- Pakistan
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Background: Soil salinity has been affecting wheat production worldwide over past few decades. Evaluation of wheat genotypes for salinity tolerance at germination and vegetative growth level is crucial. Marker assisted selection is a... more
Background: Soil salinity has been affecting wheat production worldwide over past few decades. Evaluation of wheat genotypes for salinity tolerance at germination and vegetative growth level is crucial. Marker assisted selection is a technique used extensively for choosing salt-tolerant genotypes from breeding populations to introduce novel genes. Methods and materials: The current study's main goal was to discover salt-stress resistant genes; genetic divergence and genome-wide connection by using recently designed candidate gene-based simple-sequence-repeat markers (cg-SSRs). The phenotypic connection of morphological features during the germination growth stage i.e., germination period, root length/weight and shoot length/weight, and vegetative growth stages i.e., root length/weight and shoot length/weight were tested in a group of 50 wheat genotypes. Significant difference was observed in germination rate, root length and weight among control and saline treatments. Conclusion...
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Utilization of modern breeding techniques for developing high yielding and uniform plant types ultimately narrowing the genetic makeup of most crops. Narrowed genetic makeup of these crops has made them vulnerable towards disease and... more
Utilization of modern breeding techniques for developing high yielding and uniform plant types ultimately narrowing the genetic makeup of most crops. Narrowed genetic makeup of these crops has made them vulnerable towards disease and insect epidemics. For sustainable crop production, genetic variability of these crops must be broadened against various biotic and abiotic stresses. One of the ways to widen genetic configuration of these crops is to identify novel additional sources of durable resistance. In this regard crops wild relatives are providing valuable sources of allelic diversity towards various biotic, abiotic stress tolerance and quality components. For incorporating novel variability from wild relative’s wide hybridization technique has become a promising breeding method. For this purpose, wheat-Th. bessarabicum amphiploid, addition and translocation lines have been screened in field and screen house conditions to get novel sources of yellow rust and Karnal bunt resistan...
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Two-line hybrid wheat system using thermo-photo sensitive genic male sterility (TPSGMS) is now a dominant and promising approach of wheat heterosis utilization in China. However, few TPSGMS lines available for practical application have... more
Two-line hybrid wheat system using thermo-photo sensitive genic male sterility (TPSGMS) is now a dominant and promising approach of wheat heterosis utilization in China. However, few TPSGMS lines available for practical application have always been a bottleneck affecting the efficiency of creating hybrids with strong heterosis since its establishment in 1992. This study aimed to improve the efficiency of developing TPSGMS lines by doubled haploid (DH) breeding. F 1 s and selected F 2 and F 3 sterile plants from 8 crosses made with 2 commercial TPSGMS lines K78S and K456S were used to produce DH lines by wheat × maize system. 24 elite sterile lines possessing stable sterility, good outcrossing and yield potentials, resistance to yellow rust and powdery mildew, and desirable plant height (50-60 cm) were obtained within 4 years. 20 out of 24 elite lines that performed stable sterility in tests of two or three years and high outcrossing rate (>70%) under open pollination, will be use...
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The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important cash crop with a complex genome and with features of aneuploidy with a high level of heterozygosity. It is a prerequisite for potato breeding to have knowledge of genetic diversity and... more
The potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important cash crop with a complex genome and with features of aneuploidy with a high level of heterozygosity. It is a prerequisite for potato breeding to have knowledge of genetic diversity and population structure. To understand the genetic characteristics of potato cultivars in Pakistan, 25 potato varieties were characterized with simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers to distinguish closely related varieties. In total, 214 alleles were amplified with 35 SSR markers exhibiting 89.2% polymorphism. The maximum number of alleles and polymorphic alleles per locus were 20 and 14 for the markers S25 and S174, respectively. The polymorphic information content (PIC) extended from 0.00–0.87. The size of the amplified PCR product ranged between (30–1000 bp). A cluster analysis divided the 25 varieties into three clusters: cluster I revealed the most diversity, followed by cluster II with 11 varieties and cluster III with 13 varieties. Nei’s genetic div...
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Trend in expression of amylase gene along with changes in starch and total sugar contents in different banana cultivars during fruit ripening stages were examined. Five exotic cultivars of banana were selected. The ripening stages of... more
Trend in expression of amylase gene along with changes in starch and total sugar contents in different banana cultivars during fruit ripening stages were examined. Five exotic cultivars of banana were selected. The ripening stages of fingers were designated by changes in color from green to yellow. RT-PCR analysis revealed that expression of amylase gene was barely detectable during first three stages (6 weeks), but gradually increased at 4th stage and became very strong during 6th to 7th stage (ripening stage). A significant decrease in starch content was observed in all the cultivars at ripening stage while sugar contents increased correspondingly. In all the cultivars, the starch contents ranged from 21.8% to 24.67% at first stage and decreased to almost zero (0.32 to 0.60%) at 11th stage. On the other hand sugar contents were increased from 1% to 1.90% (23.2 to 24.2) from 1st to 11th stage. These findings have future implications in developing functional food products having des...
Crop productivity is impaired by a wide range of abiotic stresses. Cold stress is the main factor that causes the decrease in productivity of tomato. Through genetic engineering, a single gene can be easily transferred with desired... more
Crop productivity is impaired by a wide range of abiotic stresses. Cold stress is the main factor that causes the decrease in productivity of tomato. Through genetic engineering, a single gene can be easily transferred with desired characteristics into local best performing varieties. CBF/DREB1 is the most effectively used gene family to engineer cold stress tolerance in tomato. The aim of this study was to focus on the transgene expression and inheritance pattern in segregating generation of tomato lines and impact of transgene in different genetic backgrounds. In this study, transfer of transgene through conventional breeding into two elite cultivars (BSX-935 and 95017) was carried out. The lines used for detection and confirmation of transgene were previously developed by genetic transformation with a construct containing the AtDREB1A gene driven by the stress-inducible promoter lip-9. Transformants of T4 generation were identified by PCR and were selfpollinated to generate T5 pr...
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Evaluation of drought stress effects on germination and
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Banana is one of the major cash and fruit crops of Pakistan. The lack of information concerning genetic diversity and purity within locally cultivated banana varieties is a major bottleneck in improving its genetics. Due to the existence... more
Banana is one of the major cash and fruit crops of Pakistan. The lack of information concerning genetic diversity and purity within locally cultivated banana varieties is a major bottleneck in improving its genetics. Due to the existence of a narrow genetic background, it’s quite important to find genomic variations in banana varieties. DNA marker-based techniques have been used to effectively characterize banana varieties. In the current study, Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) markers were used to characterize banana cultivars and to assess the genetic diversity of 14 local banana varieties grown in Pakistan. Out of the 45 primers used, 40 primers revealed reproducible results and produced 121 polymorphic bands, which contributed a ratio of 47.87 polymorphism. The ISSR UBC-835 and UBC-834 possessed the highest PIC ranged between (86–88%) in banana varieties, while the lowest PIC (46%) was detected in the case of UBC−857 marker with (100–1500 bp) PCR product size. Pairwise Jaccar...
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Soil Microbiologists have been concentrating on manipulation of rhizosphere microbes in cereals, but many researchers have reported that rhizobia can act as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Rhizobium species impacted the crop... more
Soil Microbiologists have been concentrating on manipulation of rhizosphere microbes in cereals, but many researchers have reported that rhizobia can act as plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR). Rhizobium species impacted the crop ontogeny by root / endophytic colonization, producing phytohormones, efficient nutrient use and nutrient solubilization / mineralization. Field studies were performed at Soil Bacteriology Section and Soil Chemistry Section, Faisalabad to assess the comparative potential of Rhizobium species for promoting the growth, yield of wheat and rice. Auxin biosynthesis potential of isolates of Rhizobium species (mung (Vigna radiata), berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum), chickpea (Cicer arietinum), lentil (Lens culinaris) and peanut (Arachis hypogaea)) was determined and isolates of each species having higher values were used for field experiments. Assay for root / shoot elongation, root colonization in plates were carried out under controlled conditions. The rhi...
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Present study was conducted to check the ameliorative effect of foliar applications on iron (Fe) deficiency in peanut. The hydroponics experiments were performed at National Agriculture Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan. Various foliar... more
Present study was conducted to check the ameliorative effect of foliar applications on iron (Fe) deficiency in peanut. The hydroponics experiments were performed at National Agriculture Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan. Various foliar treatments were used to check FeSO4 alone and its combined effect with citric acid and surfactants. FeSO4 alone and in combination with citric acid showed ameliorative effect on Fe deficiency in peanut. Active Fe concentration of BARI-2000 and BARD-699 increased up to 52% and 25% as compared to control, when foliar treatment of FeSO4 was applied. Combined effect of FeSO4 and citric acid resulted 55% and 56% increase of active Fe concentrations compared to control. However, foliar application of surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate) suppressed the growth of peanut. Various morpho physiological parameters showed that BARD-699 was more responsive to foliar applications, while citric acid alone and in combination can be used in correcting Fe deficiency ...
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Application of different fertilizers to check the efficiency of expression of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) gene in one of the leading commercialized crops (cotton) against Lepidopteran species is of great concern. The expression of Cry... more
Application of different fertilizers to check the efficiency of expression of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) gene in one of the leading commercialized crops (cotton) against Lepidopteran species is of great concern. The expression of Cry protein level can be controlled by the improvement of nutrients levels. Therefore, the myth of response of Cry toxin to different combinations of NP fertilizers was explored in three Bt cotton cultivars. Combinations include three levels of nitrogen and three levels of phosphorus fertilizers. Immunostrips and Cry gene(s) specific primer based PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) analysis were used for the presence of Bt gene that unveiled the presence of Cry1Ac gene only. Further, the ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) kit was used to quantify the expression of Cry1Ac protein. Under various NP fertilizers rates, the level of toxin protein exhibited highly significant differences. The highest toxin level mean was found to be 2.3740 and 2.1732 µg/g und...
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The genetic basis of salt tolerance was investigated in six bread wheat cultivars (Local white, Pavon, Pasban 90, Frontana, Tobari 66 and Chakwal 97) differing in salinity tolerance, and their F1 crosses made in a half diallel mating... more
The genetic basis of salt tolerance was investigated in six bread wheat cultivars (Local white, Pavon, Pasban 90, Frontana, Tobari 66 and Chakwal 97) differing in salinity tolerance, and their F1 crosses made in a half diallel mating design. The F1s and parents were germinated in pots, and were subjected to 200 mM NaCl salt stress after one month. Most of the crosses had high heterosis for yield suggesting that breeding for high yield under salt stress is possible. Narrow sense (h2 N) heritability estimates ranged from 0 to 51%, whereas broad sense (h2 B) heritability estimates ranged from 25 to 84 % for the studied traits. Additive genetic effects were significant for days to heading, days to maturity, plant height and fertile tillers plant-1, suggesting that early selection could be useful to bring desirable changes in these characters under NaCl stress. Dominance effects were significant for yield and yield contributing traits, indicating that selection for yield under NaCl stres...
Wheat stripe rust is caused by Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici. It adversely affects the yield and quality of wheat grain. Seeds produced from stripe rust damaged crop have low vigour and poor emergence following germination. Stripe... more
Wheat stripe rust is caused by Puccinia striiformis f.sp. tritici. It adversely affects the yield and quality of wheat grain. Seeds produced from stripe rust damaged crop have low vigour and poor emergence following germination. Stripe rust pathogen can cause 100% yield losses in susceptible cultivars if stripe rust occurs at an early stage and the infection continues to develop during wheat’s growth. Stripe rust has caused yield losses ranging from 10-70% in most areas of wheat production (Chen, 2005). The wide range of yield losses depend on the susceptibility of wheat cultivar grown, timing of the initial infection, rate with which stripe rust develops and duration of stripe rust infection (Chen, 2005). Wheat rusts can either be controlled by spraying chemical fungicides or by developing resistant varieties. Fungicides are expensive, environment non-friendly and need to be applied at a specific growth stage. On the other hand, development of resistant varieties is relatively inex...
Research Interests: Biology and Stripe Rust
A hydroponic study was conducted to see the performance of fifteen Brassica genotypes (BARD-I, Sultan Raya, 19-H, Shiralle, Dunkled, 85-508, Toria, 85-499, BSA, 85-397, 85-500, 85-497, 85-5001, CON-I, and Jewel) for their salt tolerance.... more
A hydroponic study was conducted to see the performance of fifteen Brassica genotypes (BARD-I, Sultan Raya, 19-H, Shiralle, Dunkled, 85-508, Toria, 85-499, BSA, 85-397, 85-500, 85-497, 85-5001, CON-I, and Jewel) for their salt tolerance. Four levels of NaCl (0, 30, 60 and 90 mM/L) were developed. One week old two healthy seedlings of each Brassica genotypes were transplanted in holes of thermopole sheet floating over a 200 mL capacity container having half strength Hoagland solution. Increasing the NaCl salinity significantly reduced the shoot and root dry weight of all Brassica genotypes. On an average, about 47% reduction in shoot dry weight was observed under higher salinity level (90 mM/NaCl). Although, all the genotypes differed among themselves in ability to tolerate salinity however, ranking order of genotypes showed that Sultan Raya performed well followed by BARD-I than rest of the genotypes. Genotype 85-500 produced comparatively the least shoot and root dry weights and ac...
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In-planta transformation is an efficient, quick and tissue culture independent system for crop plants improvement. In-planta transformation is a useful system for those plants that lack tissue culture and regeneration system. Therefore,... more
In-planta transformation is an efficient, quick and tissue culture independent system for crop plants improvement. In-planta transformation is a useful system for those plants that lack tissue culture and regeneration system. Therefore, the direct in-planta methods are commonly used for the transformation of many important genes into these plant species. The two most common Agrobacterium mediated in-planta methods such as floral dip and vacuum infiltration have been successfully used by many researchers in both dicot and monocot plants. The main advantages of in-planta transformation are to produce large number of transgenic plants and accumulation of high concentration of total soluble protein in short time. The production of chimera plants and lack of stable transgene expression at T1 or after T1 stage are some of the problems to these methods that need further improvements. The present review mainly focuses on in-planta transformation protocols that were successfully used for man...
An experiment to see the effect of FeSO4 supplementation (0, 5, 10 and 15 mg k.g FeSO4) along with NPK basal dose (20:25:10 mg kg) on growth and ionic concentration of Brassica campestris (Var. Sultan Raya) under various levels (0, 5 and... more
An experiment to see the effect of FeSO4 supplementation (0, 5, 10 and 15 mg k.g FeSO4) along with NPK basal dose (20:25:10 mg kg) on growth and ionic concentration of Brassica campestris (Var. Sultan Raya) under various levels (0, 5 and 10 dS m) of NaCl salinity during 2017-18 was conducted at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad. Brassica seeds were sown and grown to ANALYSIS VOL. 6(15), 2020 Agriculture ISSN 2347–3819 EISSN 2347–386X DISCOVERY
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A two years field study according to split plot design was conducted to investigate the impactof crop residue (CR) incorporation and P application (0, 40, 80, 120 kg P2O5/ha) on P use efficiency andyield of direct seeded rice (DSR) and... more
A two years field study according to split plot design was conducted to investigate the impactof crop residue (CR) incorporation and P application (0, 40, 80, 120 kg P2O5/ha) on P use efficiency andyield of direct seeded rice (DSR) and wheat grown under saline soil (ECe = 4.59 dS/m; pHs = 8.38;SAR = 6.57 (mmolc/L)1/2; extractable P = 4.07 mg/kg; texture = sandy clay loam), during the years 2011and 2012. Planting of DSR (with and without crop residue incorporation @ 2 tonnes/ha) were placed inmain plots and P application was in sub plots. Data on tillering, plant height, panicle length, 1000 grainweight, paddy and straw yields were collected. On an average of two years, maximum tillers (18), paniclelength (33), grain/panicle (121) and paddy yield (3.26 t/ha) were produced with P application @ 80 kgP2O5/ha along with CR incorporation. Similarly in case of wheat grown after DSR, maximum tillers (17),spike length (17), grains/panicle (66) and grain yield (3.56 t/ha) were produced with P...
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conducted on direct seeded rice and wheat for two consecutive years at Soil Salinity Research Institute (SSRI) Farm, Pindi Bhattian, Pakistan to investigate the yield and economics of direct seeded rice and wheat under crop residue... more
conducted on direct seeded rice and wheat for two consecutive years at Soil Salinity Research Institute (SSRI) Farm, Pindi Bhattian, Pakistan to investigate the yield and economics of direct seeded rice and wheat under crop residue incorporation and phosphorus applications. Split plot design (crop residue in main plots and P application in sub plots) was followed with three replications. Biomass yields were collected at maturity of each crop. Maximum straw and grain -1 yields of both crops were harvested with the application of P O @ 80 kg ha along 2 5 -1 with crop residues incorporations. Overall 2.75 and 2.89 t ha of paddy and -1 wheat, respectively were obtained with P O @ 80 kg ha under crop residue 2 5 -1 incorporation. Although, the yields produced with the treatment, 80 kg P O ha + 2 5 -1 crop residue, performed similar to P O @ 120 kg ha without crop residues 2 5
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Soil salinity is one of the major environmental problems affecting agricultural production in arid and semi-arid regions of the world, both in irrigated and dry land agriculture. The deleterious effects of salinity on plant growth are... more
Soil salinity is one of the major environmental problems affecting agricultural production in arid and semi-arid regions of the world, both in irrigated and dry land agriculture. The deleterious effects of salinity on plant growth are associated with low osmotic potential of soil solution causing physiological drought, nutritional imbalances and specific ion toxicity or combination of all these factors. Plant growth responds to salinity in two phases: osmotic phase that inhibits growth of young leaves and ionic phase that accelerates senescence of mature leaves. Plant adaptations to salt stress are of three diverse types: osmotic tolerance, sodium, chloride exclusion and the tolerance of tissue to accumulated sodium. Ability of plant cells to keep low cytosolic sodium concentrations is an essential process associated with the capacity of plants to grow in high salt concentrations. Traditional breeding programs trying to improve abiotic stress tolerance have had some success but are ...
Hybrid technology promises higher yields. For Capsicum annuum L., hybrid production is preferred because the vigorous yield uniformity, tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses and other excellent horticultural traits. From the... more
Hybrid technology promises higher yields. For Capsicum annuum L., hybrid production is preferred because the vigorous yield uniformity, tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses and other excellent horticultural traits. From the breeder’s perspective, development of hybrids permits better control of intellectual property rights including control and protection of parental lines. Nowadays elite chilli hybrids have become popular due to their best performance. At present indigenously developed 10 elite chilli hybrids (Hybrid-1 to Hybrid-10) along with their 6 elite parents/inbred lines were used for molecular study to authenticate the F1 progeny. The DNA based hybrid purity testing was carried out by using 16 inter simple sequence repeat polymerase chain reaction (ISSR-PCR) markers. Out of 16;8 ISSR primers, which included six di-and two tri-nucleotide primers amplified clear and polymorphic bands in 1-10 hybrids with their parents. The number of amplicons per primer ranged from 4...
The study was conducted to characterize genetic and morphological characters of eight guava genotypes (Rang wala gola, Saddabahar, Saddabahar barhi surahi, Larrkana, Kohati, Special amrod, Moti surahi wala and Amrod barhi surahi) at... more
The study was conducted to characterize genetic and morphological characters of eight guava genotypes (Rang wala gola, Saddabahar, Saddabahar barhi surahi, Larrkana, Kohati, Special amrod, Moti surahi wala and Amrod barhi surahi) at National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad during 2016. Completely randomized design (CRD) was followed with three replications. In order to study the genetic diversity in these varieties, the randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was performed for molecular characterization. For morphological characterization, the morphological descriptors were used. The clustering tree was produced through the results of the seven primers and morphological descriptors through which the genetic and morphological diversity was observed. Through the results produced from the molecular markers and morphological parameters we have found the variation in the genetical make up and physiological appearance in these eight varieties of guava. The clustering t...
Drought is a major limiting factor affecting productivity. Wheat is a major crop and staple food in Paki stan. Genetic linkage map construction based on linked DNA markers spanning whole wheat genome and subsequently QTL mapping for... more
Drought is a major limiting factor affecting productivity. Wheat is a major crop and staple food in Paki stan. Genetic linkage map construction based on linked DNA markers spanning whole wheat genome and subsequently QTL mapping for drought tolerance is a way forward to enhance breeder’s ability for effective selection. An F8 population derived from the cross of OPATA x SH-349 has been used. An experiment was conducted at germination stage under controlled conditions. The drought was induced by15% PEG nutrient solution in acid washed sand medium. Microsatellite DNA markers data were used for linkage maps construction. Morphological data under drought and non-stressed conditions along with linkage maps data were used for QTL mapping. The results of QTL analysis using single marker ana lysis showed 14 SSR markers linked to QTLs for five traits in both drought and control condition. Using simple interval mapping and composite interval mapping 12 QTLs for different traits of interest we...
In present study, different foliar treatments were applied on peanut to check their ameliorative effect on Fe deficiency. In hydroponics experiments, foliar applications of FeSO4, Fe-EDTA, sequestrene and ferric chloride were applied to... more
In present study, different foliar treatments were applied on peanut to check their ameliorative effect on Fe deficiency. In hydroponics experiments, foliar applications of FeSO4, Fe-EDTA, sequestrene and ferric chloride were applied to check their effect on Fe deficiency chlorosis in two varieties of peanut already screened as BARI-2000 (Fe deficiency tolerant) and BARD-699 (Fe deficiency sensitive). Sequestrene proved to be more effective in increasing the growth of plant. Photosynthetic rate increased up to 58 and 70% in BARI-2000 and BARD-699 respectively as compared to control with foliar application of sequestrene. Similarly higher active Fe concentration was recorded in both genotypes. Up to 14 and 41% increase in active Fe concentration was observed. Various morpho physiological parameters including root length, shoot length, root fresh weight, root dry weight, shoot fresh and shoot dry weights, SPAD values, photosynthetic and transpiration rates showed that BARD-699 was mor...
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Canola oil has been used in the Pakistan for the treatment of various diseases and skin infections. Oil was extracted with n-hexane from the seeds of canola (Brassica napus L.) and was evaluated for free fatty acid value. Four... more
Canola oil has been used in the Pakistan for the treatment of various diseases and skin infections. Oil was extracted with n-hexane from the seeds of canola (Brassica napus L.) and was evaluated for free fatty acid value. Four microorganisms namely; Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas originals, and Klebsiella pneumonia, has known to cause some infections treatable with these oils were investigated. The results showed that all oil shown inhibitory effects against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Pseudomonas originals but no inhibitory effects was found against Staphylococcus aureus.
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... Thanks also go to Dr. Abdus Salant, Professor Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, for his continued guidance and support during my stay at Bangor and afterwards. Thanks also toDr. Javaid Akhtar and Dr. Rashid Ahmed for their... more
... Thanks also go to Dr. Abdus Salant, Professor Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, for his continued guidance and support during my stay at Bangor and afterwards. Thanks also toDr. Javaid Akhtar and Dr. Rashid Ahmed for their supervision and guidance. ...