Search

A burgeoning population, food shortage, less affordability of essential nutrients, and pandemic are the foremost global challenges for lower-to middle-income nations. Lack of proper availability of crucial nutrients leads to hidden hunger, which has become a serious threat under the current scenario and difficult situation for global policymakers, nutritionists, and public health scientists. Minerals (iron, zinc, iodine, and Selenium) and Vitamin A malnutrition are major food-related primary health problems among populations of both developed and developing countries. Vegetables offer an economical and sustainable opportunity to provide micronutrients. They are rich in minerals, vitamins, and bioactive compounds and thus play a key role in diversifying diets and securing nutritional security. Usually, the availability of most micronutrients in the edible parts of the plants is lower than required. Therefore, scaling up the nutritional profile of vegetable crops through biofortification can enhance their nourishment power. Biofortification can be achieved through mineral fertilization, breeding, and biotechnological approaches. Several crops have been fortified through the soil and foliar application of fertilizers, thus providing benefits for a limited period. Therefore, breeding for nutrient-rich cultivars using conventional or biotechnological techniques seems to be the most effective strategy to reduce malnutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytoplasmic male-sterility (CMS) is the primary source for the production of commercially viable onion F1 hybrids. The molecular interplay of the cytoplasmic-nuclear genes propels the restoration of fertility in the CMS system, making it cost-effective and stable. The use of the molecular markers that can determine the cytoplasm type and nuclear genotype reduces the amount of time and labour required. This study characterized the morphology of male sterile and fertile plants based on anther colour and pollen viability. Additionally, the molecular characterization of the organellar DNA differentiating cytoplasm and nuclear genotypes in 35 commercially grown open-pollinated varieties of Indian short-day onion was attempted. Our results revealed that morphological and microscopic observations for the identification of male sterile and fertile plants were not 100% corroborative. Markers located in the chloroplast (accD) and mitochondrial DNA (MKFR) revealed that Indian cultivars exhibited a greater frequency of N (normal) cytoplasm, lower frequency of S (sterile) cytoplasm and no occurrence of T (sterile) cytoplasm. All three markers viz., AcPMS1, AcSKP1, and jnurf13 revealed that 93 to 99% of the plants of all the varieties had homozygous recessive (msms) alleles at the Ms locus. The OPT marker classified the plants as having 38% msms, 39% Msms and 21% MsMs genotypes and needs further investigation. This underscores the pressing need for additional markers to precisely discern the Ms locus, facilitating the identification of male sterile and maintainer plants within open-pollinated populations of Indian short-day onions. Notably, male sterile cytoplasm was identified in eight commercial varieties, marking a pioneering revelation in Indian onion cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grafting of vegetable seedlings is a unique horticultural technology practiced for many years in East Asia to overcome issues associated with intensive cultivation using limited arable land. This technology was introduced to Europe and other countries in the late 20th century along with improved grafting methods suitable for commercial production of grafted vegetable seedlings. Tomato grafting is becoming a welldeveloped practice worldwide with many horticultural advantages. The primary motivation for grafting tomato has been to prevent the damage caused by soilborne pathogens under intensive production system. However, recent reports suggest that grafting onto suitable rootstocks can also alleviate the adverse effects of abiotic stresses such as salinity, water, temperature, and heavy metals besides enhancing the efficiency of water and nutrient use of tomato plants. This review gives an overview of the scientific literatures on the various aspects of tomato grafting including important steps of grafting, grafting methods, scion-rootstock interaction, and rootstock-derived changes in vegetative growth, fruit yield, and quality in grafted plants under different growing conditions. This review also highlights the economic significance of grafted tomato cultivation and offers discussion on the future thrust and technical issues that need to be addressed for the effective adoption of grafting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The center of origin of garlic (Allium sativum L.) and its closest wild relative, Allium longicuspis, is considered Central Asia. Religious writings, historical records and ancient medical texts, especially from the Mediterranean and Asia, have repeatedly referenced and/or prescribed the use of garlic in health and disease. More recent studies have demonstrated that allicin and other garlic organosulfur compounds exhibit broad-spectrum antibacterial and antimycotic effects. Garlic has been classified based on growth traits, morphology, presence/absence of flowering stalk, isozymes profiles, molecular markers and ecophysiological characteristics. In a recent intrageneric classification of Allium based on nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences, garlic is typus species of genus, subgenus and section Allium, which includes 15 sections and around 300 species. Garlic is considered sterile and is mostly propagated asexually, but fertile wild garlic has been discovered and collected in its center of origin, in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Genetic and environmental factors affecting fertility and true seed production have been identified and studied, and Bt-resistant transgenic lines have been developed. Herein, we reviewed and critically discussed garlic historic and current use, its taxonomic and informal classifications, molecular mechanisms of garlic sterility, and progresses made toward unlocking sexual reproduction and its potential impact for garlic breeding and production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) was invented by Wayne Thomas at TWI (The Welding Institute), and the first patent applications were filed in the UK in December 1991. Initially, the process was regarded as a "laboratory" curiosity, but it soon became clear that FSW offers numerous benefits in the fabrication of aluminum products. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) has become a major joining process in the aerospace, railway and ship building industries especially in the fabrication of aluminum alloys. The process uses a spinning non-consumable tool to generate frictional heat in the work piece. Worldwide, there are now over 135 licensees of FSW and new techniques and applications are being developed daily. This paper looks at the review, on friction stir welding process, various welding variables like tool rotation, transverse speed, tool tilt, plunge depth and tool design, for the welding of aluminum alloys or various dissimilar alloys. Applications, future aspects and several key problems are also described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The postcolonial unity of India as a single nation state incorporating the princely states covering two-fifth of the territory and a quarter of the population that remained outside the direct jurisdiction of the colonial state has not been problematized in the colonial and postcolonial historiography of India. This problematization is nonetheless essential in order to understand the internal dynamics of the colonial social formation in India, especially the agency of peasant movements in princely states in the dissolution of tbe colonial state and in preparing the ground for the postcolonial unity of the Indian state. The tendency to ignore the agency of peasant movements in princely India during the colonial rule is what I have characterized as the colonial mode of historiography. Subaltern Studies project which claims to distinguish itself for its role in restoring the agency of peasant insurgency in colonial India is indeed a continuation of the colonial mode of historiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salinity in soil or water is a serious threat to global agriculture; the expected acreage affected by salinity is about 20% of the global irrigated lands. Improving salt tolerance of plants through breeding is a complex undertaking due to the number of traits involved. Grafting, a surgical mean of joining a scion and rootstock of two different genotypes with the desired traits, offers an alternative to breeding and biotechnological approaches to salt tolerance. Grafting can also be used to circumvent other biotic and abiotic stresses. Increasing salinity tolerance in tomato (Solanum lycopresicum L.), a highly nutritious and economical vegetable, will have greater impact on the vegetable industry, especially in (semi) arid regions where salinity in soil and water are more prevalent. Besides, plants also experience salt stress when water in hydroponic system is recycled for tomato production. Grafting high yielding but salt-susceptible tomato cultivars onto salt-resistant/tolerant rootstocks is a sustainable strategy to overcome saline stress. Selection of salt-tolerant rootstocks though screening of available commercial and wild relatives of tomato under salt stress conditions is a pre-requisite for grafting. The positive response of grafting exerted by tolerant rootstocks or scion-rootstock interactions on yield and fruit characteristics of tomato under saline conditions is attributed to several physiological and biochemical changes. In this review, the importance of tomato grafting, strategies to select appropriate rootstocks, scion-rootstock interaction for growth, yield and quality characteristics, as well as the tolerance mechanisms that (grafted) plants deploy to circumvent or minimize the effects of salt stress in root zones are discussed. The future challenges of grafting tomato are also highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]