Priyanka Thakur

Reversal of stomatal closure in Commelina communis L. by exogenous amino acids and their interaction with stress and abscisic acid

Summary Exogenously applied L-alanine, L-glutamic acid, L-lysine, L-proline, L-arginine and L-methionine, all promoted stomatal opening in Commelina communis L. epidermal peels. All of these aminoacids tested, irrespective of their individual effectiveness antagonized the closure of stomata induced either by different stress levels or abscisic acid. Stomata responded variably to imposed stress where aperture size declined from 19.7 µm in control to 7.6, µrn by - 0.808 MPa upto 6 h of treatment. The closure was even more at higher osmotic potential (i.e. −1.10 — −1.61 MPa). ABA (between 10-9 to 10-5 mol m-3) reduced stomatal aperture significantly. The relevance of amino acids in relation to stomatal aperture is discussed.

Studies on dyeing and value-addition of ornamental grass Lagurus ovatus

Lagurus ovatus (hare tail grass) is a winter season grass which is utilized in dry flower industry in preparation of various types of value-added products like flower arrangements, hangers, wall pictures etc. Different dyes like Fabric dyes, indicator dyes, food dyes and bio-colours were used for colouring this grass. Findings revealed that among four different categories of dyes fabric dyes i.e. Yellow, Dark green, Violet, Magenta Pink and indicator dyes Brilliant Green, Eosin Yellow and Crystal Violet were the excellent in performance for dyeing of Lagurus ovatus in terms of colour intensity and colour absorption. These dyes scored maximum for quality parameters even after ten months of storage. Quality parameters in case of food dyes were medium to high at the time of dyeing but the colours faded very fast and retention was not good after ten months. Out of the bio-colours; dyeing with turmeric and lilium pollen were quite satisfactory, whereas other colours like henna powder, gulmehndi (wild henna), coffee, butea, punica, beet root were very poor in performance.