Paleogene Ficus leaves from India and their implications for fig evolution and diversification.

PREMISE: Ficus is a scientifically and economically important genus with abundant fossil records from the Paleocene to Pleistocene, but with an intriguing early evolutionary history that remains unresolved. Here, the foliage of three well-preserved figs is described from the early Paleogene succession of the Gurha mine, Rajasthan, India. These fossils provide new morphological data that strengthens our understanding of the past occurrences of Ficus and, alongside all validly published records of fossil figs, helps to trace the evolutionary history of figs. METHODS: Fossils were identified and described by comparison with their closest modern analogs using the Nearest Living Relative (NLR) technique. Validated fig records are listed and categorized into six geological time frames. Modern precipitation data for the current distributions of NLRs were downloaded from the Climatic Research Unit Timeseries. RESULTS: Fossil leaves assigned to three new species Ficus paleodicranostyla, F. paleovariegata, and F. paleoauriculata closely resemble their modern analogs based on leaf morphology. Reliable fossil records were used to hypothesize historical fig distributions and paleodispersal pathways. Precipitation data suggest higher precipitations at the fossil locality during the early Paleogene than at present. CONCLUSIONS: The fossils described herein supplement fig fossil records known from other regions indicating that figs were widely diverse across low latitudes by the early Paleogene. These data support a Eurasian origin for figs, highlight a pivotal role for the Indian subcontinent during the early phase of fig diversification, and depict a perhumid-to-humid climate with high rainfall concordant with paleoclimate evidence from the Gurha mine.

Interference of bio-control Trichoderma to enhance physical and physiological strength of sugarcane during Pokkah boeng infection.

Tremendous benefits have been derived from the use of fungicides but excessive use of chemical fungicides not only posing threat to human and animal life but also contaminates the prevailing environment. Damage by pathogenic fungi alone causes significant damage to crops like maize, rice, wheat, soybeans, and potatoes. Therefore, it becomes imperative that these diseases are checked and controlled, for which chemical pesticides are being sprayed on plants extensively. Considering the devastating damage and toxicity, the global focus has taken a drift from synthetic chemicals to nature-friendly biological control agents. The present study focuses on the use of biological control agents particularly Trichoderma in sugarcane during Pokkah boeng infection. In the present experiment, twenty promising Trichoderma strains were evaluated for plant growth promotion, lytic enzymes, and physiological and biocontrol activity. Out of the twenty, four potential Trichoderma strains were assessed in the pot experiment viz. T. harzianum strain T28, T41 and T49 and T. aureoviride strain T38. The T. harzianum (T28) showed efficient plant growth-promoting traits as it produced IAA (20.67 µg/ml), phosphorus solubilization (18.57 µg/ml), and cell wall degrading enzymes such as chitinase (24.98 µg/ml) and ß-glucanase (29.98 µg/ml). The interference of biocontrol agent T. harzianum (T28) controlled the disease by 73.55%. Apart from this, the inoculation of Trichoderma (T28) enhanced growth attributes including germination percentage (26.61%), mean tiller number (8.28 tiller/pot), individual cane length (241.5 cm), single cane weight (1.13 kg) and the number of milleable canes (6.00 cane/pot). Improvements in physiological activities at different growth stages of the sugarcane crop were observed based on the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) on the leaf surface, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, and photosynthetic rate. Further, improvement in juice quality parameters was also observed as it recorded the highest 0brix, sucrose, and commercial cane sugar by 21.26%, 19.28%, and 13.50%, respectively, by applying T. harzianum strain T28. Thus, results proved that T. harzianum strain T28 may be an effective eco-friendly biocontrol tool for managing Pokkah boeng disease in sugarcane. This is the first report of the biocontrol potential of Trichoderma spp. against Fusarium proliferatum causing Pokkah boeng disease in sugarcane.

First fossil record of a nymph (Ephemeroptera, Teloganellidae) from the Indian subcontinent.

A fossil of a mayfly nymph that shows similarities with the modern genus Teloganella Ulmer, 1939 of the family Teloganellidae is recorded for the first time from the Indian subcontinent. It is systematically described from the Gurha lignite mine of Bikaner, Rajasthan which belongs to the Palana Formation (late Paleocene-early Eocene). As assignment of the fossil to a modern species of Teloganella is difficult due to indistinguishable location of gills in the impression, a new species, Teloganella gurhaensis Agnihotri et al., sp. nov. is instituted to include this fossil naiad resembling the extant Teloganella.