<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>

<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>


<div>Elasmobranch diversity, conservation and management along Wadge Bank, South India</div>


<p><strong>Background: </strong>Lablab (<em>Lablab purpureus</em>) is a potential vegetable crop cultivated throughout India. It is a tropical and subtropical vegetable adaptive to different climatic conditions and grown in all seasons. Thrips are one of the important pests of lablab as they affect all stages of the crop and transmit plant viruses. The current study aimed at identifying the thrips diversity present in lablab as a base for monitoring and management purposes.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods: </strong>An exploratory survey was conducted to identify the diversity of thrips on lablab in its growing areas of Coimbatore. Furthermore, continuous monitoring of the lablab crops in TNAU orchard, Coimbatore, was done to explore all the life stages of thrips species and their diversity. Morphological and molecular characterization of the collected species was done using taxonomic keys and mtCOI DNA sequencing approach.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Result:<em> </em></strong><em>Thrips palmi </em>and <em>Thrips tabaci </em>were observed during the crop&rsquo;s early stages before blossoming. <em>Frankliniella schultzei</em> is a polyphagous pest species that has been found infesting all phases of crop development, from early leaf through pod formation. During and after blooming, the four species <em>Megalurothrips usitatus</em>, <em>Thrips parvispinus</em>, <em>Chaetanaphothrips orchidii</em> and <em>Haplothrips gowdeyi </em>began to infest. Shannon and Simpson diversity indices were determined to be -1.739 and -0.1979. According to Shannon index, C. orchidii and T. parvispinus were the first and second predominant species after flowering. Taxonomic investigations of the collected species were done and substantiated with molecular identification of those analyzed species. A phylogenetic tree of the analyzed sequences was constructed to denote species divergence based on their specific sequences.&nbsp;</p>


<p>Identifying Diversity of Thrips on Lablab (<em>Lablab purpureus</em>): A Potential Vegetable Crop</p>


<div style="text-align: justify;">Mucuna pruriens is a nutritionally and pharmaceutically important underutilized legume belonging to genus Mucuna of Leguminosae family. Extensive intraspecific diversity and adverse morphological features among the members have led to taxonomical confusions in the species. A total of 12 Mucuna pruriens accessions including its two botanical varieties, var. pruriens and var. utilis with six accessions each were analyzed to characterize the intraspecific diversity among them using the three barcode markers viz. ITS2, matK and trnHpsbA. &nbsp;Extensive intraspecific sequence diversity was observed in the trnHpsbA region, where as ITS2 and matK exhibited significant conserved regions. Such intraspecific sequence diversity is a limitation in adapting trnHpsbA as barcode as it may lead to misinterpretations, but in the present study an attempt has been made to extrapolate this diversity to explain within the species variations among Mucuna pruriens genotypes. Intraspecific sequence variations exhibited by trnHpsbA sequences were 83% in correlation with morphological features. The between groups mean distance of var. pruriens and var. utilis was found to be 0.346. Results of this study will complement with the existing molecular, morphological, ytological and biochemical markers towards Velvet bean improvement programs.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Variations in the<em> trnHpsbA</em> region of <em>Mucuna pruriens </em>L. (DC.) varieties of India: an insight on intraspecific diversity&nbsp;</div>

<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 />
<br />
<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 />
<br />
<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>

<div>&nbsp;</div>


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


<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

<div><strong>Background:</strong> Plant growth promoting rhizobia play an important in agricultural ecosystem through symbiotic association with a wide range of leguminous plants. Legume-rhizobia association is a host specific symbiosis hence the need to identify the strains and the diversity of rhizobia associated with specific type of legume for better bio-prospecting of the associated benefits. A wide range of variation is present among the distribution of rhizobia and greatly affected by geographical locality, edaphic factors and environmental variation with time and space. Molecular techniques have been developed to aid the traditional phenotypic and morpho-cultural techniques in distinguishing the different microbial genera, species and strains. The present study aimed at isolation and morpho-molecular characterization of rhizobia from root nodule of green gram cultivated in central part of India.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Methods:</strong> In the field-laboratory investigation during 2018-2019, various locations of central India with contrasting agro climatic conditions were surveyed and rhizobia trapping done. A total of 40 rhizobia were retrieved from nodules of green gram and characterized in laboratory based on morphological, biochemical and molecular techniques and results validated for taxonomic identification.&nbsp;<br />
<br />
<strong>Result:</strong> In our investigation all forty isolated rhizobia were found phosphate solubilizers, 38 IAA producers and 37 ammonia excretors and grew well at 28oC and 37oC. In carbohydrate fermentation test 34 isolates changed the broth colour from red to yellow with gas formation in durum tubes. Twenty diverse rhizobia isolates were selected with respect to their multifunctional properties and studied for molecular characterization. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, these bacterial strains were identified under two genera: <em>Rhizobium</em> and <em>Brady Rhizobium</em>. Phylogenetic analysis divided 20 rhizobia isolates into two clusters. Major group included 12 strains and minor group included 8 strains.</div>


<div>Genetic Characterization and Diversity of Rhizobia Isolated from Root Nodules of Green Gram (<em>Vigna radiata </em>L.) found in Central Plateau of India</div>


<p><strong>Background:</strong> Lentil plants enhance soil quality and productivity by forming symbiotic relationships with a diverse group of microbes present in the rhizosphere. The Cultivar-specific interactions, Rhizobium strains and plant genetics influence microbial diversity in the rhizosphere. This study aims to evaluate and compare bacterial diversity in lentil rhizospheres using metagenomics and 16S rRNA gene sequencing.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<strong>Methods: </strong>Rhizosphere soil samples from lentil cultivated sites were used for sequencing analysis. Genomic DNA was isolated from the rhizospheric soil using a standard protocol. Sanger/Illumina sequencing with a read length of 1.9 was performed on the extracted genomic DNA. Kraken 2 was used for taxonomic classification. Alpha diversity was measured in metagenomic samples to assess diversity.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
<strong>Result:</strong> The present research study identifies Proteobacteria as the dominant phylum and the important taxon <em>Rhizobium leguminosarum</em> in the lentil rhizosphere microbiome. At the class level, <em>Gammaproteobacteria</em> were the most dominant (64.23%), followed by <em>Alphaproteobacteria</em> (4.633%), <em>Betaproteobacteria</em> (2.042%), <em>Deltaproteobacteria</em> (1.691%), <em>Epsilonproteobacteria</em> (0.2565%), <em>Actinobacteria</em> (5.376%) and <em>Rubrobacteria</em> (0.2303%). Further studies will focus on metabolic pathways, nutrient cycle, stress tolerance and pathogen suppression. These microbial communities could improve crop quality and sustainability in a fluctuating climate.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


<p>16S Metagenomic Analysis of Microbial Diversity from the Rhizosphere of Lentil (<em>Lens culinaris</em> Medik) Collected from Tezpur, Assam</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 />
<br />
<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>


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

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

Identifying Diversity of Thrips on Lablab (Lablab purpureus): A Potential Vegetable Crop

Variations in the trnHpsbA region of Mucuna pruriens L. (DC.) varieties of India: an insight on intraspecific diversity

Diversity analysis of pea genotypes using RAPD markers

Effects of Genotypic Diversity on Insect-pests of Soybean

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

Genetic Characterization and Diversity of Rhizobia Isolated from Root Nodules of Green Gram (Vigna radiata L.) found in Central Plateau of India

16S Metagenomic Analysis of Microbial Diversity from the Rhizosphere of Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik) Collected from Tezpur, Assam

Genetic Diversity of Six Duck Populations in India