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Sudhir Shukla
  • Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Sudhir Shukla

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Chenopodium spp. is being used as a leafy vegetable and subsidiary grain crop in different parts of the world due to its rich nutritional quality and its ability to grow in stress conditions. A field experiment was conducted in Lucknow... more
Chenopodium spp. is being used as a leafy vegetable and subsidiary grain crop in different parts of the world due to its rich nutritional quality and its ability to grow in stress conditions. A field experiment was conducted in Lucknow (India) to assess the genetic diversity in 40 accessions of Chenopodium spp. based on mineral composition of the leaves. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the first 4 PCs (Principal Component) accounted for 74.70% of the total variance among the accessions. The first PC (PC1) accounted for ...
Twenty nine germplasm lines of Chenopodium quinoa and two of Chenopodium berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae were evaluated for 12 morphological and 7 quality traits for two test seasons. The 19 traits were analyzed for cluster and principal... more
Twenty nine germplasm lines of Chenopodium quinoa and two of Chenopodium berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae were evaluated for 12 morphological and 7 quality traits for two test seasons. The 19 traits were analyzed for cluster and principal component analysis. The first four PCs contributed 78.70 % of the variability among the germplasm lines. The first PC accounted for 39.5% of the variation and had inflorescence/plant, plant height and stem diameter as the traits with largest coefficients, all with positive sign. The characters with greatest positive weight on PC2 were days to maturity (0.309), inflorescence length (0.260) and branches/plant. All the germplasm lines were grouped into six clusters based on average linkage method. Cluster III had high values for seed yield and most of the quality traits but showed a small seed size. The dendrogram separated the two lines of C. berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae from the quinoa lines.
Chenopodium spp. is being used as a leafy vegetable and subsidiary grain crop in different parts of the world due to its rich nutritional quality and its ability to grow in stress conditions. A field experiment was conducted in Lucknow... more
Chenopodium spp. is being used as a leafy vegetable and subsidiary grain crop in different parts of the world due to its rich nutritional quality and its ability to grow in stress conditions. A field experiment was conducted in Lucknow (India) to assess the genetic diversity in 40 accessions of Chenopodium spp. based on mineral composition of the leaves. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the first 4 PCs (Principal Component) accounted for 74.70% of the total variance among the accessions. The first PC (PC1) accounted for ...
Twenty nine germplasm lines of Chenopodium quinoa and two of Chenopodium berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae were evaluated for 12 morphological and 7 quality traits for two test seasons. The 19 traits were analyzed for cluster and principal... more
Twenty nine germplasm lines of Chenopodium quinoa and two of Chenopodium berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae were evaluated for 12 morphological and 7 quality traits for two test seasons. The 19 traits were analyzed for cluster and principal component analysis. The first four PCs contributed 78.70 % of the variability among the germplasm lines. The first PC accounted for 39.5% of the variation and had inflorescence/plant, plant height and stem diameter as the traits with largest coefficients, all with positive sign. The characters with greatest positive weight on PC2 were days to maturity (0.309), inflorescence length (0.260) and branches/plant. All the germplasm lines were grouped into six clusters based on average linkage method. Cluster III had high values for seed yield and most of the quality traits but showed a small seed size. The dendrogram separated the two lines of C. berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae from the quinoa lines.
Twenty nine strains of vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor were grown for two successive seasons to study different selection parameters for foliage yield and its nine contributing morphological and quality traits. The strains AV-38... more
Twenty nine strains of vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor were grown for two successive seasons to study different selection parameters for foliage yield and its nine contributing morphological and quality traits. The strains AV-38 (5.06 kg/plot) and AV-31 (5.04 kg/plot) recorded highest foliage yield, followed by AV-30 (4.78 kg/plot) and AV-23 (4.70 kg/plot). The protein and carotenoid content averaged 1.24 ± 0.03 mg/100 mg and 0.83 ± 0.02 mg/g respectively. The leaves of A. tricolor also have considerable quantities of ascorbic acid (112.33 ± 5.00 mg/100 g) and fibre (8.39 ± 0.10%). The mean of individual cuttings for plant height, leaf size, stem diameter, foliage yield, protein, ascorbic acid and fibre content increased with successive cuttings till third cutting and thereafter showed a decline. Genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) values ranged from 6.80 to 28.25%. However, the fibre content, branches/plant, leaves/plant, plant height and stem diameter showed lowest values of GCV. The values of heritability estimates were high for all the traits in all the cuttings as well as on pooled basis and ranged from 0.89 for branches/plant to 0.98 for foliage yield. Highest expected genetic advance was noticed for ascorbic acid (57.48%), followed by foliage yield (48.30%) and leaf size (29.51%).
Leaf samples were collected from 40 accessions of Chenopodium spp. and assessed for six heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr and Cd) accumulation to explore the use of Chenopodium for phytoextraction of heavy metals. The results suggest that... more
Leaf samples were collected from 40 accessions of Chenopodium spp. and assessed for six heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr and Cd) accumulation to explore the use of Chenopodium for phytoextraction of heavy metals. The results suggest that Chenopodium spp. have the ability to accumulate large quantities of heavy metals in the leaf tissues even when they are present in low concentrations in the soil. C. quinoa is a better accumulator of Ni, Cr and Cd than the rest of the species, while C. album accessions are good copper accumulators. Bioconcentration factor for chromium ranged from 0.36 (C. album “Chandanbathua”) to 6.57 (C. quinoa Ames 13719) with 13 accessions of C. quinoa scoring above the mean value. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was recorded for Ni, Cr and Cd, which indicated a major role of additive gene action in the inheritance of these characters. Zinc showed significant positive association with iron (0.351**), nickel (0.659**), chromium (0.743**) and cadmium (0.288**). Nickel was significantly and negatively associated with copper (−0.663**), while it was positively and significantly correlated with chromium (0.682**) and cadmium (0.461**). Considering the accumulation efficiency of Chenopodium spp. with respect to heavy metals, this genus should be further explored for decontamination of metal polluted soils, with plant breeding playing an important role in evolving new plant types with higher capacity of heavy metal accumulation.
Twenty nine strains of vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor were grown for two successive seasons to study different selection parameters for foliage yield and its nine contributing morphological and quality traits. The strains AV-38... more
Twenty nine strains of vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor were grown for two successive seasons to study different selection parameters for foliage yield and its nine contributing morphological and quality traits. The strains AV-38 (5.06 kg/plot) and AV-31 (5.04 kg/plot) recorded highest foliage yield, followed by AV-30 (4.78 kg/plot) and AV-23 (4.70 kg/plot). The protein and carotenoid content averaged 1.24 ± 0.03 mg/100 mg and 0.83 ± 0.02 mg/g respectively. The leaves of A. tricolor also have considerable quantities of ascorbic acid (112.33 ± 5.00 mg/100 g) and fibre (8.39 ± 0.10%). The mean of individual cuttings for plant height, leaf size, stem diameter, foliage yield, protein, ascorbic acid and fibre content increased with successive cuttings till third cutting and thereafter showed a decline. Genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) values ranged from 6.80 to 28.25%. However, the fibre content, branches/plant, leaves/plant, plant height and stem diameter showed lowest values of GCV. The values of heritability estimates were high for all the traits in all the cuttings as well as on pooled basis and ranged from 0.89 for branches/plant to 0.98 for foliage yield. Highest expected genetic advance was noticed for ascorbic acid (57.48%), followed by foliage yield (48.30%) and leaf size (29.51%).
Leaf samples were collected from 40 accessions of Chenopodium spp. and assessed for six heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr and Cd) accumulation to explore the use of Chenopodium for phytoextraction of heavy metals. The results suggest that... more
Leaf samples were collected from 40 accessions of Chenopodium spp. and assessed for six heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr and Cd) accumulation to explore the use of Chenopodium for phytoextraction of heavy metals. The results suggest that Chenopodium spp. have the ability to accumulate large quantities of heavy metals in the leaf tissues even when they are present in low concentrations in the soil. C. quinoa is a better accumulator of Ni, Cr and Cd than the rest of the species, while C. album accessions are good copper accumulators. Bioconcentration factor for chromium ranged from 0.36 (C. album “Chandanbathua”) to 6.57 (C. quinoa Ames 13719) with 13 accessions of C. quinoa scoring above the mean value. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was recorded for Ni, Cr and Cd, which indicated a major role of additive gene action in the inheritance of these characters. Zinc showed significant positive association with iron (0.351**), nickel (0.659**), chromium (0.743**) and cadmium (0.288**). Nickel was significantly and negatively associated with copper (−0.663**), while it was positively and significantly correlated with chromium (0.682**) and cadmium (0.461**). Considering the accumulation efficiency of Chenopodium spp. with respect to heavy metals, this genus should be further explored for decontamination of metal polluted soils, with plant breeding playing an important role in evolving new plant types with higher capacity of heavy metal accumulation.
Stability of foliage yield and its quality components has not been investigated in vegetable chenopods due to their underutilized status. The objectives of the present study were to assess genotype-environment interactions (GEI),... more
Stability of foliage yield and its quality components has not been investigated in vegetable chenopods due to their underutilized status. The objectives of the present study were to assess genotype-environment interactions (GEI), determine stability of yield and quality components and to compare different parametric and non-parametric stability parameters. The present study reports for the first time the effect of genotype and environment on foliage yield and three leaf quality traits viz. carotenoid, ascorbic acid and protein content in different species of Chenopodium. Twenty accessions comprising four species were tested in a randomized block design with three replications across four environments. For all the four traits the largest sum of squares was accounted for by the genotypes, followed by GEI and environments. Highest foliage yield of 16.02 q/ha was obtained from C. album PRC 9804, while the lowest was from C. album CHEN 63/80 (4.01 q/ha). Many indigenous accessions of C. album (PRC 9801, IC 107299, ‘Chandigarh’, ‘local’ and ‘NEFA’) were unstable both for foliage yield and most of the quality traits. Most of the exotic accessions of C. giganteum were both stable and high yielding, thus, reflecting the potential of these accessions for future breeding programs/variety release.
Chenopodium spp. is being used as a leafy vegetable and subsidiary grain crop in different parts of the world due to its rich nutritional quality and its ability to grow in stress conditions. A field experiment was conducted in Lucknow... more
Chenopodium spp. is being used as a leafy vegetable and subsidiary grain crop in different parts of the world due to its rich nutritional quality and its ability to grow in stress conditions. A field experiment was conducted in Lucknow (India) to assess the genetic diversity in 40 accessions of Chenopodium spp. based on mineral composition of the leaves. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the first 4 PCs (Principal Component) accounted for 74.70% of the total variance among the accessions. The first PC (PC1) accounted for ...
Populations in North India depend on a number of vegetable crops of which Amaranthus spp. is the most important since it is the only crop available in the hot summer months when no other foliage crop grows in the field. However, reports... more
Populations in North India depend on a number of vegetable crops of which Amaranthus spp. is the most important since it is the only crop available in the hot summer months when no other foliage crop grows in the field. However, reports on mineral composition of leaves are rare with absolutely no information on the qualitative improvement of foliage yield with special reference to minerals. Studies on correlation among the minerals as well as with yield and leaf attributes are also lacking. Hence, we report the proximate mineral composition in 30 strains of A. tricolor along with some suggestions for qualitative improvement of the foliage yield with reference to minerals. Our study showed that vegetable amaranth is a rich source of minerals like calcium (1.7±0.04 g/100 g), iron (1233.8±50.02 mg/kg), and zinc (791.7±28.98 mg/kg). The heritability estimates were high for most of the traits, with potassium and calcium showing high values, while comparatively lower values were recorded for magnesium and nickel. Nickel was the only mineral that showed positive correlation with all the minerals, as well as with leaf size and foliage yield. Zinc showed strong positive relationship with iron (0.66**) and manganese (0.74**), and was the only mineral exhibiting significant positive association with foliage yield. This study would be of use in enhancement of selected minerals in different regions according to local preferences and nutrient deficiency prevalent among the populations.
Twenty nine germplasm lines of Chenopodium quinoa and two of Chenopodium berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae were evaluated for 12 morphological and 7 quality traits for two test seasons. The 19 traits were analyzed for cluster and principal... more
Twenty nine germplasm lines of Chenopodium quinoa and two of Chenopodium berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae were evaluated for 12 morphological and 7 quality traits for two test seasons. The 19 traits were analyzed for cluster and principal component analysis. The first four PCs contributed 78.70 % of the variability among the germplasm lines. The first PC accounted for 39.5% of the variation and had inflorescence/plant, plant height and stem diameter as the traits with largest coefficients, all with positive sign. The characters with greatest positive weight on PC2 were days to maturity (0.309), inflorescence length (0.260) and branches/plant. All the germplasm lines were grouped into six clusters based on average linkage method. Cluster III had high values for seed yield and most of the quality traits but showed a small seed size. The dendrogram separated the two lines of C. berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae from the quinoa lines.
Genetic divergence in 110 population (20 parents and 90 F1 hybrids) of opium poppy was studied by multivariate analysis. All the entries were grouped in 14 clusters. Out of 20 parents, ten were accumulated in one cluster and rest 10... more
Genetic divergence in 110 population (20 parents and 90 F1 hybrids) of opium poppy was studied by multivariate analysis. All the entries were grouped in 14 clusters. Out of 20 parents, ten were accumulated in one cluster and rest 10 distributed over seven clusters. Estimates of cluster distance showed that maximum intra-cluster distance was in -cluster IX (25.62) followed by cluster I (22.41), V (22.23) and IV (21.06). The inter cluster distances varied from 16.62 (between cluster XII and XIV) to 195.10 (between cluster IV and IX). The cluster analysis indicated substantial diversity among the parental genotypes, which had the potential to release considerable variation in their crosses. The first four principal components (PCs) with eigen values >1 accounted for 68% of variation among the population. The first and second components could account for 29 and 20% of the total morphological and alkaloidal variations, respectively. The PC1 was closely related to yield and yield related traits. The characters contributing greatest positive weight on PC1 were opium yield, plant height, stem diameter, capsule weight/plant and seed yield/plant. The possibilities of relationship between genetic divergence, F1 performance, heterosis and GCA of parents have been explored.
The plant species Papaver somniferum L. (opium poppy) is grown commercially in several countries under secure area to produce opium and its major alkaloids i.e. morphine, codeine, thebaine, narcotine and papaverine for pharmaceutical... more
The plant species Papaver somniferum L. (opium poppy) is grown commercially in several countries under secure area to produce opium and its major alkaloids i.e. morphine, codeine, thebaine, narcotine and papaverine for pharmaceutical industries. In recent years the global demand for these alkaloids and its derivatives are growing. Seeing the global demand there is urgent need to develop high opium yielding varieties integrated with high specific alkaloids. However, a breeding programme focused on developing improved varieties requires knowledge about the genetic variability for the concern traits. Therefore the present investigation was undertaken to examine phenotypic and genotypic variability, broad sense heritability, genetic advance under selection and interrelationship of traits. A total of 122 accessions were found to be highly variables for all the traits studied. Broad sense heritability ranged from 74.18% (for opium yield/plant) to 99.00% (for papaverine content). Expected genetic advance was varied between 33.91% (for morphine content) and 257.46% (for papaverine content). Genetic correlation analysis revealed that opium yield is negatively correlated with morphine and papaverine content. Among alkaloids codeine, thebaine, narcotine and papaverine showed positive correlation among themselves. The correlations among alklaloids were justified based on the biosynthetic pathway of opium alkaloids.
Twenty nine strains of vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor were grown for two successive seasons to study different selection parameters for foliage yield and its nine contributing morphological and quality traits. The strains AV-38... more
Twenty nine strains of vegetable amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor were grown for two successive seasons to study different selection parameters for foliage yield and its nine contributing morphological and quality traits. The strains AV-38 (5.06 kg/plot) and AV-31 (5.04 kg/plot) recorded highest foliage yield, followed by AV-30 (4.78 kg/plot) and AV-23 (4.70 kg/plot). The protein and carotenoid content averaged 1.24 ± 0.03 mg/100 mg and 0.83 ± 0.02 mg/g respectively. The leaves of A. tricolor also have considerable quantities of ascorbic acid (112.33 ± 5.00 mg/100 g) and fibre (8.39 ± 0.10%). The mean of individual cuttings for plant height, leaf size, stem diameter, foliage yield, protein, ascorbic acid and fibre content increased with successive cuttings till third cutting and thereafter showed a decline. Genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) values ranged from 6.80 to 28.25%. However, the fibre content, branches/plant, leaves/plant, plant height and stem diameter showed lowest values of GCV. The values of heritability estimates were high for all the traits in all the cuttings as well as on pooled basis and ranged from 0.89 for branches/plant to 0.98 for foliage yield. Highest expected genetic advance was noticed for ascorbic acid (57.48%), followed by foliage yield (48.30%) and leaf size (29.51%).
Leaf samples were collected from 40 accessions of Chenopodium spp. and assessed for six heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr and Cd) accumulation to explore the use of Chenopodium for phytoextraction of heavy metals. The results suggest that... more
Leaf samples were collected from 40 accessions of Chenopodium spp. and assessed for six heavy metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr and Cd) accumulation to explore the use of Chenopodium for phytoextraction of heavy metals. The results suggest that Chenopodium spp. have the ability to accumulate large quantities of heavy metals in the leaf tissues even when they are present in low concentrations in the soil. C. quinoa is a better accumulator of Ni, Cr and Cd than the rest of the species, while C. album accessions are good copper accumulators. Bioconcentration factor for chromium ranged from 0.36 (C. album “Chandanbathua”) to 6.57 (C. quinoa Ames 13719) with 13 accessions of C. quinoa scoring above the mean value. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was recorded for Ni, Cr and Cd, which indicated a major role of additive gene action in the inheritance of these characters. Zinc showed significant positive association with iron (0.351**), nickel (0.659**), chromium (0.743**) and cadmium (0.288**). Nickel was significantly and negatively associated with copper (−0.663**), while it was positively and significantly correlated with chromium (0.682**) and cadmium (0.461**). Considering the accumulation efficiency of Chenopodium spp. with respect to heavy metals, this genus should be further explored for decontamination of metal polluted soils, with plant breeding playing an important role in evolving new plant types with higher capacity of heavy metal accumulation.
Fatty-acid composition was studied in a half diallel in opium poppies using six parents, F1 and F2. Poppy is an oleic-linoleic-acid type of crop with a low level of linolenic acid of up to 3% or only trace. Transgressive segregation was... more
Fatty-acid composition was studied in a half diallel in opium poppies using six parents, F1 and F2. Poppy is an oleic-linoleic-acid type of crop with a low level of linolenic acid of up to 3% or only trace. Transgressive segregation was observed in F2 having up to 81% linoleic acid making it suitable for development as a high-linoleic-acid crop. This is the first report of its kind in opium poppy.
Stability of foliage yield and its quality components has not been investigated in vegetable chenopods due to their underutilized status. The objectives of the present study were to assess genotype-environment interactions (GEI),... more
Stability of foliage yield and its quality components has not been investigated in vegetable chenopods due to their underutilized status. The objectives of the present study were to assess genotype-environment interactions (GEI), determine stability of yield and quality components and to compare different parametric and non-parametric stability parameters. The present study reports for the first time the effect of genotype and environment on foliage yield and three leaf quality traits viz. carotenoid, ascorbic acid and protein content in different species of Chenopodium. Twenty accessions comprising four species were tested in a randomized block design with three replications across four environments. For all the four traits the largest sum of squares was accounted for by the genotypes, followed by GEI and environments. Highest foliage yield of 16.02 q/ha was obtained from C. album PRC 9804, while the lowest was from C. album CHEN 63/80 (4.01 q/ha). Many indigenous accessions of C. album (PRC 9801, IC 107299, ‘Chandigarh’, ‘local’ and ‘NEFA’) were unstable both for foliage yield and most of the quality traits. Most of the exotic accessions of C. giganteum were both stable and high yielding, thus, reflecting the potential of these accessions for future breeding programs/variety release.
The foliage of 10 promising cultivars of vegetable amaranth from four cuttings were evaluated separately to gather information on different nutritional and antinutritional factors. Considering palatability and digestibility, the cultivars... more
The foliage of 10 promising cultivars of vegetable amaranth from four cuttings were evaluated separately to gather information on different nutritional and antinutritional factors. Considering palatability and digestibility, the cultivars AV-35/1, AV-35, AV-45, AV- 77 and AV-63 were found to be the most promising because of low fiber and high protein (g/100 g). On an overall mean basis, the cultivar AV-35 (353.0 ± 54.6 mg/kg) followed by AV-45 (350.25± 73.59 mg/kg) and AV-35/1 (324.78±58.56 mg/kg) had the higher carotenoid contents. Leaf protein content ranged from 1.95 to 3.06 g/100 g with the maximum being in AV-63 (3.06 g). The ascorbic acid was variable (135.0 to 215 mg/100 g); the highest was noted in AV-64 (215.0 mg/100 g). Oxalic acid was lowest in AV-45 (0.06%) followed by AV-151 (0.11%). Considering overall nutritional values, AV-35, AV-45 and AV-35/1 were the promising genotypes.
Populations in North India depend on a number of vegetable crops of which Amaranthus spp. is the most important since it is the only crop available in the hot summer months when no other foliage crop grows in the field. However, reports... more
Populations in North India depend on a number of vegetable crops of which Amaranthus spp. is the most important since it is the only crop available in the hot summer months when no other foliage crop grows in the field. However, reports on mineral composition of leaves are rare with absolutely no information on the qualitative improvement of foliage yield with special reference to minerals. Studies on correlation among the minerals as well as with yield and leaf attributes are also lacking. Hence, we report the proximate mineral composition in 30 strains of A. tricolor along with some suggestions for qualitative improvement of the foliage yield with reference to minerals. Our study showed that vegetable amaranth is a rich source of minerals like calcium (1.7±0.04 g/100 g), iron (1233.8±50.02 mg/kg), and zinc (791.7±28.98 mg/kg). The heritability estimates were high for most of the traits, with potassium and calcium showing high values, while comparatively lower values were recorded for magnesium and nickel. Nickel was the only mineral that showed positive correlation with all the minerals, as well as with leaf size and foliage yield. Zinc showed strong positive relationship with iron (0.66**) and manganese (0.74**), and was the only mineral exhibiting significant positive association with foliage yield. This study would be of use in enhancement of selected minerals in different regions according to local preferences and nutrient deficiency prevalent among the populations.
Stability of foliage yield and its quality components has not been investigated in vegetable chenopods due to their underutilized status. The objectives of the present study were to assess genotype-environment interactions (GEI),... more
Stability of foliage yield and its quality components has not been investigated in vegetable chenopods due to their underutilized status. The objectives of the present study were to assess genotype-environment interactions (GEI), determine stability of yield and quality components and to compare different parametric and non-parametric stability parameters. The present study reports for the first time the effect of genotype and environment on foliage yield and three leaf quality traits viz. carotenoid, ascorbic acid and protein content in different species of Chenopodium. Twenty accessions comprising four species were tested in a randomized block design with three replications across four environments. For all the four traits the largest sum of squares was accounted for by the genotypes, followed by GEI and environments. Highest foliage yield of 16.02 q/ha was obtained from C. album PRC 9804, while the lowest was from C. album CHEN 63/80 (4.01 q/ha). Many indigenous accessions of C. album (PRC 9801, IC 107299, ‘Chandigarh’, ‘local’ and ‘NEFA’) were unstable both for foliage yield and most of the quality traits. Most of the exotic accessions of C. giganteum were both stable and high yielding, thus, reflecting the potential of these accessions for future breeding programs/variety release.
Genetic divergence in 110 population (20 parents and 90 F1 hybrids) of opium poppy was studied by multivariate analysis. All the entries were grouped in 14 clusters. Out of 20 parents, ten were accumulated in one cluster and rest 10... more
Genetic divergence in 110 population (20 parents and 90 F1 hybrids) of opium poppy was studied by multivariate analysis. All the entries were grouped in 14 clusters. Out of 20 parents, ten were accumulated in one cluster and rest 10 distributed over seven clusters. Estimates of cluster distance showed that maximum intra-cluster distance was in -cluster IX (25.62) followed by cluster I (22.41), V (22.23) and IV (21.06). The inter cluster distances varied from 16.62 (between cluster XII and XIV) to 195.10 (between cluster IV and IX). The cluster analysis indicated substantial diversity among the parental genotypes, which had the potential to release considerable variation in their crosses. The first four principal components (PCs) with eigen values >1 accounted for 68% of variation among the population. The first and second components could account for 29 and 20% of the total morphological and alkaloidal variations, respectively. The PC1 was closely related to yield and yield related traits. The characters contributing greatest positive weight on PC1 were opium yield, plant height, stem diameter, capsule weight/plant and seed yield/plant. The possibilities of relationship between genetic divergence, F1 performance, heterosis and GCA of parents have been explored.
Populations in North India depend on a number of vegetable crops of which Amaranthus spp. is the most important since it is the only crop available in the hot summer months when no other foliage crop grows in the field. However, reports... more
Populations in North India depend on a number of vegetable crops of which Amaranthus spp. is the most important since it is the only crop available in the hot summer months when no other foliage crop grows in the field. However, reports on mineral composition of leaves are rare with absolutely no information on the qualitative improvement of foliage yield with special reference to minerals. Studies on correlation among the minerals as well as with yield and leaf attributes are also lacking. Hence, we report the proximate mineral composition in 30 strains of A. tricolor along with some suggestions for qualitative improvement of the foliage yield with reference to minerals. Our study showed that vegetable amaranth is a rich source of minerals like calcium (1.7±0.04 g/100 g), iron (1233.8±50.02 mg/kg), and zinc (791.7±28.98 mg/kg). The heritability estimates were high for most of the traits, with potassium and calcium showing high values, while comparatively lower values were recorded for magnesium and nickel. Nickel was the only mineral that showed positive correlation with all the minerals, as well as with leaf size and foliage yield. Zinc showed strong positive relationship with iron (0.66**) and manganese (0.74**), and was the only mineral exhibiting significant positive association with foliage yield. This study would be of use in enhancement of selected minerals in different regions according to local preferences and nutrient deficiency prevalent among the populations.
The plant species Papaver somniferum L. (opium poppy) is grown commercially in several countries under secure area to produce opium and its major alkaloids i.e. morphine, codeine, thebaine, narcotine and papaverine for pharmaceutical... more
The plant species Papaver somniferum L. (opium poppy) is grown commercially in several countries under secure area to produce opium and its major alkaloids i.e. morphine, codeine, thebaine, narcotine and papaverine for pharmaceutical industries. In recent years the global demand for these alkaloids and its derivatives are growing. Seeing the global demand there is urgent need to develop high opium yielding varieties integrated with high specific alkaloids. However, a breeding programme focused on developing improved varieties requires knowledge about the genetic variability for the concern traits. Therefore the present investigation was undertaken to examine phenotypic and genotypic variability, broad sense heritability, genetic advance under selection and interrelationship of traits. A total of 122 accessions were found to be highly variables for all the traits studied. Broad sense heritability ranged from 74.18% (for opium yield/plant) to 99.00% (for papaverine content). Expected genetic advance was varied between 33.91% (for morphine content) and 257.46% (for papaverine content). Genetic correlation analysis revealed that opium yield is negatively correlated with morphine and papaverine content. Among alkaloids codeine, thebaine, narcotine and papaverine showed positive correlation among themselves. The correlations among alklaloids were justified based on the biosynthetic pathway of opium alkaloids.
Genetic divergence in 110 population (20 parents and 90 F1 hybrids) of opium poppy was studied by multivariate analysis. All the entries were grouped in 14 clusters. Out of 20 parents, ten were accumulated in one cluster and rest 10... more
Genetic divergence in 110 population (20 parents and 90 F1 hybrids) of opium poppy was studied by multivariate analysis. All the entries were grouped in 14 clusters. Out of 20 parents, ten were accumulated in one cluster and rest 10 distributed over seven clusters. Estimates of cluster distance showed that maximum intra-cluster distance was in -cluster IX (25.62) followed by cluster I (22.41), V (22.23) and IV (21.06). The inter cluster distances varied from 16.62 (between cluster XII and XIV) to 195.10 (between cluster IV and IX). The cluster analysis indicated substantial diversity among the parental genotypes, which had the potential to release considerable variation in their crosses. The first four principal components (PCs) with eigen values >1 accounted for 68% of variation among the population. The first and second components could account for 29 and 20% of the total morphological and alkaloidal variations, respectively. The PC1 was closely related to yield and yield related traits. The characters contributing greatest positive weight on PC1 were opium yield, plant height, stem diameter, capsule weight/plant and seed yield/plant. The possibilities of relationship between genetic divergence, F1 performance, heterosis and GCA of parents have been explored.
Fatty-acid composition was studied in a half diallel in opium poppies using six parents, F1 and F2. Poppy is an oleic-linoleic-acid type of crop with a low level of linolenic acid of up to 3% or only trace. Transgressive segregation was... more
Fatty-acid composition was studied in a half diallel in opium poppies using six parents, F1 and F2. Poppy is an oleic-linoleic-acid type of crop with a low level of linolenic acid of up to 3% or only trace. Transgressive segregation was observed in F2 having up to 81% linoleic acid making it suitable for development as a high-linoleic-acid crop. This is the first report of its kind in opium poppy.
The plant species Papaver somniferum L. (opium poppy) is grown commercially in several countries under secure area to produce opium and its major alkaloids i.e. morphine, codeine, thebaine, narcotine and papaverine for pharmaceutical... more
The plant species Papaver somniferum L. (opium poppy) is grown commercially in several countries under secure area to produce opium and its major alkaloids i.e. morphine, codeine, thebaine, narcotine and papaverine for pharmaceutical industries. In recent years the global demand for these alkaloids and its derivatives are growing. Seeing the global demand there is urgent need to develop high opium yielding varieties integrated with high specific alkaloids. However, a breeding programme focused on developing improved varieties requires knowledge about the genetic variability for the concern traits. Therefore the present investigation was undertaken to examine phenotypic and genotypic variability, broad sense heritability, genetic advance under selection and interrelationship of traits. A total of 122 accessions were found to be highly variables for all the traits studied. Broad sense heritability ranged from 74.18% (for opium yield/plant) to 99.00% (for papaverine content). Expected genetic advance was varied between 33.91% (for morphine content) and 257.46% (for papaverine content). Genetic correlation analysis revealed that opium yield is negatively correlated with morphine and papaverine content. Among alkaloids codeine, thebaine, narcotine and papaverine showed positive correlation among themselves. The correlations among alklaloids were justified based on the biosynthetic pathway of opium alkaloids.
Seed protein profiles of 40 cultivated and wild taxa of Chenopodium have been compared by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The relative similarity between various taxa, estimated by Jaccard’s similarity index and... more
Seed protein profiles of 40 cultivated and wild taxa of Chenopodium have been compared by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The relative similarity between various taxa, estimated by Jaccard’s similarity index and clustered in UPGMA dendrogram, is generally in accordance with taxonomic position, crossability relationships and other biochemical characters. Eight accessions of C. quinoa studied are clustered together and show genetic similarity with closely related C. bushianum and C. berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae. The taxa included under C. album complex are clustered in two groups which show that these taxa are a heterogenous assemblage and their taxonomic affinities need a reassessment. Other wild species studied are placed in the dendrogram more or less according to their taxonomic position.
The foliage of 10 promising cultivars of vegetable amaranth from four cuttings were evaluated separately to gather information on different nutritional and antinutritional factors. Considering palatability and digestibility, the cultivars... more
The foliage of 10 promising cultivars of vegetable amaranth from four cuttings were evaluated separately to gather information on different nutritional and antinutritional factors. Considering palatability and digestibility, the cultivars AV-35/1, AV-35, AV-45, AV- 77 and AV-63 were found to be the most promising because of low fiber and high protein (g/100 g). On an overall mean basis, the cultivar AV-35 (353.0 ± 54.6 mg/kg) followed by AV-45 (350.25± 73.59 mg/kg) and AV-35/1 (324.78±58.56 mg/kg) had the higher carotenoid contents. Leaf protein content ranged from 1.95 to 3.06 g/100 g with the maximum being in AV-63 (3.06 g). The ascorbic acid was variable (135.0 to 215 mg/100 g); the highest was noted in AV-64 (215.0 mg/100 g). Oxalic acid was lowest in AV-45 (0.06%) followed by AV-151 (0.11%). Considering overall nutritional values, AV-35, AV-45 and AV-35/1 were the promising genotypes.
Fatty-acid composition was studied in a half diallel in opium poppies using six parents, F1 and F2. Poppy is an oleic-linoleic-acid type of crop with a low level of linolenic acid of up to 3% or only trace. Transgressive segregation was... more
Fatty-acid composition was studied in a half diallel in opium poppies using six parents, F1 and F2. Poppy is an oleic-linoleic-acid type of crop with a low level of linolenic acid of up to 3% or only trace. Transgressive segregation was observed in F2 having up to 81% linoleic acid making it suitable for development as a high-linoleic-acid crop. This is the first report of its kind in opium poppy.
The F 1 and F 2 generations of a twenty parent fractional diallel cross of opium poppy (P. somniferum L.) were analyzed for combining ability for ten quantitative and five quality (alkaloids) traits. The results indicated significant... more
The F 1 and F 2 generations of a twenty parent fractional diallel cross of opium poppy (P. somniferum L.) were analyzed for combining ability for ten quantitative and five quality (alkaloids) traits. The results indicated significant differences among the parents for combining ability for all the traits. The GCA and SCA components of variances were significant for all the characters. However, the SCA component of variance (δ 2s) was predominant indicating the preponderance of non-additive gene effect for all the traits except for leaves/plant and papaverine in F1 hybrids. The average degree of dominance (δ 2s/δ 2g) was more than unity indicating over dominance and also confirming non-additive mode of gene action. Among the parents IS-16, IS-13 and NBRI-1 for early flowering, BR226 and BR241 for branches/plant, capsule weight/plant, seed yield/plant and husk yield/plant, BR227 for leaves/plant, UO1285 for capsule size and opium yield/plant, NBRI-5 for husk yield/plant, morphine, codeine, and thebaine and ‘Papline’ for plant height and papaverine content were found good general combiners. Parent ND1001 was good combiner for codeine and narcotine content. Inclusion of good general combiners in a multiple crossing program or an intermating population involving all the possible crosses among them subjected to bi-parental mating may be expected to offer maximum promise in breeding for higher opium, seed yield and alkaloid contents.

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