Translation initiation codon (ATG) or SCoT markers-based polymorphism study within and across various Capsicum accessions: insight from their amplification, cross-transferability and genetic diversity.

Being an economical and nutritional crop, Capsicum appeases people's peppery taste and is found to bewidely distributed all over the world having vast diversity. In the present study, genetic polymorphism, cross transferability (CT) and genetic diversity were examined among the 54 different accessions of Capsicum species including 49 of Capsicum annuum, three of C. baccatum and two of C. frutescens, using a set of 36 start codon targeted (SCoT) primers. Of the total, 35 SCoT markers showed successful amplification profile among chilli germplasms and an average primer polymorphism was reported as 81.52% which ranged from 50% (SCoT-6) to 100% (SCoT-11). A total of 365 amplicons were obtained with an average of 10.43 bands per primer and the length of the bands ranged from 150 bp to 1.2 kb. Further, polymorphic information content value of SCoT markers ranged from 0.42 (for SCoT-25) to 0.86 (SCoT-27) with an average of 0.78. The average value of CT of SCoT markers was 44.08% ranged from 14.25% to 57.26% among different chilli accessions. A dendrogram was constructed and established genetic relationship among 54 capsicum species, with the help of translation initiation codon polymorphisms or SCoT primer amplification. This study suggests the effectiveness of SCoT marker system for characterizing and assessing genetic diversity of Capsicum germplasm, which can be used for evolutionary studies and to identify agronomically important traits.

Nickel accumulation and its effect on growth, physiological and biochemical parameters in millets and oats.

With the boom in industrialization, there is an increase in the level of heavy metals in the soil which drastically affect the growth and development of plants. Nickel is an essential micronutrient for plant growth and development, but elevated level of Ni causes stunted growth, chlorosis, nutrient imbalance, and alterations in the defense mechanism of plants in terms of accumulation of osmolytes or change in enzyme activities like guiacol peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Ni-induced toxic response was studied in seedlings of finger millet, pearl millet, and oats in terms of seedling growth, lipid peroxidation, total chlorophyll, proline content, and enzymatic activities. On the basis of germination and growth parameters of the seedling, finger millet was found to be the most tolerant. Nickel accumulation was markedly lower in the shoots as compared to the roots, which was the highest in finger millet and the lowest in shoots of oats. Plants treated with a high concentration of Ni showed significant reduction in chlorophyll and increase in proline content. Considerable difference in level of malondialdehyde (MDA) content and activity of antioxidative enzymes indicates generation of redox imbalance in plants due to Ni-induced stress. Elevated activities of POD and SOD were observed with high concentrations of Ni while CAT activity was found to be reduced. It was observed that finger millet has higher capability to maintain homeostasis by keeping the balance between accumulation and ROS scavenging system than pearl millet and oats. The data provide insight into the physiological and biochemical changes in plants adapted to survive in Ni-rich environment. This study will help in selecting the more suitable crop species to be grown on Ni-rich soils.