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Potato (Solanum tuberosumL.) is an important tuber crop that has vital role in the future food security of the world. It possesses different cytoplasmic (Cp) types which directly influence many important agronomic traits. Indian cultivars were screened for the Cp diversity and related traits like late blight resistance, total starch content and male sterility. Only T(83.63%) and D(16.36%) Cp type prevailed, while other types were totally absent. DCp type was introduced for late blight resistance and was found to be related to high total starch content and better processing attributes. The effect of Cp type and various Rgenes on imparting resistance to late blight was found to act independent to each other. In a crop like potato, where breeders are challenged by tetrasomic inheritance and vegetative propagation, organelle studies are expected to provide a better picture of available diversity which can better be utilized in designing the breeding programs.

Gametophytic self-incompatibility (SI) controlled by the multiallelic S-locus, that include tightly linked SRNase and SLF genes has been reported extensively in wild and diploid potatoes. The widely cultivated tetraploid are reported to overcome SI through a phenomenon called ‘competition interaction’ or ‘heteroallelic pollen’ effect. Here we report the activated Gametophytic SI in a tetraploid, non-fruiting popular Indian cultivar Kufri Girdhari through pollen and gene expressional studies. The results revealed highly stage-specific expression of S-RNase in contrast to ubiquitous SLFs in flower. Our preliminary studies found that S-RNaseexpressed in flower stigma and style after the pollination provide the evidence for the general mechanism SI. The recombination event and later fixing of the genetic composition may have lead to homomorphic condition that causes SI in the variety despite being a tetraploid. The study reveals the functional SI system acting in a tetraploid first time and further in-depth investigation of allele composition would provide complete understanding that would help in designing the future breeding programs.

Apis melliferacolonies were sampled for over twelve months to study the Nosemainfection in different apiaries of Himachal Pradesh, India. We found that the infection incidence was highest in the winter season (48.40 %) followed by autumn and rainy months. The infection was diagnosed conventionally through the microscopic analysis detection of Nosemaspecies spores. However, with the recent findings that both N. ceranaeand N. apisaffect western honey bees, more sensitive and species specific molecular techniques are required that reliably differentiate between species of microsporidia. Therefore, molecular studies were conducted to precisely differentiate between Nosemaspecies infecting honeybee colonies in India. Species specific multiplex PCR amplification using previously reported primers derived from 16S rRNA fragments were performed in a single reaction mixture. A single diagnostic band size of only 143 bp for N. ceranaewas observed in the agarose gel. Furthermore, a diagnostic band size of 252 bp was observed with primer NoS, thus reconfirming the presence of N. ceranae. This study appears to be the first to report the detect of N. ceranaespecies from India in samples of A. mellifera.

Rhizoctonia solaniis a soil-borne basidiomycete fungus with a necrotrophic lifestyle being classified into fourteen reproductively incompatible anastomosis groups (AGs). AG3-PT (a potato subgroup) is associated with quantitative and qualitative yield losses through stem canker and black scurf in potato. Here we present the first draft sequence of the R. solani[AG3-PT] strain RS-20 with a G-C content of 48.3%. It consists of 11,431 total predicted protein coding regions including 181 tRNA and 31 rRNA coding genes. The initial pBLAST revealed more than 97% hits among AG groups where as only 1.7% of genes hit with other organisms. The R. solanigenome is found to be dominated with tri mer repeats. The genome-wide evolutionary studies revealed the close association of AG3-PT with AG3. The draft sequence represents a helpful resource not only for understanding the core genes involved in pathogenecity but also evolution and adaptive behaviour within the R. solanispecies complex. Rhizoctonia solanies un hongo basidiomiceto del suelo con un estilo de vida necrotrófico que se clasifica dentro de los 14 grupos de anastomosis (AGs) de incompatibilidad reproductiva. AG3-PT (un subgrupo de papa) esta asociado con pérdidas de rendimiento cuantitativas y cualitativas por vía de cáncer de tallo y por costra negra en papa. Aquí presentamos la primera secuencia en borrador del R. solani[AG3-PT] variante RS-20 con un contenido de G-C de 48.3%. Consiste de 11,431 regiones totales de codificación predicha de proteínas incluyendo 181 tARN y 31 rARN genes de codificación. El pBLAST inicial reveló más del 97% de coincidencias entre los grupos AG, en donde tan solo el 1.7% de los genes coincidieron con otros organismos. El genomio de R. solanise encuentra dominado con repeticiones de trimeros. Los estudios de la evolución de la amplitud del genoma revelaron la asociación cercana de AG3-PT con AG3. La secuencia preliminar representa un recurso útil, no solo para entender los genes básicos involucrados en la patogenicidad, sino también la evolución y el comportamiento adaptativo dentro del complejo de la especie R. solani.

The gene editing using the CRISPR/Cas9 system has become an important biotechnological tool for studying gene function and improving crops. In this study, we have used CRISPR/Cas9 system for editing the phytoene desaturase gene (PDS) in popular Indian potato cultivar Kufri Chipsona-I. A construct (pHSE401) carrying two target gRNAs with glycine tRNA processing system under the control of Arabidopsis U6 promoter and the Cas9 protein was constructed and transformed in potato plants using Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformations. The regeneration efficiency of 45% was observed in regenerated plants, out of which 81% of the putative transformants shoot lines exhibited mutant or bleached phenotype (albinism). The deletion mutations were detected within the StPDSgene in the genotyped plants and a mutation efficiency of 72% for gRNA1 and gRNA2 has been detected using Sanger sequencing. Hence, we set up a CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing protocol which is efficient and generates mutations (deletions) within StPDSgene in potato. The bleached phenotype is easily detectable after only few weeks after Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. This is the first report as a proof of concept for CRISPR/Cas9-based editing of PDSgene in Indian potato cv. Kufri Chipsona-I. This study demonstrates that CRISPR/Cas9 can be used to edit genes at high frequency within the genome of the potato for various traits. Therefore, this study will aid in creating important mutants for modifying molecular mechanisms controlling traits of agronomic importance.

Organelle genome diversity was analysed in interspecific potato somatic hybrids using chloroplast (cp)- and mitochondrial (mt)-specific molecular markers. Out of total 25 markers (15 cpDNA and 10 mtDNA) tested in total 16 samples, only four mtDNA primers (rpS14/cob, Nsm2, ALM4/ALM5 and ALM6/ALM7) detected polymorphism, whereas other primers were monomorphic. Cluster analysis showed higher genetic diversity among the genotypes by mtDNA profiles than that by cpDNA. Ten haplotypes were grouped by cluster analysis comprised of maximum seven genotypes in haplotype no. 3. Monomorphic markers did not reveal variability in our samples and suggest highly conserved organelle genomic regions. New genomic arrangements were observed in the somatic hybrids for mt polymorphic loci. Our study suggests that somatic hybrids are comprised of diverse cytoplasm types consisting predominantly of T-, W-, and C-, with a few A- and S-type chloroplast, and α-, β- and γ-type mitochondrial genome, and have unique potential to widen the cultivated potato gene pool by breeding methods.

Background: The authors present an unusual, unreported oral adverse effect of COVID-19 vaccine as palatal petechiae lesions. Case presentation: COVID-19 disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has become a global health crisis and has caused millions of deaths worldwide. Vaccination programs have been initiated in many countries for COVID-19 prevention. The ChAdOx-nCoV-19 vaccine has been shown to provide a robust immune response in various clinical trials. It is well tolerated by recipients and has been associated with minor adverse effects. The COVISHIELD (ChAdOx-nCoV-19) vaccine developed by AstraZeneca/Oxford University is approved by the Government of India to be administered in a phased manner. We present the case of twin subjects who suffered various adverse effects after receiving the COVISHIELD vaccine; one of the twins presented with palatal petechiae lesions presumably caused by the vaccine. The lesions were self-limiting and required no treatment. Conclusion: Oral lesions reported first time in our case should be correlated with similar lesions found post-COVID vaccines globally. There is a further need to ascertain a high level of scientific evidence and explore the biological plausibility underlying oral complications and COVID vaccinations.

Plant pathogenic oomycetes cause significant impact on agriculture and, therefore, their management is utmost important. Though conventional methods to combat these pathogens (resistance breeding and use of fungicides) are available but these are limited by the availability of resistant cultivars due to evolution of new pathogenic races, development of resistance in the pathogens against agrochemicals and their potential hazardous effects on the environment and human health. This has fuelled a continual search for novel and alternate strategies for management of phytopathogens. The recent advances in oomycetes genome (Phytophthora infestans, P. ramorum, P. sojae, Pythium ultimum, Albugo candidaetc.) would further help in understanding host–pathogen interactions essentially needed for designing effective management strategies. In the present communication the novel and alternate strategies for the management of oomycetes diseases are discussed.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) come up with eminent opportunities for military and civilian applications. Such opportunities come with unique challenges. The high mobility of UAVs leads to the frequent change in the network topology that results in packet loss or routing path failure, and so on. Moreover, secure routing is one of the most important features while organizing wireless communication among UAVs. To counter these challenges, a secure and reliable routing protocol (SecRIP) for the flying ad hoc network is proposed for efficient and reliable data transfer. This SecRIP works toward the enhancement of the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) metrics. The SecRIP works on two algorithms: (i) a chaotic algae algorithm and (ii) dragonfly algorithm; these algorithm serves the functionality of cluster selection, management, and data transmission in intercluster. The proposed technique is compared with other existing techniques using a network simulator. The results show that the proposed technique is capable of maintaining the higher QoS and the QoE standards and also helps the nodes conserve their power without compromising on the performance. The simulated results show improvement as it decreases the delay incurred in SecRIP is 24%, and routing overhead is 19%, where the PDR of SecRIP is increased by 32% in comparison with existing protocols. In an extreme case, when node density increases, the SecRIP helps to limits the delay to 41%, and the PDR is 28% higher than the other existing protocols. Finally, the result demonstrates that the SecRIP protocol achieves secure and reliable data transmission. Security in Flying Ad hoc Network.

Purpose: Mandibular nerve block allows surgery to be performed on the mandible. However, pain in the postoperative period needs to be treated with opioids or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents which have undesirable side effects. We examine the feasibility of continuous mandibular nerve block with 0.25% bupivacaine top-ups using a catheter for intraoperative and postoperative pain relief in two patients with a fracture of the mandible. Methods: Using the lateral extraoral approach, the mandibular nerve was approached with an 18-gauge indwelling iv cannula in two patients undergoing repair of a fractured mandible under general anesthesia. After removing the needle, an 18-gauge epidural catheter was inserted into the cannula which was then removed. The catheter was tunnelled subcutaneously to emerge at the lateral aspect of the forehead. Two to 4 mL bupivacaine 0.25% were injected on a 12-hr basis and the catheter was kept in place for seven days. Results: Both patients had excellent pain relief and no parenteral or oral analgesics were required throughout the postoperative period. No side effects were noted. Conclusions: Continuous mandibular nerve block with 2–4 mL 0.25% bupivacaine top-ups injected twice a day through a catheter provides excellent pain relief in patients with a fracture of the mandible. This method may have implications for the management of pain of other etiology in the mandibular region.