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Increasing rice production is quintessential to the task of sustaining global food security, as a majority of the global population is dependent on rice as its staple dietary cereal. Among the various constraints affecting rice production, reproductive stage drought stress (RSDS) is a major challenge, due to its direct impact on grain yield. Several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) conferring RSDS tolerance have been identified in rice, and qDTY12.1 is one of the major QTLs reported. We report the successful introgression of qDTY12.1 into Pusa 44, a drought sensitive mega rice variety of the northwestern Indian plains. Marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB) was adopted to transfer qDTY12.1 into Pusa 44 in three backcrosses followed by four generations of pedigree selection, leading to development of improved near isogenic lines (NILs). Having a recurrent parent genome (RPG) recovery ranging from 94.7–98.7%, the improved NILs performed 6.5 times better than Pusa 44 under RSDS, coupled with high yield under normal irrigated conditions. The MABB program has been modified so as to defer background selection until BC3F4 to accelerate generational advancements. Deploying phenotypic selection alone in the early backcross generations could help in the successful recovery of RPG. In addition, the grain quality could be recovered in the improved NILs, leading to superior selections. Owing to their improved adaptation to drought, the release of improved NILs for regions prone to intermittent drought can help enhance rice productivity and production.

Introduction: Although there are many methods in malaria diagnoses e.g., quatitative buffy coat (QBC), rapid diagnosis tests (RDTs), serological tests and molecular diagnosis methods such as PCR, but microscopy still remains the gold standard for malaria diagnosis. Estimation of malaria parasite density can be carried out by using assumed white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells (RBC) counts. Objective: The aims of this study were to determine malaria parasite densities calculated by assumed WBC and RBC counts; and to compare their reliability with absolute WBC and RBC counts. Methods: The clinical presentations and laboratory findings of specimens collected from 512 uncomplicated falciparum and vivax malaria patients admitted to Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand were utilized and analysed for estimation of malaria parasite densities by using different formulas. Results: Parasite densities calculated by WHO recommended assumed WBC of 8,000 /µL, and assumed RBC counts of 4.7x106-6.1x106 /µL and 4.2x106-5.4x106 /µL for males and females respectively led to overestimation, and resulted in low reliability when compared to the absolute WBC and RBC counts. Parasite densities calculated by assumed WBC of 5,900/µL in thick blood; by assumed RBC of 4.8x106/µL for males and 4.3x106/μL for females in thin blood film respectively gave more precise estimation. Conclusion: Assumed WBC and RBC counts for calculating malaria parasite densities have to be adjusted to use in Thailand for more precise estimation. Parasite densities calculated by assumed WBC and RBC used in other malaria endemic countries might need further re-evaluation.

Myin Ma Hti is the local name meant that the mountain horse never touches. In Myanmer, this name is very popular as the Buddhist religious place. Most pilgrims usually visit to the area of Myin Ma Hti. In 1997, a new limestone cave was discovered during the field trip of local geological team and the first explorer gave the name for the cave as Myin Ma Hti Cave No. 2. In their 1997 report, the archaeo-faunal remains and stone implements were recorded as teeth and vertebrate bones of bull, ox, deer and polished stone rings and implements that could be estimated as the Neolithic context dated as 6,000-4,000 BP. In 2019, the environmental assessment team accidentally arrived into the cave and they found some significant remains of stone tools mingled with a pile of bone fragments after the local people dug the floor of cave to build the religious stupa. Then, rescue archaeological works had been initiated to take recording and making catalogue of bone fragments and stone pieces. Most of the findings are the bone fragments and wasters of stone rings. The special findings are potential bone tools with the cut and scrape marks of edging and sharpening. The anthropogenic feature could be examined with the ash layer 3-meter depth approximately. In this report, the significance of archaeofaunal evidences and stone implements accidentally found in MMH2 will be described as the preliminary survey of prehistoric cave in Aung Pan Township,

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The present study was conducted to develop the effective disinfection protocol for the in vitro micropropagation of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch) with the use of shoot tips, runner tips, nodal segments and leaf segments as explants. The explants used in this study were surface sterilized using antibiotics, fungicides and other sterilants for different time durations. Although using the same sterilants, the most effective and successive way of using sterilants is different upon the time duration for each sterilant. In this study, two sterilization protocols were used and each protocol included same fungicide and antibiotics concentrations for the same time durations but there were slightly different concentrations and time durations of other sterilants. The present investigation revealed that the most effective way of sterilization protocol which were observed on the nodal segments while treated with protocol II including (10ml/L) fungicide solution for 2 hours, (500mg/L) concentration of ciprofloxacin for 1 hour, (20%) chlorox solution with two drops of Tween 20 for 5 mins, (70%) ethanol solution for 5 mins and (0.1 %) mercuric chloride solution for 4mins. However the same sterilants using the same sterilization time did not give raise the survival rate for runner tip explants, because these treatments resulted in tissue necrosis and contamination and then finally the death of the explant materials. And also, the explants of shoot tips and leaf segments were not shown the effective result compared with using nodal segments. So, for the micropropagation of field grown strawberry, the sterilization protocol II was suite for the nodal segments used as explants for the culture initiation on MS basal medium.

Background: Mungbean Yellow Mosaic Virus is one of the major constraints in mungbean production. Knowledge of mode of inheritance and gene effects of MYMV resistance is very useful and effective for the development of genotypes resistant to disease or incorporation of resistance into the desirable promising genotypes whichlack of disease resistance. Methods: In order to estimate inheritance pattern of MYMV disease resistance in mungbean, the study was conducted in summer season (2019) under natural condition. Six generations such as Pl, P2, Fl, BC1, BC2 and F2 of six combinations [two resistant genotypes (7639 and 10266) and three susceptible genotypes (7621, 10257 and R-021018)] were studied inheritance pattern of resistance to MYMV in segregation population. Result: Based on the result from mode of inheritance pattern of MYMV resistance, it can be concluded that single recessive gene is controlled the resistance of MYMV and susceptible behavior indicated as dominant over resistant. Additive gene action was the major role for the selection of MYMV resistance. Some differences in the expression of gene contributing for MYMV resistance from others findings might be attributed due to the sources of resistant genotypes which have different nature of resistant gene used in this investigation.