Ajaz Ahmad Lone

Giant cell carcinoma of the lung.

A 50-year-old non-smoking, hypertensive female, presenting with superior vena caval compression, was found to have giant cell carcinoma of the lung. She received intensive combination chemotherapy. However she died in the following 36 hours, as a consequence of refractory hypotension.

Morphological and molecular characterization of maize inbred lines showing variability for drought tolerance

A set of hundred maize inbred lines were analyzed for resilience to moisture stress for twenty-four traits related to maturity, morphological, physiological, yield, quality and root traits. Evaluation confirmed a wide range of variability revealing significant response of main effects (lines, irrigations and years and their respective digenic and trigenic interactions). Fifteen elite identified lines performed well under moisture stress conditions showing inbuilt tolerance towards moisture stress. A set of 32 SSR markers, having genome-wide coverage, was chosen for genotyping the selected 15 inbred lines. These markers generated a total of 239 polymorphic alleles with an average of 7.47 alleles per locus. The minimum and maximum PIC value was 0.886 and 0.608 with a mean of 0.782. The coefficient of genetic dissimilarity ranged from 0.215 to 0.148. DARwin derived cluster analysis grouped 15 elite maize lines in three major clusters with five lines each in cluster-III and II and four lines in cluster-I with KDM-361A as root (at origin point. Molecular marker data however, confirmed diverse genetic nature of six lines (KDM-372, KDM-343A, KDM-331, KDM-961, KDM-1051 and KDM-1156) with favorable drought resilient traits with no yield penalty under moisture stress. Exploitation of these identified elite lines in involving all possible combinations helped to develop single cross hybrids under moisture stress conditions.

Stability analysis for physiological traits, grain yield and its attributing parameters in oats (Avena sativa L.) in the Kashmir valley

Eleven genotypes of oats were planted at six diverse environments to assess genotype environment interaction and determine stable oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivar in Kashmir division for grain yield using randomized block design during 2014 to 2015. There was considerable variation in grain yield and physiological traits within and across environments. Stability analysis for grain yield was conducted to check the response to Genotype x Environment interactions. The mean squares due to G x E (linear) were significant depicting genetic differences among genotypes for linear response to varying environments. Mean squares due to pooled deviations were highly significant, reflecting considerable differences among genotypes for non-linear response. Out of eleven genotypes, only three oats lines i.e., SKO-98, SKO-166 and Sabzaar, showed non-significant deviation from regression and their regression coefficient values were close to unity and desirable for grain yield across the environments. The cultivar, “SKO-98” with respective regression coefficient value of 1.018, the smallest deviations from regressions (Sdi) value (0.025) and the above average grain yield could be considered the most widely adapted cultivar.

Genetic Diversity of Maize (Zea mays L.) Genotypes Assessed by SSR Markers under Temperate Conditions

Genetic Diversity of Maize (Zea mays L.) Genotypes Assessed by SSR Markers under Temperate Conditions A set of twenty four maize lines comprising fifteen drought promising inbred lines, four drought susceptible inbred lines and five drought tolerant checks were analyzed for molecular characterization. These inbred lines belong to AICRP (All India Co-ordinated Research Programme) Maize Srinagar Centre and the checks were selected from CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre) material.. Molecular characterization was done using a set of 45 SSR markers having genome wide coverage. The marker data was analyzed using Power Marker Software (Version 3.25). The markers detected a total of 271 alleles with an average of 8.46 alleles per locus in twenty four maize lines. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) ranged from 0.56 and 0.89 with a mean of 0.78. The level of heterozygosity in the inbred panel was significantly low. The mean value of heterozygosity was 0.05 implying that most of the loci attained homozygosity. Dendrogram derived from UPGMA cluster analysis showed presence of two major clusters, one of which had many subgroups. Phenotyping of these inbreds was done by using morphological, maturity, physiological, yield and yield attributing traits. Genotyping data complemented by phenotyping data would be used to identify a number of pairwise combinations for the development of mapping populations for drought tolerance related traits and potential heterotic pairs for the development of drought tolerant hybrids...