Molecular Profiling of Major Indian Rice Cultivars Using a Set of Eight Hypervariable Microsatellite Markers

India bred high yielding rice varieties have enriched to a great extent the global rice germplasm since the mid-sixties. Systematic research efforts for development of cultivar-specific DNA fingerprints of major Indian rice cultivars, however, have not received due attention. The present investigation was aimed at development of DNA fingerprints for 90 high yielding rice varieties using hypervariable microsatellite (hvRM) markers. A panel of eight markers, viz. RM11313, RM13584, RM15004, RM5844, RM22250, RM22565, RM24260 and RM8207 was chosen from 52 polymorphic markers based on their highly polymorphic nature, SSR repeat type and number and ability to distinguish genotypes, in order to develop DNA fingerprints of 90 varieties. The remaining high polymorphic hvRM markers could be of immense value in future to distinguish new cultivars, in case they could not be distinguished by the 8 marker panel. Four of the 8 markers, viz. RM22250, RM13584, RM24260 and RM5844 were located in expressed genes and could be of value in DUS (Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability) testing. Thus we suggested, that this set of 8 loci could be used as standard for DNA fingerprinting of Indian rice cultivars

Growth Performance of Staphylococcus spp. in Chromium Effluent with Various Environmental Conditions

Microorganisms and microbial products can be highly efficient to bioaccumulations of metals, especially from dilute external solutions. The emerging technologies employing microbes provides as alternative to conventional techniques towards metal removal from diverged ecosystem. Hence in the present study an attempt was made to investigate the growth pattern of metal resistant Staphylococcus spp in chromium electroplating effluent with various environmental conditions. Metal resistant Staphylococcus spp was isolated from electroplating effluent soil sediments and the strain was confirmed by morphological and biochemical characteristics. Further, the study characterized the growth of Staphylococcus spp in chromium containing electroplating effluents with various concentration (15%, 20% & 25%) and with different pH (pH 5, pH 7 & pH 9), and various temperature (20°C, 30°C & 40°C) conditions, the results revealed that Staphylococcus spp shown the better growth in 20% chromium containing electroplating effluents with pH 7 at 30°C. ÂÂ

Dermatophilosis in a buffalo: A case report

Dermatophilosis is caused by Dermatophilus Congolensis, pandemic  but more prevalent in tropical countries. The present paper reports the successful diagnosis and treatment of dermatophilosis in a graded Murrah buffalo heifer. Three year-old graded Murrah heifer and weighing approximately 200 kg was referred to teaching veterinary clinical complex with the history of inappetence, pruritus, dirty yellow colored scabs and crusts all over the body. The scabs and crusts were collected for direct microscopy with the presence of filamentous and branching zoospores in the impression smears confirmed the dermatophilosis. The animal was treated initially with Oxytetracycline 10 mg/kg body weight intravenously along with intramuscular Chlorpheniramine maleate 0.2 mg/kg for first five days and it was followed by long acting Oxytetracycline 20 mg/kg through intramuscular route. The animal was showed marked improvement after 9 days of therapy. Complete clinical improvement was noticed after 16 days of therapy with the disappearance of scabs and crusts

MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS IN BLACKGRAM (Vigna mungo (L.) HEPPER)

The study comprises of thirty-eight blackgram genotypes, which was evaluated for thirteen quantitative traits to undertake the multivariate analysis. The First six principal components (PCs) with eigen values >1 contributed 76.8% of the variability amongst accessions. Among the first six PCs, PC1 accounted for a high proportion of whole variance (21.30%) and the remaining five principal components viz., PC2, PC3, PC4, PC5 and PC6 revealed 14.70%, 13.20%, 11.10%, 8.60% and 7.90%. of the entire variance, respectively. The genotypes were categorized into five clusters based on average linkage between groups and clusters I and IV were more clearly separated than II, III and V. The principal traits are pod length (0.531), number of pods per plant (0.311) from PC2, number of primary branches per plant (0.53) from PC3, number of seeds per pods (0.481), seed index (0.401), length of pods (0.397), number of clusters per plant (0.279) from PC4, seed yield (0.383) from PC5 and seed index (0.275) from PC6. it indicates that these identified traits within the first six axes (76.8%) exhibited great influence on the phenotype. So, these traits are considered as key traits for selection criteria to develop high yielding varieties

ANTIOXIDANT, FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING ACTIVITY AND GC-MS STUDIES ON PEDILANTHUS TITHYMALOIDES (L.) POIT

Objective: To evaluate the methanolic extract of the leaves of Pedilanthus tithymaloides for total phenol, total flavonoid, total antioxidant and free radical scavenging ability and detect the phytoconstituents using GC-MS. Methods: The total phenols were quantified using Folin-Ciocalteu method. Aluminium chloride method and Phosphomolybdenum method were used to quantify total flavonoid and total antioxidant contentrespectively. In addition to the above, Ferric thiocyanate assay, the thiobarbituric acid assay,Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power assay and ABTS assay were performed to know the antioxidant potency of the methanolic extract of leaves of Pedilanthus tithymaloides. The phytoconstituents was detected using GC-MS. Results: The leaves of Pedilanthus tithymaloides recorded a phenolic content of 10.98±0.08 mg TAE/g DW, flavonoid content of 11.49±0.15 µg QE/g DW and total antioxidant content of 6.64±0.05 mg TAE/g DW. The study also revealed significant free radical scavenging ability of the plant leaves as assessed by FTC, TBA, FRAP and ABTS assays. The structural elucidation by GC-MS analysis revealed five different compounds, includingthree esters, an amine and an alkaloid. Conclusion: The study proves the anticipative potential ability of Pedilanthus tithymaloides, suggesting its exploitation in pharmaceutical applications

Synthesis, Characterization and Remedial Action of Biogenic Silver Nanoparticles and Chitosan-Silver Nanoparticles against Bacterial Pathogens

Custard apple is a dry land fruit. Its leaves exhibit different pharmacological activities. In the present study, both silver (Ag) nanoparticles and chitosan-coated Ag (Chi-Ag) nanoparticles were fabricated using the aqueous leaf extract of the custard apple plant. During preliminary phytochemical analysis, various types of phytocompounds were found in the aqueous leaf extract of the same plant. Next, both nanoparticles were physiochemically characterized. FTIR analysis exhibited the fingerprint vibrational peaks of active bioactive compounds in plant extract, Ag nanoparticles, and Chi-Ag nanoparticles. UV/Visible spectral analysis revealed the highest absorbance peak at 419 nm, indicating the presence of Ag nanoparticles. XRD analysis presented the face-centered cubic (FCC) structure of both prepared nanomaterials. Further, the average crystalline size of both Ag nanoparticles and Chi-Ag nanoparticles was calculated to be 23 and 74 nm, respectively. FESEM analysis showed the spherical and cubical shapes of Ag nanoparticles and Chi-Ag nanoparticles, respectively. EDS analysis indicated a peak around 3.29 keV, conforming to the binding energies of Ag ions. The biogenic nanomaterial also showed strong antibacterial activity against all tested bacterial pathogens.</p

Early life drought predicts components of adult body size in wild female baboons

Objectives: In many taxa, adverse early-life environments are associated with reduced growth and smaller body size in adulthood. However, in wild primates, we know very little about whether, where, and to what degree trajectories are influenced by early adversity, or which types of early adversity matter most. Here, we use parallel-laser photogrammetry to assess inter-individual predictors of three measures of body size (leg length, forearm length, and shoulder-rump length) in a population of wild female baboons studied since birth. Materials and Methods: Using >2000 photogrammetric measurements of 127 females, we present a cross-sectional growth curve of wild female baboons (Papio cynocephalus) from juvenescence through adulthood. We then test whether females exposed to several important sources of early-life adversity—drought, maternal loss, low maternal rank, or a cumulative measure of adversity—were smaller for their age than females who experienced less adversity. Using the “animal model,” we also test whether body size is heritable in this study population. Results: Prolonged early-life drought predicted shorter limbs but not shorter torsos (i.e., shoulder-rump lengths). Our other measures of early-life adversity did not predict variation in body size. Heritability estimates for body size measures were 36%–67%. Maternal effects accounted for 13%–17% of the variance in leg and forearm length, but no variance in torso length. Discussion: Our results suggest that baboon limbs, but not torsos, grow plastically in response to maternal effects and energetic early-life stress. Our results also reveal considerable heritability for all three body size measures in this study population

Rapid growth of new atmospheric particles by nitric acid and ammonia condensation

New-particle formation is a major contributor to urban smog$^{1,2}$, but how it occurs in cities is often puzzling$^{3}$. If the growth rates of urban particles are similar to those found in cleaner environments (1–10 nanometres per hour), then existing understanding suggests that new urban particles should be rapidly scavenged by the high concentration of pre-existing particles. Here we show, through experiments performed under atmospheric conditions in the CLOUD chamber at CERN, that below about +5 degrees Celsius, nitric acid and ammonia vapours can condense onto freshly nucleated particles as small as a few nanometres in diameter. Moreover, when it is cold enough (below −15 degrees Celsius), nitric acid and ammonia can nucleate directly through an acid–base stabilization mechanism to form ammonium nitrate particles. Given that these vapours are often one thousand times more abundant than sulfuric acid, the resulting particle growth rates can be extremely high, reaching well above 100 nanometres per hour. However, these high growth rates require the gas-particle ammonium nitrate system to be out of equilibrium in order to sustain gas-phase supersaturations. In view of the strong temperature dependence that we measure for the gas-phase supersaturations, we expect such transient conditions to occur in inhomogeneous urban settings, especially in wintertime, driven by vertical mixing and by strong local sources such as traffic. Even though rapid growth from nitric acid and ammonia condensation may last for only a few minutes, it is nonetheless fast enough to shepherd freshly nucleated particles through the smallest size range where they are most vulnerable to scavenging loss, thus greatly increasing their survival probability. We also expect nitric acid and ammonia nucleation and rapid growth to be important in the relatively clean and cold upper free troposphere, where ammonia can be convected from the continental boundary layer and nitric acid is abundant from electrical storms$^{4,5}$

Arctic warming by abundant fine sea salt aerosols from blowing snow

The Arctic warms nearly four times faster than the global average, and aerosols play an increasingly important role in Arctic climate change. In the Arctic, sea salt is a major aerosol component in terms of mass concentration during winter and spring. However, the mechanisms of sea salt aerosol production remain unclear. Sea salt aerosols are typically thought to be relatively large in size but low in number concentration, implying that their influence on cloud condensation nuclei population and cloud properties is generally minor. Here we present observational evidence of abundant sea salt aerosol production from blowing snow in the central Arctic. Blowing snow was observed more than 20% of the time from November to April. The sublimation of blowing snow generates high concentrations of fine-mode sea salt aerosol (diameter below 300 nm), enhancing cloud condensation nuclei concentrations up to tenfold above background levels. Using a global chemical transport model, we estimate that from November to April north of 70° N, sea salt aerosol produced from blowing snow accounts for about 27.6% of the total particle number, and the sea salt aerosol increases the longwave emissivity of clouds, leading to a calculated surface warming of +2.30 W m−2 under cloudy sky conditions

The gas-phase formation mechanism of iodic acid as an atmospheric aerosol source

Iodine is a reactive trace element in atmospheric chemistry that destroys ozone and nucleates particles. Iodine emissions have tripled since 1950 and are projected to keep increasing with rising O-3 surface concentrations. Although iodic acid (HIO3) is widespread and forms particles more efficiently than sulfuric acid, its gas-phase formation mechanism remains unresolved. Here, in CLOUD atmospheric simulation chamber experiments that generate iodine radicals at atmospherically relevant rates, we show that iodooxy hypoiodite, IOIO, is efficiently converted into HIO3 via reactions (R1) IOIO + O-3 -> IOIO4 and (R2) IOIO4 + H2O -> HIO3 + HOI + O-(1)(2). The laboratory-derived reaction rate coefficients are corroborated by theory and shown to explain field observations of daytime HIO3 in the remote lower free troposphere. The mechanism provides a missing link between iodine sources and particle formation. Because particulate iodate is readily reduced, recycling iodine back into the gas phase, our results suggest a catalytic role of iodine in aerosol formation.Peer reviewe