Informatics Publishing Limited

Ajay Parida ¹, Suja George ¹

Affiliations
1 M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Taramani, Chennai 600 113, IN

Abstract

The earth is experiencing a faster change in climate in the 21st century than it had in the past. Abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity, exacerbated by the fast changing climatic conditions pose a major hurdle in sustaining crop productivity. Developing crop plants able to yield better under abiotic stresses offer hope in this situation. Understanding abiotic stress-tolerance mechanisms in a plant system is crucial to improve the stress tolerance. The present review discusses broad molecular mechanisms of plant abiotic stress tolerance and outlines the latest biotechnological advances aiding plant abiotic stress research, with particular reference to the work carried out at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. The advantages of using extremophilesas model organisms (as conceptualized by M. S. Swaminathan) for identification of novel genetic combinations and understanding stress tolerance are discussed here.

Keywords

Abiotic Stress, Crop Productivity, Extremophiles, Omics, Transgenic.

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Deepanwita Purohit ¹, Maganti Sowjanya ¹, Anand Kumar Pal ¹, H. M. Sankararamasubramanian ¹, Ajay Parida ¹

Affiliations
1 M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, III Cross Street, Institutional Area, Taramani, Chennai 600 113, IN

Abstract

Plants with rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) level in the environment may change their nutrient demands to sustain growth. The mechanisms concerning iron dynamics in plants under the interactive effect of salinity and elevated CO₂ are poorly understood. This study examines the effects of long-term as well as short-term growth at elevated CO₂ and salt on iron deficiency-associated molecular responses of Porteresia coarctata through analysing the transcript expression of iron deficiency-responsive genes in the leaf tissue. Plants were grown in hydroponic media at ambient or elevated atmospheric CO₂ (500 μl l^-1), with or without salt, and samples were analysed at three time points, on the 15th, 45th and 90th day. The semiquantitative RT-PCR analysis showed an induced expression of iron deficiency-responsive transcription factor PcIDEF1 and its putative targets OsIRO2-like gene, OsNAAT1-like gene, OsNAS1-like gene, OsYSL2- like gene and PcIRT1 at elevated CO₂ with NaCl. Furthermore, a positive correlation in gene expression was observed between PcIDEF1 and its putative targets in the 15th and 45th day samples. By contrast, in the 90th day sample, correlation in gene expression was less evident. Our findings suggest that the interactive effect of elevated CO₂ and NaCl can induce a set of molecular responses in P. coarctata for enhanced iron uptake and utilization, thereby reflecting an iron deficiency like stress under such conditions.

Keywords

Calcareous Soil, Elevated Carbon Dioxide, Iron-Responsive Genes, Porteresia coarctata, Salinity.

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R. Rajalakshmi ¹, S. Rajalakshmi ¹, Ajay Parida ¹

Affiliations
1 M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, 3rd Cross Street, Institutional Area, Taramani, Chennai 600 113, IN

Abstract

Moringa belongs to the family Moringaceae comprising 13 species of which Moringa oleifera is more widely cultivated. It is an economically important multipurpose tree with immense nutritional value and has significant potential to address malnutrition. In the present study, a total of 97 accessions collected from different districts of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha were genotyped using 20 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to assess the genetic diversity and population structure. A total of 140 alleles were detected with the polymorphic information content value of 0.6832 and gene diversity 0.7292. Population structure analysis through a model- based approach divided the accessions into two subgroups. Molecular variance analysis using principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) summarized a 18.32% variation in the first 3 axes and analysis of molecular variance analysis indicates a 2% variance among the population with the remaining 98% variance attributed to variation within individuals. Cluster analysis based on unweighted neighbour-joining showed a clear separation of samples into two subgroups. Further comparison of the cluster subgroup showed high consistency with the STRUCTURE pattern and PCoA plot. The findings reveal a high diversity in the analysed genotypes from which a few distinct accessions could be utilized for further exploration based on their nutritional content and for conservation of nutritionally superior germplasm.

Keywords

Genetic Diversity, Moringa oleifera, Population Structure, SSR.

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C. Thomson Jacob ¹, Ajay Parida ², N. K. Krishna Kumar ³

Affiliations
1 Centre for Biodiversity Policy and Law, National Biodiversity Authority, Chennai 600 113, IN
2 Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar 751 023, IN
3 Bioversity International, New Delhi 110 012, IN

Abstract

India is rich in agrobiodiversity and considered to be one of the centres of origin of food crops, oilseed crops, horticultural crops, spices and medicinal plants. Biodiversity and agriculture are strongly interrelated, and the country has around 811 cultivated plants and 186 breeds of livestock and poultry. Some of the challenges India is facing in terms of loss of agrobiodiversity include: chemical-intensified agricultural farming and increasing replacement of locally adopted and traditionally grown cultivars by high-yielding modern varieties, soil degradation, fragmentation, excessive tillage, inappropriate crop rotation, water scarcity, post-harvest losses, natural disasters and climate change impacts. The objective of the present study is to increase agrobiodiversity of India by conserving the landraces, wild varieties, folk varieties, cultivars, domesticated stocks and breeds. To undertake this study, a policy analysis of various schemes, missions and programmes of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India was carried out and recommendations were put forth towards promoting ecologically intensified agricultural farming practices by integrating ecological principles.

Keywords

Agrobiodiversity, Conservation, Genetic Resources, Nutritional and Livelihood Security.

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