Dr. Kishore Shankarsinh Rajput

• Ph.D., F.M.A.Sc., FBS.
• Professor (Associate) at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

Genus Calvatia belongs to a gasteroid fungi which are commonly known as a puffball mushrooms including around 47 species worldwide. Approximately 25 species of the genus Calvatia have been reported previously in India from various forest regions; however, only 15 species of these are accepted on their current taxonomic status because several of the...

Barleria is known for its different growth forms such as herbs, shrubs, climbers, and rarely trees that show a wide range of variation in wood structure. We investigated the Indian species of Barleria and observed that all are characterized by the presence of included and intraxylary phloem. Included phloem is the strand of sieve elements embedded...

The physiological and ecological adaptions of higher plants are driven by anatomical changes that contribute to the evolution of the climbing habit. This not only makes them able to survive in a dry environment but also supports them to undergo secondary growth and complete their reproduction. Some plants even form aerial roots as a survival strate...

Secondary growth is the most dynamic developmental aspect during the terrestrialization of plants. The development of secondary xylem tissue composed of thick-walled cells with characteristic changes in its structure and chemistry facilitates the growth and development of woody plants. In the present study, the chemical composition of the secondary...

The gasteroid fungi are a group of fungi in Basidiomycota that include stinkhorns, earth balls, puffballs, pseudo truffles, earth stars, and bird’s nests. In the present study, six species of gasteroid fungi belonging to four genera were collected from different forest regions in Gujarat state. Identification was carried out based on the morphologi...

Climbing plants are the most important part of the forest ecosystem as well as they are also useful for humans in numerous ways. We have conducted the present study to identify and evaluate the relationship between the traditional cultural practices and livelihood uses of climbing plants and their uses through calculating different ethnobotanical i...

Convolvulaceae is known for the occurrence of cambial variants but studies on phloem development are rare. In the present study, the structure and development of primary and secondary phloem in seven species of Merremia Dennst. ex Endl. s.l. (Convolvulaceae) were investigated. All the examined species were characterized by the presence of inter‐ an...

Phloem is one of the vital tissues of the vascular system that plays a crucial role in the conduction of photosynthates. In vascular plants, it develops external to the vascular cambium but in a small fraction of eudicots (formerly known as dicots), it occurs within (interxylary) and inside (intraxylary) the secondary xylem. Ontogenetically, it is...

The genus Scenedesmus Meyen is one of the most common freshwater algae (some are estuarine) belonging to the Family Scenedesmaceae, for which c. 800 species or combinations were enumerated. After molecular analysis, all three subgenera, Scenedesmus, Desmodesmus, and Acutodesmus were raised to generic rank. Desmodesmus species are characterized by c...

Argyreia is one of the dominant genera of the family Convolvulaceae and is mainly distributed in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent and China. In the present study, Argyreia elliptica (Roth) Choisy (Convolvulaceae) is investigated histologically, which showed the development of various kinds of variant...

Carbon allocation is the Achilles' heel of forest models, due to the difficulty to predict responses induced by environmental changes. Structural-functional models involve the plant's strategy to split its resources between organs and functions. An important functional characteristic is xylem architecture, which is connected to water use strategy a...

A perennial herb, the genus Adiantum (Adiantaceae) is an essential source of folk medicines, primarily used against bronchitis, cough, dysentery, dog bite, fever, leprosy, malarial fever, smallpox, and snakebite and as stomachic and diuretic. It is a rich source of triterpenoids, flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, steroids, alicyclic acids, lipids, and...

In the recent excursions, authors collected interesting specimens of Ophioglossum L. from plateaux in Maharashtra and Karnataka. After critical examination, the collected specimens are identified as an African element, Ophioglossum gomezianum Welw. ex A. Braun.The detailed taxonomic account, distribution, photographs and conservation status along w...

The survey for burl disease incidence in Mangifera indica cv. Rajapuri was conducted during 2018 and 2019 from Gujarat state. Burls are warty, abnormal or uncontrolled cell growth looking like large galls which occurs on the main stem and primary branches. Burls not only change plant morphology but also affect the fruit quality, quantity and yield....

Ipomoea laxiflora H. J. Chowdhery & Debta (Convolvulaceae) is reported as an addition to the flora of Dhule, Jalgaon and Nandurbar Districts and as a new distributional record for North Maharashtra. Morphologically, present species similar to I. triloba L., and is separated by absence of hairs on ovary and capsules. So far, the present species is r...

Ipomoea laxiflora, a species usually found in northern India and Deccan peninsula was collected from Ahwa of Dangs district (Western Ghats) and Lafni & Munjka villages of Rajkot district (semiarid region) of Gujarat state for the first time. A detailed description, distribution, conservation status, and photographs are provided to facilitate the id...

State of Gujarat is known for its different climatic conditions starting from moist deciduous to pure desert conditions. That could be one of the reasons that out of 22 species reported from India, nearly 16 species of Ophioglossum are found in the Gujarat state. In last monsoon's field survey, an interesting reddish coloured Ophioglossum was colle...

The fern genus Christensenia has been viewed as an ancient lineage, restricted to tropical forests of China and Indo-Malaysian regions. In India it is restricted to the North-East states, viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya. The present communication deals with the taxonomy, diversity, distribution and conservation status of the species C....

The genus Isoetes Linnaeus (1753: 1100) in India is represented by 28 taxa (Patil & Rajput 2017) but a number of them have been synonymised (Fraser-Jenkins et al. 2016, Troia et al. 2016, Singh et al. 2021). While exploring the Western Ghats for the revision of Isoetes, individuals collected from Panchgani tableland (Satara, Maharashtra) were ident...

The petiole is a vital part of the leaf that acts as a bridge between the lamina and stem or branch for the transport of photosynthate, minerals, nutrients and provide flexible mechanical support to the lamina. Its anatomy remains unique and species-specific. Therefore, twelve species of Bauhinia sensu lato were investigated histologically in the p...

During a recent field visit to Yawal wildlife sanctuary authors collected an interesting and novel plant specimen from Sirwel Dist. Khargone (Madhya Pradesh). The identification and authentication have been done with the standard literature i.e.,different floras, research papers etc. and it isidentified as Ipomoea parasitica (Kunth.) G. Don. It is...

The lianas in the family Sapindaceae are known for their unique secondary growth which differs from climbing species in other plant families in terms of their cambial variants. The present study deals with the stem anatomy of self-supporting and lianescent habit, development of phloem wedges, the ontogeny of cambial variants and structure of the se...

An interesting species of Isoetes was collected from Jambughoda, Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat. After a review of literature and comparison of the morphological characters with type specimens, it was identified as I. sampathkumarnii L. N. Rao. It is endemic species of south India and rediscovered after a lapse of 63 years. The species shows several f...

A new species, Ephedra karumanchiana is described from the scrubland area (arid zone) of North Gujarat, India. Identity of E. karumanchiana was further confirmed by sequences from the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region (ITS2-S2F-ITS4) and chloroplast DNA regions employing three different primers, viz. rbcL, psbA-trnH and trnL-trnF...

The detailed taxonomic account of three allied taxa, Tectaria polymorpha ((Wall. ex Hook.) Copel., T. pseudosiifolia Fraser-Jenk. & Wangdi and T. wightii (C.B.Clarke) Ching (Tectariaceae) are studied which are often reported erroneously or misidentified as either T. herpetocaulos Holttum or T. polymorpha. Therefore, present study was aimed to find...

Gujarat is the westernmost state of India and is known for varied climatic conditions starting from moist deciduous forest to pure desert conditions as in the Greater Rann of Kachchh. A major part of the geographical area of Gujarat is a semi-arid region with dry climatic conditions; but studies on pteridophyte diversity of Gujarat state have alway...

In the present study, development of trilobed stem is investigated in Distimake tuberosus (Convolvulaceae) by histological methods. Increase in stem thickness and formation of trilobed stem was achieved by forming crescent shaped successive cambial segments from the pericyclic parenchyma at three equidistant sites. In contrast, the alternate segmen...

Socio-economically, different species of Flemingia are used worldwide for various purposes like food, folk medicine to cure various ailments, as a source of non-timber products (e.g., resin, dye, host for lac insect, toothbrush, etc.). Therefore, species level identification is important even in the absence of reproductive structures as it will hel...

Hibiscus cannabinus (kenaf) is well known as a source for textile fibers and as an alternate source for cellulosic fibers for paper and pulp industry. Formation of reaction xylem alters the chemical properties of fibers, which may affect its uses. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the occurrence of reaction xylem in kenaf. The p...

While revising the genus Tectaria Cav. (Tectariaceae), in India, 15 species have been recorded from Eastern Himalaya and North East India, of which 11 species are exclusively distributed in this region. On the other hand, T. coadunata, T. fuscipes, T. multicaudata and T. polymorpha are also distributed in different parts of India. In the present pa...

Abstract: The cosmopolitan fern genus Ophioglossum (Ophioglossaceae) is distributed from low to high altitude plateaus, coastal plains and forest floors of India. This genus has received special attention from pteridologists worldwide since the discovery that Ophioglossum reticulatum possesses the largest number of chromosomes. There are, however,...

A new species of Ophioglossum (= Ophioglossum jaykrishnae) is collected from Jambughoda Wild life Sanctuary, Gujarat, India. The newly collected species is depicting the dark brown-pink colour, rhizomorphs tuberous, trophophylls lanceolate, erect, coriaceous, having pseudo-costa, forming 30–60 degree angle with fertile stalk, parallel venation and...

Background Emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has given rise to COVID-19 pandemic, that is wreaking havoc worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find out novel drugs to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this backdrop, the present study was aimed to assess potent bioactive compounds from diff...

Members of the Convolvulaceae are characterized by the climbing habit and occurrence of variant secondary growth. From a histological perspective, the genus Ipomoea L. is the most extensively studied, while other genera have been less studied. Here, stem anatomy of the least studied genus in the family, Hewittia Wight & Arn., represented by Hewitti...

Diagnostic surveys were conducted during 2015 and 2016 for screening the susceptible mango germplasm. About five hundred mango germplasm were screened against burl throughout the country. It is a typically swelling of the trunk and branches. Significant variation was observed in shape, colour, site of burl formation, surface, side of burl formation...

A new species of a unique fungus; Sphaerobolus jaysukhianus is described based on the morphological and molecular data analyses along with phylogenetic evidence. The genus Sphaerobolus has fascinated several mycologists due to its unique spore-dispersal mechanism that gave it the name ‘artillery fungus’. Phylogenetic analyses were carried out throu...

The genus Tectaria Cav., family Tectariaceae, was studied from the Western Ghats, a world biodiversity hotspot. During field work, the authors collected an interesting species of Tectaria. After reviewing the literature, comparing it with the type specimen, and consulting various online herbaria, it was identified as Tectaria paradoxa (Fee) Sledge....

The Genus Geastrum Pers.(Geastraceae), is a cosmopolitan gastroid mushroom possessing enclosed hymenophore .Its species are commonly known as earthstars because of the splitting exoperidium giving the fungus a star like morphology.In the Western part of India, it is represented by three species, viz. Geastrum saccatum Fr.,G. rufescens Pers. and G....

Emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection has given rise to COVID-19 pandemic, that is wreaking havoc worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find out novel drugs to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this backdrop, the present study was aimed to assess potent bioactive compounds from different fungi...

During revisionary work on the genus Tectaria from India, the authors came across an uncommon species collected at Panhala fort, Kolhapur District of Maharashtra state, India. After critical observation and detailed study of its morphology, it was identified as T. multicaudata which is a new distributional extension for peninsular India. Its distri...

The present field study was undertaken at ICAR-Directorate of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research, Anand, Gujarat during 2016-17 to know the susceptible germplasm of mango (Mangifera indica L.) to burl disease under western part of India. Burl is an outgrowth on main trunk and lower branches of mango tree, having different sizes and shapes. This...

Ophioglossum L., is very intricate and a challenging genus showing great morphological variations within species. Therefore, many species have biotypes; and as a result several of them have been misidentified or misreported from India.

Mango burl is an important disease affecting many mango plantations in India and causes great loss in yield and decrease of vigour. We carried out a diagnostic survey for burl disease (sometimes also referred to as crown gall) in different varieties of mango (Mangifera indica L., Anacardiaceae) throughout India during 2015 and 2016. More than 500 m...

The halberd fern genus Tectaria Cav., is terrestrial, medium to large size herb, growing along the cut edges of hills and hillocks or edges of river. It is characterized by the presence of erect, creeping or suberect rhizome with dimorphic, subdimorphic or monomorphic fronds and anastomosing to free veins. Generally, it occurs in different habitats...

Cell wall architecture of tension wood fibres represents a suitable biological system to study the mechanism of growth and maintenance of posture of trees growing under various physical and physiological growth constraints. In the present study, we investigated the spatial distributions of β-(1-4)-D-galactan, xyloglucan and xylans (both less and hi...

Histologically, family Convolvulaceae is characterised by the presence of successive cambia, medullary (internal/intraxylary) and interxylary phloem in majority of the species, whereas some of the members are devoid of successive cambia and medullary bundles. The present study on Argyreia nervosa (Burm. f.) Bojer showed the presence of medullary bu...

The fern genus Tectaria Cav., (Tectariaceae) is one of the largest, morphologically diverse and more complex genera having difficulties in identifying the species and their groups. Since its description, a number of new genera had been separated from it or merged within it created considerable ambiguity. Thus, the main aim of the present review is...

Amaranthaceae s.l. and its allied families like Amaranthaceae s.s., Chenopodiaceae s.s. and Phytolaccaceae s.s. are always debated in the literature about their pattern of secondary growth; when their stem diameter increases by forming successive cambia. In the present study, development of successive cambia and differentiation of its derivatives w...

Present study deals with the diversity, distribution and conservation status of the genus Athyrium Roth in different climatic regimes of Gujarat state. There are five species of Athyrium viz., Athyrium hohenackerianum T. Moore, Athyrium falcatum Bedd., A. micropterum Fraser-Jenk., A. parasnathense (C.B.Clarke) Ching ex Mehra & Bir and A. schimperi...

Young stems of Aerva javanica (Burm.f.) Juss. ex Schult., A. lanata (L.) Juss. ex Schult, A. monsonia Mart., A. sanguinolenta (L.) Blume, Alternanthera bettzickiana (Regel) G. Nicholson, A. philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb., Gomphrena celosioides Mart., G. globosa L. and Telanthera ficoidea (L.) Moq., showed the renewal of small sectors of cambium by r...

La madera varía entre las especies, desde la médula hasta la corteza, desde las raíces hasta la corona dentro de la misma planta, para garantizar la seguridad y la eficiencia hidráulica. La heterogeneidad de la madera de Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd. es aquí investigada, siendo una especie que prospera bien en todos los bosques brasileños importantes....

Itajahya galericulata (Phallales, Phallaceae) was previously reported from several countries in South America and Africa. Recently we found I. galericulata in the city of Vadodara, Gujarat State, India. To verify its identity we studied its morphology and performed molecular phylogenetic analyses using nuclear rDNA LSU and mitochondrial ATP6 loci....

Aleuritopteris formosana (Hayata) Tagawa, a species of Family Pteridaceae, was collected from Castle Rock and Ulvi (Utter Kannada District) of Karnataka state and is reported as a new distributional record for Karnataka. The oblong-lanceolate lamina and presence of dense scales on rachis are characters differentiating the species from A. anceps (Bl...

Bignoniaceae is known for the presence of different growth forms like trees, shrubs, lianas and herbs that show a wide range of variations in their wood structure. Trees, shrubs and lianas are characterised by the presence of normal secondary growth except the lianoid forms of the tribe Bignonieae that have a unique type of the cambial variant (tha...

Background – Population growth of lianas in the tropical forest is credited to their ability of CO 2 sequestration and efficiency of the narrow stems to supply water required for the amount of foliage it bears. Turbina corymbosa (L.) Raf. (Convolvulaceae Juss.) is one of the fast-growing invasive species of scrambling woody lianas. It covers trees...

During a field visit in August 2016, an interesting member of family Pteridaceae was collected from the Mahardar Hills (The Dangs district, South Gujarat), in the northernmost part of the Western Ghats of India. After critical study, it is identified as Anogramma reichsteinii Fraser-Jenk. A. reichsteinii was previously known only from the west and...

During our extensive fieldwork in different forest regions of Gujarat resulted in the collection of two unique species of ferns, identified as Thelypteris prolifera (Retz.) C.F. Reed and Adiantum capillus-veneris L., not recorded so far from the state of Gujarat. For further confirmation, molecular identification was carried out for both the specie...

Cyathus stercoreus (Schwein.) De Toni (Nidulariaceae) was collected from Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary from the Narmada districts of Gujarat state, India. Present study reports C. stercoreus as a new distribution record from the Gujarat state. It was identified by using morphological features and further confirmation was carried out by using mo...

The genus Thelypteris Schmide is studied from the Gujarat state, and only Thelypteris prolifera (Retz.) C.F. Reed is known to occur in southern part of the state, while Thelypteris dentata (Forssk.) E.P. St. John is reported for the first time from the state. Extensive survey since 2014 revealed that this species is distributed only in the south an...

This paper presents frst cytogenetical analysis of a monotypic genus, Zanonia indica (Cucurbitaceae). The diploid chromosome number was 2n=2x=30. Male meiosis was normal and revealed 15 bivalents at diakinesis. Karyotype was symmetrical (Stebbins’s 4a category). All chromosomes possessed median centromere. Chromosome length ranged from 1.10± 0.14 µ...

The genus Ophioglossum L., is revised for the Gujarat state and reported eight species viz., Ophioglossum costatum R. Br., O. gramineum Willd., O. gujaratense SM Patil, RN Kachhiyapatel, R Patel and KS Rajput, O. lusitanicum L., O. reticulatum L., O. parvifolium Grev. & Hook., O. nudicaule L. f. and O. thermale Kom., from the different part of the...

A new species, Ophioglossum gujaratense, is described from Gujarat state (India). It resembles O. polyphyllum in the presence of sheathing rhizomorph and 1–4 (rarely 5) trophophylls. On the other hand, rhizomorph morphology, common stalk, trophophyll arrangement, leaf lamina and leaf base make it distinct from O. polyphyllum. Stoloniferous roots, t...

During the recent field visits to Saurashtra regions of Western India, one of the interesting fungi i.e. Trichaleurina javanica (Rehm) M. Carbone, Agnello & P. Alvarado (Chorioactidaceae, order Pezizales) was collected from Sarkhadiya Hanuman and Sasan (Gir Forest, India). Further confirmation of the identity was carried out by using molecular meth...

Extensive fieldwork in different climatic regimes of Gujarat state during last four years resulted in the collection of more than 349 fungal species. Out of these, 37 species from 20 genera were found to be from the family Polyporaceae. Among these, five species are being reported for the first time here as new distribution records. The highest num...

The presence of intraxylary phloem is characteristic of certain plant groups including the family Apocynaceae. In the present study, Beaumontia jerdoniana Wight, a member of Apocynaceae is investigated to elucidate the development of intraxylary phloem. Intraxylary phloem was found on the pith margin but also within the pith region, 350–841 μm inwa...

Clathrus delicatusBerk. & Broome, popularly known as cage fungus (Phallaceae) was collected from the Dangs, Ahwa and Vansada forest for the first time in August 2014. Subsequently it was also collected from Wilson hill, Dharampur forest and Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (Sagai forest) in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively during the field visit....

En Strychnos bredemeyeri, pequeñas porciones de cambium dejan temporalmente de producir xilema secundario y produce más floema centrífugamente. Un nuevo segmento del cambium se diferencia en la parte exterior de este floema formado, entonces estos se unen al cilindro regular para formar un anillo. Esta repetida actividad da como resultado la inclus...

Stem flattening in Rhynchosia pyramidalis (Fabaceae) is achieved by the development of crescent-shaped successive cambia on two opposite sides of the stem (referred hereafter as distal side). Other lateral sides of the stem (adjacent to supporting host and its opposite side, referred as proximal sides) usually possess single cambium. In the young s...

The information regarding the Indian quillwort is reviewed herewith to highlight the taxonomy history, distribution, phytogeography, morphology and palynology, phenology, chromosome count, numerical taxonomy and present taxonomic scenario of Indian species. Authors also reviewed the opinions of different researchers on doubtful Indian Isoetes L.

Anogramma reichsteinii is a small fern, previously known from the west and central Indo-Himalayan region (Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand in India and from Nepal). The present study documents its occurrence in Gujarat state, a considerable extension of its known range, into the western peninsula of India. A detailed description, photographs in its...

Structural transformation of the xylem is a fundamental feature for the successful adaptation of climbing habit in plants. Therefore, their stems at juvenile stage are inflexible before they start climbing but their pattern of secondary growth and type of xylem cell production typically changes as they start climbing. Consequently, stem become flex...

The distribution pattern of β-(1-4)-d-galactan and xylans in the fibres of tension wood and normal wood of Leucaena leucocephala was investigated using immunofluorescence microscopy. Light microscopic observation of tension wood fibres revealed that they are characterized by the presence of typical non-lignified, tertiary wall layer. LM-5 labelling...

Different species of Xylaria are often reported as an endophyte in different groups of plants starting from liverworts to angiosperms. In the present study, Xylaria hypoxylon isolated from branch stubs of living trees was utilised for in vitro decay test to investigate the pattern of cell wall alterations in sound wood blocks of Azadirachta indica,...

Structural transformation of mechanical tissues during the shift from a freestanding to a climbing habit is a characteristic of lianas, which are increasingly abundant in tropical forests. The modification of mechanical tissue and the evolution of a new growth pattern serve to increase stem flexibility and conductive efficiency. In Ipomoea turbinat...

The wood anatomy of the root, stem (base, middle, top) and branch of Anadenanthera peregrina, Copaifera langsdorffii, Handroanthus ochraceus, Ocotea corymbosa and Xylopia aromatica growing naturally in the Brazilian Cerrado is investigated. The important findings are correlated with hydraulic architecture and mechanical requirements. The presence o...

The present communication reports Lepisorus nudus (Hook.) Ching and Microsorum membranaceum (D. Don) Ching as a new distributional records for Gujarat state. These ferns are restricted to the central and southern parts of Gujarat in northern Western Ghats. Detailed descriptions and photographs are provided here for each species.

El desarrollo de haces corticales, en ramas y pedúnculos de Couroupita guianensis (Lecythidaceae), comienza cerca del meristemo apical concomitante con los haces vasculares normales. Cada haz cortical llega a estar rodeado por una vaina de fibras que, a menudo, mostraba la presencia de una capa gelatinosa (fibras G). A medida que avanza el crecimie...

Strands of phloem that are present at the periphery of pith are known as intraxylary phloem. Its presence remains restricted to a small portion of eudicots and considered as a characteristic feature for certain families. In the present study, Ipomoea turbinata Lag. showed development of intraxylary protophloem on adaxial tips of protoxylem from the...

Structural alterations in the wood cell walls of neem inoculated with by Trametes hirsuta and T. versicolor were studied by microscopic methods. In vitro decayed wood showed extensive weight loss of test blocks (26.7 and 41.38% by T. versicolor and T. hirsuta, respectively) at the end of 3 months. Selective delignification in the initial phase foll...

An intensive field survey was carried out from the hilly regions, plains of different climatic regimes and agricultural land of Gujarat state. About 23 species were collected from Gujarat state, from which eight species viz ., Actiniopteris radiata (Sw.) Link, Adiantum caudatum L., A. incisum Forssk., Lygodium flexuosum (L.) Sw., Pteris vittata L.,...

An intensive field survey was carried out from the hilly regions, plains of different climatic regimes and agricultural land of Gujarat state. About 23 species were collected from Gujarat state, from which eight species viz., Actiniopteris radiata (Sw.) Link, Adiantum caudatum L., A. incisum Forssk., Lygodium flexuosum (L.) Sw., Pteris vittata L.,...

Development of cambial variant has been largely studied in stems of climbing species and other members while similar studies on roots are mostly neglected. Therefore, development of interxylary phloem is studied in the roots of Leptadenia reticulata (Retz.) Wight & Arn. and L. pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Decne. In both species, root diameter increases b...