This is the oldest English language journal in genetics. Founded by W. Bateson and R. C. Punnett in 1910, the Journal of Genetics was later edited by J. B. S. Haldane; later, Haldane and his wife, Helen Spurway brought the journal with them to India. After his death in 1964, Mrs. Haldane continued publication of the journal, with Madhav Gadgil and H. Sharat Chandra (Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore) and Suresh Jayakar (Laboratorio de Genetica Biochimica ed Evoluzionistica, Pavia) as editors, until her own death in 1977. In 1985, with the permission of Haldane’s heirs, the Indian Academy of Sciences resumed publication of the journal. The journal retains its traditional interest in evolutionary research that is of relevance to geneticists, even if not explicitly genetic in nature.

The journal of genetics

Advances in cereal genomics and applications in crop breeding [Erratum: 2007 Jan., v. 25, issue 1, p. 1.]

The past couple of decades have witnessed global resurgence of herbal-based health care. As a result, the trade of raw drugs has surged globally. Accurate and fast scientific identification of the plant(s) is the key to success for the herbal drug industry. The conventional approach is to engage an expert taxonomist, who uses a mix of traditional and modern techniques for precise plant identification. However, for bulk identification at industrial scale, the process is protracted and time-consuming. DNA barcoding, on the other hand, offers an alternative and feasible taxonomic tool box for rapid and robust species identification. For the success of DNA barcode, the barcode loci must have sufficient information to differentiate unambiguously between closely related plant species and discover new cryptic species. For herbal plant identification, matK, rbcL, trnH-psbA, ITS, trnL-F, 5S-rRNA and 18S-rRNA have been used as successful DNA barcodes. Emerging advances in DNA barcoding coupled with next-generation sequencing and high-resolution melting curve analysis have paved the way for successful species-level resolution recovered from finished herbal products. Further, development of multilocus strategy and its application has provided new vistas to the DNA barcode-based plant identification for herbal drug industry. For successful and acceptable identification of herbal ingredients and a holistic quality control of the drug, DNA barcoding needs to work harmoniously with other components of the systems biology approach. We suggest that for effectively resolving authentication challenges associated with the herbal market, DNA barcoding must be used in conjunction with metabolomics along with need-based transcriptomics and proteomics.

https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/pbi.12419

DNA barcoding: an efficient tool to overcome authentication challenges in the herbal market.

The reasons for concern framework communicates scientific understanding about risks in relation to varying levels of climate change. The framework, now a cornerstone of the IPCC assessments, aggregates global risks into five categories as a function of global mean temperature change. We review the framework's conceptual basis and the risk judgments made in the most recent IPCC report, confirming those judgments in most cases in the light of more recent literature and identifying their limitations. We point to extensions of the framework that offer complementary climate change metrics to global mean temperature change and better account for possible changes in social and ecological system vulnerability. Further research should systematically evaluate risks under alternative scenarios of future climatic and societal conditions.

IPCC Reasons for Concern Regarding Climate Change Risks: Implications for 1.5 and 2 C Targets

Rice is one of the main pillars of food security in India. Its improvement for higher yield in sustainable agriculture system is also vital to provide energy and nutritional needs of growing world population, expected to reach more than 9 billion by 2050. The high quality genome sequence of rice has provided a rich resource to mine information about diversity of genes and alleles which can contribute to improvement of useful agronomic traits. Defining the function of each gene and regulatory element of rice remains a challenge for the rice community in the coming years. Subsequent to participation in IRGSP, India has continued to contribute in the areas of diversity analysis, transcriptomics, functional genomics, marker development, QTL mapping and molecular breeding, through national and multi-national research programs. These efforts have helped generate resources for rice improvement, some of which have already been deployed to mitigate loss due to environmental stress and pathogens. With renewed efforts, Indian researchers are making new strides, along with the international scientific community, in both basic research and realization of its translational impact.

/pdf/rice-improvement-through-genome-based-functional-analysis-4485blk9ge.pdf

Rice Improvement Through Genome-Based Functional Analysis and Molecular Breeding in India.

A field experiment was conducted at ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research (IIVR), Varanasi, to study the stability in morphological traits of 23 tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) genotypes for heat stress during 20072009. Observations were recorded on low (6.0°C) and high temperature (42.9°C) for vegetative characters of plants, e.g. plant height, number of primary branches, days of 50% flowering, number of flowers/cluster, number of fruit set/plant, average fruit weight, fruit length and fruit width. The number of fruits decreased during summer and increased during winter seasons. It was possible by low fertility and pollen viability due to high temperature. In response of stability the genotypes, IIHR-2202 (plant height, number of branches), CH-155 (50% flowering, number of flowers/cluster, number of fruits set), FLA-7421 and Sel-7 (number of fruit set), and EC-538156 (fruit length and width) gave significant value of βi=<1.00, indicating the suitability for high reproducible environment. These genotypes can be utilized for further breeding programme against high temperature.

Selection of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) genotypes for heat stress and analyzing stability in their physio-morphological traits under different seasons

Twenty five diverse genotypes of Asparagus racemosus, were analyzed by RAPD markers for identifying genotypespecific markers. Out of 100 RAPD primers screened, only 25 were polymorphic. Among a total of 197 RAPD fragments amplified, 144 bands (73.09%) were found polymorphic, revealing high intra-species genetic variation. Eight genotype-specific bands specific to seven A. racemosus genotypes were identified. These genotype-specific RAPD markers could potentially be used for genotype identification, their documentation, management, cultivation and conservation.

Ved Prakash Rai

Papers

Selection of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) genotypes for heat stress and analyzing stability in their physio-morphological traits under different seasons

Identification of genotype-specific RAPD markers for Asparagus racemosus