R. N. Kulkarni
Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
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Featured researches published by R. N. Kulkarni.
Flavour and Fragrance Journal | 1998
R. N. Kulkarni; Gopal R. Mallavarapu; K. Baskaran; S. Ramesh; Sushil Kumar
Two clones of geranium (nos 53 and 79) obtained from leaf cuttings of a geranium cultivar (Pelargonium sp.) and later multiplied by stem cuttings were found to be rich in isomenthone (64.4 and 67.7%) in their essential oils. The detailed composition of the oils of these two clones was investigated by capillary GC and GC-MS and compared with that of the oil of the parent cultivar. Linalol, citronellol, geraniol and citronellyl formate, which are the major constituents of the parent cultivar, were found only as minor constituents in the oils of the two clones. These two isomenthone-rich clones differed from each other in their α-pinene content (1.1% and 8.5%) although both have 10-epi-γ-eudesmol (6.8% and 8.4%) comparable with the parent cultivar (7.6%).
Industrial Crops and Products | 1997
R. N. Kulkarni; K. Baskaran; S. Ramesh; Sushil Kumar
Abstract Significant intra-clonal variation was found for essential oil content and its composition in a small number (75) of plants obtained from leaf (leaf + petiole) cuttings of a vegetatively propagated rose-scented geranium (Pelargonium sp.) cultivar, ‘Bourbon’. No intra-clonal variation was, however, found for morphological traits. Variants for essential oil composition included plants with isomenthone as the major constituent (66%), instead of citronellol and geraniol, the key constituents of geranium oil, and plants with negligible amounts of 10-epi-γ-eudesmol, a key constituent used in differentiating commercial geranium oils. The essential oil of one of the variants, with a citronellol/geraniol ratio of approximately 1.4:1 and a significantly higher content of citronellyl formate than the parental cultivar, appeared to be different from the reported commercial geranium oils. Evaluation of the clonal progeny of variant plants revealed the stability of variants through clonal generation of multiplication. The significance of the observed intra-clonal variation in genetic improvement of exclusively vegetatively propagated cultivars of rose-scented geranium is discussed.
Journal of Essential Oil Research | 1997
R. N. Kulkarni; Gopal R. Mallavarapu; K. Baskaran; S. Ramesh; Sushil Kumar
Abstract A natural variant of lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus), with a citronella-like odor which was isolated from cycle-4 population of a recurrent selection program in lemongrass, was studied for its essential oil composition by GC and GC/MS. The main components of the oil were geraniol (13.1%), citronellyl acetate (11.2%) and geranyl acetate (25.9%), while neral (3.7%) and geranial (5.8%) were minor constituents.
Journal of Essential Oil Research | 1992
R. N. Kulkarni; Gopal R. Mallavarapu; S. Ramesh
ABSTRACT Five variants were isolated from M2 generation derived from mutagenic treatment of selfed seeds of a natural variant of Cymbopogon flexuosus which was rich in essential oil of inferior low citral content. Three variants were found to possess a high oil content (1.30–1.53%) and were rich in geraniol (66–73%) suggesting that they could be good sources of geraniol. One variant had an extremely low oil content (0-traces), while another variant possessed oil composition which was not rich (>20%) in any single constituent. The main components of this variant were (E)-β-ocimene (16.54–20.09%), γ-terpinene (7.93–9.91%), linalool (7.89–9.95%), neral (10.42–10.43%) and geranial (13.76–15.03%).
Journal of Crop Science and Biotechnology | 2012
Nagawara Seshagirirao Ravindra; Srinivas I. Ramesh; Mahesh Kumar Gupta; Tripta Jhang; Ashutosh K. Shukla; Mahendra Pandurang Darokar; R. N. Kulkarni
Patchouli (Pogostemon patchouli) is an important, exclusively vegetatively propagated aromatic plant, whose essential oil is widely used in perfumery and cosmetic products. Forty SC1 generation (first generation following in vitro phase) somaclones selected randomly from about 400 somaclones developed from the variety Johore, were multiplied through stem cuttings and evaluated in SC2 and SC3 generations to study the extent of somaclonal variation generated for plant height, herb yield, essential oil content, essential oil yield, and seven constituents of the essential oil. Significant or highly significant somaclonal variation was observed for plant height, herb yield, essential oil content, essential oil yield, and contents of patchouli alcohol, α-guaiene, α,δ-patchoulene, and α-bulnesene in the essential oil. The number of somaclones significantly superior to the parental variety for plant height, herb yield, essential oil content, and patchouli alcohol content in the essential oil ranged from 8–16 and the maximum superiority over the parental variety for these traits ranged from 21–79%. Broad-sense heritability estimates of plant height, herb yield, and essential oil content were 0.60–0.70 while those of essential oil yield and patchouli alcohol content were 0.44 and 0.47, respectively. Heritability estimates of other studied essential oil constituents were generally low (0.12–0.38). A high positive correlation was observed between essential oil yield and herb yield suggesting that selection for herb yield would be effective in improving essential oil yield. Patchouli alcohol content in the essential oil was negatively correlated with all the studied traits. Somaclonal variation, heritabilities of traits, and inter-trait correlations are reported for the first time in patchouli.
Journal of Essential Oil Research | 1992
R. N. Kulkarni; Srinivas I. Ramesh
ABSTRACT Fourteen clones with high oil content were developed from cycle-1 (C1) population of a phenotypic recurrent selection program for high oil content in East Indian lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus). These clones were evaluated in a one-year trial along with two checks, (i) a local variety, OD 19 and (ii) the best clone from the base population, 52-22. The mean oil contents of these clones ranged from 0.91 to 1.4% as against 0.53% of local cultivar, OD 19. The top two clones, R8P6 and R16P3, which were developed from a low citral variant isolated from C1 population, had about 150 and 50% higher oil content than OD 19 and 52-22, respectively. Although the leaf yields and dry matter contents of these two clones were on par with those of the checks, their citral contents were significantly lower, particularly during the second harvest when the temperatures were relatively higher than those during first or third harvests. However, the citral content of clones PC5 and PC8, which ranked next to R8P6 and R...
Journal of Heredity | 2013
R. N. Kulkarni; K. Baskaran
Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus [L.] G. Don), an important medicinal plant, is an allogamous species in which the stigma is below the anthers. The receptive portion is at the base of the stigmatic head and thus automatic intra-flower self-pollination is excluded. The structure of the flower is of typical reverse herkogamy and pollination occurs through nectar-seeking insects. A few self-pollinating strains are also reported in which self-pollination is brought about by an increase in length of the style or of the ovary. Self-pollination is governed by allelic duplicate genes recessive to allogamy. An induced monogenic recessive mutant (EMS 17-1) with caducous closed corolla (corolla abscising before anthesis), isolated from variety, Dhawal, was crossed with two self-pollinating strains to study the possibility of obtaining cleistogamous recombinants combining closed corolla and self-pollination traits. Cleistogamous plants were obtained in which development of fruits and seeds occurred without opening of the corolla. Closed corolla and self-pollination were found to be independently inherited. A dominant gene in the parent in which self-pollination occurred due to an increase in length of the ovary, appeared to completely or partially inhibit expression of the gene for closed corolla in homozygous or heterozygous condition, respectively. The genetic basis of development of cleistogamy is described. Cleistogamy in periwinkle would facilitate in ensuring genetic purity, pollen containment, and seed production even in the absence of pollinators. This appears to be the first report on the development of cleistogamous plants in an allogamous species.
Plant Genetic Resources | 2016
R. N. Kulkarni; K. Baskaran; Tripta Jhang
Periwinkle [ Catharanthus roseus (L) G. Don] has become one of the very extensively investigated medicinal plants after the discovery of two powerful anti-cancer alkaloids, vinblastine and vincristine, in its leaves more than 50 years ago. These alkaloidal drugs are still in clinical use. Also, periwinkle is still the only source of these alkaloids and their precursors, catharanthine and vindoline. Low concentrations of these alkaloids in the plant and, therefore, high costs of their extraction have led to tremendous efforts towards understanding their biosynthesis and exploration of alternate ways of their production such as, chemical synthesis, cell, tissue and hairy root cultures, and metabolic engineering of heterologous organisms. Literature on this plant is quite voluminous, with an average of about 80 publications per year during last three decades (1985–2015). Nearly 60% of these publications are on physiology, biochemistry, cell and tissue culture, phytochemistry, metabolic and genetic engineering aspects. In spite of these efforts, an economically viable alternative to field-grown periwinkle plants as a source of these alkaloids has not yet been found. Biosynthesis of C. roseus alkaloids is a complex process involving many genes, enzymes, regulators, inter- and intra-cellular transporters, cell types, organelles and tissues and its current understanding is still considered to be incomplete to produce C. roseus alkaloids through metabolic engineering/synthetic biology. Till such time, breeding periwinkle varieties with higher concentrations of anti-cancer alkaloids for cultivation can be an alternate approach to meet the demand for these alkaloids and reduce their costs. While literature on cell and tissue culture, phytochemistry, metabolic and genetic engineering aspects of periwinkle has been reviewed periodically, crop production and plant breeding aspects have received little attention. In this paper, an attempt has been made to bring together published information on genetics and breeding of periwinkle as a medicinal plant. Some probable constraints which may have hindered taking up periwinkle breeding are identified. Initially, quite a few attempts have been made at genetic improvement of periwinkle through induced polyploidy, and subsequently through induced mutagenesis. Mutations, both natural and induced, provide a valuable resource for use in breeding and in functional and reverse genomics research. It is only during last 6–7 years, genetic diversity has been assessed using molecular markers and very recently molecular markers have been identified for marker-assisted selection for alkaloid yield.
Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology | 2014
S. S. Kulkarni; N. S. Ravindra; K. V. N. S. Srinivas; R. N. Kulkarni
Summary Rose-scented geranium (Pelargonium spp.) is an important, vegetatively-propagated, aromatic plant. In such plants, genetic variation may be generated through somaclonal variation and/or induced mutagenesis. Internode and petiole explants of two clones, ‘Bourbon’ and ‘Narmada’, were treated with 0, 0.25, or 0.60 mM N-nitroso-N-methylurea (NMU) to generate variations in oil yield, oil components, and to study the effectiveness of selection for herbage yield and oil concentration. Somaclones were regenerated and evaluated for six oil yield components in the SC2 generation (i.e., the second vegetative generation after the in vitro propagation phase) and in the M1V2 generation (i.e., the second vegetative generation after in vitro mutagen treatment). Significant variations were observed in the majority of the oil yield components studied following all three NMU treatments. Of the 36 somaclones selected for higher herbage yields or oil concentrations in the SC2 and M1V2 generations, 14 and 15 somaclones exhibited significantly higher herbage yields and oil concentrations, respectively, and gave 38 – 137% higher oil yields than their respective parental clones in the next vegetative generation. As only one somaclone with a higher oil yield than the parental clone was obtained from the 0 NMU treatment, in vitro mutagenesis with NMU could be more useful than somaclonal variation for genetic improvement in rose-scented geranium.
Euphytica | 2005
R. N. Kulkarni; K. Baskaran; Y. Sreevalli
Inheritance of a novel corolla colour in periwinkle [Catharanthus roseus (L) G. Don], viz. magenta, was studied by crossing an accession MJ, possessing this corolla colour, with cultivar Nirmal, possessing white corolla. The accession MJ was also crossed with another accession OR, possessing another novel corolla colour, viz. orange-red, to determine the relationship between genes governing magenta corolla and orange-red corolla. The F1 plants of the cross MJ× Nirmal had pink corolla and red eye. In the F2 generation, five kinds of corolla colours were observed: (i) pink corolla and red eye, (ii) rose corolla and red eye, (iii) magenta corolla and red eye, (iv) white corolla and red eye and (v) white corolla. The observed frequencies of the five kinds of plants fitted a ratio of 144:27:9:12:64. The progeny of the backcross, F1 × MJ, segregated into three kinds of plants, (i) pink corolla and red eye, (ii) rose corolla and red eye and (iii) magenta corolla and red eye, in the ratio of 2:1:1, while the backcross, F1 × Nirmal, segregated into two kinds of plants, (i) pink corolla and red eye and (ii) white corolla, in the ratio of 1:1. Two new genes (proposed symbols Om and J) appeared to be involved in the determination of magenta and rose corolla colours. Interaction between four independent genes R, W, Om and J, appeared to explain the observed segregation in the cross MJ × Nirmal. The F1 plants of the cross MJ × OR had scarlet-red corolla and red eye. The segregation data of F2 and backcross generations suggested that genes governing orange-red corolla and magenta corolla were allelic to each other. Two new and non-parental corolla colours viz., rose corolla and scarlet-red corolla, were observed in the progeny of the crosses of the present study.