Experiments were conducted to determine methane emission from a rainfed lowland rice field (water depth about 3-30 cm) and an irrigated shallow rice field (4-6 cm), both planted to the same cultivar, cv. 'Gayatri,' as influenced by fertilizer management practices. Methane emission peaked from 100 to 125 days after transplanting followed by a decline in rainfed lowland field plots. Application of prilled urea did not enhance methane emission significantly over that of the untreated control. Subsurface application of urea supergranules was, however, effective in reducing the methane flux over that of the control. Methane emission was lowest in plots treated with the mixture of prilled urea and Nimin (a nitrification inhibitor). Under irrigated shallow conditions, the application of prilled urea and green manure (Sesbania rostrata), singly and in combination, significantly increased methane emission over that of the control. Cumulative methane efflux from control and prilled urea treated lowland rice field was about 4-10 times higher than that in irrigated shallow fields. These results suggest that by virtue of their readily mineralizable carbon and ninhydrin reactive nitrogen, these substrates can serve as positive indicators of methane emission potential of rice fields.

Low light intensity is a great limitation for grain yield and quality in rice. However, yield is not significantly reduced in low light tolerant rice varieties. The work therefore planned for comparative transcriptome profiling under low light stress to decipher the genes involved and molecular mechanism of low light tolerance in rice. At active tillering stage, 50% low light exposure for 1 day, 3 days and 5 days were given to Swarnaprabha (low light tolerant) and IR8 (low light sensitive) rice varieties. Illumina (HiSeq) platform was used for transcriptome sequencing. A total of 6,652 and 12,042 genes were differentially expressed due to low light intensity in Swarnaprabha and IR8, respectively as compared to control. CAB, LRP, SBPase, MT15, TF PCL1 and Photosystem I & II complex related gene expressions were mostly increased in Swarnaprabha upon longer duration of low light exposure which was not found in IR8 as compared to control. Their expressions were validated by qRT-PCR. Overall study suggested that the maintenance of grain yield in the tolerant variety under low light might be results of accelerated expression of the genes which enable the plant to keep the photosynthetic processes moving at the same pace even under low light.

The total digital information today amounts to 3.52 × 10 bits globally, and at its consistent exponential rate of growth is expected to reach 3 × 10 bits by 2040. Data storage density of silicon chips is limited, and magnetic tapes used to maintain large-scale permanent archives begin to deteriorate within 20 years. Since silicon has limited data storage ability and serious limitations, such as human health hazards and environmental pollution, researchers across the world are intently searching for an appropriate alternative. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is an appealing option for such a purpose due to its endurance, a higher degree of compaction, and similarity to the sequential code of 0's and 1's as found in a computer. This emerging field of DNA as means of data storage has the potential to transform science fiction into reality, wherein a device that can fit in our palms can accommodate the information of the entire world, as latest research has revealed that just four grams of DNA could store the annual global digital information. DNA has all the properties to supersede the conventional hard disk, as it is capable of retaining ten times more data, has a thousandfold storage density, and consumes 10 times less power to store a similar amount of data. Although DNA has an enormous potential as a data storage device of the future, multiple bottlenecks such as exorbitant costs, excruciatingly slow writing and reading mechanisms, and vulnerability to mutations or errors need to be resolved. In this review, we have critically analyzed the emergence of DNA as a molecular storage device for the future, its ability to address the future digital data crunch, potential challenges in achieving this objective, various current industrial initiatives, and major breakthroughs.

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Low light (LL) stress is an important abiotic stress of wet season which adversely affects starch biosynthesis and results in drastic reduction in rice grain yield. In general, the grain yield decreases together with reduction in the amylose (AC) and resistant starch (RS) contents while the glycemic index (GI) values increased in plants exposed to LL stress. This is the first report of the effect of LL stress on RS and GI values. In the present investigation, 14 rice genotypes are studied for the effect of LL stress on AC, RS, and GI of the grains. Rice genotypes, Purnendu and Shashi differ in exhibiting relatively much lower reduction in AC and RS and hence little change in their GI values under LL stress, while wide variation is observed for the rest of the genotypes. The grain yields of Purnendu and Shashi are also not much affected by the LL stress. There is a dramatic increase in the expression levels of the gbssI in the middle stage of grain development in the two genotypes (Purnendu and Mahisugandha with contrasting RS, AC, and GI). Maximum expression of the gene was observed in Purnendu at middle stage showing a positive correlation between RS and gbssI expression. As rice is grown mainly in wet season, the identification of rice genotypes which do not permit much change in RS value when grown under LL and hence no significant increase in the GI value, would help to develop better rice varieties for consumption by diabetics.

Nitrogen is the one of most limiting nutrient for rice production, and in India rice cultivation alone accounts approximately 37% of the total fertilizer-N consumption in the year 1917-18. However, 60-70% of applied N is lost from the rice ecosystem system in the form of reactive N species such as ammonia (NH3), nitrous oxide (N2O), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitrate (NO3) through various processes. Hence enhancing N use efficiency through improved N management is of greater importance for ensuring food security and environmental sustainability. The decisions on optimum level, time, form and method of N application are crucial to an efficient N management strategy. Earlier studies suggested blanket fertilizer recommendations for different rice ecosystems and soil test based fertilizer applications. Subsequently, innovative methods of N application including deep placement of urea super granule in reduced zone, subsurface incorporation of urea through farmer friendly methods were also recommended Recently several advancements have been made in N management practices for rice crop such as site specific N management, real time N management using leaf colour chart (LCC) and customised LCC, enhanced efficiency N fertilizers (EENF) using N transformation regulators and GIS and remote sensing (RS) - based N application technologies. The objective of this paper is to comprehensively discuss about the established and emerging N management options for improving yield, N use efficiency and environmental sustainability of rice.

Rice grain yield is drastically reduced under low light especially in kharif (wet) season due to cloudy weather during most part of crop growth. Therefore, 50-60% of yield penalty was observed. To overcome this problem, identification of low light tolerant rice genotypes with a high buffering capacity trait such as photosynthetic rate has to be developed. Sedoheptulose-1,7 bisphosphatase, a light-regulated enzyme, plays pivotal role in the Calvin cycle by regenerating the substrate (RuBP) for RuBisCo and therefore, indirectly regulates the influx of CO 2 for this crucial process. We found a potential role of SBPase expression and activity in low light tolerant and susceptible rice genotypes by analyzing

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