Are plants with anti-cancer activity resistant to crown gall? : A test of hypothesis

The Crown gall tumour assay (CGTA) is one of several bench top bioassays recommended for the rapid screening of plants with anti-cancer activity. The rationale for the use of the bioassay is that the tumorogenic mechanism initiated in plant tissues by _Agrobacterium tumefaciens_ is in many ways similar to that of animals. Several plant species with anti-cancer activity have already been discovered using this bioassay. However till date no explicit test of an association between anti-cancer activity of plants and their resistance to crown gall formation has been demonstrated. Demonstration of an association could have exploratory potential when searching for plants with anti-cancer activity. In this paper, we determined whether or not a statistically significant association between crown gall resistance and anti-cancer activity exists in plants found in existing published data sets. Our results indicate that plants with anti-cancer activity have a higher proportion of their species resistant to crown gall formation compared to a random selection of plants. We discuss the implications of our results especially when prospecting for newer sources of anti-cancer activity in plants

Long term monitoring and field testing of an innovative multi-storey timber building

Peer reviewedPostprin

Local Invariants and Pairwise Entanglement in Symmetric Multi-qubit System

Pairwise entanglement properties of a symmetric multi-qubit system are analyzed through a complete set of two-qubit local invariants. Collective features of entanglement, such as spin squeezing, are expressed in terms of invariants and a classifcation scheme for pairwise entanglement is proposed. The invariant criteria given here are shown to be related to the recently proposed (Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 120502 (2005)) generalized spin squeezing inequalities for pairwise entanglement in symmetric multi-qubit states.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, REVTEX, Replaced with a published versio

In pursuit of a universal barcode of plants: peril of followers?

In May 2007, during the early days of the DNA bar coding project in India, we published an article, ‘DNA barcoding: an exercise in futility or utility’1. As the title reflects, we were literally at crossroads, caught between the cross-fire of traditional taxonomists (we think it is disrespectful to call them traditional; they are as much modern as are archaeologists and molecular biologists) and molecular systematists and not knowing which way to go forward. After a reasonable amount of brain-storming that took us through well-trodden criticisms of the DNA barcoding initiative, we concluded that while debates can go on, the tool itself can be effectively used in complementing conventional taxonomic studies and in securing Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) for important taxa. We also felt at that time that it would be important for the country to develop skills and infrastructure to undertake barcoding of at least some of the important taxa, both for conservation and commerce

Non-local properties of a symmetric two-qubit system

Non-local properties of symmetric two-qubit states are quantified in terms of a complete set of entanglement invariants. We prove that negative values of some of the invariants are signatures of quantum entanglement. This leads us to identify sufficient conditions for non-separability in terms of entanglement invariants. Non-local properties of two-qubit states extracted from (i) Dicke state (ii) state generated by one-axis twisting Hamiltonian, and (iii) one-dimensional Ising chain with nearest neighbour interaction are analyzed in terms of the invariants characterizing them.Comment: 5 pages, no figure

Angular Resolution of an EAS Array for Gamma Ray Astronomy at Energies Greater Than 5 x 10 (13) Ev

A 24 detector extensive air shower array is being operated at Ootacamund (2300 m altitude, 11.4 deg N latitude) in southern India for a study of arrival directions of showers of energies greater than 5 x 10 to the 13th power eV. Various configurations of the array of detectors have been used to estimate the accuracy in determination of arrival angle of showers with such an array. These studies show that it is possible to achieve an angular resolution of better than 2 deg with the Ooty array for search for point sources of Cosmic gamma rays at energies above 5 x 10 to the 13th power eV

Changes in genetic diversity parameters in unimproved and improved populations of teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) in Karnataka state, India

Teak (Tectona grandis L. f.; family Verbanaceae) is an important plantation tree species in the tropics and in India one of the first species to be prioritized for improvement. Improvement efforts for the last 50 years have essentially concentrated on augmenting quality seed production by establishing seed production areas (SPA) and clonal seed orchards (CSO). Presently, these two form the main sources of quality planting material for teak throughout the country. However, there is no information on the genetic quality of such sources nor information on the progeny used in plantation programmes. Reports of studies based on coniferous and tropical species provide conflicting results on the impact of domestication on the genetic diversity of populations (Chaisurisri and El Kassaby 1994; Rajora 1999; Moran et al. 2000; Godt et al. 2001; Icgen et al. 2006). Also the impact of domestication on the genetic diversity of progeny populations is poorly understood (Stoehr and El-Kassaby 1997; Schmitdtling and Hiplins 1998). Such studies become pertinent not only for gauging the impact of selection on reforestation stock, but also for effective genetic conservation of existing breeding populations. We therefore address two issues in the present study: (i) the change in genetic diversity with increasing levels of improvement, and (ii) the impact of the above change on genetic diversity of progeny populations

Influence of levels of genetic diversity on fruit quality in teak (Tectona grandis L.f.)

The study on the influence of genetic diversity on the fruit emptiness and seed germination (as a measure of fruit quality) of teak populations was carried out. The populations comprised three unimproved plantations, three seed-production areas and a clonal seed orchard within Karnataka. Significant variation between the populations was observed for fruit emptiness, seed germination and Jaccard’s dissimilarity index of the parent population. Genetic dissimilarity of populations was positively correlated to fruit emptiness and negatively correlated to seed germination. It is inferred that higher genetic dissimilarity of individuals within the population results in higher flower asynchrony and close-related mating, thereby leading to higher inbreeding depression manifested in the form of higher emptiness and low germination percentage