<p>The present investigation deals with the study of inaperturate pollen taxa of eleven (11) tree species of Karimnagar district, Telangana State. These taxa belong to Annonaceae, Eupharbiaceae, Hernandiaceae, Musaceae and Fabaceae- Mimosoideae families. The pollen of these arborescent plants have diversity in pollen morphological characters viz., symmetry, shape, polarity and ornamentation, but significantly all the pollen taxa have inaperturate apertural partten. This study provides palynological data of the inaperturate pollen taxa, which will expensive help in future palynotaxonomic studies in Karimnagar district.</p>


<p>Inaperturate pollen diversity in the arborescent taxa of&nbsp;Karimnagar district, Telangana State, India</p>


<div style="text-align: justify;">The present study deals with the pollen morphological diversity and taxonomic importance among the Phyllanthus species belonging to the Phyllanthaceae family from combined Andhra Pradesh. Sixteen species belonging to genus Phyllanthus analyzed the pollen morphology using SEM. The size, shape, symmetry, aperture and ornamentation were recorded in all test species, among them ten were tricolporate, three tetracolporate while the remaining indicates the pantosyncolpate. The reticulate ornamentation is common and predominant in all taxa. &nbsp;The evaluation of taxonomic diversity among Phyllanthus species hitherto not known from Andhra Pradesh, hence the present study is the first report and gains importance. &nbsp;It is clear that the pollen characteristic features are significant in the identification of endemic species (P.scabrifolius and P.narayanaswamii) and confirmation of potential medicinal plants (P. amarus and its allied species) with the help of micromorphological pollen studies.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Pollen diversity in <em>Phyllanthus</em> species (Phyllanthaceae) Andhra Pradesh, India</div>

<p><strong>Background:</strong> The germination of pollen and the growth of pollen tubes are preconditions for fertilization and seed development. A complete knowledge of pollen viability will help in a proper understanding of pollination and fertilization in plants. Pollen from different cultivated and wild species of <em>Cajanus </em>were used to study the influence of different medium components on <em>Cajanus </em>pollen germination. This study established a reliable medium for pollen germination in <em>Cajanus cajan </em>by modifying the Brewbacker and Kwack (BK) medium to enhance understanding of pollination and fertilization dynamics.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<strong>Methods: </strong>The <em>in vitro</em> pollen germination studies were carried out in Pre-breeding department at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad, India. We developed 108 distinct media formulations by systematically varying concentrations of key constituents: sucrose (10%, 30%, 40%), boric acid (0, 100, 250 ppm), calcium nitrate (100, 300 ppm), magnesium sulfate (100, 200, 300 ppm), potassium nitrate (100 ppm) and polyethylene glycol 6000 (15%).<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<strong>Result:</strong> Optimal results were achieved with medium G, which contained 30% sucrose, 100 mg/l boric acid, 100 mg/l calcium nitrate, 100 mg/l potassium nitrate, 100 mg/l magnesium sulfate and 15% PEG, yielding 69.5% pollen germination. When tested on wild relatives (<em>Rhynchosia bracteata</em>, <em>Cajanus platycarpus</em> and <em>Cajanus scarabaeoides</em>), this optimized medium demonstrated over 70% germination efficiency with robust pollen tube development. The improved medium shows promise for facilitating inter-specific and inter-generic hybridization where biological barriers exist, potentially enabling in vitro pollination/fertilization approaches to introgress valuable traits for pigeonpea variety development.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


<p>Optimization and Development of Pollen Germination Medium for Cultivated and Wild Cajanus Pollen<em> in vitro</em></p>


<div style="text-align: justify;">Genetic diversity among 54 genotypes of field and garden pea of India were studied using 30 RAPD primers. A total of 168 amplicons were scored, of which 154 were polymorphic revealing 89.3% of polymophism. Out of 30 RAPD primers tested, 22 primers produced clear and reproducible bands. The number of products generated by these primers ranged from 04 to 14 with primer OPU-17 giving maximum (14) and primer OPC-08 giving minimum number of amplicons (04). Genetic similarity estimates based on the binomial data using Jaccard&rsquo;s coefficient ranged from 0.34 (Kaza-2/IC-218991) to 0.89 (IC-209118/IC-209123) with an average similarity index of 0.54 exhibiting considerable diversity among the pea genotypes studied. The dendrogram showed clear pattern of clustering according to the source of germplasm. This study indicated that Himalayan region germplasm exhibited higher diversity.&nbsp;</div>

Diversity analysis of pea genotypes using RAPD markers

<div><strong>Background: </strong>Intercropping and mixed cropping based on two or more different crops have been widely used in Insect Pest Management to manage the population density of insect pests in various crops like maize with soybean, sorghum with soybean and sunflower with soybean. Genotypic diversity is the mixture or combination of various varieties/lines/genotypes of a crop. It decreases the insect-pests population by unfitness of crop to them due to intraspecific diversity such as mixture of susceptible and resistant varieties. Also, it increases the natural enemy population more due to longer period of flowering, availability of wide diverse food, more movement of herbivores <em>etc</em>. This concept has also been used successfully to manage insect-pests in maize, wheat and potato. In India, this connect is used in very small scale in crop. The objective of this study was to determine effects of genotypic diversity by comparing the population densities of major insect pests between monoculture of single variety and mixture of varieties.<br />
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<strong>Methods: </strong>To test the effects of genotypic diversity on soybean insect-pest and their natural enemy population an experiment was laid in<em> kharif </em>2018 and 2019 at the ICAR-Indian Institute of Soybean Research, Indore. All recommended agronomic package of practices were followed for raising of crop. Randomized block design with three replication having plot size of 9 rows of 5 meter row length was used. Totally 20 treatments were chosen for this experiment and out of 20 four treatments namely, T1, T6, T11 and T16 were the treatments of four varietal mixture treatments of almost similar maturity duration and agronomic traits and rest of treatments were of sole varietal treatments. Observations were made on insect-pests from 10 selected plants in each plot on three leaves selected at top, middle and lower portion of plant.<br />
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<strong>Result: </strong>Effects of genotypic diversity in soybean revealed that for whitefly management T11 (NRC-86, JS-335, JS-2098 and RKS-45) was found most effective treatment. In case of mite, thrips and treehoppers management T1 (JS-9560, JS-20-34, MAUS-47 and MAUS-1460) was found most effective treatment. For leafhopper and mealy bug T6 (JS-9305, JS-2029, RVS-2001-4 and Dsb-28-3) was found most effective treatment. While for spittlebug T16 (NRC-37, JS-9752, RSC-1046 and RKS-113) was found most effective treatment. So, genotypic diverse treatments were found more effective than their respective sole varietal treatments.</div>

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<p>​Effects of Genotypic Diversity on Insect-pests of Soybean</p>


<div><strong>Background:</strong> Geographical and botanical origins of honeys are determined by melissopalynological analysis. Pollen contents of 12 autumn honeys collected from Indian honey bee, <em>Apis cerana </em>F. hives located in different localities of Kullu hills of Himachal Pradesh were analysed. Kullu hills having varied geography, climatic condition with diversified and rich flora is ideal for apiculture. So, it is of utmost importance to study the floral richness of the area and preferences of honey bees for nectar and pollen in order to obtain maximum production of a good quality of honey. Thus, the present work was carried out to determine the critical analysis of honey samples and to identify the different pollen types which are major plant sources that contribute to the increase of yield of honey.<br />
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<strong>Methods: </strong>Melissopalynological studies were conducted between 2009 to 2012. Reference pollen slides of honey samples were prepared and identified. Quantative analysis is done with the help of a haemocytometer and pollen spectra, absolute pollen count as well as percentage of pollen types were calculated. Reference slides were also prepared.<br />
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<strong>Result:</strong> Microscopic analysis yielded that in honey samples, 5 pollen types were present as predominant; 17 were secondary, while, 38 were important minor and minor pollen sources. Out of 12 honey samples analysed, 5 were unifloral, whereas, 7 were multifloral. In the unifloral honeys, the predominant sporomorphs were: <em>Prunus cerasoides, Eriobotrya japonica, Prinsepia utilis, Plectranthus</em> sp<em>. and Solidago </em>sp. Forty four pollen types were necteriferous, while, 6 were nectarless represented by <em>Cannabis sativa, Juglans regia, Rumex nepalensis, Polygonum sp.</em> and<em> Zea mays.</em> Among different plant families, Lamiaceae (8), Asteraceae (7), Rosaceae (7), Fabaceae (4), Polygonaceae (3) and Apiaceae (2) highly contributed for nectar and pollen sources of honey bee. Twenty five botanical families with 50 different pollen taxa were identified indicating the various plants visited by honeybees and the sources of nectar used in the production of honey. The high concentration and diversity of pollen types showed that the samples were of botanical origin.</div>


<div>Melissopalynological Determination of Pollen Density and Botanical Origin of Autumn Honeys of Kullu Hills, Himachal Pradesh, India</div>


<div style="text-align:justify">Modern intensive monocropping system is becoming unproductive, pest ridden, loss incurring, and resource depleting and hence turning out to be untenable. Lack of discrimination in input use by farm managers and overall poor management are accelerating degradation and desertification processes, and loss of biodiversity particularly add in endangered regions. &nbsp;While, properly designed diverse and strategically located tree/seasonal crop based land use systems can contribute to ecologic services by mitigation land degradation, climate change and desertification, while conserving natural resources and biodiversity. Besides providing, diverse goods and services, on-farm diversity can be considered as an adoptive strategy in areas climatically and biologically vulnerable. Being a potential C sink, tree based land use systems can also mitigate negative impacts of CO2 emission. As green belt/bank these have an important role in maintaining air, water and soil quality in mining and industrial areas. The so-called cellulosic feedstocks can be grown on marginal land, enhance soil fertility by promoting the growth of various soil organisms, and provide a climate- friendly source of energy. There are plenty of underexploited but potential plant species which can find niche in the existing agroecosystems with substantial addition to total production while contributing sufficiently to ecological services. These needs to be identified and useful models are developed for specific situations.</div>

On-farm crop diversity for sustainability and resilience in farming - A review

<p style="text-align:justify"><strong>Background:</strong> Many cross pollinated flowering plants rely on pollinators for reproduction and survival. The pigeon pea (arhar), Cajanus cajan L., is the India&rsquo;s most important pulse crop. It attracts pollinators because to its cross pollination nature, possible nectar and pollen source, attractive colour and scent of the seeds and timing of blossoming. As a result, a complete research of pigeon pea insect pollinator fauna shall be used to conserve those fauna for increasing pigeon pea pollination effectiveness.<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods: </strong>Diversity of different pollinating agents associated with the crop pigeon pea by observing their abundance, diversity, percentage contribution, dominance status and diversity following the statistical diversity indexes were recorded during Kharif, 2021-22 in the state of Odisha where the insect pollinators&rsquo; fauna was recorded through fixed plot survey.<br />
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<strong>Result:</strong> Megachille lanata (Fabricius) was found to be the most dominant pollinator throughout the flowering period among seven different pollinators of order Hymenoptera. M. lanata and Megachille disjuncta (Fabricius) shown higher foraging activity i.e. 6.02 bees/5 min/m2 and 4.25 bees/5 min/m2 respectively. Subdominant class represented maximum species among different dominant status classes exhibited. Very less diversity was observed throughout the season but still more diversity has been observed at mid flowering stags during 10:00-11:00 AM..</p>


<p>Diversity and Relative Abundance of Insect Pollinators on Pigeon Pea (<em>Cajanus cajan</em> L.) in Gajapati District of Odisha</p>


<div><strong>Background: </strong>The variety of indigenous duck germplasm contribute maximum to the poultry industry in India, besides chicken population. In southern part of India, the available duck genetic resource, particularly Arni ducks (comprises of Sanyasi and Keeri ducks) of Tamil Nadu, has its own characteristics with innate potentiality of higher productivity without any input system of management. Genetic characterization and diversity of indigenous duck genetic resources has not been properly studied. In the present study, the genetic diversity of Arni ducks with other indigenous and exotic duck germplasm were analysed with microsatellite markers.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Methods: </strong>Genomic DNA was isolated from the blood samples of six duck populations. Molecular characterization was carried out with duck specific FAO recommended microsatellite markers. The genotyping of ducks was done based on the size of 4324 PCR amplicons of 23 microsatellite loci, which were subjected to capillary electrophoresis using automatic sequencer.<br />
<br />
<strong>Result: </strong>A total of 222 alleles in six duck populations across 23 microsatellite loci with a mean of 9.65&plusmn;0.95 alleles were found. Kuttanad duck variety had the highest number of alleles (139) followed by Sanyasi (136), Keeri (129), Muscovy (118), Assam (91) and White Pekin (78) ducks. The mean observed number of alleles was 6.04&plusmn;0.59, 5.91&plusmn;0.76, 5.61&plusmn;3.17, 5.13&plusmn;0.44, 3.96&plusmn;0.76 and 3.39&plusmn;0.40 in Kuttanad, Sanyasi, Keeri, Muscovy, Assam and White Pekin ducks respectively. The overall mean polymorphism information content (PIC) values among the six duck populations was 0.6269. &nbsp;In most of the duck populations, the mean PIC value was more than 0.5 except in Assam (0.4815) and White Pekin (0.3725) ducks. The observed heterozygosity was the highest in Keeri ducks (0.5217) and lowest in White Pekin ducks (0.2766), while, the mean expected heterozygosity was the highest in Sanyasi (0.5628) and lowest in White Pekin (0.4038) ducks. The variations in the observed and expected number of alleles, differences in PIC of various microsatellite loci might be attributed to the genetic variability of the duck populations, number and type of microsatellite primers utilised for analysis and the genetic diversity of the duck breeds under study. Higher FST value indicates the substantial degree of breed differentiation among the studied duck populations.</div>


<div>Genetic Diversity of Six Duck Populations in India</div>


<div>The study was undertaken to document the elasmobranch diversity and their abundance along Wadge Bank. Species were collected fortnightly during June 2015 to May 2016 from three landing centres viz., Chinnamuttom,Colachel and Vizhinjam of Wadge Bank. A total of 1,575 specimens were collected during the period and 44 species were identified belonging to 8 orders, 13 families and 25 genera. Among the recorded \families,Carcharhinidae is the most dominant family with 12 species. The Colachel landing centre was rich in diversity with 43 species followed by Chinnamuttom 39 species and Vizhinjam26 species. The highest Shannon Weiner diversity (H&rsquo; value) was observed at Colachel (4.17) followed by Chinnamuttom (4.11) and Vizhinjam (3.76). The Margalef&rsquo;s species richness (&lsquo;d&rsquo;) value was assessed at Colachel (4.55) followed by Chinnamuttom (4.01) and Vizhinjam (2.91). The Pielou&rsquo;s evenness (J&rsquo;) estimated was 0.7786, 0.7700 and 0.8005respectively, for Chinnamuttom, Colachal and Vizhinjam. The highest taxonomic diversity value was observed at Colachel (60.33) and the lowest during at Vizhinjam (54.08). Among the three landing centres studied, the total phylogenetic diversity (sPhi+) was found to be the lowest at Vizhinjam (940) and highest at Colachel landing centre (1720). Bray Curtis similarities measure was also calculated, fish communities were separated into several clusters based on seasons. The conservation of elasmobranchs and the management measures to be followed along the Wadge Bank is also discussed.</div>


Inaperturate pollen diversity in the arborescent taxa of Karimnagar district, Telangana State, India

Pollen diversity in Phyllanthus species (Phyllanthaceae) Andhra Pradesh, India

Optimization and Development of Pollen Germination Medium for Cultivated and Wild Cajanus Pollen in vitro

Diversity analysis of pea genotypes using RAPD markers

Effects of Genotypic Diversity on Insect-pests of Soybean

Melissopalynological Determination of Pollen Density and Botanical Origin of Autumn Honeys of Kullu Hills, Himachal Pradesh, India

On-farm crop diversity for sustainability and resilience in farming - A review

Diversity and Relative Abundance of Insect Pollinators on Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan L.) in Gajapati District of Odisha

Genetic Diversity of Six Duck Populations in India

Elasmobranch diversity, conservation and management along Wadge Bank, South India