eChapters

1. Liquorice is propagated by
   1. Seeds and stem cuttings
   2. Root cuttings and stem cuttings
   3. Seeds, root cuttings and stem cuttings
   4. Seeds alone
2. Belladonna plants will be ready for planting in main field when they attain a height of
   1. 15 – 20 cm after 8 – 12 weeks
   2. 15 – 20 cm after 2 – 4 weeks
   3. 4 – 8 cm after 8 – 12 weeks
   4. 40 – 45 cm after 8 – 12 weeks
3. The cinchona seeds germinate in ___ days after sowing
   1. 60 – 65
   2. 5 – 10
   3. 20 – 40
   4. 10 – 15

1. The following in meters for High Density Planting (HDP) which enhances the productivity of cashew
   1. 4 x 4
   2. 8 x 8
   3. 3 x 2
   4. 2 x2
2. Which of the following month for seed sowing of cocoa
   1. May – June
   2. December – January
   3. July – August
   4. February – March
3. The following week for seed germination in tea
   1. 2 – 3
   2. 8 – 10
   3. 4 – 6
   4. 1 – 2

1. Ginger is generally planted in the month of
   1. January – February
   2. August – September
   3. March – June
   4. October – December
2. Which one of the following slope is preferred for planting of clove
   1. North – West
   2. North – East
   3. South – East
   4. South – North
3. Ginger seedlings will be ready for transplanting
   1. 10 – 15 days
   2. 10 – 15 days
   3. 30 – 40 days
   4. 60 – 70 days

1. Pick odd one out
   1. Nima
   2. Pragati
   3. Jeva 2
   4. Praman
2. The following type of vetiver is high in oil yield but its oil quality is inferior
   1. East Indian Type
   2. North Indian Type
   3. West Indian Type
   4. South Indian Type
3. Vaishnavi is a variety of
   1. Vetiver
   2. Lemongrass
   3. Palmarosa
   4. Patchouli

1. K-8 is a variety of
   1. Aloe
   2. Coleus
   3. Ashwagandha
   4. Buckwheat
2. The following variety is aloe vera
   1. CIM – Sheel
   2. CIM - Sheetel
   3. CIM – Jeevan
   4. CIM - Mithi
3. Haryana Mulhatti -1 is a variety of
   1. Fox Glove
   2. Long pepper
   3. Liquorice
   4. Safed musli

1. The following hybrid of cocoa is a cross between CCRP 1 x CCRP 7
   1. CCRP 6
   2. CCRP 9
   3. CCRP 10
   4. CCRP 8
2. VHC-3 hybrid of coconut is developed by
   1. Aliyar
   2. Veppankulam
   3. Pattukottai
   4. TNAU, Coimbatore
3. Which one of the following varieties of coffee is multiple crosses
   1. Selection 2
   2. Selection 1
   3. Selection 4
   4. Selection 3

1. Pick the odd one out
   1. Athira
   2. Karthika
   3. Suguna
   4. Aswathy
2. Sreekara is variety of
   1. Turmeric
   2. Black Pepper
   3. Ginger
   4. Cinnamon
3. Find the odd one out
   1. HM107
   2. ML-150
   3. CO4
   4. Pusa early bunching

Introduction

Germination is the process by which a plant grows from a seed or similar structure. The most common example of germination is the sprouting of a seedling from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm. Quick germination is the various ways and means that really fastened the process of seed germination. Through various ways, it is possible to reduce the time of germination by 70 per cent and also the success rate of germination can also be doubled.

Reagents

Restriction enzymes of choice, such as BamH1 and EcoRI

Restriction enzyme reaction buffer,

70 % Ethanol

100 % Ethanol

3 M Sodium acetate (pH 5.2)

Distilled water

Plasmid DNA isolated from bacteria, such as pGFP(R) and pBC(R)

The relative long periods of time required for completion of germination tests delays the seed marketing. This necessiated the development of rapid methods for estimating the germination capacity of seeds. This test was developed by Lakon (1942) in Germany.

1. PRINCIPLE

It is a biochemical test, in which living cells are made visible by reduction of an indicator dye. The indicator used is 2,3,5 triphenyl tetrazolium chloride. Within the seed tissues, it interferes with the reduction processes of living cells and accepts hydrogen from the hydrogenases. By hydrogenation of the 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride, a red stable and non diffusible substance, triphenyl formazan is produced in living cells (Fig. 1).

I. FILL UPS

1. The quick viability test was developed by _____.
2. _____ is a biochemical test.
3. The indicator used for quick viability test is _____.
4. For maize seeds, the method followed for staining is _____.

This chapter sheds light on a geohazard namely quicksand. Unlike other geohazards, it waits for its victims to cause hazard. Though discounted as a myth and also as a monster problem in Hollywood film stories, phenomenon of quicksand is real and could inflict life threatening dangers. Analyses of genetic causes, associated properties and locales of its occurrences indicate that more deaths might have resulted due to panic and drowning in waters than by quicksand itself. Based on these inferences, potential mitigation measures are presented in this chapter.

INTRODUCTION

Quicksand, referred as “pudhai manal” in Tamil, is one of the lesser known dangerous natural phenomena that cause death of human and other unsuspecting animals. It is a geohazard of different sort. It is different in a sense that it never “goes” anywhere like tsunami or causes hazard like flood or landslide or any other geohazard; but it waits for hapless victims; that is., it is harmless until human beings or other fauna step into the region of quicksand. It is commonly prevalent in many river beds and other locales near water bodies located amidst dense forests. Many a deaths occur due to quicksand but go unnoticed owing to its “non catastrophic” nature. It is also a geohazard less understood pertaining to causes of formation, potential to cause damage and occurrence (www.mythbuster.com). This chapter is an attempt to review the existing literature on this geohazard for better understanding.

In managing diseases of horticultural crops, pathogen quiescence has important implications in timing prophylaxis, the reduction of stresses that trigger the transition of quiescence to aggression, and managing the harvested crop to prolong quiescence to the point at which yield is no longer affected. The inception of pathogen quiescence and its maintenance on or within the host implies a dynamic equilibrium between the host, the pathogen, and their environment. Physiological and physical changes in the host, its environment, or both trigger changes in that equilibrium to permit the pathogen to resume aggression. Microorganisms lying on the host surface constitute a potential latent infection; as can be the case with Botrytis cinerea conidia that are prevented from germinating by antagonistic bacteria on leaf surfaces (William R. Jarvis, 1994). Quiescence can run the spectrum from the ungerminated spore; through symptomless, internal infections; to visible but nonexpanding lesions, such as ghost spot of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) to expanding lesions on banana caused by Colletotrichum musae and on avocado caused by C. gloeosporioides.

A latent, dormant, or quiescent parasitic relationship is a condition in which the pathogen spends long periods during the host’s life in a quiescent stage until, under specific circumstances, it becomes active. Epidemiologists might refer to the period from spore landing until the parasitized tissue produces new spores as a latent period (Dov Prusky, 1996). The term “period of quiescence” is referred to differentiate the quiescent parasitic relationship from the latent period. Quiescence can be enforced during the various processes of fungal attack, which suggests that quiescence may or could occur during any of the processes leading from fungal germination to colonization.

1. Introduction

Quince is a highly nutritious underutilized fruit of sub-Himalayan region which has great economics and medicinal potential and it belongs to the group of the oldest cultural plants. Quince is known with different names, Urdu name ‘Bahee Dana’, Farsi name ‘Beh’, Greek name ‘Strythion’, Kashmiri name ‘Bamchunth’ and Hindi name ‘Bihi’ (Torkelson, 1995, Khoubnasabjafari and Jouyban, 2011). Quince is very much like pear in shape and gets a golden yellowish outer layer when mature. Quince fruit is a valuable dietary product and even then it less suitable for the direct consumption (Hricovsky et al., 2003) and for that reason they are mostly used either cooked (Alvarenga et al., 2008) or preserved (Kyzlink, 1990). However, as compared with other species, this fruit tree species is less popular throughout the world. Its predisposition to turning brown and decay is a limiting factor in the long-term storage of this fruit (Gunes, 2008). The nutritional value of the fruit is high (Bucsek et al., 1996; Kopec and Balik 2008). It is well known that quince fruit shows antioxidant effects (Silva et al., 2002) which result from the presence of a number of polyphenolic substances (Fattouch et al., 2007), e.g. flavonoids quercetin, rutin, kaemp ferol etc. (Silva et al., 2005), and also from increased levels of vitamin C (Tetera, 2006). Quince has the important nutritional and flavor composition more than many fruits. Vitamin C content of quince is nearly two times higher than in apple (Biro and Lindner, 1999).

Genus : Cydonia / Pyrus
Species : oblonga Mill. vulgaris Pers. 
                cydonia L.
Family : Rosaceae 
Chromosome No. : 2n= 34

The fruit of pome class referred as Cydonia oblonga (also Pyrus cydonia) is an ancient fruit and yet its significance is not fully recognized and crop has received very less attention. There is hardly any mention of this old fruit in respect of its merit, its cultivation or in the form of some standard literature. One reason could be that amongst pome fruits where quince is placed, better fruit form, raw eating quality persisted, which markedly restricted quince improvement. Quince fruit lacks dessert class except when cooked but is commercially used for flavouring, in preparation of jellies marmalade and preserves. However in near East and Persia, quince cultivation is highly improved through the selection of better varieties which are eaten raw.

food, known to have been cultivated before 6000 BC in whole Andean region, Columbia, Peru, Equador, Bolivia before the conquest of Spanish. Incas have called this crop as a mother grain and was considered sacred. But in course of time, Catholics have suppressed the cultivation of crop after discovering it as a sacred drink during various religious ceremonies and hence the crop remained in the places where European could not reach (Vega Galvez, 2010).

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a part of “Chenopodiaceae” family. Up to 250 species of Chenopodium have been identified to date. Quinoa is a South American grain that has been farmed in the Andes for thousands of years, particularly in Peru and Bolivia. It is considered as a sacred plant because of its abundance in protein and essential amino acids (Jancurova et al., 2009). Quinoa is distinguished by its excellent adaptability to a diverse variety of land and environmental variables. Both leaves as well as the grains are considered as the edible parts. However, the quinoa grains have been extensively studied and economically explored (Rocha, 2008).

Introduction

Aquaculture, involving the cultivation of fish, crustaceans, molluscs, and aquatic plants, has become indispensable for global food security and employment. However, the intensification of aquaculture practices, characterized by high stocking densities, has led to increased stress among farmed organisms, which in turn makes them more susceptible to diseases. Disease outbreaks in aquaculture can have devastating effects, necessitating both prophylactic and therapeutic measures to maintain the health and productivity of these organisms.

Prophylactic measures, such as vaccines and immunostimulants, play a vital role in preventing disease outbreaks. For instance, vaccines targeting common bacterial pathogens like Aeromonas hydrophila are widely used in fish farming. Immunostimulants like beta-glucans are also administered to enhance the immune response of aquatic organisms. On the therapeutic front, antibiotics remain the most commonly used agents to treat infections once they occur. However, the extensive use of antibiotics has led to several significant issues. Firstly, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as a major concern, with the excessive use of antibiotics in aquaculture contributing to the development of resistant bacterial strains. These resistant pathogens can spread to other aquatic organisms and humans, posing a serious public health risk. Secondly, the presence of antibiotic residues in seafood can lead to export rejections, as many countries enforce strict regulations on such residues. This can result in considerable economic losses for aquaculture producers. Lastly, residual antibiotics in seafood can cause allergic reactions in consumers and contribute to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant infections.

Introduction
Quorum sensing is the system of communication tools between bacterial species and higher eukaryotic organisms. The Bacterial cell-to-cell communication depends on CCSM (cell-to-cell signaling molecule ) has four distinct characteristics where production mainly depends on the particular growth stages, under some physiological conditions with response to surrounding changes, deposition of CCSM is extracellular, which is recognized by its specific receptors, the response of CCSM was higher during the critical saturated condition and the most important one for CCSM production relay on the extended cellular response over the physiological changes during the metabolism and detoxification of CCSM (Winzer et al., 2002). The lower population capacity of bacteria cannot cause pathogenicity in higher organisms. They made the relation with neighboring communities to cause disease. The communication is within species or between similar groups. Before, bacteria were considered independent organisms, but now, quorumsensing molecules have disproved this, creating communication between communities and representing them as a group. Cell-to-cell communication was the signaling through intercellular or extracellular diffusion between or within the bacteria. The signaling led a similar group of bacteria to work together, symbolizing a more significant density. Commencement of quorum signaling at minute population density would mean elevating the range of bacterial density by signaling molecules in surroundings (Helman and Chernin, 2015). The signaling directly impacts the virulence factor of bacteria by the mechanism of pathogenicity and their metabolism. There would be large classes of quorumsensing molecules, among which gram-negative bacteria produce AI 1 as N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHLs) and gram-positive bacteria produce large peptide bonds. The AHL is compiled of the ring-like homoserine structure well attached by fatty acyl chains (Miller and Bassler, 2001). Auto induction is a term that varies from autogenous regulation. Autoregulation is the process by which gene expression is regulated by its product. In the case of auto induction, the production of diffusible sensing molecules occurs during bacterial growth in the environment. The quantity depends on the density of bacterial growth ( Maloy and Stewart, 1993; Fuqua et al., 1994). Fuqua et al., 1994 termed the quorum, which tells that the “minimal behavioral unit” is a bacterial quorum. The initiation of quorum sensing starts with the production of an autoinducer molecule called Pheromones, which regulates the population gene expression. Most bacteria produce autoinducers, which act as signaling molecules. Higher signaling molecules will directly rely on the higher population density of bacteria to cause the disease (Williams, 2007).