Phytoliths are silica bodies found within or outside the cells of various tissues of plants. The present study is about the morphology of phytoliths found in twelve marine angiosperms. The phytoliths are extracted from the plant using wet-digestion method. Most of the plant having rod-shaped phytoliths. Along with rods, tracheidal type, characteristic of Excoecaria agallocha, Bruguiera cylindrica and Aleuropus lagopoides; fusiform type, characteristic of Lumnitzera racemosa; bilobate and circular forms in Aleuropus lagopoides were also observed. From this observations it is concluded that the phytoliths produced by marine plants possess low taxonomic value, but they play a major role in past-environmental reconstruction.

The microsurgical anatomy of the posterior circulation is very complex and variable .Surgical approaches to this area are considered risky due to the presence of the various important blood vessels and neural structures .Researches done so far proved that beginning ,course and result of the cerebral-vascular diseases depend immensely of the possibility to establish collateral blood circulation and first of all on so called tertian level that is actually the circle of wills .The circle of wills, thanks to communicating ,provide detour way to procure parts of the brain which ,due to insufficiency ,do not get enough quantity of blood. To document the microsurgical anatomy of the posterior circulation along with variations 30 cadaveric brain specimens studied. By analysis of series of anatomical dissections of the circle of wills we reached following results: complete posterior configuration of the circle of wills has been found in 26 (86.67%) brains. Out of variations hypoplastic p1 segment found in 2 (6.67%) brains, trifurcation of the basilar artery was found in one case (3.33%) and fenestration of the p1 segment was found in one specimen (3.33%) which is considered as one of the rare and unusual anatomical pattern. The existence of such “anomalies “can be explained by the embryological development of the region

Two field experiments were conducted during Kharif, 2010 and 2011 to evaluate the bio-efficacy and economics of certain new insecticides against gram pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) on pigeonpea. Experimental results showed that the number of Helicoverpa larvae per plant were lowest in plots treated with chlorantraniliprole 20 SC (0.43), flubendiamide 480 SC (0.59) and spinosad 45 SC (0.85) as against untreated control plot (4.17) with 89.7, 85.9 and 79.6 per cent larval reduction over control, respectively. Pod damage due to pod borer, Helicoverpa was lowest in plots treated with flubendiamide (1.16%), chlorantraniliprole (1.26%) and spinosad (1.92%) with 88.7, 87.7 and 81.2 per cent reduction over control respectively. The untreated plot has recorded maximum pod damage of 10.22%. Highest grain yield was recorded in chlorantraniliprole treated plots (686.1 kg/ha) with 127.5 per cent increase over control, followed by flubendiamide (595.8 kg/ha) and spinosad (589.0 kg/ha) with 97.6 and 95.3 per cent increase over control respectively as against the minimum yield of 301.6 kg/ha in the untreated check. The cost effectiveness of chlorantraniliprole and flubendiamide was also high and very favorable with incremental cost-benefit ratios of 1: 4.64 and 1: 4.50 respectively, followed by indoxacarb (1: 3.67), emamectin benzoate (1: 3.13) and spinosad (1: 2.97).

The DNA of whitefly transmitted (WFT) geminivirus was amplified from a viral template present in infected leaves by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) by using Coat Protein gene specific primers (RHA F and AC-abut), that amplify a viral DNA fragment of approximately 900bp CP gene product. Various dilutions were prepared and subject to PCR for detection of mungbean yellow mosaic virus. The virus could be detected upto 2.32 ng/μl concentration or 10-3 dilutions from infected plants but not in healthy plants. These results indicate that virus could be detected upto 2.32 ng/μl concentration levels by PCR test.

Xylanase is the name given to a class of enzymes which degrade the linear polysaccharide beta-1,4- xylan into xylose, thus breaking down hemicellulose, which is a major component of the cell wall of plants. The sequence of Xylanase from Bacillus subtilis was obtained from NCBI. The predicted domain was searched to find out the related protein structure to be used as a template by the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) program against Protein Databank (PDB). Sequence that showed maximum identity with high score and less e-value was aligned and used as a reference structure to build a 3D model for Xylanase. In order to understand the mechanisms of ligand binding and the interaction between the ligand and the Xylanase a three-dimensional (3D) model of the Xylanase is generated based on the crystal structure of the Template by using the Modeller. With the aid of the molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics methods, the final refined model is obtained and is further assessed by Profile-3D, which shows that the refined model is reliable. With this model, a flexible docking study is performed with the acetate ion as ligand. After the docking studies, important determined residues in binding are identified. The hydrogen bonds play an important role for the stability of the complex. These results may be helpful for further experimental investigations.

Tepary bean germplasm was studied for drought stress tolerance based on quantum photosynthetic yield in the leaf duringearly vegetative growth stage in greenhouse and high tunnel. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the cultivar’s potential to withstand water stress and to identify the potential cultivars for use in breeding tepary bean for drought tolerance. The experiment was conducted twice in a replicated block design imposing irrigated, control and water stress, treatments both in greenhouse potted plants and high tunnel. The entire germplasm was characterized into low, mediumand highly tolerant lines based on yield (Fv / Fm). Other traits like relative injury (RI %), relative water content (RWC), relative greenness, biomass and transpiration efficiency (TE) were also scored to view the cultivar diversity for tolerance to drought.The results obtained to select the cultivars as tolerant (4, 7, 8, 10,15,18, 29, 31),and susceptible (1,2,3,6,20, 23, 25,27,30)for drought stress tochoose for crossing program and to develop mapping population for genetic studies on drought tolerance in tepary bean were presented. The expected impact is the development of drought tolerant crop resources for arid agriculture in USA.

Thirty nine mungbean genotypes exhibiting distinct and significant response during screening for salt tolerance at early seedling growth stage were screened at vegetative, flowering and pod-filling growth stages up to the harvest under two salinity stress levels i.e. 50 mM and 75 mM NaCl along with their respective control treatment. The experiment was conducted in earthen pots lined with polythene bags in complete randomized block design with reliable growth and physiological characteristics along with yield attributes. The results illustrated significant variations and adaptability among all the genotypes under salt stress. The tolerant genotypes were observed for less reduction in RWC, MSI, total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents, plant length, survival, K+/Na+ ratio, and grain yield even under high salinity level (75mM NaCl) with respect to their non-stressed plants. However, the susceptible genotypes showed greater reduction in the measured parameters under salinity stress. On the basis of low and best performance of each genotypes under high salinity levels, total eleven genotypes TCR86, PLM380, PLM562, WGG37, IC615, PLM891, IC2056, IC10492, PLM32, K851, and BB92R were selected from this study which will be screened further for salt tolerance for the identification of most salt tolerant and susceptible genotypes to be used in breeding for the genetic improvement of mungbean for saline soils. The study indicated that selection of genotypes according to their performance under saline condition is very important for the selection of salt tolerant genotypes.

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of varying levels of Callosobruchus maculatus (F.) and Sitophilus zeamais Motsch. infestation on survival and development of the insects in stored cowpea and maize seeds respectively. Three levels of infestation (1, 2 or 3 pairs) of the insects` species each were used to infest 100 g of the commodities. The data from the storage experiment were collected using a total number of 12 experimental units arranged in completely randomized design (CRD) for each test insect. Counts of adult mortality of the insects, number of eggs laid, progeny emergence and percentage weight loss of the stored seeds were recorded after keen observation and examination. Based on the results, there was significant difference (P < 0.05) in the number of adult insects that died in the cowpea and maize seeds infested with 2 and 3 pairs of C. maculatus and S. zeamais compared to non – infested seeds. Significant differences were also recorded in the number of eggs laid by the insects, number of emerged adults and seed weight loss in the levels of infestation and the non – infested control. Results showed that levels of infestation exposed the seeds to the destructive activities of stored product insect pests under prevailing ambient conditions. It is therefore suggested that environmental hygiene and appropriate storage devices that could prevent cross infestation are necessary to sustain national food security.

The present study was carried out at Maval Tahsil of Pune District, Maharashtra, India, during August 2007 to August 2009. A total of 85 species of butterflies were recorded from Maval Tahsil. Out of 85 species, 11 species of butterflies are scheduled species. Family Nymphalidae is dominating in study area, followed by Lycaenidae, Hesperiidae, Pieridae, and Papilionidae. The seasonal pattern in the abundance of butterflies, their biotopes and nectar food plants were also studied. Mud-puddling is also observed among some butterflies. Forest biotope is found to be rich for butterfly species. Thirty two Nectar food plants were identified belonging to 15 plant families. Plants of Asteraceae family were found to be preferred by Butterflies as nectar food plants. Visits of Butterflies were more frequent to flowers with tubular corollas than to non-tubular ones, to flowers coloured yellow, white and red and to flowers with a bloom for longer period in the year. Peak species abundance was observed in the months during August to November. A decline in species abundance was observed from the months of December to January and continued up to the end of May. These findings are important with respect to monitoring Butterfly and plant diversity and defining conservation strategies in the Maval Tahsil.