The quality of ground water in any region of the world entirely depends on different types of chemical constituents and their concentration levels in surrounding environment or dissolved in water. The main aim of this study was to assess some basic hydro-chemical parameters and heavy metals in ground water of National Capital Region (NCR), India. Thus, we have collected ground water samples from different sources viz., Najafargarh (NG), Bindapur (BP), Dwarka (BC and BG), Uttam Nagar (UN) and Sonipat (SP) in the NCR and analyzed electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), salinity, Arsenic (As), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd), Nickel (Ni), Zinc (Zn), and Lead (Pb). The values of EC, TDS and salinity across the study sites range from 0.32 to 11.41 mS/cm, 233 to 8100 ppm and 154 to 6310 ppm respectively. Whereas, the mean level of heavy ion concentration in ground water was in the sequence of Zn > Ni > Cr > Pb > As > Cu > Cd across the study sites. It has been concluded that, except for Uttam Nagar, ground water from all study sites is contaminated with heavy metals like Zn, Ni, Cr, Pb and As. Therefore, the ground water from study sites that are polluted is unfit for drinking purpose and may pose health risks.
Evaluation of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) diversity in wild relatives of crop brassicas is important for characterization of cytoplasm and also for population genetics/phylogeographic analyses. The former is useful for breeding programs involving wide hybridization and synthesis of alloplasmic lines, while the latter is important for formulating conservation strategies. Therefore, PCR-RFLP (Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism) technique was applied to study cpDNA diversity in 14 wild brassicas (including 31 accessions) which revealed a total of 219 polymorphic fragments. The combination of polymorphisms obtained by using only two primer pair-restriction enzyme combinations was sufficient to distinguish all 14 wild brassicas. Moreover, 11 primer pairs-restriction enzyme combinations revealed intraspecific polymorphisms in eight wild brassicas (including endemic and endangered species, B. cretica and B. insularis, resp.). Thus, even within a small number of accessions that were screened, intraspecific polymorphisms were observed, which is important for population genetics analyses in wild brassicas and consequently for conservation studies.
Carbon sequestration in the terrestrial ecosystems by forest and agricultural management activities is being considered the best sustainable method to diminish the increasing concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). This paper presents soil carbon sequestration potential of terrestrial ecosystem and the concept of soil priming effect. According to forest survey of India, the carbon stock of Indian forests increased at the rate of 0.3% as compared to the previous assessment, i.e., from 2017 to 2019. Indian forests soils are a reservoir of 7124.6 million tonnes of carbon and they still have high potential to store more carbon. As per soil carbon 4 mille concepts, India must intensify the process of afforestation, land restoration, and agricultural management practices to increase the soil carbon storage, i.e., up to 0.4%. However, organic manure amendments or a fresh supply of carbon substrates via. rhizodeposits into the rainfed or irrigated lands changes the microbial communities and may decompose the already stored soil carbon, i.e., positive priming effect. Thus, accurate measurement of soil organic carbon (SOC) content in various types of ecosystems like forest, agricultural land, desert, agroforest, and plantation is still crucial to ascertain how much they can help to reduce the increasing concentration of atmospheric CO2.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.