Morphological and comparative genomic analyses of pathogenic and non-pathogenic Fusarium solani isolated from Dalbergia sissoo.

Sissoo or shisham (Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.) is one of the finest wood of South Asia. Fusarium solani is a causal organism of sissoo wilt, decline, or dieback. It is also a potential causal organism associated with other valuable tree species. Thirty-eight Fusarium isolates including 24 F. solani and 14 Fusarium sp., were obtained in 2005 from different geographical locations in India. All 38 (18 pathogenic and 20 non-pathogenic) isolates were characterized for genomic analysis, growth behaviour, pigmentation and sensitivity to carbendazim. Based on growth pattern, growth rate, pigmentation and sensitivity to carbendazim, all 38 isolates showed a wide range of variability, but no correlation with pathogenicity or geographical distribution. Three techniques were used for comparative genomic analysis: random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD); inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR); and simple sequence repeats (SSR). A total of 90 primers targeting different genome regions resulted a total of 1159 loci with an average of 12.88 loci per primer. These primers showed high genomic variability among the isolates. The maximum loci (14.64) per primer were obtained with RAPD. The total variation of the first five principal components for RAPD, ISSR, SSR and combined analysis were estimated as 47.42, 48.21, 46.30 and 46.78 %, respectively. Among the molecular markers, highest Pearson correlation value (r = 0.957) was recorded with combination of RAPD and SSR followed by RAPD and ISSR (r = 0.952), and SSR and ISSR (r = 0.942). The combination of these markers would be similarly effective as single marker system i.e. RAPD, ISSR and SSR. Based on polymorphic information content (PIC = 0.619) and highest coefficient (r = 0.995), RAPD was found to be the most efficient marker system compared to ISSR and SSR. This study will assist in understanding the population biology of wilt causing phytopathogen, F. solani, and in assisting with integrated disease management measures.

DREB1/CBF transcription factors: their structure, function and role in abiotic stress tolerance in plants.

Drought, high salinity and low temperature are major abiotic stresses that influence survival, productivity and geographical distribution of many important crops across the globe. Plants respond to these environmental challenges via physiological, cellular and molecular processes, which results in adjusted metabolic and structural alterations. The dehydration-responsiveelement-binding (DREB) protein / C-repeat binding factors (CBFs) belong to APETALA2 (AP2) family transcription factors that bind to DRE/CRT cis-element and regulate the expression of stress-responsive genes. DREB1/CBF genes, therefore, play an important role in increasing stress tolerance in plants and their deployment using transgenic technology seems to be a potential alternative in management of abiotic stresses in crop plants. This review is mainly focussed on the structural characteristics as well as transcriptional regulation of gene expression in response to various abiotic stresses, with particular emphasis on the role of DREB1/CBF regulon in stress-responsive gene expression. The recent progress related to genetic engineering of DREB1/CBF transcription factors in various crops and model plants is also summarized.

Strain differentiation of Indian isolates of Salmonella by ERIC-PCR.

Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) sequences are the repetitive elements present in the family enterobacteriacae. In the present study, ERIC-PCR (target ERIC sequence) was used for the molecular typing of 24 isolates of Salmonella serovars, namely abortusequi, choleraesuis, bareilly and dublin. In ERIC-PCR, seven molecular types were observed with ERIC-Cl primer, and nine molecular types with ERIC-C2 primer. When the results of both the ERIC-PCR were combined for molecular typing, 21 molecular types were observed, which indicated a high degree of discrimination. Both the ERIC primers are designed from the ERIC consensus sequence, yet they gave different profiles, indicating that they supplement each other. ERIC sequences were found to be useful targets for molecular typing. The different profiles observed appear to be due to differences in ERIC sequences and differences in inter-ERIC distance. The study indicates that ERIC-PCR is a very efficient tool for molecular typing of Salmonella species.