Central Tuber Crops Research Institute

About: Central Tuber Crops Research Institute is a facility organization based out in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Starch & Fermentation. The organization has 475 authors who have published 587 publications receiving 10285 citations.

Isolation and Characterization of N Fixing Bacteria from Elephant Foot Yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.)Nicolson) Growing Regions of South India

Abstract: Isolation and screening of 130 bacteria from the rhizosphere region of elephant foot yam ( Amorphophallus ) growing area of South India for their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen ( Kjeldhal technique) resulted in the identification of 62 isolates having varying levels of nitrogen fixing ability in Jensen's nitrogen free medium. The most potent nitrogen fixing isolates were tested for their efficiency to release plant growth promoting substances like indole acetic acid (IAA), ammonia (NH 3 ), hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and catalase enzyme. Morphological and molecular characterization of the two potent bacterial strains led to the identification of them as Bacillus cereus strain ANctcri-1 (HQ286640) and Pseudomonas aeuroginosa ANctcri-11 (JX974833). A study on the effect of various physiological conditions on growth of this potent bacteria revealed their facultative alkaliphilic halo tolerant nature.

In vitro standardisation of resistance screening methods in cassava against tuber rot disease

Abstract: Cassava tuber rot caused by Phytophthora palmivora in growing regions of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, is causing yield loss up to 80%. In the present study, resistance reactions of 10 cassava cultivars were analysed on leaf, stem and tuberous roots by artificial inoculation method in search of a suitable in vitro resistant screening method. Leaf and tuber analysis showed positive correlation (0.883) but the stem-based results showed negative correlation with leaf and tuber analysis. The analysis exhibited the susceptibility of the cassava cultivars against P. palmivora. Leaf analysis was superior in discriminating even small variations in resistance reactions than tuber analysis. The cultivar Sree Padmanabha showed higher resistance than other cultivars and the level of resistance in a cultivar is heritable which could be helpful in breeding programme. Based on the results it can be concluded that leaves of cassava could be used for screening resistance in the host and also in analysing the virulence of the iso...

Polymer induced structures in cetylpyridinium chloride–octanol micellar system

Abstract: The effect of octanol on the interaction of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) were investigated by viscosity, conductivity, differential scanning calorimetry (DCS), polarizing microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and rheology analysis. The aggregation of polymer-surfactant micelles takes place at a surfactant concentration higher than the critical micelle concentration. The long chain aliphatic alcohol (n-octanol) induced rapid structural transformation in the mixed micellar system by unusual cooperative micellization. The rheological behavior of the viscoelastic system reveals the presence of giant aggregates in this system. The lyotropic nature of the giant aggregates was monitored by DSC and polarizing microscopic studies, and which was confirmed by cryo-TEM.

Micromics: A Novel Approach to Understand the Molecular Mechanisms in Plant Stress Tolerance

Abstract: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous non-coding RNAs with 20–22 nucleotides acts as the regulatory RNA. Since their discovery in model plant Arabidopsis, curiosity in understanding the function of plant miRNAs increased and regulatory role of miRNA are now being understood by researchers. The ability of miRNA to repress or induce the expression of several genes based on homology of few nucleotides has intrigued the scientific community. The detailed study has elucidated the step-wise biogenesis of miRNA across the species. Plants has evolved to respond to various external stimuli just by tinkering the expression of master regulators like transcription factors, miRNAs, etc. These master regulators further regulate the expression of several hundreds of downstream genes. There are several miRNAs has been identified as regulators of expression of various abiotic stresses viz., drought, cold, salt and high temperature and biotic stresses viz., viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes and insect pests. Additionally, paradigm shift in terms of sequencing technology and computational approaches led to identification of differentially expressed miRNAs for various stresses in plants. This led to the identification of thousands of miRNAs across the species which in turn helps to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in providing the stress tolerance. The present review discusses the mechanism of miRNA biogenesis, and role of identified miRNAs in regulating stress response in plants. The understanding of molecular mechanism of tolerance mediated through miRNA may help in improving the crop yields during various stresses.

A Highly Sensitive Nested-PCR Method Using a Single Closed Tube for the Detection of Colletotrichum gloeosporioides causing Greater Yam Anthracnose

Abstract: Greater yam is an important species of yam grown in different parts of India. Anthracnose or die back disease caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides reduces the yield up to 90 per cent. The pathogen survives in the soil debris and transmits the disease to the next season through tubers. In this study, a sensitive method for the specific diagnosis of C. gloeosporioides in soil and planting material was developed. The standard nested PCR previously described was re-standardized to run a single nested PCR in a closed tube. The problems of cross contamination and the increased risk of PCR product contamination, while handling the product of first PCR could be avoided. This technique could be achieved by adjusting the concentration of primers and the annealing temperature along with the standardization of PCR cycles so as to produce a single amplicon without compromising the limit of detection and specificity. The lowest amount of DNA that could be determined by this method was 200 pg ml-1.