Vegetation pattern related tc grazing pressure in alpine meadows of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve.

The present study aims to analyze the interaction of prevailing biotic pressure on plant species diversity in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (NDBR) which lies in northern part of Uttaranchal hills between 79 degrees 40'E to 80 degrees 05'E longitude and 30 degrees 17' N to 30 degrees 41'N latitude and covers an area of 2236.7 km2. A total of 75 species has been found which included the herbaceous plants viz., grasses, sedges and forbs. Generally, the plants have a short life span of 3-4 months. However, few species persist throughout the growth period i.e. May-October. Phytosociological study performed in plots of varying slope and grazing pressure intensity revealed that the dominant grasses were Danthonia cachemyriana and Poa annua and dominant forbs were Trachydium roylei and Geum elatum in all the plots. Grasses were abundant on west facing slopes while forbs preferred the even topography of east facing meadows. The grasses and sedges together had optimum density during July and August. In general, short lived species exhibited more diversity for one or two months whilst the long lived species exhibited optimum diversity althrough the snow free period. The species diversity is maximum (100%) in moderately grazed bughiyals i.e. Pacchu and minimum in intensively grazed bughiyals i.e. Martoli. The species distribution among the plots was 60-90% contagious and 11.2-38.0% randomirrespective of grazing pressure, thus highlighting the significance of grazing pressure in management of alpine meadows.

Effect of foliar treatment with boron and zinc on physiological responses of cow pea [vigna sinensis Cv. cream 7]: I Growth parameters, auxins, growth inhibitor contents, yield components, mineral composition of the harvested seeds and their protein pattern

In the present investigation Vigna sinensis plants cv. Cream 7 were sprayed with 10, 50 and 250 mgL[-1] of boron or zinc. The effect of the two elements on growth, endogenous auxins and growth inhibitor levels of shoots and roots and activities of certain related enzymes, mineral composition of the harvested seeds and their protein pattern were investigated too. The results revealed that the low concentration of boron or zinc caused high significant increases in most of the growth parameters and yield components concomitantly with increases in auxin contents, catalase activity and reductions in growth inhibitor level and activities of IAA-oxidase and peroxidase while the highest concentration induced a reverse pattern. The phosphorus, potassium, sodium and calcium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper and boron contents were increased in the harvested seeds when Vigna sinensis plants were sprayed with boron or zinc. The scanning profiles for the banding pattern of each protein sample extracted from Vigna sinensis seeds harvested from plants previously sprayed with boron or zinc and extracted in Tris-Hcl buffer [pH 8.0] or Tris-Glycine buffer [pH 8.2] were studied. All concentrations applied of zinc and the highest concentration of boron induced de novo synthesis of a polypeptide with a molecular mass of 59 KD

Effect of foliar treatment with boron and zinc on physiological responses of cow pea [vigna sinensis Cv. cream 7]: II Metabolic activities during growth and development

In the present study Vigna sinensis plants cv. Cream 7 were sprayed with 10, 50 and 250 mg/L of boron or zinc. The effect of boron and Zn nutrition on different constituents shoots and roots of Vigna sinensis plants were investigated. At all three concentrations of boron or zinc chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotenoid contents of Vigna sinensis leaves were increased. The low concentrations applied of both boron or zinc mostly increased the reducing sugars, sucrose, polysaccharides, total carbohydrates, DNA and RNA contents concomitantly with increases in the number and activities of gibberellin compounds and decreases the total-N contents of shoots and roots of Vigna sinensis plants. The highest concentrations of boron or zinc induced a significant reduction in DNA and RNA contents in most stages of growth and development of Vigna sinensis plants. In general, all concentrations of boron or zinc induced mostly highly significant decreases in a and [3-amylase activities of shoots and roots of Vigna sinensis plants throughout the experimental period. At flowering and fruiting stages, the highest concentrations of boron or zinc mostly decreased the protease activity in shoots and roots of Vigna sinensis plants, while the lower concentrations of both elements increased this activity. Moreover, the high concentration of boron or zinc mostly induced highly significant increases in RNase activity of Vigna sinensis plants throughout the experimental stages

Qualidade do broto de bambu Dendrocalamus giganteus Munro esterilizado comercialmente / Quality of bamboo shoots Dendrocalamus giganteus Nunro comercially sterelized

Estudou-se o efeito de diversas combinaçöes de tempo e temperatura do processo de esterilizaçäo comercial na qualidade de porçöes apicais de broto de bambu Dendrocalamus giganteus Munro cozidas por 120 minutos em tacho aberto