Different Geographical Regions Of India Research Articles

Phenotype Based Selection in Kodo Millet (Paspalum Scrobiculatum L.) to Identify Elite Accessions

Background: Kodo millet (Paspalum scrobiculatum L) is an annual hardy crop grown in India from Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the south, to Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal in the north. It is known to have high drought tolerance and, for its potential to sustain in marginally less fertile soil. The grain has high nutritional properties thus possess medicinal values. Owing to multiple utility factors and sustainable growth rate amidst climate change, makes it an ideal crop for cultivation. In the present study accessions of Kodo millet ((Paspalum scrobiculatum L) from twelve different geographical regions of India were evaluated for quantitative and qualitative traits to determine its growth conditions under varied climatic conditions. Methods: Total of 96 indigenous germplasm were collected across the country and were sown in a breeding farm to grow selectively healthy crops in a randomized block design manner during kharif 2012 and 2013. Observations of quantitative traits were recorded on five arbitrarily selected plants in each replication for different physiological traits. Results: The statistical data revealed significant differences among all the studied accessions. Mainly IC482729 and IC404789 from Tamil Nadu had high biomass, straw yield, and yield per plant. IC396004 from Chhattisgarh showed advantageous performance in earliness with medium plant height. Therefore, the present findings helped in identifying elite germplasm accessions and could be effectively used in the Kodo millet enhancement program.

Estimation of genetic diversity and population structure in Tinospora cordifolia using SSR markers.

Thirty polymorphic SSRs, derived from RNA sequencing of Tinospora cordifolia (willd.), were utilized for genetic diversity and population structure evaluation among 96 accessions collected from ten different geographical regions of India. A total of 7611 SSRs were identified from 268149 transcripts. Of all SSR loci, 69.07% of them were tri-nucleotide repeat motifs, followed by di-nucleotide repeat motifs (12.82%). A total of 230 alleles were generated by 30 SSRs with an average of 7.67 alleles per locus with comparatively higher polymorphic information content (average 0.68). The expected (He) and observed (Ho) heterozygosity means were 0.71 and 0.12, respectively. All the loci showed significant deviation from Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE). The neighbor joining clustering based on jaccard's coefficient grouped all the 96 accessions into three major cluster which was also in congruence with model-based structure plot. The result of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed higher genetic variance within populations than among populations. The result reflects an existence of high level of genetic diversity in the collected accessions of T. cordifolia. The accessions Tc131, Tc31, Tc129, Tc38, Tc16, Tc59, Tc60, Tc17, Tc106 and Tc130 was found to be potential and diverse in nature and the SSRs TCSSR-18, TCSSR-37, TCTSSR-59, TCTSSR-92, TCTSSR-123 and TCTSSR-126 as potential markers. These accessions and newly developed SSR markers provide valuable resource and could be strategically utilized for further genetic improvement of T. cordifolia.

Circulation of orf viruses containing the NZ7-like vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-E) gene type in India

Orf, a poxviral skin infection of small ruminants is caused by orf virus (ORFV) of the genus Parapoxvirus of the Poxviridae family. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important virulence factor that is responsible for proliferative lesions in parapoxviral infections. VEGF gene shows high intra- and inter-species variability. Two variants of VEGF have been described globally in ORFV, viz. NZ2- and NZ7-like. In the present study, ORFV isolates of different geographic regions of India were analysed on the basis of the VEGF gene. Indian ORFV isolates showed 95.7–100 % nucleotide (nt) and 78.4–99.3 % amino acid (aa) identity with each other, except ORFV-Assam/LK/14 and ORFV-Meghalaya/03 which shared 85.1–88.35 % and 79.1–81.8 % identity, at nt and aa levels, respectively with other Indian ORFV isolates. All Indian ORFVs under the study demonstrated 83.5–99.1 % nt and 80.5–97.9 % aa identity with NZ7-like VEGF as compared to 41.2–44.8 % nt and 30.7–38.4 % aa identity with NZ2-like VEGF on comparison with global ORFV strains. Phylogenetic analysis based on the VEGF gene showed two clusters of ORFV in which the Indian ORFVs clustered with NZ7-like VEGF from global ORFV strains, mostly from China. Despite the considerable variation, VEGF protein from Indian ORFV strains showed conserved VEGF homology domain with eight cysteine residues. Homology modeling of Indian ORFV strains predicted the presence of extended Loop 3 similar to NZ7-like VEGF. Therefore, the present study showed the circulation of ORFV strains with comparatively less variable NZ7-like VEGF in India which implicates its importance in the epidemiology of ORFV infections in the country.

Bluetongue in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis with emphasis on diagnosis and seroprevalence

Bluetongue (BT) is an infectious viral disease which affects a wide range of ruminants and was first reported in India in 1964. In view of the absence of comprehensive information on the BT status in India, this study presents the seroprevalence on BT in farm animals of India based-on a systematic review and meta-analysis. A systematic review was conducted to identify the published articles (2001–2018) reporting the seroprevalence of BT in sheep, goats, cattle, buffalo, camels, and Mithun (Bos frontalis) from India. From 409 research articles, 71 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and meta-analysis for proportions was carried out targeting the eligible studies. From these, 144 strata level data were extracted with a sample size of 14048 sheep, 14696 goats, 5218 cattle, 2653 buffaloes, 2062 camels, and 222 Mithun. Overall, the analyses showed that the BT seroprevalence of 43% (95% CI: 38–49%) in goats, 39% (95% CI: 33–46%) in sheep, 38% (95% CI: 25–45%) in cattle, 34% (95% CI: 20–51%) in buffaloes, 16% (95% CI: 10–22%) in camels, and 66% (95% CI: 17–95%) in Mithun. Furthermore, the meta-regression analysis suggested that serological tests, geographical region, and sample size were the prime moderators. Meta-analytic study indicates the BT seropositivity in 25.35 million sheep (95% CI: 21.5–29.9), 58 million goats (95% CI: 51.3–66.2), 66.8 million cattle (95% CI: 47.7–86), 37.0 million buffaloes (95% CI: 21.7–55.4), 0.06 million camels (95% CI: 0.04–0.09), and 0.19 million Mithun (95% CI: 0.05–0.28). The findings highlight the variation of BT seropositivity in different geographical regions of India.

Medicinal uses of natural dye yielding plants of India

Of late, demand for natural dyes has increased worldwide due to awareness about their beneficial properties. Natural dyes obtained from plants have several applications in several industries, viz., textiles, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and paper industries. These natural dyes exist indifferent shades of colours and possess medicinal properties owing to the constituent various plant pigments and bioactive compounds. The present work highlights the use of dye yielding plants by the indigenous people as folk medicine for curing various illnesses in humans and animals. Altogether 150 dye yielding plants belonging to 62 families have been reportedly being used by people from different geographical regions of India. The paper aims at gathering indigenous knowledge on dye yielding plants and their medicinal uses in order to promote traditional and ethnic systems maintained by the indigenous people.

Genotype analysis of ofloxacin-resistant multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in a multicentered study from India.

Background & objectives:Drug resistance surveillance offers useful information on trends of drug resistance and the efficacy of control measures. Studies and reports of drug-resistant mutations and phenotypic assays thus become important. This study was conducted to investigate the molecular characteristics of ofloxacin (OFX)-resistant, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) isolates from different geographical regions of India and their association with strains of different genotypes. Further, the nitrate reductase assay (NRA) was tested against Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) for the determination of OFX resistance as an alternative and cost-effective method.Methods:A total of 116 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were used to assess the mutations in the gyrA, gyrB genes and resistance levels to OFX. Mutational analysis in gyrA and gyrB genes and genotype analysis of M. tuberculosis isolates was done by gene-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by DNA sequencing and spoligotyping, respectively.Results:Three (6.25%), 12 (44.44%) and 12 (29.27%) MDR-TB isolates from western, northern and southern India, respectively, were found to be OFX-resistant MDR-TB isolates. OFX resistance was observed to be significantly higher in MDR-TB cases for all study regions. Beijing genotypes from northern India were observed to be associated with OFX-resistant MDR-TB cases (P<0.05). Among 35 (30.15%) phenotypically OFX-resistant isolates, 22 (62.86%) had mutations in the gyrA gene and two (5.71%) isolates had mutations in the gyrB gene.Interpretation & conclusions:These results caution against the PCR-based prediction of OFX resistance patterns and highlight the need for searching other genetic loci for the detection of mutations conferring resistance to OFX in M. tuberculosis. Our study also showed the usefulness of NRA as an alternative method to detect OFX resistance.

Biodiesel production from Hiptage benghalensis seed oil

Increasing demand of fossil fuel and its depleting stock across the globe have necessitated a search for potential alternative sources of renewable energy. Recently focus has shifted to production of diesel from bio-oils derived from plant biomass as a potential source. However, it has been an endeavour to shift the exploration to non-edible oils produced by non-crop plants. Hiptage benghalensis is one such unexplored plant which stores ricinoleic acid in its seeds. In this report, analyses of various biochemical and biophysical parameters of H. benghalensis seed oil have been undertaken in order to explore the potential of this oil for biodiesel production. The plant was sourced from three different geographic regions of India. The total lipid and ricinoleic acid contents of seeds obtained from three locations varied from 54 to 69% and 69–87 %, respectively. Properties of various parameters of the H. benghalensis seed oil (HbSO), besides being non-edible prove its potential as a biodiesel feedstock. In order to test this potential, the seed oil was converted into biodiesel through the process of transesterification with an efficiency of ∼93 %. Analysis of various fuel properties like acid value, calorific value, viscosity, density, ash content, flash, pour and cloud point of the biodiesel in accordance with ASTM-D6751 standard and a comparison with the properties of other reported biodiesels showed its reasonable quality. Thus, this non-edible oil from H. benghalensis seeds has a potential to be utilized as an alternate green energy source for biodiesel production.

Application of in situ current normalized Particle Induced Gamma-ray Emission (PIGE) method for determination of total fluorine concentration in sediment samples from different geological provinces and its relevance to fluoride contamination

Fluorine is an important element and its quantification in various environmental samples is necessary for assessing its impact on human health. An in situ current normalized Particle Induced Gamma-ray Emission (PIGE) method was applied for total fluorine concentration determination to study the vertical variation in the sediment samples collected from two different geographic regions of India. One of the selected sites viz., alluvium formations of Punjab is fluoride affected while the other viz., sedimentary formations of Puducherry is not fluoride affected. Samples and standards along with Certified Reference Materials (CRMs) were irradiated using 4 MeV proton beam generated from Folded Tandem Ion Accelerator (FOTIA), Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). For concentration calculation, γ-rays at 197 keV from 19F and 478 keV from 7Li (in situ current normalizer) were used. Results indicated that the fluorine concentrations were in the range of 93–776 mg kg−1 in Punjab and 93–443 mg kg−1 in Puducherry. The obtained results were correlated with the dissolved F− concentrations in groundwater from corresponding regions. The inferences from this study prove that the groundwater chemistry plays a vital role in F− leaching from sediments over the mere presence of fluorine minerals in the lithology.

Differential effect of salinity on thermotolerance of SOD isoforms in seven varieties of Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper

Seven varieties of Vigna mungo, collected from different geographical regions of India, were chosen for a comparative analysis of SOD isoenzyme profiles under salt stress, and to determine if prior exposure of the seedlings to salt stress resulted in any alteration in thermotolerance of the SOD isoforms. Three SOD isoforms Mn-SOD, Fe-SOD and Cu/Zn-SOD were present in both leaves and roots of all the varieties. Fe-SOD and Cu/Zn-SOD were most predominant in leaves whereas the roots predominantly had Fe-SOD. Mn-SOD was least abundant in leaves, while it was the second most abundant SOD isoform in roots. Salt-induced changes in SOD isoform profiles were not uniform either in leaves or roots. Cu/Zn-SOD was found to be more responsive to salinity than the other SOD isoforms in both tissues. Prior exposure of seedlings to salt stress resulted in increase in thermotolerance of Cu/Zn-SOD in leaves of IPU-2-43, Shekhar-2, Azad-2 and UH-1 and roots of IPU-2-43 and Shekhar-2 varieties. The UH-1 variety appeared unique as it possessed an additional Cu/Zn-SOD isoform in roots, which was induced by salt as well as heat. This variety also exhibited a new Fe-SOD band which was heat-induced in roots of seedlings that were not exposed to salt, but disappeared in roots which were salt stressed prior to heat exposure. Hence, the seven varieties exhibited diversity in behavior with respect to SOD activities under salinity and high temperature.

SUN-261 The Indian Chronic Kidney Disease cohort study: Baseline characteristics and correlates of renal function

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has emerged as an important public health problem in India. The burden of disease and its risk factors are expected to rise exponentially. Defining the correct epidemiology of disease is the first step in approach to address disease outcomes. The Indian Chronic Kidney Disease (ICKD) study aims to define the course, progression and risk factors for disease complications in patients with CKD in India. The ICKD study is first of its kind, and the largest ongoing, nationwide, multi-centric prospective observational cohort study of CKD subjects in India, currently enrolling patients across eleven centers representing different geographic regions of India. Inclusion criteria include age between 18-70 years and CKD-EPI eGFR of 30-60 ml/min/1.73m2 or eGFR of >60 ml/min/1.73m2 with proteinuria and stable clinical course for at least 3 months. Organ transplant recipients, those with malignancy for last 2 years, non-Indian ethnicity, pregnancy in case of females, on immunosuppressive therapy, life expectancy <1 year and those with poor functional status are excluded. Demographic details, history related to kidney diseases and their risk factors, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other co-morbidities are recorded periodically. Blood and urine samples are being collected at baseline and annually. We analyzed the baseline data of 2930 subjects enrolled between April 2018- 30 Sep 2018. The mean age of the cohort was 50.0±12.0 years and majority were males (69.9%). About 72% had hypertension, 34% were diabetic and 14.4 % had self-reported CVD. A total of 61%, 27% and 12% subjects had baseline eGFR >30-45, >45-60 and >60 ml/min/1.73m2, respectively. A total of 26% were uneducated, 66% were rural residents, 38% were vegetarian, 33% were smoker, and 44 % reported occupational exposure to sand, dust, chemicals, animals or working barefoot in fields. Approximately 7% had history of AKI, and 24% had used alternative medicines. Over 42% had BMI >25 kg/m2, whereas it was <18 kg/m2 in 6%. Older age, female gender, rural residence, lower income and education level, smoking, self-reported CVD, hypertension, diabetes and history of AKI were associated with lower eGFR (p<0.01). Exercising more than 30 min 5 times per week was associated with better eGFR (p<0.001). The ICKD study provides the first comprehensive description of early to moderate stage CKD in India, and a platform to study clinical, laboratory as well as socioeconomic determinants of prognostic factors. Lower socioeconomic status and educational level, apart from other well-known risk factors of CKD, were also associated with lower level of eGFR, whereas increased physical activity with better eGFR. Prospective follow-up will show if these correlates can determine the risk of progression of CKD and its complications.

Fungal diversity on decorative paints of India

Decorative coating paint films are susceptible to the microbial attack. Microbes adhere to the surface of film and deteriorate the dry film that destructs the aesthetic and film properties of paint films. The present study divulges the paint deteriorating fungal diversity at different geographical regions of India. The swab samples were collected from fungal-ridden paint films at nine different geographical regions of India and 42 fungi were isolated through conventional approaches. Fungal isolates were identified basis standard macro morphological characteristics like colony texture, color, margin, elevation on Sabouraud dextrose agar plate and micro morphological characteristics like hyphal structure, spore and conidiophore arrangement. Total 42 fungal isolates were identified and categorized to 8 different genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, Alternaria, Cladosporium, Tritirachium, Nigrospora, Nodulisporium and Paecilomyces. It was observed that 52% of isolates belong to the genera Aspergillus, 14% belongs to genera Cladosporium and 14% belongs to genera Penicillium. Other isolates from genera Alternaria (7%), Paecilomyces (4%), Tritirachium (3%), Nigrosporium (3%) and Nodulisporium (3%) were the least ones on paint films across different regions of India.

Detection of resistance to demethylation inhibitor fungicides in Erysiphe necator from tropical India by biological and molecular assays

Fungicides of demethylation inhibitor (DMI) group are used worldwide for the management of Erysiphe necator but are associated with medium to high risk of development of resistance in the pathogen. Till date there was no report on the presence of DMI resistance in E. necator isolates from the major grape growing regions in tropical India, though there were instances of DMI fungicides providing less than accepted levels of powdery mildew control. In this study, 54 E. necator isolates were collected during 2015–2017 from vineyards located in different geographical regions of India. The isolates were tested for their sensitivity to the commonly used DMI fungicide, myclobutanil, using leaf disc bioassay. Four isolates were sensitive (MIC 10 µg/ml) to the fungicide myclobutanil. The resistance factor (RF) ranged from 1.5 to 295. In PCR amplification of a specific allele, the product specific for A495T mutation was produced only in the 43 isolates with RF > 4. The CYP51 gene sequence analysis confirmed A495T mutation leading to Y136F change associated with high levels of resistance to DMI fungicides. Cross resistance studies among the DMI fungicides showed that 11 out of 13 myclobutanil resistant isolates were also resistant to difenoconazole and tetraconazole. Three myclobutanil sensitive isolates were also sensitive to difenoconazole and tetraconazole. Detection of resistance in E. necator isolates from the major grape growing region of tropical India stresses on the need for developing resistance management strategies.

Molecular epidemiology of rabies virus circulating in domestic animals in India.

Rabies is a neglected viral zoonotic disease affecting humans, domestic and wild animals and is endemic in most parts of the India. Dog mediated rabies is more predominant than other forms of rabies and molecular epidemiology is poorly understood in both reservoir and susceptible hosts. In the present study, a total of 140 rabies suspected brain samples from different species of animals from different geographical regions of India were used. The samples were parallelly tested by direct fluorescent antibody test, reverse transcriptase PCR and real-time PCR. Thirty positive samples were subjected for partial nucleoprotein gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. On sequence and phylogenetic analysis, it was observed that all Indian rabies viruses belonged to classical rabies virus of genotype 1 of Lyssavirus and formed two distinct groups. The majority of isolates were in group-1 and are closely related to arctic/arctic like lineage, whereas group-II isolated are closely related to cosmopolitan lineage. These results indicated there is simultaneous existence of two distinct lineages of rabies viruses in Indian subcontinent. Further whole genome studies are needed for better understanding of molecular epidemiology of rabies virus circulating in animals for control and prevention of rabies in India.

Population structure and genetic diversity of hatchery stocks as revealed by combined mtDNA fragment sequences in Indian major carp, Catla catla

Catla catla is the second most important Indian major carp due to high growth rate and acceptance to consumers for food value. It is widely cultured in the Indian subcontinent as monoculture or polyculture. In the present study, genetic diversity among hatchery stocks (total 218 samples of catla) collected from different geographical regions of India was examined using mtDNA fragment sequence of Cyt b (306 bp) and D loop (710 bp). High numbers (57) of population specific haplotypes were observed in the present study. The results revealed significant genetic heterogeneity for the sequence data (FST = 0.27546, p < .05). Analysis of molecular variance revealed significant genetic differentiation among different catla populations. The information generated in present study could be useful to develop broad genetic base populations of catla.

Development and Validation of HPTLC Method for Quantification of Solanesol in Various Parts of &lt;i&gt;Nicotiana&lt;/i&gt; &lt;i&gt;tabacum&lt;/i&gt; Collected from Different Geographical Regions of India

Solanesol is the starting material for many high value biochemicals, including Co-enzyme Q10 and vitamin-K analogues. The aim of the current study was to develop and validate a reliable and fast analytical procedure for the determination of solanesol in Nicotianatabacum using high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method. The method was developed on TLC aluminium plates precoated with silica gel 60F-254 using solvent system hexane: ethyl acetate (5:1, v/v), which gives compact spot of solanesol (Rf value 0.41 ± 0.02). Densitometric analysis of solanesol was carried out in the absorbance mode at 210 nm. The linear regression analysis data for the calibration plot showed good linear relationship with r = 0.9978 with respect to peak area, in the concentration rang 100-5000 ng per spot of solanesol. The limit of detection and quantification were 13 and 30 ng per spot, respectively. The proposed method was applied for quantitative estimation of solanesol in different parts of Nicotianatabacum from different geographical regions in India, which showed that maximum amount of solanesol was found to be present in leaf sample collected from Karnataka i.e. 3.52 mg/g. Statistical analysis proved that the method is repeatable, selective and accurate for the estimation of solanesol in Nicotianatabacum.

Detection of G143A mutation in Erysiphe necator and its implications for powdery mildew management in grapes

Quinone outside inhibitor (QoI) fungicides are used worldwide for the management of Erysiphe necator but with associated problem of resistance development in the pathogen. Twenty nine E. necator isolates were collected during 2015–2016 from different geographical regions of India. In leaf disc bioassay using azoxystrobin, the EC50 of four isolates from research farms was <1 μg/ml, while 25 isolates from commercial vineyards had EC50 more than 115 μg/ml. The 256 fold resistance factor indicated G143A mutation. All the resistant isolates produced a 100 bp PCR product with G143A mutant allele specific primer which was not produced by the four sensitive isolates. A primer pair was designed for partial amplification of cytochrome b gene (Cyt b) and used for amplification of the gene from two resistant and two sensitive isolates. Alignment of amino acid sequences showed that the QoI resistant isolates harboured a G143A mutation, which was absent in the sensitive isolates. The two haplotypes of Cyt b gene from a resistant isolate, SAA2, and a sensitive isolate, HP1, have been deposited in GenBank under accession numbers KY418049 and KY418048, respectively. This is the first report of presence of QoI resistant isolates of E. necator from India. Studies point out the need for developing resistance management strategies by interspersing bio-control agents with judicious use of fungicides.

Molecular analysis of genetic diversity and population structure in Everniastrum cirrhatum (Fr.) Hale (Parmeliaceae) in India

Everniastrum cirrhatum is a medicinally important lichen used in Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine. In the present study, DAMD and ISSR methods were used to estimate the genetic variation and population structure of E. cirrhatum collected from different geographical regions of India. Four DAMD and ten ISSR primers detected 42 and 110 polymorphic bands and accounted for 95.65 and 94.24% polymorphisms, respectively. Cumulative band data generated for DAMD and ISSR markers resulted into 94.95% polymorphism across all the accessions of E. cirrhatum. The UPGMA dendrogram showed two major clusters. The clustering pattern in the UPGMA dendrogram revealed that the groupings are largely in congruence with the geographical distribution of the accessions. Clustering patterns in STRUCTURE revealed that geographical diversity is perfectly in congruence with the genetic diversity. The clustering pattern in STRUCTURE was also supported by PCoA. Mantel test for matrix correlation showed a weak but positive correlation between genetic and geographical distance. The hierarchical analysis of molecular variance revealed that maximum percentage of variation was found within a population (57%), followed by among regions (28%) and among populations (15%). The present study provides significant insight into the genetic variability and population structure of E. cirrhatum. Understanding population structure would provide baseline information for developing its sustainable management strategies. It would also be important to conserve populations of E. cirrhatum in different localities of the Himalayan regions to prevent population decline caused by anthropogenic and environmental stochastic effects.

Fatty acid profiling and multivariate analysis in the genus Leucas reveals its nutritional, pharmaceutical and chemotaxonomic significance

Genus Leucas with about 41 species found in India, is an Asian genus with separation from its close relatives in Africa based on phylogenetic evidence. Present study represents the only comprehensive phytochemical investigation on this genus. We have analyzed the seed fatty acid compositions of 26 species and five varieties of Leucas for nutritional, pharmaceutical and chemotaxonomic perspectives. The fatty acids and their composition in seeds of Leucas species, collected from different geographical regions in India, were analyzed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Significant variations have been observed in fatty acid profiles among species and their varieties. We observed major fatty acids as palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and laballenic acid; whereas myristic, palmitoleic, cis-vaccenic, linolenic, eicosanoic, eicosenoic, phlomic and docosanoic acid were detected in minor quantities. Laballenic and phlomic acids are unusual allenic fatty acids found in few Lamiaceae members from order Lamiales. Laballenic acid, a proven molecule of pharmaceutical importance, was observed in all the Leucas species studied. Three species of Leucas; L. helianthimifolia, L. ciliata var. vestita and L. hirta were found to contain ≥40% laballenic acid and can act as potential source for isolation of pharmaceutical compounds. This study also reports the presence of another allenic fatty acid, phlomic acid, in several Leucas species. Principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis showed a distinct separation among the species based on abundance of similar fatty acids. The fatty acid profile appears to be overlapping at higher level and does not support separation of Asian Leucas from its African relatives and the inclusion of Asian taxa in morphologic sections. However, hierarchical clustering of L. helianthimifolia, L. ciliata var. vestita and L. hirta supported treatment under the morphologic section Astrodon. Multivariate analysis on the chemometric data also supported this cluster as the most prominent source of medicinally useful laballenic acid. Based on the FAs profile, a reconsideration of species boundaries in L. ciliata and L. marrubioides species complex is proposed.

Confounding by Single Nucleotide Polymorphism rs117648444 (P70S) Affects the Association of Interferon Lambda Locus Variants with Response to Interferon-α-Ribavirin Therapy in Patients with Chronic Genotype 3 Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Genome-wide association studies discovered interferon lambda (IFNL or IFN-λ) locus on chromosome 19 to be involved in clearance of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients following interferon-α-ribavirin (IFN-RBV) therapy. Subsequent studies established a dinucleotide polymorphism rs368234815, as the prime causal variant behind this association. The ΔG allele of this variant gives rise to a new IFNL gene, IFNL4, coding for IFN-λ4 whose activity paradoxically associates with lesser viral clearance rates. A low-frequency, nonsynonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs117648444 within the 2nd exon of IFNL4 changes the 70th amino acid from proline to serine resulting in lower activity of the functional IFN-λ4 protein, thereby increasing HCV clearance rates. In the present study, we used a cohort of genotype 3 HCV-infected patients, drawn from different geographical regions of India who underwent IFN-RBV therapy, to examine the association of several important IFNL locus SNPs/variants with sustained virological response (SVR). Intriguingly, the causal variant rs368234815 did not show the best strength and significance of association with SVR, while further analysis revealed that a negative confounding effect of rs117648444 was responsible for this phenomenon. Our results indicate that IFNL locus SNPs are subject to either a positive or a negative confounding effect by rs117648444; the nature of confounding depends on the linkage of the IFNL SNPs with the low-activity IFN-λ4-generating minor allele of rs117648444. Thus, our work demonstrates that the linkage disequilibrium structure of the IFNL region may confound the results of association studies. These results have implications for the design and understanding of future case-control studies involving IFNL locus SNPs/variants.

Genetic divergence and its implication in breeding tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) suitable for mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh

Genetic divergence among the 56 genotypes of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) collected from different geographical regions of India, was quantified by Mahalanobis D2 statistic for 14 quantitative and qualitative traits during the year 2014-15. Analysis of variance indicated that genotypes varied significantly among themselves in respect of 14 characters studied. Based on D2 analysis using Tocher's method all 56 genotypes were grouped into 10 clusters with a maximum of 13 genotypes in cluster VIII and minimum 1 in cluster III. Maximum inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster IV and VIII (2601.53) followed by cluster III and V (1981.92). Appreciable diversity within and between the clusters was observed. No parallelism was found between geographical and phenotypic diversity. Considering the cluster mean, the genotypes of cluster IV are suitable, both as open-pollinated varieties and as parents to be used in a hybridization programme. The five traits, viz. yield/plant, plant height, number of fruits/plant, days to first picking and average fruit weight contributed 87.33% to the total divergence and played the greatest role in differentiation of germplasm. These traits can be utilized for improving yield and obtaining good segregants in tomato breeding programs.