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.

Rapid isolation of DNA from Dioscorea species suitable for PCR, restriction digestion and pathogen screening

Abstract: The methods employed for DNA extraction from many plants is difficult because of the metabolites that interfere with DNA isolation procedures. We have developed a reliable and efficient method for isolating genomic DNA free from polysaccharide, polyphenols and protein contaminants from Dioscorea spp. The method involves inactivation of contaminant proteins by using CTAB/Proteinase K and precipitation of polysaccharides in the presence of high concentration of salt. The purity of genomic DNA was confirmed by A260/280 and A260/230 ratios calculated from the spectrophotometric readings and further by restriction analysis of the isolated DNA using restriction enzymes Eco RI. The total genomic DNA extracted by the new protocol was used for polymerase chain reaction amplification, RAPD analysis, restriction digestion and pathogen screening. The new protocol can be successfully used for both small- and large-scale preparation of genomic DNA from different tissues of Dioscorea spp. The quarantine of seed tubers a...

Use of lignite slurry as inoculating medium for vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza in Chinese potato (Coleus parviflorus).

Abstract: Tubers of Coleus parviflorus were inoculated with spores of the vesicular arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus microcarpum. The spores had been suspended in a lignite slurry and stored in a refrigerator for 1–6 months periods. Inoculation took place by soaking the tubers in the slurry for 3 h followed by drying in the shade, subsequent planting of such tubers gave rise to nearly 100% infection even after 6 months of storage.

Optimization of parameters to improve transformation efficiency of elephant foot yam ( Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson

Abstract: Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson), is an important edible tropical tuber crop, belonging to the family Araceae. Corms produced by this plant is very big and they are rich in starch, protein, mineral, vitamins, and dietary fiber but has acridity problem. This crop is susceptible to virus and phytoplasma diseases which affects crop growth and corm yield. Even though this crop has high commercial value, the problems like susceptibility to viral diseases, acridity problems, and lack of genetic diversity made hindrance in their exploitation. These issues can be resolved only by improving the characters through genetic transformation. To achieve genetic transformation in this important crop, a study was conducted to optimize various parameters for efficient Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation using embryogenic calli with vectors having gus reporter gene. Calli were developed using petiole and leaves of in vitro plantlets of elephant foot yam cultivar Gajendra and experiments were conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of calli to different doses of antibiotics viz. geneticin, hygromycin, ticarcillin. It was observed that complete death and discoloration of the calli were obtained with 25 mgl−1 geneticin and 10 mgl−1 hygromycin. The lowest lethal concentration of ticarcillin against Agrobacterium growth was found to be 500 mgl−1 which did not affect calli growth. Optimized parameters for efficient transformation in elephant foot yam include 100 μM acetosyringone concentration with 2 days of co-cultivation at temperature 22 °C using LBA4404 strain. The putative transformants were characterized for the integration of the gus gene using PCR and nucleic acid spot hybridization. The optimized protocol is simple and reproducible and may be adapted for other cultivars also.

Transgenic Elephant Foot Yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson) Expressing β-glucuronidase Reporter Gene

Abstract: Elephant foot yam (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius (Dennst.) Nicolson) is infected by various diseases such as mosaic, collar rot and dry rot disease, which cause severe yield reduction. Disease resistance can be achieved in crop plants through transgenic strategies. The present study is focused on Agrobacterium mediated transformation of A. paeoniifolius using β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene. Friable callus cultures were established from corm lateral buds of A. paeoniifolius on modified Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.5 mg l-1 each of 6-Benzyl aminopurine, 2,4-Dichloro phenoxy acetic acid and α- Naphthalene acetic acid. Friable callus and swollen petiole explants were infected with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain AGLO harbouring the Ti vector pOYE 153 having uidA gene encoding GUS. The transformation event was confirmed by GUS histochemical analysis and later on the presence of uidA gene was determined by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The highest transformation efficiency of 36.37% was observed for callus when compared to swollen petiole explant. The presence of acetosyringone improved the transformation efficiency by 20 fold irrespective of the explant. The present study serves as an initial step towards the development of transgenic A. paeoniifolius for disease resistance.

Impact of climate change on the yield of tropical root and tuber crops vs. rice and potato in India

Abstract: The current study focused on the impact of climate change on tropical root and tuber crops of India over some of the major growing areas using the crop model, WOFOST. As part of this study, the impact of climate change on the yield of rice and potato is also carried out using the same crop model to understand the advantages of root and tuber crops over the yield variations of rice and potato. The LARS weather generator is used to derive future climate for 2030, 2050, and 2070 for the two representative concentration pathways (RCPs)-4.5 and 8.5. The future climate projections in the study locations indicate an increment in minimum and maximum temperatures up to a value of 3.4 and 3.8 oC respectively. The rainfall also indicates a drastic fluctuation from -721 to 448 mm in the future. The results reveal that the predicted crop yield varies from one location to another depending on the future climate. Cassava (-13 to 12%, -17 to 8%), sweet potato (-32 to 14%, -38 to 13%), greater yam (-11 to 8, -14 to 6), elephant foot yam (-10 to 6, -12 to 4), and taro (-16 to 19, -28 to 18) can be considered as future crops based on their predicted yield variations and economics compared to that of rice (-26 to 15%, -50 to 18%) and potato (-37 to 7%, -59 to 8.5%) for both the RCPs. Among other crops, sweet potato has the same crop duration as rice and potato and can be recommended to increase food access. These crops can be recommended for enhancing the availability of food based on their superiority in dry matter production.