeneration. Maximum mean...
September 2013
In vitro anti-inflammatory and phytochemical properties of crude ethyl acetate extract of Baliospermum montanum Leaf (Muell – Arg)
Baliospermum montanum (Muell – Arg) which belong to Euphorbiaceae family is a well known perennial herb in Indian medicine used to treat various disorders like asthma, bronchitis, purgative, anthelmintic, diuretic, diaphoretic, rubefacient and tonic. The anti-inflammatory activity of four different solvent extracts of B. montanum leaf was investigated in Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)...
September 2013
Surface sterilization method for reducing microbial contamination of field grown strawberry explants intended for in vitro culture
An effective disinfection method for strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) cv.Senga Sengana micropropagation using runner tips and nodal segments as explants was developed. The explants were surface sterilized with different sterilants for different durations. The present studies on the effect of different regimes of sterilization revealed that maximum aseptic cultures were obtained from both explants runner...
September 2013
Regeneration of plantlets from unpollinated ovary cultures of Ethiopian wheat (Triticum turgidum and Triticum aestivum)
An in vitro culture protocol was established for direct regeneration of plantlets from unpollinated ovary cultures of four Ethiopian wheat varieties. Unpollinated ovaries were excised from durum wheat (Yerer and Ude varieties) and bread wheat (Simba and Galama varieties). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) has shown that genotypes, types of media, concentrations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid...
September 2013
Effects of ten years treated wastewater drip irrigation on soil microbiological properties under Mediterranean conditions
Water shortage in most countries of the southern Mediterranean basin has led to the reuse of municipal wastewater for irrigation. Despite numerous advantages for soil fertility and crop productivity, recycling wastewater in the soil also has several ecotoxicological and sanitary problems. To evaluate the chronic soil contamination and the cumulative impact of wastewater, we compared two plots, all under orange-grove...
September 2013
Fermentation process for alcoholic beverage production from mahua (Madhuca indica J. F. Mel.) flowers
Mahua flowers are rich in sugar (68-72%), in addition to a number of minerals and one of the most important raw materials for alcohol fermentation. The present investigation was for the development of a non-distilled alcoholic beverage from Mahua flowers. Eighteen (18) treatment combinations consisting of two temperatures (25 and 30°C), three pH (4.0, 4.5 and 5.0) and three period of fermentation (7, 14 and 21 days)...
September 2013
Decolourization of remazol brilliant blue R by enzymatic extract and submerged cultures of a newly isolated Pleurotus ostreatus MR3
A local white-rot fungus basidiomycete Pleurotus ostreatus MR3 was isolated from MacRitchie Reservoir Park, Singapore. Among all the ligninolytic activities, laccase was the only enzyme detected in the supernatant when the fungus was grown in liquid culture. This newly isolated white rot fungus was able to completely decolourise remazol brilliant blue R (RBBR) in-vivo on agar plates within five days...
September 2013
Response of haco-cockerels fed graded levels of toasted bambara nut offal and supplementary enzyme
Eighty 4 weeks old spotted cockerels (Harco strain) were used to determine the effect of toasted bambara nut offal (TBNO) and supplementary enzyme on growth performance, haematology and organ weights of birds. The birds were randomly divided into 8 groups of 10 birds each. The groups were randomly assigned to 8 energetic (11.30 MJ/kg Me) and nitrogenous (20.02 to 20.06% crude protein) diets in a 4 × 2 factorial...
September 2013
Ten (10) M Ammonium acetate is an efficient molecular concentration for the extraction of genomic DNA from small insects used for rolling circle amplification
Most of the published methods for DNA isolation from vectors (insects) are not always effective in mealy-bugs, aphids and leafhoppers because they have high amount of polyphenols in their body systems. A simple, rapid, reliable labor-effective and carcinogenic compound-free salting out method for isolation of high molecular DNA from these insects is described. The ratio of OD260/OD280 ranged between 1.8 to 2.0. The...
September 2013
Spasmogenic, Spasmolytic and Chemical Screening of Cigarettes
The aqueous and ethanolic extracts derived from cigarettes (Morven Gold) were screened for chemicals, spasmogenic and spasmolytic activities. Aqueous extract showed strong relaxant activity that is, 92% against KCl induced contractions while ethanolic extract was found to be moderately spasmolytic (70%). Ethanolic extract was also found to have a strong spasmogenic activity, while aqueous extract depress the spasmogenic...
September 2013
Identification of proteins similar to AvrE type III effector proteins from Arabidopsidis thaliana genome with partial least squares
Type III effector proteins are injected into host cells through type III secretion systems. Some effectors are similar to host proteins to promote pathogenicity, while others lead to the activation of disease resistance. We used partial least squares alignment-free bioinformatics methods to identify proteins similar to AvrE proteins from Arabidopsidisthaliana genome and identified 61 protein candidates. Using...
September 2013
Effect of paclobutrazol on three different aquatic macrophytes under in vitro monoculture or polyculture conditions
Three aquatic plants, coontail (Ceratophyllum demersum L.), hydrilla [Hydrilla verticillata (L. f.) Royle] and giant duckweed [Spirodela polyrhiza (L.) Schleiden], were successfully surface sterilized and cultured on liquid basal MS (Murashige and Skoog, 1962) medium under aseptic conditions. Shoot explants obtained from these plants were transferred to basal MS medium supplemented with 0, 0.25 and 0.5...
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