Virender Pratap Singh

Anti-oxidant and immunomodulatory properties of seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides)—an in vitro study

This study was designed to determine the anti-oxidant and immunomodulatory properties of seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) using lymphocytes as a model system. Chromium(VI) as potassium dichromate was used to induce oxidative damage. The production of free radicals by chromium and the ability of alcoholic leaf and fruit extracts of seabuckthorn to inhibit the oxidative damage induced by chromium was investigated. Addition of chromium (10 microg/ml) to the cells resulted in enhanced cytotoxicity, apoptosis, free radical production and decreased glutathione (reduced) levels. Chromium also caused a significant inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation induced by both lipopolysaccharide and concanavalin A. Alcoholic extracts of leaves and fruits of seabuckthorn at a concentration of 500 microg/ml were found to inhibit chromium-induced free radical production, apoptosis, DNA fragmentation and restored the anti-oxidant status to that of control cells. In addition, these extracts also were able to arrest the chromium-induced inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation. These observations suggest that the alcoholic extracts of leaves and fruits of seabuckthorn have marked cytoprotective properties, which could be attributed to the anti-oxidant activity.

SCREENING OF RESISTANCE SOURCE AGAINST SPOT BLOTCH DISEASE CAUSED BY BIPOLARIS SOROKINIANA IN TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.

Ashish Ojha 1, *, Gyanendra Singh 2 , Bhudev Singh Tyagi 2 , Virender Singh, 1 Rajita 1 and Pradeep Kumar 1 . 1. Senior Research Fellow, Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research, Karnal-132001 (Haryana), India. 2. Principal Scientist, Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley Research, Karnal-132 001 (Haryana), India. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History

Assessment of Genetic Variability and Correlation among Agro-Morphological Traits and Spot Blotch Disease in a Ril Population of Wheat

A study of genetic variability for various agro-morphological traits including spot blotch disease severity (DS) and grain yield (GY) involving complete set of 214 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) population (cross ‘Kanchan / Chirya 1) was conducted during 2014-15 and 2015-16 crop seasons. Combined analysis of variance (ANOVA) over years indicated that genotypes, environments and G × E interactions were significant, indicating that the population exhibited significant differences for the traits studied. Similarly, variability analysis indicated wide genetic variation for all the traits among parents and recombinant inbred lines. Significant but negative correlation of disease severity (DS) with days to heading (DH), days to maturity (DM), plant height (PH) and grain yield (GY) indicated negative impact of high disease pressure on the expression of these traits. Among other agro-morphological traits, days to maturity showed significant positive correlation with plant height, grain yield and 1000-grain weight. High estimates of phenotypic and genotypic coefficient of variation (PCV and GCV) were found for disease severity (32.09 and 26.12 during 201415 and 30.79 & 29.99 during 2015-16, respectively) followed by grain yield and 1000-grain weight. High estimates of heritability coupled with moderate to high values of genetic advance were recorded for most of the traits during both the years. The results indicated sufficient genetic variability, high estimates of heritability coupled with genetic advance along with desired correlation among traits, and therefore selection strategy might be effective in identifying promising genotypes possessing desired level of disease resistance, high yield and wider adaptability for target environments..