Yellow Mosaic Disease (YMD) in mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek] is one of the most damaging diseases in Asia. In the northern part of India, the YMD is caused by Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus (MYMIV), while in southern India this is caused by Mungbean Yellow Mosaic Virus (MYMV). The molecular mechanism of YMD resistance in mungbean remains largely unknown. In this study, RNA-seq analysis was conducted between a resistant (PMR-1) and a susceptible (Pusa Vishal) mungbean genotype under infected and control conditions to understand the regulatory network operating between mungbean-YMV. Overall, 76.8 million raw reads could be generated in different treatment combinations, while mapping rate per library to the reference genome varied from 86.78% to 93.35%. The resistance to MYMIV showed a very complicated gene network, which begins with the production of general PAMPs (pathogen-associated molecular patterns), then activation of various signaling cascades like kinases, jasmonic acid (JA) and brassinosteroid (BR), and finally the expression of specific genes (like PR-proteins, virus resistance and R-gene proteins) leading to resistance response. The function of WRKY, NAC and MYB transcription factors in imparting the resistance against MYMIV could be established. The string analysis also revealed the role of proteins involved in kinase, viral movement and phytoene synthase activity in imparting YMD resistance. A set of novel stress-related EST-SSRs are also identified from the RNA-Seq data which may be used to find the linked genes/QTLs with the YMD resistance. Also, 11 defence-related transcripts could be validated through quantitative real-time PCR analysis. The identified gene networks have led to an insight about the defence mechanism operating against MYMIV infection in mungbean which will be of immense use to manage the YMD resistance in mungbean.

BackgroundSalinity severely limits wheat production in many parts of the world. Development of salt tolerant varieties represents the most practical option for enhancing wheat production from these areas. Application of marker assisted selection may assist in fast tracking development of salt tolerant wheat varieties. However, SSR markers available in the public domain are not specifically targeted to functional regions of wheat genome, therefore large numbers of these need to be analysed for identification of markers associated with traits of interest. With the availability of a fully annotated wheat genome assembly, it is possible to develop SSR markers specifically targeted to genic regions. We performed extensive analysis to identify candidate gene based SSRs and assessed their utility in characterizing molecular diversity in a panel of wheat genotypes.ResultsOur analysis revealed, 161 SSR motifs in 94 salt tolerance candidate genes of wheat. These SSR motifs were nearly equally distributed on the three wheat sub-genomes; 29.8% in A, 35.7% in B and 34.4% in D sub-genome. The maximum number of SSR motifs was present in exons (31.1%) followed by promoters (29.8%), 5’UTRs (21.1%), introns (14.3%) and 3’UTRs (3.7%). Out of the 65 candidate gene based SSR markers selected for validation, 30 were found polymorphic based on initial screening and employed for characterizing genetic diversity in a panel of wheat genotypes including salt tolerant and susceptible lines. These markers generated an average of 2.83 alleles/locus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed four clusters. Salt susceptible genotypes were mainly represented in clusters I and III, whereas high and moderate salt tolerant genotypes were distributed in the remaining two clusters. Population structure analysis revealed two sub-populations, sub-population 1 contained the majority of salt tolerant whereas sub-population 2 contained majority of susceptible genotypes. Moreover, we observed reasonably higher transferability of SSR markers to related wheat species.ConclusionWe have developed salt responsive gene based SSRs in wheat for the first time. These were highly useful in unravelling functional diversity among wheat genotypes with varying responses to salt stress. The identified gene based SSR markers will be valuable genomic resources for genetic/association mapping of salinity tolerance in wheat.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1476-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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In the present study, cromolyn sodium, a highly water soluble molecule was encapsulated into rationally designed, core–shell polymeric-lipid hybrid nanoparticles for enhancing its oral bioavailability, by improving its intestinal permeability.

The results clearly indicate that the developed polymeric nanoparticles offer a great potential to improve bioavailability and anticancer efficacy of hydrophobic chemotherapeutic drug.

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Blumeria graminis (DC). E.U. Speer f.sp. tritici Em. Marchal (Syn. Erysiphe graminis DC f.sp. tritici, Em. Marchal), a causal organism of powdery mildew (PM), is one of the important diseases of wheat worldwide. A comprehensive evaluation of wheat germplasm accessions (19,460) conserved in the National Genebank of ICAR–National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources was conducted to identify sources of resistance to PM. Accessions belonging to the three wheat species—bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. subsp. aestivum) (15,944), durum wheat (T. durum Desf.) (3,359), and emmer wheat (T. dicoccum Schrank ex Schübl.) (157)—were screened at Wellington, a hotspot location for PM, for two consecutive seasons. Screening results indicated that 7271 (45%) from bread wheat, 756 (22%) from durum wheat, and 22 (14%) from emmer were resistant. Out of 8094 PM‐resistant accessions, 60% were indigenous, while majority of the 40% exotic were from CIMMYT. Focused identification of germplasm strategy (FIGS), which identifies a set of similar plant genotypes with a greater possibility of containing specific target traits, was used to form a subset of 52 accessions (from 19,460) that have the potential to contain new PM resistance genes. Resistant accessions identified in the study have enriched the existing gene pool for PM resistance in wheat and will serve as a potential source for resistance in future.