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The objective of this research was to study the morphometric measurements, productive and reproductive performances of indigenous cows and heifers in Northern Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K). A total 237 phenotypic characteristics was recorded visually. Five main coat colors (reddish brown, light brown, black, white and grey) were found with black muzzle and eye-lashes. The head length was 37.7±0.2 cm with small horns (11±0.3 cm). The positive correlation between horn length/horn base circumference, ear length/ear width, forehead width/horn length were found statistically significant (p≤0.01). The highest positive correlations were found between age/rump width (0.77), age/parity (0.66), body weight/heart girth (0.62) and parity/rump width (0.60). The average age at puberty (41.02±0.6 months), average age at first service (49.3±0.7 months), age at first calving (58.54±0.7 months), mean gestation period (279.6±0.2 days), mean post-partum heat period (253.2±14.8 days), mean service period (257.69±5.8 days), mean calving interval (17.87±0.4 months), mean service per conception (1.5±0.06) and average milk yield per day (1.20±0.06 litre) were also recorded. In conclusion, the indigenous cattle are short stature, reddish brown in color with poor reproductive and productive performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) is a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) begomovirus that is the most prevalent threats in Pakistan to mungbean crop. Ten genotypes were selected from 127 genotypes which have already been screened for resistance under field conditions. A total of 38 bands were scored, exhibited high level of polymorphism i.e., 68.42%, with amplification range of (1-7bands). Genetic analysis often primers revealed similarities in the range of 66.60-97.70%. Majority of primers were moderately informative with polymorphism information content (PIC) value (0.00-0.566) and average PIC value of all primers was 0.379. Cluster analysis inferred that genotypes showing resistant response against MYMV were present in un-clustered form in dendrogram. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis NM-2011 has higher genetic difference which reduces to the next branches showed that the susceptible (S) and moderately susceptible (MS) genotypes diverged from resistant genotypes. Diverse field response of mungbean was confirmed even on SSR markers and furthermore it is recommended that molecular markers are effective tags for genetic diversity calculation in mungbean germplasm and could be utilized for the future breeding program regarding mungbean crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Fruit size; fruit quality; Gola; Surahi; DNA marker EN Fruit size fruit quality Gola Surahi DNA marker INTRODUCTION Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is widely grown nutraceutically important fruit crop in tropics and subtropics around the world. Less quantity and low-quality guava produce may be caused by lack of commercially successful clonal propagation system leading to the development of a seedling-based guava industry, lack of high-density plantations, poor germplasm resources, little focus on breeding and biotechnology interventions, wide spreading guava wilt disease and fruit fly. RAPD markers produced in strains of Guava cultivars Pyriform and Round by primer set K1. Dendrogram showing relationship of different strains of Guava (Psidium guajava L.) cultivars Pyriform and Round based on similarity index. [Extracted from the article]

The selection of parents and superior genotypes is a primary task for plant breeders. In line x tester mating design, seven lines and three testers were crossed to create twenty-one hybrids. The hybrids and parents were evaluated together in the field for various yield and yield related traits at maturity under water stress conditions. The variance assessment implies prominent contrasts between the lines, and testers, crosses for various traits. The differences for GCA and SCA were observed significant for the traits. The line WM13RA and OH33-1 showed the highest general combining ability for most of the traits. The cross combination WM13RA C x Agati85 provided the highest positive better parents heterosis. Specific combining ability was also high, ML17 x Agati85 and ML3 x Agati85 produced higher grain yield in term of said production of early maturing hybrids. Concerning molecular component, ten SSR primers were used to check the hybrid purity. One primer showed the polymorphism with parents and hybrids, results showed that seventeen hybrids were confirmed based on the presence of the polymorphic bands. Genetic purity was 80.95%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress is one of the major yield limiting factors and causes significant yield losses in different crops. This study was conducted to screen the 50 maize accessions of diverse origin of Pakistan against moisture deficit on the basis of their performance vis., plant height, cob length, kernel rows per ear, kernels per ear, leaf area, days to 50% anthesis, grain yield, 100-seed weight, chlorophyll contents, stomata size, harvest index and drought index. Drought stress was imposed through alternate irrigation (10 recommended irrigations) and normal irrigation (no drought stress) (15 recommended irrigations). The germplasm consisting of 8 parents and 15 crosses was evaluated in field under normal and water deficit conditions in spring season. Out of these 50 accessions five drought and three drought sensitive lines were selected. The selected drought resistant lines were crossed with drought sensitive lines (testers) in line × tester mating design and were evaluated on the basis of yield and yield contributing traits. The inbred lines W64TMS and W82-3 expressed higher general combining ability (GCA) for grain yield, and other yield related traits (cobs per plant, grains per cob, 100-seed weight) under normal and water deficit conditions. The F1 hybrids W64TMS × USSR150 and W82-3 × 150P-1 showed higher specific combining ability (SCA) for grain yield and other related traits under normal and drought stress. Positive correlation was observed between grain yield and cob length, cob diameter, kernel rows per ear, kernels per ear, plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, chlorophyll content, 100-seed weight, stomata size and stomata frequency. It was suggested that the present breeding material may be used for the improvement of grain yield and water deficit tolerance in maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is among the severe abiotic stresses that reduces crop yield. It greatly affects the growth and development at both vegetative and reproductive stages and the yield processes of crops. Maize is the third most important and widely distributed crop, suffering from drought stress, resulting in final kernel yield losses. The conduct of a screening experiment selected drought-sensitive and droughttolerant maize accessions against water stress applied via calculating field capacity. This experiment used two treatments, T0 and T1 (T0 with 100% field capacity and T1 with 50% field capacity), in a completely randomized design (CRD) with a factorial arrangement and two replications at the wirehouse, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Recording data on seedling traits ensued. Drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive accessions' selection resulted from principal component analysis, with a conclusion that the accessions H45C × H6B, H21 × H2B, H17 × H16, H23 × H21, H17 × H16A were drought tolerant, while H20 × H7C, H47A × H6C, and H9 × H21 were drought sensitive. This research will provide information in the future for comparing drought-sensitive and drought-tolerant accessions and help identify drought-tolerant maize accessions benefitting future breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies were carried out to evaluate the physiological and biochemical changes in pea seeds (cv. Meteor) stored at 5±1°C and ambient temperature 25±2°C. RAPD makers were used to identify any genetic dissimilarity in pea seeds stored up to two years under different storage environments. Maximum germination (98.33%) was recorded in seeds from freshly harvest seeds and minimum was 90% in 2 years old seed stored at 5°C±1. The decline in vigor was rapid in one year seed stored under ordinary condition compared to other storage environment. The α- and β-amylase activity was higher in recent harvest seeds compared to stored seeds. The storage period showed significant effects on alpha- and beta- amylase activity and a decreasing trend was observed as the storage period prolonged. Similarly, peroxidase and catalase activity was also higher in fresh seeds in contrast to α- and β-amylase. Genetic analysis (RAPD) showed 2% dissimilarity in genetic profile amongst the seed lots. However, the seeds stored for longer period regardless the storage environment, have more genetic damage. The physiological, biochemical and genetic changes could be helpful in understanding the mechanism of pea seeds deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf rust, caused by Puccinia triticina, is the most common rust disease of wheat. The fungus is an obligate parasite capable of producing infectious urediniospores. To study the genetic structure of the leaf rust population 20 RAPD primers were evaluated on 15 isolates samples collected in Pakistan. A total of 105 RAPD fragments were amplified with an average of 7 fragments per primer. The number of amplified fragments varied from 1 to 12. GL Decamer L-07 and GL Decamer L-01 amplified the highest number of bands (twelve) and primer GL Decamer A-03 amplified the lowest number of bands i.e one. Results showed that almost all investigated isolates were genetically different that confirms high genetic diversity within the leaf rust population. Rust spores can follow the migration pattern in short and long distances to neighbor areas. Results indicated that the greatest variability was revealed by 74.9% of genetic differentiation within leaf rust populations. These results suggested that each population was not completely identical and high gene flow has occurred among the leaf rust population of different areas. The highest differentiation and genetic distance among the Pakistani leaf rust populations were detected between the leaf rust population in NARC isolate (NARC-4) and AARI-11and the highest similarity was observed between NARC isolates (NARC-4) and (NARC-5). The present study showed the leaf rust population in Pakistan is highly dynamic and variable.

Physids belong to Class Gastropoda; belong to Phylum Mollusca and being bioindicators, intermediate hosts of parasites and pests hold a key position in the ecosystem. There are three species of Genus Physa i.e. P. fontinalis, Physa acuta and P. gyrina water bodies of Central Punjab and were characterized on the basis of molecular markers High level of genetic diversity was revealed by polymorphic RAPD, however SSR markers were not amplified. The multivariate analysis revealed polymorphism ranging from 9.09 percent to 50 percent among the three Physid species. Total number of 79 loci were observed for the three species under study and 24 loci were observed to be polymorphic. These RAPD fragment(s) can be developed into co dominant markers (SCAR) by cloning and can be further sequenced for the development of the Physa species specific markers to identify the introduced and native species in Pakistan.

Physids belong to Class Gastropoda; Phylum Mollusca have important position in food web and act as bio indicators, pests and intermediate host. Being resistant these are called cockroaches of malacology. Physid snails were collected from different water bodies of Faisalabad (Punjab) and were identified up to species using morphological markers. The morphometry of the specimens was carried out with the help of a digital Vernier caliper in millimeters (mm) using linear measurement of shell characters. Linear regression analysis of the AL/SW ratio vs AL and SL/SW ratio vs AL indicated that allometric growth exists only in Physa acuta when compared with P.gyrina and P. fontinalis. This study will lead to assess the status of the Physid species in Central Punjab. The Principal component analysis shows that the Component 1 (Shell Length) and component 2 (Shell Width) are the most prolific components and nearly 80 percent of the identification. The distance between P. acuta and P. fontinalis is 5.4699, P. acuta and P. gyrina is 7.6411, P. fontinalis and P. gyrina is 16.6080 showing that P. acuta resembles with P. fontinalis, and both these specimens donot resemble with P. gyrina. P.acuta is an invasive species and shows bioactivity making it a potent candidate for bioactive substances.

Drought, in conjunction with high temperature, is an important environmental constraint to cotton production. Development of cotton varieties with increased tolerance against adverse environmental conditions has been proposed as effective strategy for ensuring reliable yields. In the present study, 30 simple sequence repeat (SSR) primers were used to estimate genetic divergence among 22 cotton genotypes for drought stress tolerance. Genetic diversity is a prerequisite for developing drought resistant cotton genotypes. Eleven SSR primers out of 30 were able to discriminate among the cotton genotypes, implying that 37% of the primers were informative. In total, 41 alleles were detected, with an average of 3.72 alleles per primer. The number of alleles per locus ranged from one (JESPR-284) to six (JESSPR-302), and the allelic diversity in the experimental material was 0.40. Genetic similarity coefficients ranged from 0.87-1.00. The result of principal component analysis confirmed the clustering of 21 cotton genotypes in two groups leaving one genotype (CIM-109) ungrouped. Overall, genetic diversity among the 22 cotton genotypes was low. More polymorphic SSR markers are needed to explore the workable genetic variation among the screened cotton genotypes in future studies.

A study on three leading lines (KN-256, KN-257, and KN-258) of Brassica napus and an approved variety, Punjab-Sarson, was conducted to gain insight into the genetic control of some quality traits using generation mean analysis. Our results showed that additive gene action predominated in the inheritance of oil content and erucic acid in cross KN-256 x KN-257 and in that of glucosinolates in KN-258 x Punjab-Sarson, indicating that these traits may be improved through selection in early segregating generations. Negative dominance can be exploited through heterosis breeding for the development of lines with low glucosinolates in cross KN-256 x KN-257. Protein content and oleic acid in cross KN-256 x KN-257, and oil content, protein content, and erucic acid in cross KN-258 x Punjab-Sarson depicted non-additive gene action and require further improvement in the later segregating generations. Most of the traits displayed high heritability estimates; glucosinolate content in both the crosses and erucic acid in cross KN- 258 x Punjab-Sarson also displayed high genetic advance, reflecting improvement of the trait in the early segregating generations. All the quality traits were positively correlated with oil content and with one another at both (genotypic and phenotypic) levels in KN-256 x KN-257. Negative correlation was observed between glucosinolate and erucic acid, oleic acid and erucic acid, and linolenic acid and oil content in cross KN-258 x Punjab-Sarson. Thus, gene action changed with the material, and cross KN-258 x Punjab-Sarson carried favorable combinations compared to KN-256 x KN-257.

Roses (Rosa indica) belong to one of the most crucial groups of plants in the floriculture industry. Rosa species have special fragrances of interest to the perfume and pharmaceutical industries. The genetic diversity of plants based on morphological characteristics is difficult to measure under natural conditions due to the influence of environmental factors, which is why a reliable fingerprinting method was developed to overcome this problem. The development of molecular markers will enable the identification of Rosa species. In the present study, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was done on four Rosa species, Rosa gruss-an-teplitz (Surkha), Rosa bourboniana, Rosa centifolia, and Rosa damascena. A polymorphic RAPD fragment of 391 bp was detected in R. bourboniana, which was cloned, purified, sequenced, and used to design a pair of species-specific sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) primers (forward and reverse). These SCAR primers were used to amplify the specific regions of the rose genome. These PCR amplifications with specific primers are less sensitive to reaction conditions, and due to their high reproducibility, these species-specific SCAR primers can be used for marker-assisted selection and identification of Rosa species.

DNA fingerprints of four rose species, Rosa centifolia, R. Gruss-an-Teplitz, R. bourboniana, and R. damascena, were developed using RAPD-PCR. We identified a unique polymorphic band in R. centifolia. This 762-bp fragment was produced by the random primer GLI-2. The fragment was eluted and directly cloned in a TA cloning vector, pTZ57R/T. Digestion of the plasmid with EcoRI confirmed the cloning of GLI-2(762) in pTZ57R/T. A second enzyme, PstI, used in combination with EcoRI, gave complete digestion of the plasmid, and the 762-bp fragment was confirmed on the gel. Subsequently, the polymorphic amplicon was sequenced with an AB1 373 DNA sequencer system using the PRISM(TM) Ready Reaction DyeDeoxy(TM) Terminator Cycle Sequencing kit. After sequencing, specific primers (23 bp long) were designed based on the sequence of the flanking regions of the original RAPD fragment. These primers will effectively allow fingerprinting for the identification of R. centifolia species. In essence, we developed an SCAR marker to authenticate the identity of R. centifolia species and to distinguish it from its substitutes. Such techniques are required not only to complement conventional parameters in creating the passport data of commercial and medicinal products of rose, but also for routine quality control in commercial and government rosaries and rose nurseries.

The genetic distance of 11 cotton genotypes varying in heat tolerance was studied using RAPD markers. Fifty-three random decamer primers were used for the estimation of genetic distance. Among the 53 RAPD primers, which were custom synthesized by GeneLink Inc., UK, 32 were polymorphic and 21 were monomorphic. The 32 polymorphic primers produced 273 fragments, with a mean of 8.3 fragments per primer. The number of polymorphic bands produced in the 11 cotton accessions ranged from 1 to 31. Primer GLC-20 produced 31 polymorphic bands, while two primers, GLB-5 and GLC-12, produced one polymorphic band each. A range of 88.89 to 42.48% genetic similarity was observed among the 11 cotton accessions. The highest genetic similarity was observed between FH-945 and BH-160 (88.89%), whereas the lowest value was found between NIAB-801/2 and FH-945 (42.48%). Unique amplification profiles were produced by most of the cultivars; the differences were sufficient to distinguish them from other genotypes. This confirms the efficacy of RAPD markers for the identification of plant genotypes. An accumulative analysis of amplified products generated by RAPDs was sufficient to assess the genetic diversity among the genotypes. This information should be helpful for formulating breeding and genome mapping programs.

Urdbean (Vigna mungo) is an important pulse crop grown worldwide. Urdbean leaf crinkle virus (ULCV) is a pathogen of urdbean found in Pakistan that causes huge losses in yield. Forty urdbean varieties/lines were screened against the virus under field conditions during spring season 2009. None of the lines appeared to be highly resistant or resistant. On the basis of a 0-5 disease rating scale and disease severity index, genotypes varied significantly in their reaction to ULCV. Four lines (M-6206, IAM-382-15, IAM-133, and Mash-1) were moderately resistant, eight were rated as moderately susceptible, and 21 as susceptible; the remaining seven lines were highly susceptible. RAPD analyses revealed an extensive amount of variation, which could be used for cultivar identification. Genetic differentiation among urdbean genotypes was similar to the field screening data. The varieties 6065-3 and 6206 were highly susceptible and moderately resistant, respectively, to ULCV under field conditions, confirmed by the RAPD analysis. These varieties were the most diverse varieties in the similarity matrix (67.2%), while the varieties IAM-382-9 and 07M003 were the most similar (98.4%). This information will help in the recognition of available resistant germplasms that can resist this disease and will be utilized for urdbean improvement in Pakistan.

Sorghum ranks fifth in worldwide economic importance among cereal crops and is one of the most important summer annual grasses of Pakistan. As it is a very diverse crop, sorghum genetic fingerprinting requires an efficient marker system. We estimated genetic divergence among 29 sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) genotypes, including approved varieties and local and exotic lines collected from different ecological regions of Pakistan, using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. A total of 125 RAPD loci, with an average of 66 loci per genotype, were used to calculate genetic divergence among these genotypes, of which 119 were polymorphic, showing 95% overall polymorphism. Genetic similarity ranged from 0.36 to 0.92, indicating a relatively broad genetic base. RAPD analysis revealed maximum similarity between the Indian III and K-A-113 sorghum genotypes (both exotic lines), while the F-601 and F-606 were observed to be the most diverse genotypes. Mean band frequency revealed by these RAPD primers ranged from 0.17 to 0.56, with an average of 0.36. The data presented here support the findings that RAPDs can be effectively used for studying genetic diversity in sorghum.

Genetic diversity analysis of chickpea germplasm can provide practical information for the selection of parental material and thus assist in planning breeding strategies. Chickpea seed is a good source of carbohydrates and proteins, constituting 80% of the total dry seed weight. Released cultivars and advanced lines of 30 chickpea genotypes were subjected to RAPD analysis for assessment of genetic diversity. We used 16 RAPD primers. Amplification of genomic DNA of the 30 genotypes yielded 62 fragments that could be scored. The number of amplification products produced per primer varied from two to four, with a mean of three bands. The total number of bands amplified by 16 anchored primers varied from 16 to 34. The primer GLK-15 produced the largest number (N = 4) of fragments, whereas primers GLK-19 and GLD-19 produced the smallest number (N = 1) of fragments. The single band produced by the GTGTGCCCCA primer in the PB-2000 and 07005 genotypes may be attributed to temperature tolerance phenotypes.

Ten maize accessions (NC-9, A50-2, M-14, B-42, NC-3, T-7, N-48-1, B-34, USSR, and WFTMS) were studied to estimate the genetic distance on molecular level by random amplified polymorphic DNA. These accessions were selected on the basis of their variable responses against different levels of moisture. Twenty-five primers were used to test genetic diversity, of which 14 were observed to be polymorphic. Ninety-three loci were amplified; among these, 77 showed polymorphism and the other 16 were monomorphic. Primers A-13 and C-02 gave the most polymorphic bands, while primers A-01 and C-06 gave the fewest polymorphic bands. The genetic similarities of the 10 maize accessions ranged from 82.8 to 54.8%. Accessions USSR and WFTMS showed greatest similarity, and accessions M-14 and B-42 were found more dissimilar than the other accessions. On the basis of cluster analysis, these 10 accessions were classified in two major groups, A and B, and than further divided into sub-groups. The cluster analysis showed that accessions in the same group as well as in the sub-groups were similar in their physical and morphological characters, since the characters are controlled genetically.

The degree of genetic divergence was estimated in seven wheat genotypes, six exotic genotypes and one local variety, through random amplified polymorphic DNA methodology. A total of 112 DNA fragments were generated by the 15 random primers, with an average of about 7.4 bands per primer. Among the 112, 50 fragments showed polymorphism among the seven wheat genotypes. Nei and Li's similarity matrix ranged from 86.2 to 93.0%, which indicated a narrow genetic base among the genotypes. The maximum similarity, 93.0%, was observed between 12WLRG/1-12 and WL-43. The local variety, Chenab-70, showed the lowest similarity with the exotic types. We conclude that random amplified polymorphic DNA analysis can be used for the characterization and grouping of wheat genotypes; these results will be helpful in our wheat breeding program.

Objective: Accurate assessment of quality of care is a fundamental first step in the process of quality improvement. The vast amount of data generated in a hospital mandates some form of computerization for management of information. We describe a locally developed simple computer based program to access relevant information from a hospital patient management network. The objective was to reduce the amount of manual work involved for busy clinicians attempting to audit quality of care., Methods: A single surgical procedure, Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy was chosen. Quality indicators were identified by literature review as conversion rate from laparoscopic to open cholecystectomy and length of hospital stay (LOS). A simple query was developed to extract the required information from hospital database. Commercially available spreadsheet software (Microsoft Excel) was used to calculate the rates. Outliers were defined as LOS more than 1 standard deviation from the mean. The second part of the study involved a manual review of case notes to validate the program and determine the causes for deviation from the mean., Results: The program was able to access and process data as planned. In a one-year period from March 1997 to February 1998, two hundred and thirty one laparoscopic cholecystectomies were attempted. Twenty-three were converted to open procedures given a conversion rate of 9.96%. On manual review of case notes no false positives or false negatives were found. The reasons for conversion were similar to those described in the literature. The mean length of stay for laparoscopic cholecystectomy was 3.39 days and 7.17 days for converted cases. The commonest reason for delay in discharge was noted to be non-availability of elective operating time., Conclusion: We have successfully developed and used a simple computer based program to access information stored in hospital patient management systems. Quality of care indicators identified from literature were used as standards. Outliers with respect to these were reviewed in detail to identify causes for deviation. The program was validated by manual review.