The cancer prevalence in the Malwa region of Punjab (1089/million/year) is much higher than the national average cancer prevalence in India (800/million/year). The participants in the present study were 50 healthy individuals and 49 cancer patients all living in the Malwa region of Punjab, with the healthy people being selected from the same household as the cancer patients. High concentrations of several potentially toxic elements were found in hair samples from people living in Punjab. Compared to standard reference ranges, the metals in excess in both the control and patient groups were aluminium (Al), barium (Ba), manganese (Mn), strontium (Sr) and uranium (U). The most significant findings were high lead (Pb), U and Ba concentrations. The maximum values for Ba, Mn, Pb and U were found in hair from breast cancer patients. The mean concentration of U in hair from the breast cancer patients was 0.63 μg U/g, which is more than double the value found in the control group and over six times higher than the reference range of 0.1 μg U/g. Water, soil, and phosphate fertilizers all seem to play a potential role, causing an increased metal burden in Punjabi people living in the Malwa region. The present study indicates that metals, and especially U, may be a factor in the development of breast cancer among Punjabi women.
Three CMS lines, Ogu1A, Ogu2A and Ogu3A were selected among ten lines after BC 7 based on superior commercial, floral and seed setting traits. Introgression of sterile Ogura cytoplasm in cauliflower nuclear background reduced the flower size but did not affect commercial and seed setting traits drastically. Line 9 Tester analysis was done by taking these three CMS lines free from floral deformities as female parent with nine diverse lines of snowball cauliflower as tester. The parent Ogu2A exhibited highest GCA effect for curd yield (4.51) and harvest index (1.97) while Ogu1A exhibited highest GCA for earliness (-2.73). The parent, Ogu2A exhibited significant GCA for curd length (0.39) while, none of the CMS lines showed significant GCA for curd diameter and depth. Heterosis for curd yield was highest in the hybrid, Ogu2A 9 Kt-22 (63.5%) followed by Ogu1A 9 WF (36.9%) and Ogu1A 9 Kt-15 was the best hybrid for earliness followed by Ogu3A 9 Kt-22 with heterosis of -14.4% and -11.7%. However, the number of heterotic hybrids for yield and earliness was low indicating narrow genetic base of the snowball cauliflower.
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