Explore the vast range of titles available.

Carotenoid production from oleaginous red yeast has been considered as a safe alternative to chemically synthesized carotenoids commonly used in the food industry, since plant-based carotenoids are expensive and an irregular source for obtaining pigments. This is a summative review on the factors affecting carotenoid production, cost-effective production strategies using various inexpensive feedstock, metabolic engineering, and strain improvisation. The review specially highlights the various potential applications of carotenoids as anti-microbial, anti-viral, antioxidant, anti-cancerous, anti-malarial agents, etc. The importance of such natural and easily available resources for prevention, evasion, or cure of emerging diseases and their plausible nutraceutical effect demands exhaustive research in this area.

Agriculture plays a key role in deciding the economy of the country and agricultural marketing has become the potential driver of the agricultural sector. Green revolution and succeeding technologies made our farmers to succeed in the production front, but lagging appreciably in terms of price realization owing to their inability to stop post-harvest losses and inaccessibility to efficient and scientific marketing system. Post-harvest management includes storage, packaging, coating, disease management, extended shelf life, maintaining food quality. Foods and other products can be preserved by storage at low temperature, which retards the activities of microorganisms and preserve perishable foods in their natural state. Preservation depends on the storage time required whether short or long-term short and the type of product. A cold storage unit works on two principles: Vapour absorption system (VAS), and Vapour compression system (VCS). Although VAS is a bit costlier, but economical in operation. Food irradiation is another recent food preservation technology to address some of post-harvest losses. Food is exposed to ionizing radiation (i.e. radiowaves, microwaves, UV rays, X-rays, gamma rays etc.). Food irradiation can be applied to specific purposes as quarantine treatment of fruits and vegetables and as a method to ensure hygienic quality of foods. Food processing techniques like grading, sorting and packaging, etc add value and enhances shelf life of food. Agricultural productivity augmentation needs a concurrent development of post-harvest support mechanism and efficient and organized marketing system, which would ensure maximum price rrealization to the farmers.

Waterlogging causes yield penalty in maize-growing countries of subtropical regions. Transcriptome analysis of the roots of a tolerant inbred HKI1105 using RNA sequencing revealed 21,364 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under waterlogged stress condition. These 21,364 DEGs are known to regulate important pathways including energy-production, programmed cell death (PCD), aerenchyma formation, and ethylene responsiveness. High up-regulation of invertase (49-fold) and hexokinase (36-fold) in roots explained the ATP requirement in waterlogging condition. Also, high up-regulation of expansins (42-fold), plant aspartic protease A3 (19-fold), polygalacturonases (16-fold), respiratory burst oxidase homolog (12-fold), and hydrolases (11-fold) explained the PCD of root cortical cells followed by the formation of aerenchyma tissue during waterlogging stress. We hypothesized that the oxygen transfer in waterlogged roots is promoted by a cross-talk of fermentative, metabolic, and glycolytic pathways that generate ATPs for PCD and aerenchyma formation in root cortical cells. SNPs were mapped to the DEGs regulating aerenchyma formation (12), ethylene-responsive factors (11), and glycolysis (4) under stress. RNAseq derived SNPs can be used in selection approaches to breed tolerant hybrids. Overall, this investigation provided significant evidence of genes operating in the adaptive traits such as ethylene production and aerenchyma formation to cope-up the waterlogging stress.

A set of 188 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between a high-yielding Indian bread wheat cultivar HD2932 and a synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW) Synthetic 46 derived from tetraploid Triticum turgidum (AA, BB 2n = 28) and diploid Triticum tauschii (DD, 2n = 14) was used to identify novel genomic regions associated in the expression of grain iron concentration (GFeC), grain zinc concentration (GZnC), grain protein content (GPC) and thousand kernel weight (TKW). The RIL population was genotyped using SNPs from 35K Axiom® Wheat Breeder’s Array and 34 SSRs and phenotyped in two environments. A total of nine QTLs including five for GPC (QGpc.iari_1B, QGpc.iari_4A, QGpc.iari_4B, QGpc.iari_5D, and QGpc.iari_6B), two for GFeC (QGfec.iari_5B and QGfec.iari_6B), and one each for GZnC (QGznc.iari_7A) and TKW (QTkw.iari_4B) were identified. A total of two stable and co-localized QTLs (QGpc.iari_4B and QTkw.iari_4B) were identified on the 4B chromosome between the flanking region of Xgwm149–AX-94559916. In silico analysis revealed that the key putative candidate genes such as P-loop containing nucleoside triphosphatehydrolase, Nodulin-like protein, NAC domain, Purine permease, Zinc-binding ribosomal protein, Cytochrome P450, Protein phosphatase 2A, Zinc finger CCCH-type, and Kinesin motor domain were located within the identified QTL regions and these putative genes are involved in the regulation of iron homeostasis, zinc transportation, Fe, Zn, and protein remobilization to the developing grain, regulation of grain size and shape, and increased nitrogen use efficiency. The identified novel QTLs, particularly stable and co-localized QTLs are useful for subsequent use in marker-assisted selection (MAS).

Phytic acid (PA) acts as a storehouse for the majority of the mineral phosphorous (P) in maize; ~80% of the total P stored as phytate P is not available to monogastric animals and thereby causes eutrophication. In addition, phytic acid chelates positively charged minerals making them unavailable in the diet. The mutant lpa1-1 allele reduces PA more than the wild-type LPA1 allele. Further, mutant gene opaque2 (o2) enhances lysine and tryptophan and crtRB1 enhances provitamin-A (proA) more than wild-type O2 and CRTRB1 alleles, respectively. So far, the expression pattern of the mutant lpa1-1 allele has not been analysed in maize genotypes rich in lysine, tryptophan and proA. Here, we analysed the expression pattern of wild and mutant alleles of LPA1, O2 and CRTRB1 genes in inbreds with (i) mutant lpa1-1, o2 and crtRB1 alleles, (ii) wild-type LPA1 allele and mutant o2 and crtRB1 alleles and (iii) wild-type LPA1, O2 and CRTRB1 alleles at 15, 30 and 45 days after pollination (DAP). The average reduction of PA/total phosphorous (TP) in lpa1-1 mutant inbreds was 29.30% over wild-type LPA1 allele. The o2 and crtRB1-based inbreds possessed ~two-fold higher amounts of lysine and tryptophan, and four-fold higher amounts of proA compared to wild-type alleles. The transcript levels of lpa1-1, o2 and crtRB1 genes in lpa1-1-based inbreds were significantly lower than their wild-type versions across kernel development. The lpa1-1, o2 and crtRB1 genes reached their highest peak at 15 DAP. The correlation of transcript levels of lpa1-1 was positive for PA/TP (r = 0.980), whereas it was negative with inorganic phosphorous (iP) (r = −0.950). The o2 and crtRB1 transcripts showed negative correlations with lysine (r = −0.887) and tryptophan (r = −0.893), and proA (r = −0.940), respectively. This is the first comprehensive study on lpa1-1 expression in the maize inbreds during different kernel development stages. The information generated here offers great potential for comprehending the dynamics of phytic acid regulation in maize.

Maize is an important food, feed, fodder and industrial crop in addition to being a valuable source of micronutrients. Phytic acid (PA), an anti-nutritional factor in maize, makes crucial minerals inaccessible to monogastric animals. The low phytic acid-1 (lpa1) gene located on chromosome-1S is 7292 bp long with 11 exons, and the recessive lpa1-1 allele reduces the accumulation of PA thereby enhances the bioavailability of essential minerals in maize kernels. Here, we characterized the full-length Lpa1 gene sequence in three mutants (lpa1-1) and seven wild-type (Lpa1) maize inbreds. Sequence analysis revealed 607 polymorphic sites across Lpa1 sequences, indicating wide variability for Lpa1 among the inbreds. Further, SNP from “C” to “T” differentiated wild-type and mutant-type alleles at 1432 amino acid position. Gene-based diversity among 48 diverse maize inbreds using 15 InDel markers revealed the formation of 42 distinct haplotypes; six of which (Hap6, Hap16, Hap17, Hap19 Hap27 and Hap31) were shared by more than one genotype. The number of exons in Lpa1 ranged from 11–19 among maize genotypes and 6–14 among 26 orthologues. Major functional motifs of Lpa1 detected were ATP-binding Cassette (ABC) transporter trans-membrane region and ABC transporter. Phylogenetic tree using nucleotide and protein sequences revealed a closer relationship of maize Lpa1 sequences with Sorghum bicolor, Panicum hallii, Setaria italica and S. viridis. This study offered newer insights into the understanding of the genetic diversity of the Lpa1 gene in maize and related crop-species, and information generated here would further help in exploiting the lpa1 mutant for the enhancement of nutritional value in maize kernels.

Cell wall modification (CWM) promotes the formation of aerenchyma in roots under waterlogging conditions as an adaptive mechanism. Lysigenous aerenchyma formation in roots improves oxygen transfer in plants, which highlights the importance of CWM as a focal point in waterlogging stress tolerance. We investigated the structural and functional compositions of CWM genes and their expression patterns under waterlogging conditions in maize. Cell wall modification genes were identified for 3 known waterlogging-responsive cis-acting regulatory elements, namely, GC motif, anaerobic response elements, and G-box, and 2 unnamed elements. Structural motifs mapped in CWM genes were represented in genes regulating waterlogging stress-tolerant pathways, including fermentation, glycolysis, programmed cell death, and reactive oxygen species signaling. The highly aligned regions of characterized and uncharacterized CWM proteins revealed common structural domains amongst them. Membrane spanning regions present in the protein structures revealed transmembrane activity of CWM proteins in the plant cell wall. Cell wall modification proteins had interacted with ethylene-responsive pathway regulating genes (E3 ubiquitin ligases RNG finger and F-box) in a maize protein-protein interaction network. Cell wall modification genes had also coexpressed with energy metabolism, programmed cell death, and reactive oxygen species signaling, regulating genes in a single coexpression cluster. These configurations of CWM genes can be used to modify the protein expression in maize under waterlogging stress condition. Our study established the importance of CWM genes in waterlogging tolerance, and these genes can be used as candidates in introgression breeding and genome editing experiments to impart tolerance in maize hybrids.

The rhizosphere of plants acts as a dynamic zone of interaction between various microbes and roots, contributing to improved soil health and plant development. These microbes form a close association with plant roots, promote soil fertility and play multiple roles in supporting plant development through various processes, for instance, nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilisation, phytohormone secretion and potassium mobilisation, resulting in enhanced crop productivity. This study was carried out to evaluate the potential of microbial isolates from Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) for their growth-promoting attributes. Bacterial isolates were isolated from the rhizosphere of Sorghum plants and screened for plant growth-promoting (PGP) potential. Selected microbes were applied to Sorghum and Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants by pouring the bacterial culture near the root zone. The treated samples showed improvement in growth traits such as root fresh weight, shoot fresh weight, root length, shoot length, root dry weight, shoot dry weight, leaf width, leaf length and number of leaves and overall plant vigour in treated plants compared to untreated controls in all the accessions. Amongst these four samples, treated SB3 showed substantial improvement in growth performance compared to other accessions. The application of selected microbial isolates through soil inoculation can be an eco-friendly and sustainable approach for promoting agriculture. Further studies are required to validate their performance in different crops under field conditions.

Sweet corn has gained worldwide popularity. Traditional sweet corn possesses low concentration of essential nutrients such as lysine (0.15–0.25%), tryptophan (0.03–0.04%) and provitamin-A (proA 3–4 ppm), and deficiency leads to serious health problems in humans. Here, stacking of shrunken2 (sh2), opaque2 (o2), lycopene epsilon cyclase (lcyE) and β‐carotene hydroxylase (crtRB1) genes were undertaken in the parents of four hybrids viz., APQH1, APHQ4, APHQ5 and APHQ7 using marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). Gene-linked markers (umc2276 and umc1320) for sh2, while gene-based markers for o2 (umc1066 and phi057), lcyE (5′TE-InDel) and crtRB1 (3′TE-InDel), were used for genotyping in BC1F1, BC2F1 and BC2F2. Selected backcross progenies showed high recovery of recurrent parent genome (92.4–97.7%). The reconstituted sweet corn hybrids possessed significantly high lysine (0.390%), tryptophan (0.082%) and proA (21.14 ppm), coupled with high kernel sweetness (brix 18.96%). The improved sweet corn hybrids had high cob yield (12.22–15.33 t/ha) across three environments. These newly developed biofortified sweet corn hybrids possess great significance in providing balanced nutrition. This is the first report of combining sh2, o2, lcyE and crtRB1 genes for enrichment of sweet corn hybrids with multiple essential nutrients.

Genetic analysis of sodium and sodium/potassium (Na/K) ratios in leaf and stem was carried out through diallel analysis involving two tolerant, one moderately tolerant, and two sensitive genotypes as parents. Three-week-old seedlings were subjected to a critical level of salinization (17 decisiemens per meter of electrical conductivity). Leaf and stem sampling (from 5 parents and 20 hybrids arranged in a randomized block design with three replications of 10 each) was done 30 days after salinization when susceptible parents were severely effected. Predominance of non-additive gene action for stem sodium and dominance component for leaf Na/K were noticed while both additive and non-additive components played a significant role for stem Na/K. A single group of genes seems to be operative for these characters. Hybrids produced by crossing the two sensitive parents were tolerant suggesting genetic complementation and involvement of different loci in the two parents for salinity tolerance. The overall dominant nature of tolerance and the additive gene action for these salinity related characters suggested the possibility of breeding pearl millet lines through hybridization and selection to pyramid the favorable genes.