Sk Sharma

Evaluation of Wild Lens Taxa for Agro-Morphological Traits, Fungal Diseases and Moisture Stress in North Western Indian Hills

Exploitation of wild gene pool for breeding is a common practice in an increasing number of cultivated plants. The cultivated lentil could not attain the substantial improvement in the yield potential due to loss of genes for higher productivity and lack of resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses. The absence of evaluation data of wild lentils for characters of economic importance, besides biotic and abiotic stresses, is one of the constraints in their use in lentil breeding programme. In the present study, 70 wild accessions from four wild Lens subsp./sp. (L. culinaris subsp. orientalis, L. odomensis, L. ervoides and L. nigricans) along with 3 checks (Precoz, PL-406 and PL-639) were evaluated for phenological and agro-morphological characters, for their reaction to three fungal diseases (wilt, powdery mildew and rust) and screened for tolerance to moisture stress. The wild accessions showed higher performance for branches/plant as compared to cultivated genotypes. Similarly, a few accessions of L. culinaris subsp. orientalis were earlier to flower and had higher seeds and seed yield/plant as compared to cultivated lentil. However, some were comparable with cultivated genotypes for flowers/peduncle, peduncle length and plant height. The mean performance for flowers per peduncle, leaflets per leaf, plant height, seeds and seed yield per plant increased, while decreased for days to flowering and maturity, and branches per plant during the evolution of cultivated lentil from the wild Lens taxa. Of Lens taxa, L. nigricans had the maximum resistant accessions for biotic and tolerance to abiotic stresses. The valuable variation existing among wild accessions can be exploited following introgression with cultivated lentils. It will help in the flow of useful genes from wild to cultivated lentil for generating wide spectrum of variability and its subsequent use in genetic restructuring of lentil.

Genetic and phytochemical diversity analysis in Bunium persicum populations of north-western Himalaya

The present study explores morphological, genetic and phytochemical composition of Bunium persicum populations belonging to high altitudinal areas of Indian Himalayan region. In total, 23 morphological traits (13 quantitative and 10 qualitative traits) and 32 Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA primers were employed to infer the population structure of the species. Of the fourteen populations, five genetically diverse populations were analyzed for phytochemical diversity. Among morphological traits, inflorescence, seed and branch traits were most significant in detecting variation. At molecular level, primers TIBMBA-06 and OPR-16 were found most polymorphic with respect to Polymorphism Information Content and Marker Index values. Dendrogram grouped all populations into two major clusters while population from Shong region out grouped separately showing its distantness from all other populations. STRUCTURE analysis was done by using Bayesian model, which characterised all populations into four clusters and some degree of admixture was also observed within individuals. Shong population showed distinct genetic makeup as also suggested by dendrogram. Phytochemical analysis showed the presence of 55 components, of which, 2-methyl-3-phenyl propanal, benzeneacetic acid, 1-phellandrene, γ-terpene, α-terpinolene, Δ0.3-carene and sabinene were major components in its essential oils. The present study revealed high genetic and phytochemical diversity in B. persicum accessions from north-western Himalayan regions. Specifically, accessions from Saptal regions were having higher quantity of essential oils and can be selected for cultivation to meet the commercial demand to some extent. Further, the diversity information provided herein can be useful in management and improvement of this species through future breeding programmes.

Genetic resources of lentil and its utilization in India

Lentil is recognised as the most nutritious rabi pulse and, with respect to acreage, it ranks next to chickpea. It is grown throughout northern and central India. A large percentage of Indians are vegetarian and lentil has long been part of India’s indigenous diet, and is a common source of protein. Of about 60 varieties released in India to date, 13 have been developed by hybridization, mostly from parents not distantly related. The narrow genetic base of the presently cultivated varieties and losses due to biotic and abiotic stress factors remain the main cause of concern. Introgression of genes between microsperma and macrosperma groups of lentil from closely related species like L. culinaris subspp. Orientalis and use of biotechnological tools, wherever necessary, have been recommended by various workers to broaden the genetic base of this crop. Direct selection for grain yield through important component traits such as pods/ plant, seeds/pod, number of clusters/plant, harvest index, biological yield, early maturing and breeding for better yield quality have been suggested. Realizing the significance of plant germplasm, special efforts have been made by the national bureau to collect the genetic resources of lentil from different states of India. A large number of accessions were characterised and evaluated for various agro-morphological traits, using the lentil minimal descriptor. The core collection comprising 287 promising accessions recorded variation for seed yield and its important component traits; variation was also observed for important morphological traits, using mutation breeding approaches. These genetic resources of lentil have also been screened for tolerance to several biotic stresses and a few lines showed immunity against rust, blight and fusarium wilt and these have been utilized as donors in cross-breeding programmes. On the other hand, wild Lens species revealed substantial genetic diversity for phenological and agro-morphological characters, including some important diseases of lentil. From these genetic resources, potential donors of desirable traits have been selected after evaluation and characterization and have been utilized in the genetic improvement of cultivars.