Rahul Zanan

A new endemic species of Pandanaceae from India: Pandanus palakkadensis

SummaryPandanus palakkadensis, a new species from the Palakkad, Kerala state, India is described and illustrated. The new species can be easily distinguished from the other members of the genus it most closely resembles, P. canaranus Warb. and P. furcatus Roxb. in having a drupe with flat pileus, endocarp broadly truncate, concave on either side with distinctly elevated shoulders, a sharp, obliquely pointed stigma and cylindrical fruit. This distinctive species is endemic to the region of collection and is classified as Critically Endangered (CR) based on the IUCN Red List criteria.

Thirty-three years of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, a principal basmati aroma compound in scented rice (Oryza sativa L.): a status review.

Rice is the staple food of around 3 billion people, most of them in Asia which accounts for 90% of global rice consumption. Aromatic rices have been preferred over non-aromatic rice for hundreds of years. They have a premium value in national as well as international market owing to their unique aroma and quality. Many researchers were involved in identifying the compound responsible for the pleasant aroma in aromatic rice in the 20th century. However, due to its unstable nature, 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP) was discovered very late, in 1982. Buttery and co-workers found 2AP to be the principal compound imparting the pleasant aroma to basmati and other scented rice varieties. Since then, 2AP has been identified in all fragrant rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties and a wide range of plants, animals, fungi, bacteria and various food products. The present article reviews in detail biochemical and genetic aspects of 2AP in living systems. The site of synthesis, site of storage and stability in plant systems in vivo is of interest. This compound requires more research on stability to facilitate use as a food additive.

2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline augmentation in scented indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties through Δ(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) gene transformation.

Abstract2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP) has been identified as a principal aroma compound in scented rice varieties. Δ1-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthetase (P5CS) gene is reported to regulate the proline synthesis in plants and acts as the precursor of 2AP. Two scented indica rice varieties, namely Ambemohar 157 and Indrayani, were subjected to Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation containing P5CS gene. Overexpression of P5CS led to a significant increase in proline, P5CS enzyme activity and 2AP levels in transgenic calli, vegetative plant parts, and seeds over control in both the varieties. 2AP level increased more than twofold in transgenic seeds in both varieties. This is the first report of enhancement in 2AP content through overexpression of using P5CS gene, indicating the role of proline as a precursor amino acid in the biosynthesis of 2AP in scented rice.

33 Years of 2‐Acetyl‐1‐Pyrroline, a Principle Basmati Aroma Compound in Scented Rice (Oryza sativa L.): A Status Review

Rice is the staple food of around 3 billion people, most of them in Asia which accounts for 90% of global rice consumption. Aromatic rices have been preferred over non-aromatic rice for hundreds of years. They have a premium value in national as well as international market owing to their unique aroma and quality. Many researchers were involved in identifying the compound responsible for the pleasant aroma in aromatic rice in the 20th century. However, due to its unstable nature, 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP) was discovered very late, in 1982. Buttery and co-workers found 2AP to be the principal compound imparting the pleasant aroma to basmati and other scented rice varieties. Since then, 2AP has been identified in all fragrant rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties and a wide range of plants, animals, fungi, bacteria and various food products. The present article reviews in detail biochemical and genetic aspects of 2AP in living systems. The site of synthesis, site of storage and stability in plant systems in vivo is of interest. This compound requires more research on stability to facilitate use as a food additive.

Pandanus mangalorensis: a new species of Pandanaceae from Southern India

SummaryPandanus mangalorensis, a new species from the Mangalore district, Karnataka state, India is described and illustrated. The new species differs from other Pandanus species in having prominent multiple branching, triangular infructescence, drupes arranged on a bony triangular ring, drupe apex pyramidal with acute and bifid style and stigma and central projection extended up to style base. The species appears to be endemic to the collection site and is assigned as Critically Endangered (CR) based on IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.

Determination of some minerals and β-carotene contents in aromatic indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) germplasm

39 aromatic indica rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars were characterized for Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Magnesium, Copper and β-carotene contents. The β-carotene contents were ranging from 1.23 to 9.9μg/g in brown and 0.08 to 1.99μg/g in milled rice. Among the mineral contents, Magnesium was found ranging from 855μg/g (Gham) to maximum of 1636μg/g (Badshahbhog) followed by Iron in 32μg/g (Jirga) to 218μg/g (Kalsal), Copper content from 2μg/g (Girga) to 1004μg/g (Gham), Zinc content from 25 (Gham) to 165μg/g (Ambemohar-157) and Calcium ranged from 14μg/g (Ambemohar pandhara) to 67μg/g (Kate chinoor). The study showed that the germplasm assessed is a good source of micronutrients and can be further exploited in breeding programme.

World Pandanaceae: An overview

The Old World tropical screw pine family Pandanaceae represents palm-like trees with long, narrow, rigid, spirally arranged pineapple-like leaves and prop roots. The family has botanical interest because of its suggested pivotal position in the evolution of the monocotyledons (Meeuse 1965, 1966), unusual growth forms (Guillaumet 1973; Stone 1970; Tomlinson et al. 1970), and breeding systems (Hutchinson 1973; Rendle 1930; Stone 1968; Warburg 1900). The Pandanaceae, or screw pine family, is believed to be entirely dioecious (Cox 1984). The family contains four genera, Freycinetia, Pandanus, Sararanga, and Martellidendron, geographically distributed from seaside to high mountains (Wardah and Setyowati 2009). Among the four genera, genus Pandanus has the broadest geographical distribution, occurring throughout the Old World tropics (West Africa eastward throughout tropical areas to the Pacific Islands), having approximately 600 species with tree and shrub habit. It is followed by Freycinetia, with a more limited range from Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Oceania (Ceylon eastward through the Malesian area into the Pacific and New Zealand), comprises nearly 300 species of lianas. Next to Freycinetia, genus Martellidendron represents 7-foot-tall tree species endemic to Madagascar and the Seychelles islands. Finally, genus Sararanga is confined to the Philippines, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands, with only two tall tree species (Callmander et al. 2003; Stone 1983). The area-wise distribution at the global level is given in Fig. 1.1.

Genetic diversity assessment in Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb. populations of India

Pandanus amaryllifolius is cultivated in home gardens in coastal regions of India. Leaves of P. amaryllifolius are scented and exploited commercially by flavour industry. In the present attempt, 40 clonal populations were used for genetic diversity assessment using ISSR and AFLP molecular marker. In ISSR based diversity analysis, out of 38 scorable primers, only one primer showed polymorphism and most of the polymorphic fragments were found in clonal populations from Thailand locality only. In AFLP based diversity analysis all clonal populations from India showed very low genetic distance except Kolkata and Amtala but these populations showed more similarity with Sri Lanka clones and these two localities showed more similarity with Thailand population. Present study confirms that the species has very low level of genetic variation even though it is exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions across peninsular India. Thus, the genome of P. amaryllifolius is said to be highly conserved and remained unaffected through its spread. As per previous report P. amaryllifolius has been introduced in Kolkata, India in 1798 from Indonesia, the similarity is shown by the populations of West Bengal with Thailand population which is close to Indonesia. The populations from Sri Lanka showed similarity with the populations from east and west coast of India suggests that Sri Lanka may be the another source of introduction of P. amaryllifolius in India.

RNA interference and targeted genome editing for improvement of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

ABSTRACTRice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most important food crops. Various conventional and modern techniques have been employed for improvement in rice. RNA interference (RNAi) is one of the popular reverse genetic strategies being practiced among plant scientists due to its efficiency and specificity. Nowadays, new age-targeted genome editing tools such as transcription activator-like effectors nucleases (TALEN) and clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR/Cas) are becoming popular due to their ability of precise modification of genome sequence and regulation of gene expression patterns in a site-specific manner. Here, we reviewed the utility of RNAi, TALEN and CRISPR/Cas in various aspects of rice improvement such as plant architecture, plant development, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and qualitative improvement. A comparison of RNAi and targeted genome editing methods will provide some insights for researchers working on improvement of rice.

Morphology of Indian Pandanaceae

The genus Pandanus is classified into 4 groups, 10 subgenera, and 59 sections (Stone 1974; Huynh 1991; Callmander et al. 2003). In relation to the infrageneric classification system (Stone 1974), Indian Pandanus represents four subgenera: Rykia, Acrostigma, Kurzia, and Pandanus. Table 4.1 depicts classification of Indian Pandanus species at the subgeneric level.