eChapters

Although the Rhabditids have been studied from last one century, the field level use of Entomopathogenic nematodes the members of Rhabditids for the management of insect pest was followed only after Dutky who practically used EPNs in 1937 on Apple Codling moth.

The taxonomy of Entomopathogenic nematodes of the order Rhabditidae is discussed in this lecture.

1. Introduction

Plant taxonomy and the cultivated plants have a close relationship of great antiquity. This ancient relationship can be traced back to the invention of incipient agriculture (neolithic revolution), about 10-13000 years BCE (Stearn 1965; Balter 2007). The early foundation of plant taxonomy was thus laid largely on humans’ knowledge on cultivated plants. This body of rudimentary knowledge on identifying the properties of different types of plants for food, medicine, clothing, shelter, and other uses led to the development of plant taxonomy- the first aspect of plant science to emerge as botany (Constance 1957). The fundamental principles of modern plant taxonomy with regard to the natural vegetation and flora were originally derived from cultivated plants (Li 1974).

The active process of cultivation of a plant, primarily through the intentional activity of humans has been considered the main criterion for categorising cultivated plants (Mansfeld 1959). According to Mansfeld’s approach, the number of cultivated plant species of the world was estimated to be about 7000 species, excluding partly the forestry plants, ornamentals, and plants used in amenity horticulture (Henelt and IPK 2001). Khoshbakht and Hammer (2008) expanded this list to include a total of 35000 species of cultivated plants, including 28000 ornamental plant species connected to gardening and landscaping. About 2500 plant species have undergone domestication worldwide, with over 160 families contributing one or more crop species (Zeven and de Wet 1982; Dirzo and Raven 2003).The growing numbers of cultivated plant species and the enormous diversity found in each of these species offer plenty of challenges as well as opportunities to the taxonomists to take up cultivated plant taxonomy as an active scientific pursuit. Despite this, there has been a lack of interest among taxonomists towards cultivated plant taxonomy.

24.1 Introduction

Taxonomy, which includes identification and classification has transformed into systematics and biosystematics in the recent times and is integrating itself into the biodiversity, which is now a global phenomenon occupying the main thrust of human life (Narendran, 2001). The magnitude and cause of this biodiversity is the central problem of taxonomy and one of the key problems of science as a whole, not to speak of pest management. The science of taxonomy started in the late eighteenth century by a Swedish biologist, Carl Linnaeus who with a small number of similar minded scientists pioneered a standard system of using two Latin names for an organism, denoting “genus” and “species” which is still in vogue. This led to referring of biological organisms by an universally agreed name and identity, and further providing means for their realistic classifications. When these identifications and classifications got strengthened further with accumulated biological knowledge, it allowed the development of modern biology on a sustainable and stable base.

Introduction

Taxonomy, which includes identification and classification has transformed into systematics and biosystematics in the recent times and is integrating itself into the biodiversity, which is now a global phenomenon occupying the main thrust of human life. The magnitude and cause of this biodiversity is the central problem of taxonomy and one of the key problems of science as a whole, not to speak of pest management. The science of taxonomy started in the late eighteenth century by a Swedish biologist, Carl Linnaeus who with a small number of similar minded scientists pioneered a standard system of using two Latin names for an organism, denoting “genus” and “species” that is still in use. This led to referring of biological organisms by an universally agreed name and identity, and further providing means for their realistic classifications. When these identifications and classifications got strengthened further with accumulated biological knowledge, it allowed the development of modern biology on a sustainable and stable base. In addition, in the recent times taxonomy has become more demanding subject for areas in science and technology, which are dependant on access to accumulated experience and knowledge for their survival and development. Insect pest management is one such area where taxonomy provides the essential scientific basis, without having any claims of its own and integrating itself in such a manner that its role is difficult to delineate precisely.

Abstract

Mycorrhizal symbiosis is a highly evolved mutually beneficial relationship found between Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) and vascular plants. Knowledge of taxonomic and functional diversity of AM fungi is important in understanding the biology and ecology of such a widespread mycorrhizal symbiosis. Classification and identification of AM fungi remains in the formative stages of growth, with all the attendant turmoil. Since Glomus is known to be an important AM genera for providing multifacet benefit to several economically important plants. Hence, in this review article an attempt has been made to describe 120 Glomus species along with the line diagram of 63 Glomus species for their proper identification that can be used as an identification manual for mycorrhizal researchers.

Taxonomic classification of avian species is beyond the scope of this booklet. However, since the preliminary knowledge of bird species for students of avian medicine class is of interest, the following description of most common pet and wild birds are being attempted for their benefit.

GALLINEFORMES: This order includes domestic chicken, turkey, pheasants, peafowl, grouse, quail, guinea fowl, guans and curassows.

COLUMBIFORMES: Includes pigeons and doves.

PSITTACIFORMES: Includes parrots, which have strongly hooked maxilla with a flexible attachment to the skull. They also have dexterous zygodactyl feet (two digits point forward and two backwards). The order includes.

The term “fish” most commonly refers to Agnatha (jawless fishes), Chondrichthyes (sharks and rays), Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fishes) and Actinopterygii (ray f inned fishes). Although the ichthyologist Regan (1910) defined a fish species as a product of interrelated communities with common “morphospecies”, in the early 20th century, it should be emphasized that the concept of species classification varied across scientists.

Aristotle (335-332 BC) provided the earliest classification of fish and described 117 Mediterranean fish species obtained from the Aegean Sea close to Greece.

Introduction

From earlier chapters, it is evident that Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria are the two important genera that have potent applications in food microbiology and human nutrition due to their role in food and feed production, preservation and also due to probiotic potentialities. Most of the bacterial species are still unknown indicating that the identification and classification of bacteria is a hard task since the beginning of microbiology and consequently our knowledge about bacterial ecology is very low. Mean while the expectations about novel bacterial products are high. Therefore, bacterial identification has become a growing field of interest in microbiology. Since, Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria genera include a large number of species and strains exhibiting important properties in an applied context, chiefly in the area of probiotics as food and therapeutics, an updated list of species belonging to these two genera, their phylogenetic relationships and other relevant taxonomic information are of great significance. The classification and identification of a probiotic isolate at strain level point out its typical habitat and origin. Moreover, the species, or genus name, may also indicates the strain’s safety and technical applicability for its use in probiotic products. Taxonomy helps to place a newly identified organism in a relevant group and enables the scientific communication. Further it facilitates the construction of databases that can be used for rapid identification of organisms at laboratory level easily. Thus, taxonomy of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria helps to study these organisms scientifically and allows characterizing and arranging them in an orderly manner which promote the scientific community to explore the benefits from those organisms for the betterment of mankind.

Plant parasitic nematodes cause serious problems in sustained crop production. For a successful management of nematodes, their morphology, biology and host - parasitic relationship should be thoroughly studied. A thorough study is achieved only when its taxonomical position is known. Thus, in a simple way taxonomy can be defined as the theroretical study of classification of an organism.

The systematic arrangement of organisms into groups on the basis of their relationship is termed as classification.

Nematodes are placed in the group invertebrate, Kingdom Animalia.

Hyman (1951) revised the phylum Aschelminthes and included six classes viz., Rotifera, Gastotricha, Echinodera, Priapulida, Nematoda and Nematomorpha.

Plant parasitic nematodes cause serious problems in sustained crop production. For a successful management of nematodes, their morphology, biology and host - parasitic relationship should be thoroughly studied. A thorough study is achieved only when its taxonomical position is known. Thus, in a simple way taxonomy can be defined as the theroretical study of classification of an
organism.

1. The name taxonomy was first proposed by Candolle in 1813.

2. The shellfish includes two highly diversified (i.e. phylum Arthropoda and phylum Mollusca).

3. The commercial formalin used for preservation of shellfishes is about 40% concentration and diluted to 8-10%.

4. Ostracoda is also called as Seed or Mussel shrimps.

5. Cladocereans is also called as water flea.

6. Argulus is commonly called as carp lice.

7. Balanus species belongs to sub-class Cirripedia.

8. Pill bugs and wood lice are comes under the order of Isopoda.

9. Gammarus is commonly known as sand hoppers belong to order Amphipoda.

10. Squilla is called as Mantis shrimp belongs to order Stomatopoda.

The Mother Nature bestowed humanity with about 250,000 known plant species and perhaps the same or may be higher number of unknown plant species. Out of this treasure, 80,000 plant species are edible but human beings have probably exploited about 3,000 of these species for food and was cultivating about 150 on a commercial scale. However, largely human beings consumed only 20 different kinds of crops the world over and four of which viz. rice, wheat, maize and potato are supplying about 60 % of total calories. Under the circumstances, the food crops base even for well-known crops are shrinking at an alarming rate and in this process, many species have extincted from man’s food bowl. While doing so, we have considerably reduced the range of organic compounds that we now consume, thus making ourselves vulnerable to various stresses. Realising  importance of diverse food base in our life, thinking is going on among people of all lifestyles that more and more crops particularly those, which are known to be edible but have remained as “under-utilised crops”, should be brought into cultivation. This will ensure both food and nutritional security of people. Among these, tuber crops constitute an important crops group, which was sustaining food security much before agriculture came into existence.

ABSTRACT

Eulaliopsis binata (Retz.) C.E. Hubb. is a valuable grass growing in Midnapore district of West Bengal known for their commercial purposes. Livelihood of and many of peoples are depends on the production of this grass. Besides this we try to present their phytochemical constituents mainly alkaloids, flavonoids and phenolic compounds for medicinal study. In this investigation, we studied the morpho-taxonomy and anatomical characterization as well as phytochemical screening of different chemicals. Besides this we make an idea about presence of sugar molecules by HPLC study and chemical bonding properties with the help of FTIR. The detailed study gives an idea about E. binata and its medicinal properties.

ABSTRACT

Panax L. is an important medicinal plant species complex, which is commonly known as ginseng. Ginseng has high commercial value for itsginsenoside contents and is collected from the wildin the subtropical-temperate forests of north-eastern India. Taxonomy, ecology and phenology of five species of Panax found in north-eastern India viz., P. assamicus R. N. Banerjee, P. bipinnatifidus Seem., P. pseudoginseng Wall., P. variabilis J. Wenand P. sokpayensis Sharma& Pandit, have beendiscussed in this paper. The distribution of these species is restricted to the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Darjeeling HillsofWest Bengal.P. pseudoginseng hasextended distribution range in Nepal. P. variabilis was reported from Nagaland, which is a new record for India. All the species of Panax prefer shady and moist habitat. The species grow in the soil texture that ranges from loamy sand to sandy. The pH ranges from 4.3-7.1. The species is perennial and pereniates through its underground rhizome. The phenophase starts with emergence of seedlings in the late March and senescence takes place in the middle of October after seed setting. Monitoring of the populations of all Panax species revealed that the population size have decreased by 40-50% over a period of 10 years due to over-harvesting from the wild by the local people for its medicinal value. Sustainable use of rhizome and its cultivation practice need to be standardized to address the conservation issues related to the plant.

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the science that deals with the identification nomenclature and classification of organisms.

Nomenclature

It is the system of assigning names to the taxonomic groups or organism according to international rules.

Systematics

It is scientific study of organisms with the ultimate object of characterizing and arranging them in an orderly manner.

Taylorella was first isolated by Taylor et al. (1978) as a causative agent of contagious equine metritis (CEM), a venereal disease of horses. The disease (CEM) was first reported in the mares of thoroughbred horses in UK in 1977 breeding season (Crowhurst, 1977). Initially the causative agent was assumed as Haemophilus equigenitalis. Later on the basis of numerical taxonomic characteristics, genomic G+C contents, DNA-DNA hybridisation studies, the new genus Taylorella was proposed in 1983 (Sugimoto et al., 1983). It was approved by the International Committee on Systematic Bacteriology.

Properties of genus

1.   Morphology :  Taylorella are gram negative, small rods or coccobacilli, measuring 5-6 µm by 0.8 µm. They are pleomorphic, piliated, encapsulated, non-sporing and non-motile.

2.   They are microaerophilic (require low O₂ tension for growth), non-fermentative, and non-proteolytic in nature.

3.         Classification : Taylorella belongs to β- subclass of class Proteobacteria (whereas, Haemophilus belongs to the γ- subclass of Proteobacteria). Major important species is Taylorella equigenitalis. The genus was considered as a ‘single species genus’ for a long time. Latter in   1997, National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the identity of another Taylorella species, isolated from a donkey jack (Equus asinus) in California. It was named as T. asinigenitalis. The new species has minor difference in 16S rDNA sequence (97.6% similarity), DNA–DNA hybridization (23% similarity) and (G + C) composition with T. equigenitalis (Matsuda and Moore, 2003)
.

1) Blister Blight
Diagnostic Symptoms
• Initially oily, yellowish, translucent spots appear on the tender leaf and turn to deep red shiny blisters.
• The circular spot gradually enlarges to 3 to 13mm diameter, bulged on the under surface of the leaf with a concave trough like depression on the upper surface.
• Leaves become curled and distorted.
• First flush of 2-3 young leaves are attacked and the young shoots and buds are killed.
• Mature leaf is not affected.
• In nursery infection, seedlings are stunted with many thin stems instead of a single stalk.
• Repeated attacks cause death of seedlings.
• Badly affected nurseries will have to be abandoned.
• Succulent leaves and green shoots of newly pruned tea are most susceptible (Fig.1).
• Basidiospores cause secondary infection.

Abstract
 
Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is a plantation crop having a wide distribution extending from low elevation to high exceeding 2000 m. The demands and consumption of organically grown residue free Darjeeling tea is increasing day by day due to health consciousness and environmental awareness. The average productivity of Darjeeling tea is far below than the average national tea productivity. Reasons for low productivity of Darjeeling tea may be due to high altitude/elevation; temperature/climate and geographical location in addition to the old age of tea bushes and low plant density. In the past indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilizers has led to the pollution and contamination of the soil, water basins, destroyed micro-organisms and friendly insects, making the crop more prone to diseases and reduced soil fertility. Following Good Agriculture Practices (GAP), sustainable and quality production of Darjeeling tea may be increased through eco-forming without any deterioration of surroundings of plants.

Tea, the oldest known beverage, is native of China in South East Asia. It was known to the Chinese as early as 2737 BC, but attained the status of a popular drink in England in 1664 A.D. It was planted on a large scale in North India in 1834 while in South India from 1859 to 1897 in different tea growing districts. As on today, 38 countries grow tea and among which India, China, Sri Lanka and Indonesia have major share in area and production. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter in tea industry.

Chinese big leaf tea (Camellia sinensis var. macrophylla).
Chinese small leaf tea (Camellia sinensis var. bohea)
Shan tea (Camellia sinensis var. Shan)
Indo-China or Cambod tea (Camellia assamica subspecies lasiocalyx)
Indian tea (Camellia sinensis var. assamica)
Family:  Theaceae
Chromosome No.: 2n = 2x = 30
Origin: China (East and South Asia)
Useful Part: Bud and Leaves