Distribution, toxicity load and risk assessment of heavy metals in the groundwater of Dhemaji, Assam, India.

Metal contamination in drinking water has drawn attention since it gravely jeopardizes human health. This study was conducted in pre- and post-monsoon season in 2021 at Dhemaji, Assam, India. It characterized metal pollutants in groundwater, their distribution, possible sources, and evaluated the potential toxicity and associated health risk assessment. The seasonal mean concentration of Fe in both seasons is observed highest followed by Mn, Zn, Cu, As, and Ni. Furthermore, the metal concentrations during pre-monsoon are comparatively higher. The geogenic processes and agricultural practices are the major sources of groundwater metal contamination as evident from the statistical analysis. The different pollution indices viz. Heavy-metal Pollution Index (HPI), Heavy-metal Evaluation Index (HEI) and Degree of Contamination (Cd) suggested that groundwater is not suitable for drinking uses. The Heavy Metal Toxicity Load (HMTL) suggesting As, Co, Mn and Hg should be removed from the groundwater to ensure safety. Water pollution indices (WPI) suggest that Fe, Mn, As and Ni are the main pollution-causing metals in the study area which may be restored under the BIS and WHO limit by diluting the water. The human health risk has been calculated by carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risk assessment. The non-carcinogenic risk for adults and children is within the threshold limit. The carcinogenic risk shows that continuous exposure of As and Ni may give rise to cancer among adults and children in the region. Therefore, comprehensive groundwater quality monitoring with well-planned treatment should be needed to provide safe and clean drinking water in the studied area.

Three-component dicarbofunctionalization of allylamines via nucleopalladation pathway: unlocking vicinal and geminal selectivity.

A palladium(ii)-catalyzed vicinal as well as geminal selective dicarbofunctionalization of allylamine embedded in a removable picolinamide auxiliary is developed by exploiting a nucleopalladation-triggered intermolecular three-component coupling reaction. The vicinal selectivity was accomplished by engaging allylamine, indoles, and aryl or styrenyl halides through a Pd(ii)/Pd(iv) reaction manifold, while the two-fold coupling of allylamine and indoles via a Pd(ii)/Pd(0) reaction modality resulted in geminal selectivity. The protocol is operationally simple, scalable, and offers two distinct types of products bearing functionalized tryptamine and bisindolyl frameworks in very high to excellent yields. The reaction features a wide substrate generality and also remains effective in the presence of various medicinally relevant scaffolds. Notably, this work represents the first example of nucleopalladation-guided intermolecular dicarbofunctionalization of allylamines.

Genome-wide association analysis for emergence of deeply sown rice (Oryza sativa) reveals novel aus-specific phytohormone candidate genes for adaptation to dry-direct seeding in the field.

Dry direct-seeded rice (dry-DSR) is typically sown deeply to circumvent the need for irrigation, and thus seedling emergence is a crucial trait affecting plant stand and yield. To breed elite cultivars that use less water and are climate-resilient, an understanding of the genomic regions and underlying genes that confer emergence in deeply sown dry-DSR would be highly advantageous. A combined diversity panel of 470 rice accessions (RDP1 plus aus subset of 3K RGP) was evaluated with 2.9 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to identify associations with dry-DSR traits in the field and component traits in a controlled-environment experiment. Using genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses, we identified 18 unique QTLs on chromosomes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11, explaining phenotypic variance ranging from 2.6% to 17.8%. Three QTLs, namely, qSOE-1.1, qEMERG-AUS-1.2, and qEMERG-AUS-7.1, were co-located with previously reported QTLs for mesocotyl length. Among the identified QTLs, half were associated with the emergence of aus, and six were unique to the aus genetic group. Based on functional annotation, we identified eleven compelling candidate genes that primarily regulate phytohormone pathways such as cytokinin, auxin, gibberellic acid, and jasmonic acid. Prior studies indicated that these phytohormones play a critical role in mesocotyl length under deep sowing. This study provides new insight into the importance of aus and indica as desirable genetic resources to mine favorable alleles for deep-sowing tolerance in rice. The candidate genes and marker-tagged desirable alleles identified in this study should benefit rice breeding programs directly.

Effect of Bamboo biochar on strength and water retention properties of low plastic clay and silty sand.

Biochar is a carbon-rich stable product derived from the thermochemical decomposition of biomass. The properties of biochar vary with types of feedstock, heating rate, pyrolysis temperature, etc. Consequently, the mechanical and hydrological properties of biochar amended soil (BAS) also differ with types of biochar and soils. However, the effect of bamboo biochar (BB) amendment on soil strength and water retention properties is missing in the previous literature. Bamboo biomass was pyrolysed at 600 °C to produce biochar. BB and soils (low plastic clay (CL) and silty sand (SM)) were mixed to prepare BAS. The samples were prepared by mixing BB in five ratios, i.e., 0%, 1%, 2%, 3.5% and 5% of dry soil weight. The biochar application has increased optimum moisture content, alkalinity (pH) and Atterberg limits, whereas, reduced maximum dry density and specific gravity of both the soils (CL and SM). The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of CL soil was noted to increase by 10.5% with 2% biochar content and decreased after that, whereas the UCS of SM soil was found to decrease continuously with the biochar content increment. Therefore, the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) result showed that biochar application has contrary effects on both soils. The measured gravimetric water content (GWC) of BAS was increased with biochar increment in both soils. However, GWC increased more in CL than in SM soil at the same biochar content. The microstructural analysis showed that the biochar amendment filled the pore space of the soil matrix, resulting in an increase in UCS and GWC values. The increased water retention capacity and strength (UCS) of biochar amended CL soil provides evidence that it could be used as a landfill cover material.

Emmer Wheat Eco-Geographic and Genomic Congruence Shapes Phenotypic Performance under Mediterranean Climate.

Emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccum) is one of the world's oldest domesticated crops, and it harbors a potentially rich reservoir of agronomic and nutritional quality trait variations. The growing global demand for plant-based health-food niche markets has promoted new commercial interest in ancient grains, including Emmer wheat. Although T. dicoccum can also perform well under harsh environments, its cultivation along the Mediterranean agro-ecosystems is sparse. Here, we analyze a unique tetraploid wheat collection (n = 121) representing a wide geographic range of Emmer accessions, using 9897 DArTseq markers and on-field phenotypic characterization to quantify the extent of diversity among populations and the interactions between eco-geographic, genetic, and phenotypic attributes. Population genomic inferences based on the DArTseq data indicated that the collection could be split into four distinguished clusters in accordance with their eco-geographic origin although significant phenotypic variation was observed within clusters. Superior early vegetative vigor, shorter plant height, and early phenology were observed among emmer wheat accessions from Ethiopia compared to accessions from northern regions. This adaptive advantage highlights the potential of emmer wheat as an exotic germplasm for wheat improvement through breeding. The direct integration of such germplasm into conventional or organic farming agro-systems under the Mediterranean basin climate is also discussed.

Marker-assisted forward breeding to develop a drought-, bacterial-leaf-blight-, and blast-resistant rice cultivar.

Among the different challenges related to rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation, drought, bacterial leaf blight (BLB), and blast are the key stresses that significantly affect grain yield (GY) in rice. To ameliorate this issue, marker-assisted forward breeding (MAFB) coupled with a simultaneous crossing approach was used to combine three drought tolerant quantitative trait loci (QTL)-qDTY1.1 , qDTY3.1 , and qDTY12.1 -four BLB genes-Xa4, xa5, xa13, and Xa21-and one blast-resistance gene, Pi9, in the elite rice cultivar Lalat. The introgression lines (ILs) developed in the current study were phenotypically screened for drought, BLB, and blast resistance at the F7 -F8 generation. Under the reproductive stage (RS) drought stress, the yield advantage of ILs, with major-effect QTL (qDTY) over elite parent Lalat, ranges from 9 to 124% in DS2019 and from 7 to 175% in WS2019. The selected ILs were highly resistant to BLB, with lesion lengths ranging from 1.3 to 3.0 cm and blast scores ranging from 1 to 3. ILs that were tolerant to RS drought, resistant to BLB, and blast disease and had similar or higher yields than Lalat were analyzed for grain quality. Six ILs were found to have similar grain quality characteristics to Lalat including hulling, milling, head rice recovery (HRR), chalkiness, alkali spreading value (ASV), and amylose content (AC). This study showed that MAFB, together with simultaneous crossing, would be an effective strategy to rapidly combine multiple stresses in rice. The ILs developed in this study could help to ensure yield sustainability in rainfed environments or be used as genetic material in future breeding programs.

Carbon nanotube incorporated eucalyptus derived activated carbon-based novel adsorbent for efficient removal of methylene blue and eosin yellow dyes.

Carbon nanotube (CNT) incorporated eucalyptus derived activated carbon-based novel adsorbent is synthesized by a novel route. This adsorbent is investigated for the removal of two different dyes; methylene blue (MB) and eosin yellow (EY) from the waste water. The effect of pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and initial concentration, has been used to measure the dye removal efficiency of the adsorbent. Langmuir isotherm, Freundlich isotherm and D-R isotherm models were used to fit the experimental dye adsorption data, with the D-R model providing the best fit. The maximum adsorption efficiency of adsorbent for MB and EY removal is 49.61 and 49.15 mg/g, respectively. Reaction kinetics studies were also established to further investigate the dye adsorption mechanism. It is observed that pseudo second order model define the reaction kinetics involved in the reaction. This activated carbon adsorbent based on CNTs is shown to be highly promising for water decontamination applications.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of College Students in India: Cross-sectional Web-Based Study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a mental health crisis among college students in India due to lockdown restrictions, overwhelming numbers of COVID-19 cases, financial difficulty, etc. This mental health crisis has led to high degrees of fear, anxiety, and depression among college students. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate symptoms of fear, depression, and anxiety due to the COVID-19 pandemic among college students in India. METHODS: This cross-sectional web-based study was conducted using a Google Forms questionnaire. The Google Form included a sociodemographic questionnaire and psychometric scales evaluating the psychological and behavioral impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, both qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed in the study. RESULTS: A total of 324 college students participated in this study, of whom 180 (55.6%) were male and 144 (44.4%) were female. After assessment of the psychometric scales, it was found that of the 324 students, 223 (68.8%) had high fear of COVID-19, 93 (28.7%) had moderate to severe depression, and 167 (51.5%) had mild to severe anxiety. Among the identified risk factors, having a family member who was infected with COVID-19 was significantly associated with anxiety and depression, with P values of .02 and .001, respectively. In addition, the correlations of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were found to be 0.492 and 0.474, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This research concludes that there is a very high fear of COVID-19 among students, along with anxiety and depression symptoms. This study also concludes that the Fear of COVID-19 Scale has a moderate positive correlation with the anxiety and depression scales, respectively.

Marker-assisted forward and backcross breeding for improvement of elite Indian rice variety Naveen for multiple biotic and abiotic stress tolerance.

The elite Indian rice variety, Naveen is highly susceptible to major biotic and abiotic stresses such as blast, bacterial blight (BB), gall midge (GM) and drought which limit its productivity in rainfed areas. In the present study, a combined approach of marker-assisted forward (MAFB) and back cross (MABC) breeding was followed to introgress three major genes, viz., Pi9 for blast, Xa21 for bacterial blight (BB), and Gm8 for gall midge (GM) and three major QTLs, viz., qDTY1.1, qDTY2.2 and qDTY4.1 conferring increased yield under drought in the background of Naveen. At each stage of advancement, gene-based/linked markers were used for the foreground selection of biotic and abiotic stress tolerant genes/QTLs. Intensive phenotype-based selections were performed in the field for identification of lines with high level of resistance against blast, BB, GM and drought tolerance without yield penalty under non-stress situation. A set of 8 MAFB lines and 12 MABC lines with 3 to 6 genes/QTLs and possessing resistance/tolerance against biotic stresses and reproductive stage drought stress with better yield performance compared to Naveen were developed. Lines developed through combined MAFB and MABC performed better than lines developed only through MAFB. This study exemplifies the utility of the combined approach of marker-assisted forward and backcrosses breeding for targeted improvement of multiple biotic and abiotic stress resistance in the background of popular mega varieties.

Developing Climate-Resilient, Direct-Seeded, Adapted Multiple-Stress-Tolerant Rice Applying Genomics-Assisted Breeding.

There is an urgent need to breed dry direct-seeded adapted rice varieties in order to address the emerging scenario of water-labor shortage. The aim of this study was to develop high-yielding, direct-seeded adapted varieties utilizing biparental to multiparental crosses involving as many as six different parents in conventional breeding programs and 12 parents in genomics-assisted breeding programs. The rigorous single plant selections were followed from the F2 generation onwards utilizing phenotypic selection and quantitative trait locus (QTL)/gene-based/linked markers for tracking the presence of desirable alleles of targeted QTL/genes. In conventional breeding, multiparent lines had significantly higher yields (2,072-6,569 kg ha-1) than the biparental lines (1,493-6,326 kg ha-1). GAB lines derived from multiparent crosses had significantly higher (3,293-6,719 kg ha-1) yields than the multiparent lines from conventional breeding (2,072-6,569 kg ha-1). Eleven promising lines from genomics-assisted breeding carrying 7-11 QTL/genes and eight lines from conventional breeding with grain-yield improvement from 727 to 1,705 kg ha-1 and 68 to 902 kg ha-1, respectively, over the best check were selected. The developed lines may be released as varieties/parental lines to develop better rice varieties for direct-seeded situations or as novel breeding material to study genetic interactions.

Rice breeding for yield under drought has selected for longer flag leaves and lower stomatal density.

Direct selection for yield under drought has resulted in the release of a number of drought-tolerant rice varieties across Asia. In this study, we characterized the physiological traits that have been affected by this strategy in breeding trials across sites in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. Drought- breeding lines and drought-tolerant varieties showed consistently longer flag leaves and lower stomatal density than our drought-susceptible check variety, IR64. The influence of environmental parameters other than drought treatments on leaf traits was evidenced by close grouping of treatments within a site. Flag-leaf length and width appeared to be regulated by different environmental parameters. In separate trials in the Philippines, the same breeding lines studied in South Asia showed that canopy temperature under drought and harvest index across treatments were most correlated with grain yield. Both atmospheric and soil stress strengthened the relationships between leaf traits and yield. The stable expression of leaf traits among genotypes and the identification of the environmental conditions in which they contribute to yield, as well as the observation that some breeding lines showed longer time to flowering and higher canopy temperature than IR64, suggest that selection for additional physiological traits may result in further improvements of this breeding pool.

Genomics-assisted breeding for successful development of multiple-stress-tolerant, climate-smart rice for southern and southeastern Asia.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in rainfed marginal environments is prone to multiple abiotic and biotic stresses, which can occur in combination in a single cropping season and adversely affect rice growth and yield. The present study was undertaken to develop high-yielding, climate-resilient rice that can provide tolerance to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses. An assembled first-crossing scheme was employed to transfer 15 quantitative trait loci (QTL) and genes-qDTY1.1 , qDTY2.1 , qDTY3.1 , qDTY12.1 (drought), Sub1 (submergence), Gm4 (gall midge), Pi9, Pita2 (blast), Bph3, Bph17 (brown plant hoppers), Xa4, xa5, xa13, Xa21, and Xa23 (bacterial leaf blight)-from eight different parents using genomics-assisted breeding. A funnel mating design was employed to assemble all the targeted QTL and genes into a high-yielding breeding line IR 91648-B-1-B-3-1. Gene-based linked markers were used in each generation from intercrossing to the F6 generation for tracking the presence of desirable alleles of targeted QTL and genes. Single-plant selections were performed from F2 onwards to select desirable recombinants possessing alleles of interest with suitable phenotypes. Phenotyping of 95 homozygous F6 lines carrying six to 10 QTL and genes was performed for nonstress, reproductive-stage (RS) drought, blast, bacterial leaf blight (BLB), gall midge (GM), and for grain quality parameters such as chalkiness, amylose content (AC), gelatinization temperature (GT), and head rice recovery (HRR). Finally, 56 F7 homozygous lines were found promising for multiple-location evaluation for grain yield (GY) and other traits. These multiple-stress-tolerant lines with the desired grain quality profiling can be targeted for varietal release in southern and southeastern Asia through national release systems.

Genetic gain for rice yield in rainfed environments in India.

The complexity of genotype × environment interactions under drought reduces heritability, which determines the effectiveness of selection for drought tolerance and development of drought tolerant varieties. Genetic progress measured through changes in yield performance over time is important in determining the efficiency of breeding programmes in which test cultivars are replaced each year on the assumption that the new cultivars will surpass the older cultivars. The goal of our study was to determine the annual rate of genetic gain for rice grain yield in a drought-prone rainfed system in a series of multi-environment trials conducted from 2005 to 2014 under the Drought Breeding Network of Indian sites in collaboration with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Our results show a positive trend in grain yield with an annual genetic yield increase of about 0.68 % under irrigated control, 0.87 % under moderate reproductive stage drought stress and 1.9 % under severe reproductive stage drought stress due to breeding efforts. The study also demonstrates the effectiveness of direct selection for grain yield under both irrigated control as well as managed drought stress screening to improve yield in typical rainfed systems. IRRI's drought breeding programme has exhibited a significant positive trend in genetic gain for grain yield over the years under both drought stress as well as favorable irrigated control conditions. Several drought tolerant varieties released from the programme have outperformed the currently grown varieties under varied conditions in the rainfed environments on farmers' fields.

Genetic Dissection of Epistatic Interactions Contributing Grain Yield Variability in Rice under Drought.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of 'high'-'low' yielding pyramided lines (PLs), having the same combinations of qDTYs in Samba Mahsuri, MR219 and IR64-Sub1 genetic backgrounds, and to understand the genetic interactions among QTL and/with genetic background affecting grain yield. Background: Epistasis regulates the expression of traits governed by several major/minor genes/QTL. Multiple pyramided lines (PLs) with the same grain yield QTL (qDTYs) combinations but possessing grain yield variability under different levels of reproductive stage drought stress were identified in different rice genetic backgrounds at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Objectives: The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the performance pyramided lines (PLs) with drought QTL in the backgrounds of Samba Mahsuri, MR219 and IR64-Sub1 under reproductive stage drought stress (RS) and NS (non-stress) conditions, to understand the effect of epistatic interactions among qDTYs and with genetic background on GY under the differential level of stress and to identify the promising drought-tolerant lines with high yield under drought and higher background recovery in different genetic backgrounds. Methods: The experiments were conducted in 2015 DS (dry season), 2015 WS (wet season) and 2017 DS at IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines, in a transplanted lowland ecosystem under lowland severe stress (LSS), lowland moderate stress (LMS) and lowland non-stress (LNS). The experiments were laid out in alpha lattice design with two replications. Results: Several digenic interactions were found in different genetic backgrounds, 13 interactions in Samba Mahsuri, 11 in MR219 and 20 in IR64-Sub1 backgrounds. Among all digenic interactions, one QTL × QTL interaction, 17 QTL × background and 26 background × background interactions resulted in GY reduction in low yielding PLs in different genetic backgrounds under LSS or LMS. Negative interaction of qDTY3.1 , qDTY4.1 and qDTY9.1 with background markers and background × background interactions caused up to 15% GY reduction compared to the high yielding PLs under LMS in the Samba Mahsuri PLs. In MR219 PLs, the negative interaction of qDTY2.2 , qDTY3.2 , qDTY4.1 and qDTY12.1 with the background marker interval RM314-RM539, RM273-RM349 and RM445-RM346, RM473D-RM16, respectively resulted 52% GY reduction compared to the high yielding PLs under LSS. In IR64-Sub1 PLs, qDTY6.1 interacted with background loci at RM16-RM135, RM228-RM333, RM202-RM287 and RM415-RM558A marker interval under LSS and at RM475-RM525 marker interval under LMS, causing GY reduction to 58% compared to the high yielding PLs. Conclusion: High yielding PLs in Samba Mahsuri (IR 99734:1-33-69-1-22-6), MR219 (IR 99784-156-87-2-4-1) and IR64-Sub1 (IR 102784:2-89-632-2-1-2) backgrounds without any negative interactions were identified. The identified selected promising PLs may be used as potential drought-tolerant donors or may be released as varieties for drought-prone ecosystems in different countries.

Development of introgression lines in high yielding, semi-dwarf genetic backgrounds to enable improvement of modern rice varieties for tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses free from undesirable linkage drag.

Occurrence of multiple abiotic stresses in a single crop season has become more frequent than before. Most of the traditional donors possessing tolerance to abiotic stresses are tall, low-yielding with poor grain quality. To facilitate efficient use of complex polygenic traits in rice molecular breeding research, we undertook development of introgression lines in background of high-yielding, semi-dwarf varieties with good grain quality. The study reports the development and evaluations of over 25,000 introgression lines in eleven elite rice genetic backgrounds for improvement of yield under multiple abiotic-stresses such as drought, flood, high/low temperature. The developed introgression lines within each genetic background are near isogenic/recombinant inbred lines to their recipient recurrent parent with 50 to 98% background recovery and additionally carry QTLs/genes for abiotic stresses. The multiple-stress tolerant pyramided breeding lines combining high yield under normal situation and good yield under moderate to severe reproductive-stage drought, semi-dwarf plant type with good grain quality traits have been developed. The introgression lines in dwarf backgrounds open new opportunity to improve other varieties without any linkage drag as well as facilitate cloning of QTLs, identification and functional characterization of candidate genes, mechanisms associated with targeted QTLs and the genetic networks underlying complex polygenic traits.

More and more of less and less: Is genomics-based breeding of dry direct-seeded rice (DDSR) varieties the need of hour?

Rice is a staple food for half of the world's population. Changing climatic conditions, water and labour scarcity are the major challenges that shall limit future rice production. Dry direct-seeded rice (DDSR) is emerging as an efficient, resources conserving, mechanized, climate smart and economically viable strategy to be adopted as an alternative to puddled transplanted rice (TPR) with the potential to address the problem of labour-water shortages and ensure sustainable rice cultivation. Despite these benefits, several constraints obstruct the adoption of DDSR. In principle, the plant type for DDSR should be different from one for TPR, which could be achieved by developing rice varieties that combine the traits of upland and lowland varieties. In this context, recent advances in precise phenotyping and NGS-based trait mapping led to identification of promising donors and QTLs/genes for DDSR favourable traits to be employed in genomic breeding. This review discusses the important traits influencing DDSR, research studies to clarify the need for breeding DDSR-specific varieties to achieve enhanced grain yield, climate resilience and nutrition demand. We anticipate that in the coming years, genomic breeding for developing DDSR-specific varieties would be a regular practice and might be further strengthened by combining superior haplotypes regulating important DDSR traits by haplotype-based breeding.

Marker Assisted Forward Breeding to Combine Multiple Biotic-Abiotic Stress Resistance/Tolerance in Rice.

BACKGROUND: Unfavorable climatic changes have led to an increased threat of several biotic and abiotic stresses over the past few years. Looking at the massive damage caused by these stresses, we undertook a study to develop high yielding climate-resilient rice, using genes conferring resistance against blast (Pi9), bacterial leaf blight (BLB) (Xa4, xa5, xa13, Xa21), brown planthopper (BPH) (Bph3, Bph17), gall midge (GM) (Gm4, Gm8) and QTLs for drought tolerance (qDTY1.1 and qDTY3.1) through marker-assisted forward breeding (MAFB) approach. RESULT: Seven introgression lines (ILs) possessing a combination of seven to ten genes/QTLs for different biotic and abiotic stresses have been developed using marker-assisted selection (MAS) breeding method in the background of Swarna with drought QTLs. These ILs were superior to the respective recurrent parent in agronomic performance and also possess preferred grain quality with intermediate to high amylose content (AC) (23-26%). Out of these, three ILs viz., IL1 (Pi9+ Xa4+ xa5+ Xa21+ Bph17+ Gm8+ qDTY1.1+ qDTY3.1), IL6 (Pi9+ Xa4+ xa5+ Xa21+ Bph3+ Bph17+ Gm4+ Gm8+ qDTY1.1+ qDTY3.1) and IL7 (Pi9+ Xa4+ xa5+ Bph3+ Gm4+ qDTY1.1+ qDTY3.1) had shown resistance\tolerance for multiple biotic and abiotic stresses both in the field and glasshouse conditions. Overall, the ILs were high yielding under various stresses and importantly they also performed well in non-stress conditions without any yield penalty. CONCLUSION: The current study clearly illustrated the success of MAS in combining tolerance to multiple biotic and abiotic stresses while maintaining higher yield potential and preferred grain quality. Developed ILs with seven to ten genes in the current study showed superiority to recurrent parent Swarna+drought for multiple-biotic stresses (blast, BLB, BPH and GM) together with yield advantages of 1.0 t ha- 1 under drought condition, without adverse effect on grain quality traits under non-stress.

Genotype × environment interactions for grain iron and zinc content in rice.

BACKGROUND: Nutrient deficiency in humans, especially in children and lactating women, is a major concern. Increasing the micronutrient concentration in staple crops like rice is one way to overcome this. The micronutrient content in rice, especially the iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) content, is highly variable. The identification of rice genotypes in which there are naturally high Fe and Zn concentrations across environments is an important target towards the production of biofortified rice. RESULTS: Phenotypic correlations between grain Fe and Zn content were positive and significant in all environments but a significant negative association was observed between grain yield and grain Fe and Zn. Promising breeding lines with higher Zn or Fe content, or both, were: IR 82475-110-2-2-1-2 (Zn: 20.24-37.33 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 7.47-14.65 mg kg-1 ); IR 83294-66-2-2-3-2 (Zn: 22-37-41.97 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 9.43-17.16); IR 83668-35-2-2-2 (Zn: 27.15-42.73 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 6.01-14.71); IR 68144-2B-2-2-3-1-166 (Zn: 23.53-40.30 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 10.53-17.80 mg kg-1 ) and RP Bio 5478-185M7 (Zn: 22.60-40.07 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 7.64-14.73 mg kg-1 ). Among these, IR82475-110-2-2-1-2 (Zn: 20.24-37.33 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 7.47-14.65 mg kg-1 ) is also high yielding with 3.75 t ha-1 . Kelhrie Cha (Zn: 17.76-36.45 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 7.17-14.77 mg kg-1 ), Dzuluorhe (Zn: 17.48-39.68 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 7.89-19.90 mg kg-1 ), Nedu (Zn: 18.97-43.55 mg kg-1 Fe: 8.01-19.51 mg kg-1 ), Kuhusoi-Ri-Sareku (Zn: 17.37-44.14 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 8.99-14.30 mg kg-1 ) and Mima (Zn: 17.10-45.64 mg kg-1 ; Fe: 9.97-17.40 mg kg-1 ) were traditional donor genotypes that possessed both high grain Fe and high Zn content. CONCLUSION: Significant genotype × location (G × L) effects were observed in all traits except Fe. Genetic variance was significant and was considerably larger than the variance of G × L for grain Zn and Fe content traits, except grain yield. The G × L × year variance component was significant in all cases. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Genotyping-by-sequencing based QTL mapping for rice grain yield under reproductive stage drought stress tolerance.

QTLs for rice grain yield under reproductive stage drought stress (qDTY) identified earlier with low density markers have shown linkage drag and need to be fine mapped before their utilization in breeding programs. In this study, genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) based high-density linkage map of rice was developed using two BC1F3 mapping populations namely Swarna*2/Dular (3929 SNPs covering 1454.68 cM) and IR11N121*2/Aus196 (1191 SNPs covering 1399.68 cM) with average marker density of 0.37 cM to 1.18 cM respectively. In total, six qDTY QTLs including three consistent effect QTLs were identified in Swarna*2/Dular while eight qDTY QTLs including two consistent effect QTLs were identified in IR11N121*2/Aus 196 mapping population. Comparative analysis revealed four stable and novel QTLs (qDTY2.4, qDTY3.3, qDTY6.3, and qDTY11.2) which explained 8.62 to 14.92% PVE. However, one of the identified stable grain yield QTL qDTY1.1 in both the populations was located nearly at the same physical position of an earlier mapped major qDTY QTL. Further, the effect of the identified qDTY1.1 was validated in a subset of lines derived from five mapping populations confirming robustness of qDTY1.1 across various genetic backgrounds/seasons. The study successfully identified stable grain yield QTLs free from undesirable linkages of tall plant height/early maturity utilizing high density linkage maps.

Strategies for Stakeholder Engagement and Uptake of New Intervention: Experience From State-Wide Implementation of mHealth Technology for NCD Care in Tripura, India.

BACKGROUND: Appropriate strategies and key stakeholder engagement are the keys to successful implementation of new health care interventions. OBJECTIVES: The study sought to articulate the key strategies used for scaling up a research-based intervention, mPower Heart electronic Clinical Decision Support System (e-CDSS), for state-wide implementation at health facilities in Tripura. METHODS: Multiple strategies were used for statewide implementation of mPower Heart e-CDSS at noncommunicable diseases clinics across the government health facilities in Tripura: formation of a technical coordination-cum-support unit, change management, enabling environment, adapting the intervention with user focus, and strengthening the Health Information System. RESULTS: The effective delivery of a new health system intervention requires engagement at multiple levels including political leadership, health administrators, and health professionals, which can be achieved by forming a technical coordination-cum-support unit. It is important to specify the role and responsibilities of existing manpower and provide a structured training program. Enabling environment at health facilities (providing essential equipment, space and time, etc.) is also crucial. Successful implementation also requires that patients, health care providers, the health system, and leadership recognize the immediate and long-term benefits of the new intervention and have a buy-in in the intervention. With constant encouragement and nudge from administrative authorities and by using multiple strategies, 40 government health facilities adopted the mPower Heart e-CDSS. From its launch in May 2017 until November 20, 2018, a total of 100,810 eligible individuals were screened and enrolled, with 35,884 treated for hypertension, 9,698 for diabetes, and 5,527 for both hypertension and diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple strategies, based on implementation principles, are required for successful scaling up of research-based interventions.