No abstract

the gaur is the largest extant cattle species and distributed across South and Southeast Asia. Around 85% of its current global population resides in India, however there has been a gradual decrease in the gaur population over the last two decades due to various anthropogenic activities. Mitochondrial genome is considered as an important tool for species identification and monitoring the populations of conservation concern and therefore it becomes an obligation to sequence the mitochondrial genome of Indian gaur. We report here for the first time 16,345 bp mitochondrial genome of four Indian gaur sequenced using two different approaches. Mitochondrial genome consisted of 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a control region. Among the 37 genes, 28 were positioned on the H-strand and 9 were positioned on the L-strand. The overall base composition appeared to be 33.5% A, 27.2% T, 25.9% C and 13.4% G, which yielded a higher AT content. The phylogenetic analysis using complete mitochondrial genome sequences unambiguously suggested that gaur is the maternal ancestor of domestic mithun. Moreover, it also clearly distinguished the three sub species of B. gaurus i.e. B. gaurus gaurus, B. gaurus readei and B. gaurus hubbacki. Among the three sub species, B. gaurus gaurus was genetically closer to B. gaurus readei as compared to B. gaurus hubbacki. The findings of our study provide an insight into the genetic structure and evolutionary history of indian gaur. The gaur, Bos gaurus also known as "Indian bison" is the largest living wild cattle species belonging to the family Bovidae 1. The historical distribution of gaur ranged throughout much of the mainland South and Southeast Asia. But, currently it occurs in a few Asian countries such as Bangladesh,

India ranks the second in the world in terms of its sheep population with approximately 74.26 million represented by 44 well-described breeds in addition to several non-descript populations. Genetic diversity and phylogeography of Indian sheep breeds remain poorly understood, particularly for south Indian breeds. To have a comprehensive view of the domestication history of Indian sheep, we sequenced the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region (D-loop) and cytochrome b gene (CYTB) of 16 Indian domestic sheep breeds, most of them (13) from the south India. We analysed these sequences along with published data of domestic and wild sheep from different countries, including India. The haplotype diversity was relatively high in Indian sheep, which were classified into the three known mtDNA lineages, namely A, B and C. Lineage A was predominant among Indian sheep whereas lineages B and C were observed at low frequencies but C was restricted to the breeds of north and east India. The median joining network showed five major expanding haplogroups of lineage A (A1–A5). Out of which, A2, A4 and A5 were more frequent in Indian sheep in contrast to breeds from other parts of the world. Among the 27 Indian sheep breeds analysed, Mandya and Sonadi breeds were significantly different from other Indian breeds in the MDS analyses. This was explained by a very high contribution of lineage B into these two breeds. The Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) provided evidence for the domestication of lineage A sheep in the Indian subcontinent. Contrary to the current knowledge, we also found strong support for the introduction of lineage B into Indian subcontinent through sea route rather than from the Mongolian Plateau. The neighbour-joining tree of domestic and wild sheep revealed the close genetic relationship of Indian domestic sheep with Pakistani wild sheep O. vignei blanfordi. Based on our analyses and archaeological evidences, we suggest the Indian subcontinent as one of the domestication centres of the lineage A sheep, while lineage B sheep might have arrived into India from elsewhere via Arabian sea route. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study on Indian sheep where we have analysed more than 740 animals belonging to 27 sheep breeds raised in various regions of India. Our study provides insight into the understanding of the origin and migratory history of Indian sheep.

The present taxonomic study on the termites of Kerala, reports six species and one genus for the first time from the state.  They are Odontotermes yadevi Thakur, Microtermes unicolor Snyder Grallatotermes niger Chatterjee and Thapa, Nasutitermes matangensis matangensis (Haviland), Dicuspiditermes gravelyi (Silvestri) and Microcerotermes minor Holmgren.  The Genus Grallatotermes Holmgren is documented for the first time from Kerala.  O. yadevi recovered from firewood is hereby added to the list of wood destroying termites of India.

Egg production is an important economic trait and a key indicator of reproductive performance in ducks. Egg production is regulated by several factors including genes. However the genes involved in egg production in duck remain unclear. In this study, we compared the ovarian transcriptome of high egg laying (HEL) and low egg laying (LEL) ducks using RNA-Seq to identify the genes involved in egg production. The HEL ducks laid on average 433 eggs while the LEL ducks laid 221 eggs over 93 weeks. A total of 489 genes were found to be significantly differentially expressed out of which 310 and 179 genes were up and downregulated, respectively, in the HEL group. Thirty-eight differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including LHX9, GRIA1, DBH, SYCP2L, HSD17B2, PAR6, CAPRIN2, STC2, and RAB27B were found to be potentially related to egg production and folliculogenesis. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis suggested that DEGs were enriched for functions related to glutamate receptor activity, serine-type endopeptidase activity, immune function, progesterone mediated oocyte maturation and MAPK signaling. Protein–protein interaction network analysis (PPI) showed strong interaction between 32 DEGs in two distinct clusters. Together, these findings suggest a mix of genetic and immunological factors affect egg production, and highlights candidate genes and pathways, that provides an understanding of the molecular mechanisms regulating egg production in ducks and in birds more broadly.

Speculitermes chadaensis Chatterjee & Thapa, 1964, a termite species under Termitidae family is reported for the first time from the Western Ghats.  A distribution map of the species is also provided.

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In tropical ecosystems, termites as organic decomposers, play a key role in modifying the biotic and abiotic environment. The present study aimed to investigate how the termite diversity and assemblages differed among habitats. Three sites in North Wayanad, Kerala, India,-a teak plantation, a coffee plantation and a semi-evergreen forest, that were structurally different and with varying land use histories-were chosen for this study. Belt transect method was used to sample the termites. The study recorded a total of 10 species in 7 genera belonging to 4 subfamilies under one family. Termite assemblages and feeding group structure differed significantly among habitats. Two functional groups were recorded-Type II (fungus growing wood feeders/litter feeders, micro epiphytes) and Type III (organic rich soil feeders/ humus feeders). Fungus growing wood/litter feeders were dominant in plantations whereas organic rich soil/humus feeders were dominant in forest region. Plantations seem to host more, species like Odontotermes obesus Rambur, Odontotermes anamallensis Holmgren and Holmgren and Odontotermes yadevi Thakur, the species being good colonizers, favoured by disturbance and also those with the potential of becoming pests. The species diversity, richness, evenness as well as beta diversity were computed for the three habitats. Assemblages of species from the teak and coffee plantations yielded the highest similarity index (42%). Overall, the termite assemblages and structural attributes of coffee & teak plantations and semi-evergreen forest advocated termites as good biological indicators of habitat quality.