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Rice blast is one of the most devastating biotic stresses that limits rice productivity. The North Eastern Hill (NEH) region of India is considered to be one of the primary centres of diversity for both rice and pathotypes of Magnaporthe grisea. Therefore, the present study was carried out to elucidate the genetic basis of leaf and neck blast resistance under Meghalaya conditions. A set of 80 diverse genotypes (natural population) and 2 F2 populations involving resistant parent, a wildtype landrace, LR 5 (Lal Jangali) and susceptible genotypes Sambha Mahsuri SUB 1 (SMS) and LR 26 (Chakhao Poireiton) were used for association analysis of reported major gene-linked markers with leaf and neck blast resistance to identify major effective genes under local conditions. Genotyping using twenty-five gene-specific markers across diverse genotypes and F2 progenies revealed genes Pi5 and Pi54 to be associated with leaf blast resistance in all three populations. Genes Pib and qPbm showed an association with neck blast resistance in both natural and LR 5 × SMS populations. Additionally, a set of 184 genome-wide polymorphic markers (SSRs and SNPs), when applied to F2-resistant and F2-susceptible DNA bulks derived from LR 5 × LR 26, suggested that Pi20(t) on chromosome 12 is one of the major genes imparting disease resistance. Markers snpOS318, RM1337 and RM7102 and RM247 and snpOS316 were associated with leaf blast and neck blast resistance, respectively. The genotypes, markers and genes will help in marker-assisted selection and development of varieties with durable resistance.

Background: Pregnancy-Induced hypertension (PIH) is a common health problem that occurs during pregnancy and may lead to limited fetal growth and other major health problems. Being a serious public health issue, PIH is responsible for a significant number of deaths across the globe. Hyrtl’s anastomosis of the umbilical arteries and placenta is a blood vessel system that can affect the growth and development of the fetus. The studies conducted earlier have suggested that the abnormalities in Hyrtl’s anastomosis may be associated with the development of PIH and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. Aim: The aim of the current systematic literature review is to investigate the potential advantages and restrictions of Hyrtl’s anastomosis as a medical diagnosis and treatment tool for PIH by reviewing the available evidence. Materials and Methods: The current study is a systematic literature review that involves the selection of 10 articles published in or after 2019 from reputed journals that evaluated the effectiveness of Hyrtl’s anastomosis in PIH. The inclusion criteria for this review are as follows: studies that involved human subjects, were published in English, were randomized controlled trials, case-control studies, observational studies, or systematic reviews, and evaluated the effectiveness of Hyrtl’s anastomosis. The exclusion criteria are as follows: studies published in other languages did not involve human subjects and did not measure the effectiveness of Hyrtl’s anastomosis in PIH. The search strategy includes a comprehensive search of the relevant databases using keywords related to Hyrtl’s anastomosis, umbilical artery, placenta, and PIH. Both data collection and analysis were conducted when the authenticity and validity of the articles used in this study were maintained. Data extraction was carried out by identifying the key findings of the articles selected for review in this particular study. The quality of the studies included in this review was assessed based on the JADAD scale. Findings and Conclusion: The aim of the systematic literature review is to evaluate the effectiveness of Hyrtl’s anastomosis in the detection and management of PIH. The current study design involved the selection of 10 articles published in or after 2019, with inclusion and exclusion criteria defined for the selection process. The search strategy included a comprehensive search of relevant databases. Both data collection and analysis were conducted when the authenticity and validity of the chosen articles were maintained. The quality of the studies included in the review was assessed based on the JADAD scale.

IntroductionThe yield of chickpea is severely hampered by infection wilt caused by several races of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (Foc).MethodsTo understand the underlying molecular mechanisms of resistance against Foc4 Fusarium wilt, RNA sequencing-based shoot transcriptome data of two contrasting chickpea genotypes, namely KWR 108 (resistant) and GL 13001 (susceptible), were generated and analyzed.Results and DiscussionThe shoot transcriptome data showed 1,103 and 1,221 significant DEGs in chickpea genotypes KWR 108 and GL 13001, respectively. Among these, 495 and 608 genes were significantly down and up-regulated in genotypes KWR 108, and 427 and 794 genes were significantly down and up-regulated in genotype GL 13001. The gene ontology (GO) analysis of significant DEGs was performed and the GO of the top 50 DEGs in two contrasting chickpea genotypes showed the highest cellular components as membrane and nucleus, and molecular functions including nucleotide binding, metal ion binding, transferase, kinase, and oxidoreductase activity involved in biological processes such as phosphorylation, oxidation–reduction, cell redox homeostasis process, and DNA repair. Compared to the susceptible genotype which showed significant up-regulation of genes involved in processes like DNA repair, the significantly up-regulated DEGs of the resistant genotypes were involved in processes like energy metabolism and environmental adaptation, particularly host-pathogen interaction. This indicates an efficient utilization of environmental adaptation pathways, energy homeostasis, and stable DNA molecules as the strategy to cope with Fusarium wilt infection in chickpea. The findings of the study will be useful in targeting the genes in designing gene-based markers for association mapping with the traits of interest in chickpea under Fusarium wilt which could be efficiently utilized in marker-assisted breeding of chickpea, particularly against Foc4 Fusarium wilt.

Agricultural productivity is constantly being forced to maintain yield stability to feed the enormously growing world population. However, shrinking arable and nutrient-deprived soil and abiotic and biotic stressor (s) in different magnitudes put additional challenges to achieving global food security. Though well-defined, the concept of macro, micronutrients, and beneficial elements is from a plant nutritional perspective. Among various micronutrients, selenium (Se) is essential in small amounts for the life cycle of organisms, including crops. Selenium has the potential to improve soil health, leading to the improvement of productivity and crop quality. However, Se possesses an immense encouraging phenomenon when supplied within the threshold limit, also having wide variations. The supplementation of Se has exhibited promising outcomes in lessening biotic and abiotic stress in various crops. Besides, bulk form, nano-Se, and biogenic-Se also revealed some merits and limitations. Literature suggests that the possibilities of biogenic-Se in stress alleviation and fortifying foods are encouraging. In this article, apart from adopting a combination of a conventional extensive review of the literature and bibliometric analysis, the authors have assessed the journey of Se in the “soil to spoon” perspective in a diverse agroecosystem to highlight the research gap area. There is no doubt that the time has come to seriously consider the tag of beneficial elements associated with Se, especially in the drastic global climate change era.

The present study aimed to determine the effect of varying tillage and residue management in a sandy loam soil under maize (Zea mays L.)-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) sequence. The research was carried out at ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Research Centre, Chandigarh, research farm, located at Panchkula, Haryana, in maize (kharif)-wheat (rabi) cropping sequence during 2009–2017. Six treatments implemented were Conventional tillage (CT); Deep tillage once in three years (DT); Conventional tillage with integrated nutrient management (CT-INM); Conventional tillage with brown manuring in maize + cowpea (1:2) and wheat + pea (4:1) ratio (CT-BM); Conservation tillage (CST) ; Conservation tillage with brown manuring (CST-BM). The compaction level attained under conservation tillage based systems were lower than the corresponding levels in the conventional tillage control. The highest percentage of macro aggregates was found in CST-BM treatment (48%), followed by CST (45%) and CT, DT and CT-INM recorded much lesser macro aggregate (29.3, 28 and 31%). Conventional tillage (CT) reduced macroaggregates with a concomitant increase in microaggregates (

A field experiment was carried out during 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17 in silty clay loam soil of Bihar, to study the effect of drip irrigation and black polyethylene mulch compared with furrow irrigation on growth, yield and water productivity of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and brinjal (Solanum melongena L.). Drip irrigation influenced the growth and yield characters of both vegetable crop as compared to furrow method of irrigation. Further, drip irrigation significantly increased the fruit yield of tomato and brinjal by 26.9 and 40 percent, respectively. Mulching also had a positive effect on yield attributing characters, viz. days taken to flowering, average single fruit weight and number of fruits/plant of both tomato and brinjal. Use of black polyethylene mulch gave 38.6 and 44.6% higher yield of tomato and brinjal compared with unmulched treatments (35 and 26 t/ha, respectively).Tomato variety Swarna Sampada and brinjal variety Swarna Shobha performed better over other varieties irrespective of drip and mulch. Drip irrigation in combination with black polyethylene mulch significantly increased the plant height, dry matter production, number of fruits/plant, fruit weight and finally raised the tomato yield and brinjal yield to 54.4 and 44.45 t/ha with 34% water saving. The average water productivity (17.0 and 13.9 kg/m3) of tomato and brinjal was also maximum in drip irrigated mulched crops.