Leaf chemistry and food selection by common langurs (Presbytis entellus) in Rajaji National Park,Uttar Pradesh,India

Food selection in folivorous primates has been hypothesized to be correlated with leaf chemistry. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a 5-month study on Presbytis entellusin a moist deciduous forest in the Rajaji National Park,Uttar Pradesh, India. The study period covered two seasons, winter and spring. We used the percentage time spent feeding on each food item as an index of food selection, which we estimated from group scan data collected from one study group for 6 days each month. We estimated the selection ratio for each item as the ratio of time spent feeding to availability. We estimated food availability from vegetation sampling and phenological data in the home range of the study group. We estimated crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and tannins in mature and young leaves of 12 major food species in the laboratory. Food selection is positively correlated with CP in winter and negatively correlated with ADF in both seasons. It also is correlated with CPJADF ratio, but to a lesser extent than the best predictor in winter and spring. Selection ratio is not correlated with CP and ADF in both seasons. It is probable that the inclusion of other factors, such as micronutrients,condensed tannins, and digestibility, might give a better prediction of food selection.     

Infant development in the lion-tailed macaque,Macaca silenus (Linnaeus): The first eight weeks

Infant development in lion-tailed monkeys was observed during the first eight weeks after birth. A rapid decrease in the time spent in the closest association by the mother and the infant was seen between the first and second weeks. Between the second and fifth week there was a somewhat steady state with only marginal decrease in the time spent by the infant out of lap of the mother. However, during this time, a rapid decline in maternal cradling and restraining behaviour was seen. From the sixth week onwards, there was a rapid increase in the time spent by the infant out of contact with the mother. Independence of the infant during troop progression was seen only towards the eighth week, that too only marginal. Among the troop members the subadult females and the juvenile females showed the maximum interest in the infant. The former spent much more time than the juveniles interacting with the infant. The adult females showed only little interest in the infant while the adult male showed no interest at all. Infant snatching by subadult females and juvenile females was seen on many occasions. The infant remained in the possession of them from less than 1 min to more than 2 hr. This behaviour tended to decrease towards the sixth week.     

Understorey structure and refuges from predators influence habitat use by a small ungulate, the Indian chevrotain (Moschiola indica) in Western Ghats, India

The availability of refuges from predators and high quality food are thought to determine habitat use in small ungulates. We tested this hypothesis on habitat use by the Indian chevrotain in a tropical rainforest in the Western Ghats, using pellet-groups to infer habitat use. Between December 2009 and April 2010, we sampled 204 grids of 50 m × 50 m with four spatial replicates in each, using occupancy framework. We quantified refuges such as fallen logs and boulders, understorey complexity, and noted the presence of fruiting trees in the grid. Detection probability, p, of pellet-groups was estimated at 0.61. The naive estimate of occupancy was 0.52, which increased to 0.73 when p was accounted for. Out of eight candidate models compared using AIC_C, the one with the number of refuges and understorey complexity was the best model. Both covariates had non-zero positive slopes. Fruiting trees occurred very infrequently and did not influence habitat use, perhaps because the chevrotain fed more on buds, shoots and young leaves during the dry period covered by this study. The strong influence of understorey complexity on habitat use was perhaps also due to the abundance of these food items. These results highlight the need to control human use that adversely impacts the availability of refuges and understorey complexity such as removal of fallen logs and rattans. This study also demonstrates the application of the occupancy approach in the study of small and elusive ungulates.     

High efficiency Agrobacterium‐mediated site‐specific gene integration in maize utilizing the FLP‐FRT recombination system

An efficient Agrobacterium‐mediated site‐specific integration (SSI) technology using the flipase/flipase recognition target (FLP/FRT) system in elite maize inbred lines is described. The system allows precise integration of a single copy of a donor DNA flanked by heterologous FRT sites into a predefined recombinant target line (RTL) containing the corresponding heterologous FRT sites. A promoter‐trap system consisting of a pre‐integrated promoter followed by an FRT site enables efficient selection of events. The efficiency of this system is dependent on several factors including Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain, expression of morphogenic genes Babyboom (Bbm) and Wuschel2 (Wus2) and choice of heterologous FRT pairs. Of the Agrobacterium strains tested, strain AGL1 resulted in higher transformation frequency than strain LBA4404 THY‐ (0.27% vs. 0.05%; per cent of infected embryos producing events). The addition of morphogenic genes increased transformation frequency (2.65% in AGL1; 0.65% in LBA4404 THY‐). Following further optimization, including the choice of FRT pairs, a method was developed that achieved 19%–22.5% transformation frequency. Importantly, >50% of T0 transformants contain the desired full‐length site‐specific insertion. The frequencies reported here establish a new benchmark for generating targeted quality events compatible with commercial product development.     

The First Record of the Rearfin Flying Fish,Cypselurus opisthopus (Exocoetidae), from the Waters of South India,with the Assessment of Flying Fish Species Occurring in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone

Journal of Ichthyology - The present study reports the first record of the rearfin flying fish, Cypselurus opisthopus (Bleeker, 1865), in the south-eastern Arabian Sea based on a single specimen...     

The Effect of Maturity Status on Biochemical Composition,Antioxidant Activity,and Anthocyanin Biosynthesis Gene Expression in a Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Cultivar with Red Flowers,Yellow Peel,and Pinkish Arils

Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) has widely been used as a fruit and in folk medicine since ancient civilizations in the world. It is now known that bioactive compounds present in pomegranates attribute to its therapeutic potential. Harvesting at the correct maturity stage is one of the key factors deciding the quality of harvest for consumption in fresh or value-added forms. Identification of the correct maturity stage (harvesting index) is particularly difficult for cultivars having yellowish peel and pinkish arils (sarcotesta). We studied the changes in total phenolic content (TPC), antioxidant activity (AOX), punicalagin α and β contents, color indices, total soluble solids (TSS), and expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway genes from flowering to harvesting in the pomegranate cultivar Nimali, having red flowers, yellow peels, and pinkish arils at maturity over two growing seasons. Interestingly, there was no seasonal variation observed in any of the parameters over two cultivation seasons. Although the β punicalagin content did not change, the TPC, AOX, punicalagin α contents in both peel and arils gradually decreased from flowering to maturity. Though the TPC of both peels and arils, AOX and total punicalagin content of peel did not change significantly 140 days after flower initiation, the TPC and the total punicalagin of arils reached a stable level at 160 days. The TSS in both peels and arils increased significantly with the maturity having the highest values at 180 days. The peel color changed from green to yellow with maturity with a significant increase in l* and b* values and significant decrease in a* value. Nevertheless, the aril color changed from pale white to pink with the maturity with significant reduction of l* and b* values and significant increase of a* value. Changes in pomegranate dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR), flavanone 3-hydroxylase (F3H), and leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase (anthocyanidin synthase-ANS) gene expression in Nimali arils correlated with its color changes during maturity. These findings support to identify the harvesting index of Nimali ensuring the maximum nutritional and health benefits of pomegranate flower, arils, and peels for different downstream uses.

     

Apoplastic extracts from a transgenic wheat line exhibiting lesion-mimic phenotype have multiple pathogenesis-related proteins that are antifungal

A transgenic wheat line constitutively expressing genes encoding a class IV acidic chitinase and an acidic beta-1,3-glucanase, showed significant delay in spread of Fusarium head blight (scab) disease under greenhouse conditions. In an earlier work, we observed a lesion-mimic phenotype in this transgenic line when homozygous for transgene loci. Apoplastic fluid (AF) extracted from the lesion-mimic plants had pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins belonging to families of beta-1,3-glucanases, chitinases, and thaumatin-like proteins (TLPs). AF had growth inhibitory activity against certain fungal pathogens, including Fusarium graminearum and Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici. Through a two-step ion-exchange chromatography protocol, we recovered many PR proteins and a few uncharacterized proteins. Three individual protein bands corresponding to a TLP (molecular mass, 16 kDa) and two beta-1,3-glucanases (molecular mass, 32 kDa each) were purified and identified by tandem mass spectrometry. We measured the in vitro antifungal activity of the three purified enzymes and a barley class II chitinase (purified earlier in our laboratory) in microtiter plate assays with macroconidia or conidiophores of F. graminearum and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis. Mixtures of proteins revealed synergistic or additive inhibitory activity against F. graminearum and P. tritici-repentis hyphae. The concentrations of PR proteins at which these effects were observed are likely to be those reached in AF of cells exhibiting a hypersensitive response. Our results suggest that apoplastic PR proteins are antifungal and their antimicrobial potency is dependent on concentrations and combinations that are effectively reached in plants following microbial attack.     

Agrodrench: a novel and effective agroinoculation method for virus-induced gene silencing in roots and diverse Solanaceous species

Summary Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is an extremely powerful tool for plant functional genomics. We used Tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-derived VIGS vectors expressed from binary vectors within Agrobacterium to induce RNA silencing in plants. Leaf infiltration is the most common method of agroinoculation used for VIGS but this method has limitations as it is laborious for large-scale screening and some plants are difficult to infiltrate. Here we have developed a novel and simple method of agroinoculation, called 'agrodrench', where soil adjacent to the plant root is drenched with an Agrobacterium suspension carrying the TRV-derived VIGS vectors. By agrodrench we successfully silenced the expression of phytoene desaturase (PDS), a 20S proteasome subunit (PB7) or Mg-protoporphyrin chelatase (Chl H) encoding genes in Nicotiana benthamiana and in economically important crops such as tomato, pepper, tobacco, potato, and Petunia, all belonging to the Solanaceae family. An important aspect of agrodrench is that it can be used for VIGS in very young seedlings, something not possible by the leaf infiltration method, which usually requires multiple fully expanded leaves for infiltration. We also demonstrated that VIGS functioned to silence target genes in plant roots. The agrodrench method of agroinoculation was more efficient than the leaf infiltration method for VIGS in roots. Agrodrench will facilitate rapid large-scale functional analysis of cDNA libraries and can also be applied to plants that are not currently amenable to VIGS technology by conventional inoculation methods.