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Opium poppy belongs to the family − ‘Papaveraceae’ and is well known mainly for its pharmaceutically important alkaloids and seeds. In order to delineate the gene-effects conditioning the expression of seed yield and straw alkaloids, six crosses viz. IS 14 × Sampada, I 14 × Mtu, Sampada × Sujata, CIM Ajay × Dfr 44, Sapna × Sanchita and SPS 49 × TS 1 involving the eleven parents, were sampled for P1, P2 and F1 (=P1 × P2) non segregating, and F2 (=F1), BCP1 (=F1 × P1), and BCP2 (=F1 × P2) segregating generations. The days to flowering (50%) and plant height showed all the three type of interactions (i, j, l) in three crosses, namely C1 − IS 14 × Sampada and C2 − I 14 × Mtu but the traits peduncle length, codeine and thebaine content showed in other three crosses as C1 − IS 14 × Sampada, C2 − I 14 × Mtu, C3 − Sampada × Sujata and C4 − CIM Ajay × Dfr 44 in order. The two type of interactions additive × additive and additive × dominance interactions (i, j,) exhibited by the C6 − SPS 49 × TS 1 for plant height and thebaine content, C5 − Sapna × Sanchita for peduncle length, codeine and narcotine content. The genetic basis of character expression indicated that the interacting crosses showing non-allelic interactions particularly duplicate epistasis in most of the crosses. While most of those without epistatic interactions exhibited superiority over parental mean. On the basis of study results the two specific cross combinations like Sampada × Sujata and CIMAP Ajay × Dfr 44 are selected to ensure tangible superiority for the most economic traits like high seed yield and poppy straw/capsule husk alkaloids including other contributing traits also like early flowering, capsule index for poppy crop improvement programme.

Current study aims to explore natural anti-phytopathogenic compounds for plant disease management. Syzygium cumini essential oil and its isolated compounds were screened for their antifungal assay against two phytopathogenic fungi, Rhizoctonia solani AG 4HG-III and Choanephora cucurbitarum . The chemical composition of oil the isolated oil was identified by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Compounds such as 7-hydroxycalamenene, 7-acetoxycalamenene, 1-epi-cubenol, and α-terpineol showed an inhibition, ca. 95%, 80%, 76%, and 82%, respectively, against R . solani whereas 95%, 70%, 92%, and 100% against C . cucurbitarum in contact phase. In addition, high ocimene rich column fractions showed 70% and 87% inhibition against R . solani and C . cucurbitarum , respectively, in volatile phase. The findings of the present study suggest that the isolated 7-hydroxycalamenene, 7-acetoxycalamenene, 1-epi-cubenol, α-terpineol, and ( Z )-β- & ( E )-β-ocimene have a potential to be used as antifungal agents for the effective control of fungal diseases in medicinal plants. We report 7-acetoxycalamenene as novel compound from natural source for first time.

A good extent of variation was observed for all the traits among 41 accessions of Ammi visnaga. Morphological variability for stem colour and umbel mutant with centre red to pink was detected. Maximum GCV and high heritability and genetic advance as percentage of mean were observed for biological yield followed by harvest index, seed yield, which may provide good amount of advance expected from selection because these traits may be possibly governed due to additive gene effects. The genotypic correlation in general, was higher than phenotypic; positive significant correlation was observed between seed yield and number of primary branches, harvest index; biological yield and number of umbel, number of primary branches. A high direct positive effect on seed yield was of biological yield followed by harvest index and primary branches. Therefore, composite populations through poly-cross nursery of desired accessions and recurrent selection recommended for genetic improvement in Bishop's weed.

Forty genetic stocks of vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides L. Nash) were screened for high oil yield. The considerable amount of natural and genetic variability in morpho-metric traits was recorded. The estimate of heritability (^h2BS %) and corresponding genetic advance (GA), both were high for plant height (^h2BS % = 98.48 and GA = 64.83). Genetic (G) and phenotypic (P) associations coefficients among the seven traits indicated that plant height was highly and significantly correlated with tillers/plant (0.399**G, 0.389**P); fresh root with dry root yield (0.905**G, 0.769**P) and oil content with oil yield (0.397**G, 0.390**P) at both genotypic and phenotypic level. The plant height with root length was also positively correlated with each other at both genetic (G) and phenotypic (P) levels (0.282*G, 0.278*P). The path coefficient under study revealed that the highest direct contribution to total oil yield was made by fresh root yield (0.514) followed by oil content (0.386), tillers/plant (0.149) and root length (0.086) in percent.

In 1992, British Institutions' Reflection Profiling Syndicate conducted a two-ship coincident near-vertical and wide-angle experiment to determine the detailed velocity structure of the continental crust in the Central North Sea. The results show a near-surface high velocity gradient layer (P-wave velocity reaches 6.0 km/s at ∼5 km depth), a high-velocity zone (6.5 km/s) at 10–15 km depth, a 19-km-thick upper crust and the Moho at a depth of 32–34 km along the 135-km profile. The travel-time and amplitude of wide-angle data require the presence of a dipping reflector originating at the Moho (32 km depth) and continuing down to 38 km in the mantle. The velocity between 19 and 24 km depth is slightly lower (6.1 km/s) than that in the upper crust. The waveform modelling of the combined normal-incidence and wide-angle data requires a number of alternating high- and low-velocity layers in the lower crust (19–33 km). The velocity contrast in the lower part of the lower crust (29–33 km) is large, of the order of 1 km/s (6.5–7.5 km/s). There are a few alternating high- (8.2 km/s) and low-velocity (7.5 km/s) layers in the upper part of the mantle (33–36 km). The high velocity (6.5 km/s) in the upper crust may be due to a high grade of metamorphism, and it may have been formed during the subduction process. The low-velocity (6.1 km/s) in the upper part of the lower crust might be caused by the presence of meta-sediments. The large velocity variations (6.5–7.5 km/s) in the lower part of the lower crust suggest the presence of mafic materials, and may result from under-plating of mafic materials from the mantle. The fractionation of melt can also produce the layering in the upper part of the mantle that is observed from seismic analyses.

In a survey at Lucknow, India, the seedlings of plant species which are prescribed in the Indian traditional system of medicine for a variety of infectious diseases were found to predominate on fresh or decomposing cattle dung, a harsh medium for plant growth due to high microbial load and other abiotic factors. Plants of most of the common species did not occur on the cattle dung heaps. It was hypothesized that plant species which are able to grow on cattle dung may have antimicrobial compounds in their seeds to protect them from microbial attack. In confirmation, the seeds of 15 of the coprophilous (kopros--dung, philein--to love) plant species, identified as occurring most frequently on fresh/decomposing cattle dung were directly tested against eight bacterial and three fungal strains. Interestingly, seeds of all the examined species exhibited antimicrobial activity. The seeds of the species found more frequently on the cattle dung heaps possessed higher levels of antimicrobial activities.