Risk assessment of organochlorine pesticides in seaweeds along the Gulf of Mannar, Southeast India.

Bioaccumulation of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in red, green, and brown seaweeds from the Gulf of Mannar was investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The concentration of OCPs in all the seaweeds was in the order of endosulfan > endrin > HCH > DDT > aldrin > heptachlor > methoxychlor. The concentrations of HCH, endrin, endosulfan, and DDT in Sargassum wightii and Gelidiella acerosa, and HCH and endosulfan in Gracilaria verrucosa were above the limits prescribed by the European Commission. However, in Ulva lactuca, except for endosulfan, all other OCPs were below the permissible level. The bioaccumulation of OCPs in seaweeds was in the order of S. wightii > G. acerosa > Gracilaria verrucosa > U. lactuca. The results of comparative analysis of the levels of the investigated pesticides against the standard human health risk assessment revealed that pesticide exposure from seaweeds is hazardous to human health and the marine environment of the Gulf of Mannar.

Reduced representation approach for identification of genome-wide SNPs and their annotation for economically important traits in Indian Tharparkar cattle.

The present study was carried out in Tharparkar cattle for identification of genome-wide SNPs and microsatellites, and then annotate the identified high-quality SNPs to milk production, fertility, carcass, adaptability and immune response of economically important traits. A total of 146,011 SNPs were identified with respect to Bos taurus reference genome which are indicus specific, out of which 10,519 SNPs were found to be novel. Similarly, a total of 87,047 SNPs were identified with respect to Bos indicus reference genome. After final annotation of SNPs identified with respect to Bos indicus reference genome, 2871 SNPs were found to be associated in 383 candidate genes having to do with milk production, fertility, carcass, immune response and adaptability traits. Following that, 2571 microsatellites were identified. The information mined from the data might be of importance for the future breed improvement programs, conservation efforts and for enhancing the SNPs density of the existing bovine SNP chips.