Rose FRANCIES - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Rose FRANCIES

Medicinal Plants - International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries

Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, 2021

Identification of loci and linked markers enable the marker-assisted selection for transferring t... more Identification of loci and linked markers enable the marker-assisted selection for transferring the reproductive phase heat tolerance in rice. Microsatellite marker-based bulked segregant analysis (BSA) for heat tolerance was performed in F 3 progenies of the cross between temperature sensitive high yielding variety Uma and tolerant variety N22. Hightemperature stress ranged from 23.33 to 38.99 °C at the booting-stage, and spikelet-fertility was considered as a direct measure of tolerance. N22 has exhibited a high spikelet-fertility of 90.92 per cent against 2.62 per cent, 44.78 per cent in Uma and F 3 plants, respectively. Of the 197 microsatellite markers screened, 41 were found to be polymorphic and used for BSA of tolerant and susceptible F 3 bulk along with both the parents. Marker RM5749 on chromosome 4 had co-segregated with tolerance, whereas, previously reported markers for heat tolerance in rice did not have an effect in the study population. The LOD value obtained during single marker analysis for the linkage between marker RM5749 and spikelet fertility was 6.86, indicating a strong linkage with the spikelet fertility under heat stress. The failure of the reported markers in our population suggests that the reproductive phase heat tolerance mechanisms in rice vary across the populations and the markers have to be validated for each population before being employed in MAS.

Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources, 2021

Rediscovery of Genetic and Genomic Resources for Future Food Security, 2020

The evolution of new species revolves around the natural as well as induced genetic variation cre... more The evolution of new species revolves around the natural as well as induced genetic variation created through revolutionary and conservative forces. Evolution and domestication are the two important phenomenon which occurred in nature, while domestication acts as a signature of evolution for harnessing the important diversification traits in crop plants which plays an important role in global food security target through crop improvement. Conservation of natural genetic diversity is the utmost importance for tackling future biotic and abiotic threats for achieving global food and nutritional security. To feed the approximately 10 billion world population by 2050, it is necessary to increase the yield of staple crops up to 70–110%. Therefore, utilization of natural genetic diversity present in the form of wild relatives (CWR), landraces, and modern cultivars is indispensable for achieving food security which is of prime importance for crop improvement programs. Crop genetic resources with a broad genetic base are the valuable assets in crop plants which can be utilized through base-broadening approaches such as pre-breeding and core and mini-core collection. Besides these, a wide array of molecular approaches is available for exploitation and harnessing of natural diversity for achieving higher genetic gains for future food and nutritional security. Through this chapter, we have tried to discuss the domestication events with respect to genetic architecture in crop plants during the course of evolution, crop improvement for food and nutritional security, role of crop genetic resources and their importance, genetic bottlenecks responsible for narrowing down of genetic diversity, significance of conservation of natural variation, and base-broadening conventional approaches. Various molecular approaches (forward and reverse genetics) with genetic modification, genome editing, and sequencing methodologies for harnessing the natural variation for maximization of genetic gain and future scope of natural diversity from plant to crop with three Bs (biotechnology/biodiversity/biomimicry) and optimistic approach of conservation of diversity for future sustainable crop improvement are also discussed.

International Journal of Chemical Studies, 2018

Current Microbiology, 2012

Molecular characterization and genetic diversity among 82 soybean accessions was carried out by u... more Molecular characterization and genetic diversity among 82 soybean accessions was carried out by using 44 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. Of the 44 SSR markers used, 40 markers were found polymorphic among 82 soybean accessions. These 40 polymorphic markers produced a total of 119 alleles, of which five were unique alleles and four alleles were rare. The allele number for each SSR locus varied between two to four with an average of 2.97 alleles per marker. Polymorphic information content values of SSRs ranged from 0.101 to 0.742 with an average of 0.477. Jaccard's similarity coefficient was employed to study the molecular diversity of 82 soybean accessions. The pairwise genetic similarity among 82 soybean accessions varied from 0.28 to 0.90. The dendrogram constructed based on genetic similarities among 82 soybean accessions identified three major clusters. The majority of genotypes including four improved cultivars were grouped in a single subcluster IIIa of cluster III, indicating high genetic resemblance among soybean germplasm collection in India.

ABSTRACT: Rice is one of the world’s most important staple crops. Although rice is considered as ... more ABSTRACT: Rice is one of the world’s most important staple crops. Although rice is considered as a sensitive crop to salinity, it is one of the most widely grown crops in coastal areas. In the present, salinity is the second most widespread soil problem in rice growing countries next to drought and considers as a serious constraint to increased rice production worldwide. Genetic Evaluation and Utilization (GEU) Program at IRRI in 1969 have been screened 138,000 rice genotypes. Of these, 17 % had acceptable tolerance at electrical conductivity (EC) of 10 dS/m at the seedling stage. Traditional cultivars are the most tolerant to abiotic stresses. Cultivars Pokkali, Cheriveruppu, Nona Bokra, SR26B, Damodar and Getu are tolerant of salinity but possess poor agronomic characters. There exists tremendous variation for salt tolerance within species in rice, providing opportunities to improve crop salt-stress tolerance through genetic means. Some attempts to develop salt-tolerant genotypes ...

International Journal of Chemical Studies, 2017

An experiment was conducted in randomized block design with three replications to determine the o... more An experiment was conducted in randomized block design with three replications to determine the optimum time of sowing better seed yield of oriental pickling melon between August and February months of 2016 and 2017. Sowing on August produced highest fruit length, fruit diameter and fruit weight and fruit yield per plant. Least values of fruit attributes were observed in November sowing. Seed yield attributes were significantly influenced by time sowing. Highest number of seeds per fruit, fresh weight and dry weight was noticed in August sown crop. Hundred seed weight was not affected by dates of sowing. Vivipary occurrence which is detrimental in seed production was noticed to severe in December sown crop.

Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, 2015

Twelve black gram varieties were evaluated for six seasons from r abi 2009 to r abi 2011 at Thris... more Twelve black gram varieties were evaluated for six seasons from r abi 2009 to r abi 2011 at Thrissur, Kerala, India to assess the genotype x environmental interactions. Analysis of variance on the data pooled over seasons showed significant difference between varieties, seasons and the interaction between varieties and seasons for days to flowering and yield. Flowering in blackgram was found to be influenced by photothermic index (PTI) rather than growing degree days (GDD). Rainfall received during the first three weeks after sowing had greater influence on seed yield. Genotype x environment interaction by AMMI model showed blackgram variety T9 as the best variety with respect to yielding ability suited for cultivation under favourable conditions. The varieties CO5 and TAU 1 with moderate yield capacity were found to be highly stable under differing environments and hence can be recommended for cultivation when prediction of environment is not possible. Vamban 4, variety with hi...

Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, 2018

Sixty landraces of rice (Oryza sative L.), including the aromatic genotypes collected from differ... more Sixty landraces of rice (Oryza sative L.), including the aromatic genotypes collected from different parts of Wayanad, Kerala, and were characterized for both qualitative and quantitative characters following the guidelines from the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer's Rights Authority (PPV&FRA). The experiment was conducted in Augmented Block Design with three check varieties (Kanchana, Uma and Aathira). Out of 24 discriptors studied, five characteristics were found monomorphic, thirteen were dimorphic, four were of trimorphic, one character (Basal leaf sheath colour) is tetramorphic and stem length (excluding panicle) showed five states of expression. This detailed characterization of Wayanad rice landraces is very important for rice breeding from the standpoint of selection and conservation of different landraces for further utilization in crop improvement programmes and also to seek protection...

Disease Resistance in Crop Plants, 2019

Oat (Avena sp. L.) is a hardy cereal crop belonging to Poaceae family, which is valued high for i... more Oat (Avena sp. L.) is a hardy cereal crop belonging to Poaceae family, which is valued high for its dietary qualities and fodder. Like other cereals, this crop is also subjected to a number of diseases that may damage/totally destroy oat fields. Out of all the diseases, crown rust, stem rust, powdery mildew, Fusarium head blight, leaf blotch, smut and barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) are of great significance in oat. These diseases tend to cause severe yield losses and are responsible for progressive decline in oat production at global level. As in other crops, the most effective, ideal and economical method for reducing disease losses in oats is the development and cultivation of disease-resistant varieties. Several genes conferring resistance to major diseases of oats have been identified in the oat gene pool. But introgression of desired resistant genes using traditional approaches is time consuming and many a time indecisive owing to multiple genes involved. However, with the ad...

Efforts to develop rice varieties suited for direct seeding in the rainfed rice fields of Kerala ... more Efforts to develop rice varieties suited for direct seeding in the rainfed rice fields of Kerala at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Pattambi resulted in the development of Cul. A4-4-2, a progeny of the cross between M. 210, the dwarf mutant of the traditional tall indica rice variety PTB 10 (Pureline selection from Thekkencheera) and PTB 28 (Mass selection from Kattamodan). This was released as Harsha for general cultivation during Virippu season of Kerala. Harsha combines the drought tolerance and blast resistance of PTB 28 with the 4.5 to5 t ha-1 high yielding ability of M. 210. The average yield is 4.5–5 t ha-1 of grain and 4.5- 5 t ha-1 of straw. It is resistant to the major pests and diseases prevalent during the season and possess dormancy preventing germination of grains in the panicle during heavy rains.

International Journal of Applied Biology and P, 2014

Rice is one of the world’s most important staple crops. Although rice is considered as a sensitiv... more Rice is one of the world’s most important staple crops. Although rice is considered as a sensitive crop to salinity, it is one of the most widely grown crops in coastal areas. In the present, salinity is the second most widespread soil problem in rice growing countries next to drought and considers as a serious constraint to increased rice production worldwide. Genetic Evaluation and Utilization (GEU) Program at IRRI in 1969 have been screened 138,000 rice genotypes. Of these, 17% had acceptable tolerance at electrical conductivity (EC) of 10 dS/m at the seedling stage. Traditional cultivars are the most tolerant to abiotic stresses. Cultivars Pokkali, Cheriveruppu, Nona Bokra, SR26B, Damodar and Getu are tolerant of salinity but possess poor agronomic characters. There exists tremendous variation for salt tolerance within species in rice, providing opportunities to improve crop salt-stress tolerance through genetic means. Some attempts to develop salt-tolerant genotypes were based ...

Indian journal of agricultural research, 2007

Navara - a traditional medicinal rice cultivar of Kerala is used widely in Ayurveda as an effecti... more Navara - a traditional medicinal rice cultivar of Kerala is used widely in Ayurveda as an effective remedy for rheumatic complaints and to revitalize the body. Present study was conducted to characterize this rice cultivar based on morphological features. Detailed characterization of navara germplasm collected from various parts of Kerala reveals that there are many different morphotypes with respect to qualitative traits. Different groups could be identified based on vegetative, panicle and grain characters. The seven entries evaluated could be grouped in to three clusters by hierarchical cluster analysis.

Electronic Journal of Plant Breeding, 2014

Thirteen early maturing cassava genotypes were evaluated along with M4, a high yielding variety a... more Thirteen early maturing cassava genotypes were evaluated along with M4, a high yielding variety at College of Horticulture, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, India. All the fourteen genotypes differed with respect to quantitative and qualitative trait. Variability was more for aerial parts. Genotypes showed variable response to cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava leaf spot. Three genotypes were resistant to CMD. Tuber yield had strong correlation with stem girth, tuber length, biomass and dry matter. Plant height, branch height and stem girth exhibited high heritability. Based on the biometric traits, genotypes could be grouped in to five clusters. High yielding varieties and local accessions fall in to the same cluster indicating the superiority of local accessions. Ranking of the accessions was done by construction of selection index indicated that CSV COH 1 a local accession collected from Malappuram district was the best followed by Sree Jaya a high yielding variety.

The present investigation was conducted at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College... more The present investigation was conducted at the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, Thrissur and Regional Agricultural Research Station, Ambalavayal, Wayanad, The study was focused on genetic diversity among popular aromatic rice landraces using Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) markers. Out of 86 SSR markers used for molecular characterization, 44 markers were polymorphic and remaining 42 were monomorphic. Maximum number of amplicons was exhibited by RM247 with five alleles, followed by RM85, RM251, RM248 and RM493 with four amplicons each. Among 86 SSR markers, 21 markers distinguished Basmati from traditional aromatic landraces of Wayanad viz., Gandhakasala and Jeerakasala. Seven SSR markers distinguished Gandhakasala from Jeerakasala, whereas 23 markers distinguished Basmati from Jeerakasala. Twenty-two markers distinguished Basmati from Gandhakasala and 23 markers distinguished aromatic group from non-aromatic group. Cluster analysis eff...

An investigation was carried out with seeds of ten cowpea varieties to study the genetic divergen... more An investigation was carried out with seeds of ten cowpea varieties to study the genetic divergence of the varieties with respect to storability and seed quality parameters. The seeds were evaluated for four seed quality parameters viz., germination, speed of germination, seedling vigour index I and seedling vigour index II and diversity was assessed using Mahalanobis D² analysis after ten months of storage under ambient conditions. There was significant variation for the quality aspects related to storage.Variety Kashi Kanchan had a germination of 61.67 per cent after ten months of storage. On the basis of D² values the genotypes were grouped into four clusters. Cluster I was the largest containing four varieties (Lola, Vellayani Jyothika, Vyjayanthi and Anaswara). The maximum inter-cluster distance was recorded between clusters I and IV (Hridya and Bhagyalakshmi). The maximum intra-cluster distance was found in cluster IV followed by I. Varieties Kanakamony and Kashi Kanchan group...

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of seed invigoration with inorganic nanoparticles... more An experiment was conducted to study the effect of seed invigoration with inorganic nanoparticles on plant growth and seed yield of chilli. Seed invigoration with nano particles of ZnO and TiO2 was found to be beneficial in improving yield and yield attributes. Seed treatment with nano ZnO @ 1300 mg kg-1 of seed and nano TiO2 @ 900 mg kg -1 exhibited increased plant height, fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit yield, number of seeds per fruit and seed yield.

Navara a rice cultivar of Kerala is considered as a land race with specific attributes making it ... more Navara a rice cultivar of Kerala is considered as a land race with specific attributes making it suitable in traditional ayurvedic medical system of Kerala. However, the different medical practitioners use different types of navara and they attribute the medicinal property to the one they are using. In order to asses the variability in navara germplasm, the entries were raised in replicated trial at Regional Agricultural Research Station, Pattambi. Detailed morphological characterization for quantitative traits based on IRRI descriptors was under taken. Of the seventeen quantitative traits considered, the entries differed among themselves in fifteen characters. Only in the case of grain width and straw yield there was no significant difference between the entries tested. Hierarchical clustering using between group linkage as the clustering method and squared Euclidean distance as the interval in the dendrogram, showed three major clusters at 10 units.

Abiotic Stress-Mediated Sensing and Signaling in Plants: An Omics Perspective

Aerobic organisms which derive their energy from the reduction of oxygen are susceptible to the d... more Aerobic organisms which derive their energy from the reduction of oxygen are susceptible to the damaging actions of the small amounts of O2−, OH, and H2O2 that inevitably form during the metabolism of oxygen, especially in the reduction of oxygen by the electron transfer system of mitochondria. These three species together with unstable intermediates in the peroxidation of lipids are referred to as reactive oxygen species (ROS). They are formed as a natural by-product of the normal metabolism of oxygen and have important roles in cell signaling and homeostasis. ROS are thought to play a dual role in plant biology and are accumulated by many types of stresses. Some are highly toxic and rapidly detoxified by various cellular enzymatic and nonenzymatic mechanisms, whereas many are involved in various metabolic as well as physiological processes necessary for growth and development of plants. During environmental stress of plants (e.g., UV or heat exposure), ROS levels can increase dramatically. The ROS levels that are too low or too high impair plant growth and development, whereas maintaining ROS levels within the right range promotes plant health. Alterations in ROS levels that are part of the normal function of the plant should not exceed the threshold boundary between redox potentials and cytotoxic or cytostatic levels. Although recent studies have unraveled some of the key issues related to ROS like programmed cell death and cross talk with phytohormones during stress conditions, yet there are some unprecedented mechanisms which need to be expolred.