No abstract

Asparagus racemosus is a commercially important medicinal plant, traditionally used for combating gynecological problems in India. The majority of plants used by the pharmaceutical industry come from wild sources, endangering the natural population of the species. The plants are being overharvested, so this species faces a real danger of becoming vulnerable in its natural habitat. Ex situ conservation using in vitro tools is a possible solution to this problem. Ex situ conservation of plants involving in vitro tools has been initiated through axillary branching using nodal explants. Studies on in vitro storage under slow-growth conditions were carried out to develop an efficient protocol for conservation of A. racemosus germplasm. In vitro shoot cultures generally require a 4-wk subculture onto fresh medium when grown at 25±2°C under a 16-h photoperiod. In this research, the use of mannitol or sorbitol as an osmoticum and reduction of sucrose to 1.5% (w/v) in half-strength MS medium led to maintenance of the cultures for 6 mo at 25±2°C with no subculture. Surviving shoots from the slow-growth cultures could be regenerated with 100% efficiency, indicating that the subculture interval was successfully extended by this method. Temperature and medium modification both had significant effects on the growth of stored shoots, and the two factors showed significant interaction. In experiments designed to test encapsulation as a storage method, micropropagated shoot clusters encapsulated in calcium alginate beads were successfully stored up to 75 d at 25±2°C under a 16-h photoperiod. Stored shoots from both storage methods were subsequently recovered and multiplied on MS medium with 3% sucrose and 1.11 μM benzylaminopurine at 25 ± 2°C. Welldeveloped shoots were rooted and acclimatized successfully.

Preservation of commercial and research important fungi for long time period is a very tedious job. Mostly cryopreservation technique in liquid nitrogen is used for long term preservation. In this work 15 different species of commercial and research important fungi are preserved at 4°C in different concentration of glycerol using two different methods (Slant culture and Slice cut method). In slant culture method at 50% of glycerol, 100 and 86.66% of fungi are viable upto 24 and 30 months of preservation, respectively. In slice cut culture method 100% of fungi are having regeneration capacity upto 24 months of preservation. This study help to preserve the fungi with easy and low cost for long term period at 4°C under refrigerator.

The potential environmental benefits that can be obtained from replacing petroleum fuels with biofuels derived from renewable biomass sources are the main driving forces for promoting the production and use of biofuels. Due to depletion of fossil fuels, ethanol, which can be obtained via the bioconversion of renewable feedstock, is widely regarded as an efficient alternative for gasoline as transportation fuel. Biomass energy can play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Rice bran is a by-product of milling process of rice, and due to its carbohydrate contents, it may serve as good source for bioethanol production. The present study deals with bioethanol production from rice bran and screening of bioethanol-producing bacteria from rice bran. In the screening process, three fermentative bacteria were obtained; they were studied on the basis of morphology, biochemical characteristics and maximum bioethanol production. The maximum bioethanol-producing bacteria was identified by sequencing method. The bacteria thus identified as Bacillus cereus strain McR-3 is a novel bacteria reported in bioethanol production from rice bran substrate. Different parameters like temperature and pH also affects the production of bioethanol. It was observed that optimum temperature and pH for maximum bioethanol production was 37°C and 5, respectively.

The present research is aimed towards molecular marker assisted pyramiding Tomato leaf curl virus (ToLCV) disease resistance genes into two ToLCV susceptible tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cvs. Pbc and H-86 (resistance genes recipient parents). Resistance gene donors were EC-538408 (Solanum chilense) and EC-520061 (S. peruvianum) in the case of cv. Pbc, and EC-520061 (S. peruvianum) and H-24 (S. lycopersicum) in the case of cv. H-86. A ToLCV resistance gene associated co-dominant simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker SSR-218 was used to discriminate between homozygotes and heterozygotes at the seedling stage prior to pollination, which enabled the rejection of nontarget back crosses and pyramiding progenies of the crosses PbcxEC-520061 and H-86xEC-520061, whereas SSR-306 was used for the cross PbcxEC-538408. Ty-2 gene cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences (CAPS) marker was used for the cross H-86xH-24. Out of 279 pyramiding progenies of the cross PbcxEC-538408/PbcxEC-520061, total 91 plants showed the presence of both resistance allele 1 and 2 along with both susceptibility alleles, and in 243 pyramiding progenies of the cross H-86xEC-520061/H-86xH-24, total 82 plants showed the presence of both resistance allele 1 and Ty-2 along with both susceptible alleles. The pyramiding lines that carried both pyramided resistance genes were resistant to tomato leaf curl disease throughout its life cycle.