Chittaranjan Kole

Government of India · Department of Atomic Energy

Nanotechnology is the branch of science dealing with manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, or supramolecular level. Application of nanoparticles is of great scientific interest due to diverse applications of nanotechnology in the field of life sciences, medicine, electronics, and energy. Since the last couple of decades, several research...

The field of plant nanotechnology has recently been up-surged into a new epoch of discovery to dissect the intricate processes and mechanisms for better understanding of plant’s functional biology in response to nanoparticle exposure. This chapter reviews the current scenario of pathways, mechanisms, and patterns of uptake, translocation, accumulat...

Nanotechnology has the potential to reinforce the mission toward evergreen revolution by enhancing agricultural productivity with limited inputs. It is emerging as a paradigm shift and evolving as a promising tool to begin a new era of precise farming techniques and therefore may provide a possible solution for crop improvement, even in challenging...

Nanoparticles have wide potential in plant disease diagnosis and as an ecofriendly mode of disease management. Nanosensor, mini-detection instruments could play a vital role in pathogen detection and management of various plant diseases. This chapter is focused on nanoparticles utilized in disease management and possibility of large-scale adaptabil...

Climate change affects agricultural productivity worldwide. Increased prices of food commodities are the initial indication of drastic edible yield loss, which is expected to increase further due to global warming. This situation has compelled plant scientists to develop climate change-resilient crops, which can withstand broad-spectrum stresses su...

This book provides insights into the latest achievements in genomics research on Brassica rapa. It describes the findings on this Brassica species, the first of the U's triangle that has been sequenced and a close relative to the model plant Arabidopsis, which provide a basis for investigations of major Brassica crop species. Further, the book focu...

This book describes how genomics has revolutionized our understanding of agriculturally important plant-associated fungi and oomycetes. It illustrates some fundamental discoveries about these eukaryotic microbes with regard to the overall structure of their genomes, their lifestyles and the molecular mechanisms that form the basis of their interact...

This book describes how genomics has revolutionized our scientific understanding of agriculturally important plant-associated bacteria. Each chapter focuses on the genomics of particular bacteria: the first described plant pathogen, Erwinia amylovora; phytoplasmas lacking cell walls; fastidious, phloem-restricted liberibacters; Pseudomonas syringae...

Molecular markers have extensively been used for tagging and mapping of genes and QTLs conferring resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. These tools have also been used for screening of germplasms, fingerprinting, and marker -assisted breeding in crop systems. This chapter present s an over-view on the basic concepts of molecular map ping and ma...

Background Recent research on nanoparticles in a number of crops has evidenced for enhanced germination and seedling growth, physiological activities including photosynthetic activity and nitrogen metabolism, mRNA expression and protein level, and also positive changes in gene expression indicating their potential use in crop improvement. We used a...

We report here on the phylogenetic analysis, population substructure, and identification of molecular tags of 25 popular rice varieties and four landraces from different ecological belts of India employing a set of 52 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Genetic analysis using the SSR markers categorized the genotypes into two major clusters, dist...

Albeit extensive cultivation of bitter melon both as vegetable and medicine in many countries of Asia, Africa, and South America, no serious efforts have been made for genetic and breeding studies on this 'orphan' crop. In contrast to popular cucurbits, it lacks a genetic linkage map as required for genomic depiction and precise breeding. We report...

Genetic diversity of a Bambara groundnut germplasm representing accessions from 25 African countries, maintained at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA; Nigeria) was evaluated based on seed patterns, qualitative characters, quantitative traits and Diversity Arrays Technique (DArT) markers. The study aimed at identifying import...

With the objective of identifying mitochondrial DNA based markers that can distinguish cytoplasmic sources and restorer lines, 7 male sterile and fertile counterparts of Cytoplasmic Male Sterile (CMS) lines and 4 restorers (R) lines were characterized, using 20 universal mitochondrial DNA specific markers. Diverse CMS lines, other than the Wild Abo...

A total of six TGMS (thermosensitive genic male sterile lines) and nine pollinator lines were subjected to molecular characterization using 48 genome-wide SSR (simple sequence repeat) markers. Cluster analysis revealed clear differentiation among the TGMS lines according to their source of origin. The SSR-based genetic distance between the hybrids...

RFLP analysis of a cDNA probe SLG6, governing self incompatibility (SI) in Brassica oleracea, using a recombinant inbred population of Brassica campestris followed by genetic linkage analysis led to the detection of two marker loci, SLG6a and SLG6b controlling SI. SLG6a was mapped in linkage group (LG) 9 and was flanked by the RFLP markers ec4f10 (...

Arabidopsis thaliana belongs to the family Brassicaceae and possesses several important traits that have made it an excellent model organism. The wild relative species of Arabidopsis provide excellent tools to study its genetic diversity, origin, and evolution. Current molecular tools are being utilized to study the genes and their introgression in...

The first comprehensive depiction of wild crops as a gold mine for breeding Includes 125 chapters written by nearly 400 well-known authors from some 40 countries 10 volumes cover Cereals, Millets and Grasses, Oilseeds, Legume Crops and Forages, Vegetables, Temperate Fruits, Tropical and Subtropical Fruits, Industrial Crops, Plantation and Ornamenta...

Comprehensive, 10-volume-work on the subject Examines wild crops as a gold mine for breeding Includes work by leading scientists, many of whom contributed to the development of novel concepts, strategies and tools of genetics, genomics and breeding Richly illustrated Wild crop relatives are now playing a significant part in the elucidation and impr...

Comprehensive, 10-volume-work on the subject Examines wild crops as a gold mine for breeding Includes work by leading scientists, many of whom contributed to the development of novel concepts, strategies and tools of genetics, genomics and breeding Richly illustrated Wild crop relatives are now playing a significant part in the elucidation and impr...

Arabidopsis thaliana belongs to the family Brassicaceae and possesses several important traits that have made it an excellent model organism. The wild relative species of Arabidopsis provide excellent tools to study its genetic diversity, origin and evolution. Current molecular tools are being utilized to study the genes and their introgression int...

A set of morphological traits and SSR markers were used to determine the genetic relationship among 12 elite thermosensitive genic male sterile (TGMS) lines developed at three different research institutions of India. Agro-morphological data recorded on 20 morphological traits revealed a wide base of genetic variation and a set of four morphologica...

As biotechnology increasingly affects almost all aspects of human life, it is essential that the science behind this technology is explained in simple terms to the public to eliminate the misconceptions that may inhibit its acceptability. The basic question that is often asked is what is a gene, a promoter and a terminator? Genes are the basic unit...

Sugarcane is a major world crop supplying sugar and energy. This highly efficient crop from the grass family is grown in tropical and subtropical environments globally. The genome of modern cultivated sugarcane is large and complex originating from hybrids between two wild polyploid relatives, Saccharum officinarum and Saccharum spontaneum. This ch...

Development of transgenic crop plants, their utilization for improved agriculture, health, ecology and environment and their socio-political impacts are currently important fields in education, research and industries and also of interest to policy makers, social activists and regulatory and funding agencies. This work prepared with a class-room ap...

Commercial production of apricot is severely affected by sensitivity to climatic conditions, an adaptive feature essential for cycling between vegetative or floral growth and dormancy. Yield losses are due to late winter or early spring frosts and inhibited vegetative or floral growth caused by unfulfilled chilling requirement (CR). Two apricot cul...

Evidence from mitochondrial DNA indicates divergence of two cattle taxa, Bos indicus and Bos taurus, more than 100,000 years ago. These two taxa were likely domesticated independently some 10,000 years before present. Numerous bovine-specific genomic resources are now available or being developed, including full-length cDNA clones, long-oligo micro...

Twenty Mungbean genotypes were evaluated to study the genetic variability, correlation and path analysis were studied. Analysis of genetic parameters exhibited high to moderate values for genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), heritability (broad sense) (H) and genetic advance (GA) for plant height, pod number, cluster number and harvest index....

The genus Nasonia belongs to a large and diverse group of insects the parasitoid wasps. Adult parasitoid wasps are free-living and lay their eggs in or on various life stages of arthropods (e.g., insects, ticks, mites). Parasitoids include more species beneficial to humans than any other insect group. Since parasitoid Hymenoptera are known to attac...

The silkworm, Bombyx mori (n = 28), was domesticated from a mulberry-feeding moth, B. mandarina, in ancient China. Selective breeding, practiced from ancient times, and genetic studies performed since the early twentieth century have yielded hundreds of practical strains with diverse economic characters, and linkage maps marked by > 200 loci repres...

The Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor) is the world’s most important insect pest of wheat. It also belongs to one of the largest families of the Diptera, the gall midges (Cecidomyiidae), which includes a number of other agriculturally important beneficial and pest species. The genetics of the Hessian fly is representative of the family. It has seve...

Aphids are a group of approximately 4,400 species of phloem-feeding insects with mainly temperate distributions. Although best known as agricultural pests, they are also a valuable system for the study of their complex life cycles, host plant specializations, bacterial symbioses, and environmentally induced morphologies (polyphenisms). The pea aphi...

Mosquitoes have a significant global impact on human health, yet only a small number of the approximately 3,500 species are competent vectors for transmitting diseases. This has driven interest in employing genetic tools to increase our understanding of mosquito/pathogen interactions, as this may lead to novel control strategies for mosquito-borne...

Bumblebees are important pollinators in both natural and agricultural settings. Bombus terrestris, the European buff-tailed bumblebee, is of particular economic importance in the pollination of many greenhouse crops. It is also a model organism in basic research in fields such as ecology, evolutionary biology, and physiology. Particularly, it is an...

Honeybees have an exceptionally high recombination frequency in comparison with other organisms. They also have a life history in which behavior, rather than physiology dominates their ability to adapt and survive in various climates. These two traits make honeybees ideal model organisms for studying the genetics of behavior. This chapter summarize...

Green leafhopper, Nephotettix virescens Distant (abbr. GLH), is one of the major pests of rice causing severe yield losses in Asia. Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was done in an F-2 population derived from a cross between a resistant cultivar Ptb8 and a susceptible cultivar TN1 to identify DNA markers linked to GLH resistance. RAP...

Genome mapping has emerged as a potential tool that provides the complete depiction of the genomes of plants and animals and thereby the means for their further manipulation. It involves elucidation of the nuclear genome of higher plants and animals as well as the smaller cytoplasmic genomes as chloroplasts and mitochondria. It involves basically l...

Winter survival is an important characteristic of oilseedBrassica that is seeded in the fall in northern climates,and it may be affected by genetic variation for other cold-regulated traits,such as freezing tolerance and vernalization responsive flowering time. Weanalyzed immortalized populations of oilseed Brassica rapa(recombinant inbred lines) a...

Genes for resistance to white rust (Albugo candida) in oilseed Brassica rapa were mapped using a recombinant inbred (RI) population and a genetic linkage map consisting of 144 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers and 3 phenotypic markers. Young seedlings were evaluated by inoculating cotyledons with A. candida race 2 (AC2) and ra...

Molecular markers have emerged as a potential tool for studies on genome organization and its improvement. As compared to the ONA markers, detection of the seed protein markers involves simple and less expensive procedures. Polymorphism in electrophoretic banding patterns of seed proteins has effectively been employed to elucidate evolution, phylog...

Electrophoretic studies on seed protein profile of mungbean Naik B.S., Kole C. Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Orrisa University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar - 751 003, India Online published on 29 October, 2012. Abstract SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of total seed proteins of 37 mungbean genotypes evide...

Variation in flowering time is important for the adaptation of plant species to different natural and agricultural environments. We previously identified VFR2 as one of two major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) controlling vernalization-responsive flowering time in a segregating population derived from a cross of annual and biennial Brassica rapa. T...

Electrophoretic analysis of seed albumin of six varieties of Cajanus cajan, its two local land races (LLRs) and its putative progenitor C. cajanifolius resulted in detection of 16 distinct polypeptide bands of molecular weights ranging from 10.0 to 54.1 kd. Of these, four albumin bands of 10.0, 14.7, 39.8 and 54.1 kd were unique to C. cajanifolius,...

Variability in 37 local land races of mungbean collected from different parts of Orissa and selections from them was studied for protein content (%), protein yield and seed yield per plant. The protein content (%) ranged from 17.20 to 29.90; protein yield/plant ranged from 0.18 g to 0.95 g and seed yield per plant ranged from 0.81 g to 3.49 g. The...

The influence of the genetic background of Cymbopogon species on the antifungal activity of essential oils derived from the plants was investigated against three yeast-like and nine filamentous fungi. Essential oils from distinct strains of the aromatic grass Cymbopogon showed interspecific and intraspecific differences in antifungal activity.

Recombinant inbred (Rl) populations are useful resources for genetic mapping. An Rl population of Brassica rapa was derived from a cross between the biennial cultivar Per and the annual cultivar R500 and used to construct a linkage map of 144 restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) loci detected by 102 probes including 22 cloned genes from...

The major difference between annual and biennial cultivars of oilseed Brassica napus and B. rapa is conferred by genes controlling vernalization-responsive flowering time. These genes were compared between the species by aligning the map positions of flowering time quantitative trait loci (QTLs) detected in a segregating population of each species....

Five aromatic constituents of essential oils (cineole, citral, geraniol, linalool and menthol) were tested for antimicrobial activity against eighteen bacteria (including Gram-positive cocci and rods, and Gram-negative rods) and twelve fungi (three yeast-like and nine filamentous). In terms of antibacterial activity linalool was the most effective...

White rust, caused by Albugo Candida, is an economically important disease of crucifers. Genetic analysis for resistance to race 2 of A. candida in an F2 population and a set of F3 families both derived from a cross between Brassica rapa cultivars Per (resistant) and R-500 (susceptible) revealed that resistance is controlled by a dominant allele at...

The essential oils of aegle, ageratum, citronella, eucalyptus, geranium, lemongrass, orange, palmarosa, patchouli and peppermint, were tested for antibacterial activity against 22 bacteria, including Gram-positive cocci and rods and Gram-negative rods, and twelve fungi (3 yeast-like and 9 filamentous) by the disc diffusion method. Lemongrass, eucal...

The influence of the genetic background of a plant on the antibacterial activity of essential oil derived from it was investigated. Essential oils from six distinct strains of Cymbopogon were tested against eighteen bacteria. Interspecific and intra-specific differences were evident in the antibacterial activity of the essential oils derived from t...

The genes coding for 5S RNA in barley were cloned, sequenced, and their cluster was assigned to chromosome 2 using wheat-barley chromosome addition lines. High-resolution gel-electrophoresis of DNA and subsequent hybridization revealed new details of the organization of 5S DNA both in wheat and barley. The in situ hybridization of the cloned 5S gen...

Twenty Mungbean genotypes were evaluated to study the genetic variability, correlation and path analysis were studied. Analysis of genetic parameters exhibited high to moderate values for genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV), heritability (broad sense) (H) and genetic advance (GA) for plant height, pod number, cluster number and harvest index....

In spite of significant progress in understanding flowering biology in Arabidopsis and rice, in perennial plants the mechanisms establishing and controlling bud dormancy and its release are poorly understood. We used a combined genetic and genomic approach to gain insights into control of dormancy related traits in fruit trees. Using QTL mapping da...

Climate change poses a major challenge for global food security. Climate will influence both yield and quality of crop plants. Application of genomics will be a key strategy to tackle this challenge. Development of crop varieties that will be productive in harsh and variable environments will therefore be imperative. Genomics-assisted breeding and...

Climate change is expected to have an increasingly damaging impact on the sustainability of crop productivity due to drastic changes in precipitation and temperature, reduced water and nutrient availability and increased incidence of diseases and pests. This daunting scenario requires ‘genetic armoring’ of future crop varieties with ‘climate-resili...