eChapters

The term biodiversity is abbreviated from two different terms ‘biological’ and ‘diversity’. Biodiversity is also called biological diversity. The term biological diversity was first coined by wildlife scientist and conservationist Raymond F. Dasmann in 1968. The same term i.e. natural heritage was used in the United State. Geneticists describe it as the diversity of genes and organisms. Biologists define biodiversity as the sum of genes, species and ecosystems of a region.

Biodiversity is determined by the wholesome number of different species in a particular area. It helps to strengthen the stability of an ecosystem and leads to a healthy biosphere. Existence of biodiversity is crucial for the functioning of the ecosystem and is the foundation of life on earth as it generates products and services for the existence of all living organisms on the earth.

Introduction

Several hazardous chemicals, microbes, and techniques like recombinant DNA technology are used for research and development work in research Institutes and universities. Therefore, the researchers, technical, helping and supporting staffs as well as the laboratory outputs must be kept free from contaminations. Thus, biosafety is necessary to prevent unintentional exposure/ release of hazardous chemicals, microbes/pathogens, and toxins to the laboratory staff and environment. Following the biosafety guidelines and ethical considerations are essential to maintain safety standards for the researchers as well as the environment. This chapter deals with various biosafety measures and ethical issues to be strictly followed while working in a research laboratory. The required safety level needs to be determined as per the chemical/biological materials are used in the laboratory to keep the researcher/environment safe for sustainable research and developmental activities.

Biosafety

The term biosafety is used to describe the procedure and policies needed to ensure environmental and personal safety. Biosafety refers to the containment principles, technologies and practices that are implemented to prevent unintentional exposure to pathogens, toxins, or their accidental release into the environment. A fundamental objective of any biosafety program is the containment of potentially harmful chemical/biological agents as precautionary safety measures.

Why Biosafety?

With the increasing number of countries adopting molecular biology tools and techniques in life science research and development activities, especially in the areas of agriculture and medicine, the biosafety issues are gaining importance to ensure biological safety for the public and the environment. Conducting research in safe and sustainable manner is not only a personal requirement but essential collective efforts to ensure biological safety for a clean and safe environment. This requires rules, regulations, monitoring bodies, and awareness among the workers as well as the public. Therefore, biosafety per se is an integral part of laboratory research and requires awareness among the researchers so that biological safety can be well taken care from the grassroot level.

A. Tissue culture and micro propagation
Tissue culture and micro propagation are essential techniques for the propagation of various spices and medicinal plants, allowing the rapid production of diseasefree and genetically identical plants. The overview of techniques apply are as follows:
1. Black Pepper (Piper nigrum)
1a. Tissue culture in Black Pepper
Callus induction from leaf and stem explants, followed by somatic embryogenesis. The protocol for black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) tissue culture involves several stages, including callus induction, shoot regeneration, root initiation, hardening, and implementation of tissue culture techniques. The general outline of the process based on recent advancements are as follows.
a. Callus induction
• Explants: Typically, leaves, stems, or nodes are used as explants.
• Medium: Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with auxins like 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) @ 0.5-2.0mg/l or Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA)@ 0.5-1.0mg/l is commonly used to induce callus
formation.
• Conditions: Cultures are usually maintained in dark conditions at 25°C to 28°C to promote callus induction.

It is difficult to define ‘stress’ precisely. In engineering and the physical sciences, it is usually defined as the force applied per unit area. But as far as in biology, stress it is usually described more loosely as any factor that disturbs normal functioning of an organism. Any environmental factor potentially unfavorable to plant is termed as stress.

The effect of stress on plant condition is called strain. Stress is the action, whereas strain is the reaction. Stress may be defined as external conditions that adversely affect growth, development and productivity. Stress may further classified as:

• Zero stress: This is the level of exposure of plants to environmental factors that leads to neither injury nor reduction in growth and yield of crops.
• Stress escape: Capacity of the plant to complete its life cycle during wet season before onset of stress.

As mentioned above Bougainvillea is one of the most widely grown important perennial ornamental shrubs with numerous attractive plant colour (leaf) and shape, and bract colours and shape. It is very popular for its multipurpose use. Inspite of beautiful bract colour it can not be enjoyed as cut flower as its shelf-life is very limited. Bracts start drooping within few minutes after cut from the main plant. Dehydration techniques have been developed at CSIR-N.B.R.I., Lucknow, by which flowers and foliage retain their fresh look for several months or even years after dehydration. Their original shapes, colour and size remain as they were before dehydration and, thus, making them highly suitable raw materials for interior decoration and may be enjoyed for a long time and can be used for any occasion. NBRI has standardized two methods viz. Press Drying and Embedding (drying through embedding in sand and silica gel and drying using hot air oven, microwave oven and solar cooker). Bougainvillea leaves and bracts can be dehydrated beautifully by both the methods and the dried products are utilized for preparation of different types of commercial decorative items. 

The genus Bougainvillea, although having broad range of adaptability along with diverging habitate is not rich in scientific literature. The available literature on description of elemental species and mode of origin and description of different sports (cultivated species) are very poor and all the literarture are not available at one place. On the basis of available literature (Philbert 1789, Humboldt and Bonpland 1808, Fitch 1854, Bailey 1914, Merril 1923, Standley  1931, Heimerl 1934, Hottes 1947, Bor and Raizada 1948, Preston 1950, MacSelf 1951, Sargeant 1951, Van 1951, Crane and Lawrence 1952, Holttum 1955a-d, 1957a,b, Pancho and Bardenas 1959, Marigowada 1961, Sharma 1962, Menninger 1970, Ramcharan et al., 1974, Zadoo et al., 1976, Linnaeus 1789, Swarup and Singh 1995, Willdenow 1798, McDaniells 1981, Rodale et al., 1997, Gordon 2002, Lopez and Galetto, 2002, Fatima et al., 2007, Kent et al., 2007, Kobayashi et al., 2007a,b, Hammad 2009, Lack, 2004, 2012) an attempts has been made to give a short description of elemental species and important role played by Bougainvillea cv. 

Bougainvilleas (Bougainvillea spp.) are tropical and sub tropical plants belonging to Nyctaginaceae family. They are thorny, evergreen and some are fragrant. Bougainvillea is named for “Louis A. de Bougainville”, a French navigator (1729-1811) who discovered the plant in Brazil in 1768. Bougainvillea plant spreading horizontally or hanging downwards as it is climbing upwards, it makes itself at home in almost any situation. It can be grown as a hedge, groomed as a ground cover, pruned as an espalier, trained as a tree or contained in a pot in a variety of shapes. Bougainvillea is ideal for bonsai. Red, violet, orange, yellow or white bracts appear at the ends of new growth.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Bougainvillea is a native of South America (Bailey, 1963, Menninger, 1970 and Hackett and Sachs, 1985) from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina. A French explorer and naturalist, Dr. Philibert Commerson or Commercon (1727-1773), discovered the bougainvillea in Rio de Janeiro in 1768. He may have been traveling on a supply ship at the time. His discovery would soon find a name and go on to make a name for itself all over the world. In 1766, a ship called La Boudeuse set sail from Nantes on a round-the-world voyage of discovery commissioned by the French government. At the helm was Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (1729-1811), a mathematician and an admiral in the French navy. When La Boudeuse arrived in Rio de Janeiro to rendezvous with the supply ship, the occasion made horticultural history. Commerson’s newly discovered plant received a name, bougainvillea, in honour of the admiral.

Twenty years after Commerçon’s discovery, it was first published as ‘Buginvillea’ in Genera Plantarum by A.L. de Jusseau in 1789. The genus was subsequently spelled in several ways until it was finally corrected to ‘Bougainvillea’ in the Index Kewensis in the 1930s. Originally, B. spectabilis and B. glabra were hardly differentiated until the mid-1980s when botanists recognized them to be totally distinct species. In the early 19^th century, these two species were the first to be introduced into Europe and soon, nurseries in France and England did a thriving trade providing specimens to Australia and other far away countries. Meanwhile, Kew Gardens distributed plants it had propagated to British colonies throughout the world. Soon thereafter, an important event in the history of bougainvillea took place with the discovery of a crimson specimen in Cartagena, Colombia, by Mrs. R.V. Butt. Originally thought to be a distinct species, it was named B. buttiana in her honour. However, it was later discovered to be a natural hybrid of a variety of B. glabra and possibly B. peruviana - a “local pink bougainvillea” from Peru. Natural hybrids were soon found to be common occurrences all over the world. For instance, around the 1930s, when the three species were grown together, many hybrid crosses were created almost spontaneously in East Africa, India, the Canary Islands, Australia, North America and the Philippines.

Horticulture includes variety and diversity of crops. Thus, it can be divided into several branches depending upon the crops it deals with. Following are the branches of horticulture.

1. Pomology: The term pomology is a combination of two Latin words pome i.e. fruit and logos i.e. science. Recently it has been designated as ‘Fruit Science’. It deals with the study of fruit crops. It includes all aspects of fruit crops e.g. importance, uses, origin and distribution, area and production, soil and climate requirement, botany, nursery raising, cultivation practices, plant protection measures, stage and methods of harvesting, post-harvest handling, marketing, export, import, etc. e.g. mango, banana, citrus, grape, apple, peach, pomegranate, fig, etc.
2. Olericulture: The term olericulture is also derived from the Latin word. Cultivation of vegetable crops. Recently it has been designated as ‘Vegetable Science’. Vegetables are said to be herbaceous plants of which edible plant parts are used for consumption either cooked or salad. It may be stem, root, leaf, flower, etc. It also includes all aspects of vegetable crops e.g. importance, uses, origin and distribution, area and production, soil and climate requirement, botany, nursery raising, cultivation practices, plant protection measures, stage and method of harvesting, post-harvest handling, marketing, export, import, etc. e.g. tomato, brinjal, chilli, cucumber, red pumpkin, watermelon, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.
3. Ornamental Horticulture: It includes various groups of ornamental plants used to decorate in-door and out-door areas. Ornamental horticulture is the study of growing, arranging and tending decorative plants and flowers. It is further divided into.

INTRODUCTION

The ultimate objective of forest tree breeding is to develop fast growing high yielding genetically improved superior strains in order to replace the wild natural forest stands so as to obtain higher forest productivity per unit area and time. A breeding programme, in fact, involves purposeful management of genetic variability present in a taxon. The variation is regulated through controlled mating. This obviously, needs detailed information on the nature and extent of genetic variation on one hand and equally on the reproductive biology of the species. A clear understanding of phenological behaviour, time of anthesis, time and duration of stigma receptivity, fertilization, mode of pollination, seed development etc. is necessary for attempting crosses between genetically different forms which is invariably involved in the breeding programmes. Although, tree breeding work has been done to a great extent on the temperate species (Devey et al. 2002; Murat et al. 2006; Gotzenberger et al. 2007), no serious efforts were made in the past on tropical forest species including Jatropha (Jatropha curcas), presumably due to the consideration that similar breeding methods may perhaps, be applied to the tropical trees as well. This, however, is not applicable, as the phenological and reproductive features are typical different to each species. It was in this background that the present research article was planned to collect information on floral biology, breeding behaviour and hybridization programme in Jatropha for subsequent application in its genetic improvement.

Diseases of plants are produced by a variety of organisms from plant and animal kingdoms viz., fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes and insects. The diseases reduce total biomass (dry matter) production and consequently yield of the crop by general stunting, damage to the leaf tissues, fruits and seeds or by killing the plants. The degree of damage would depend upon the intensity of infection but both need not be proportional. One serious effect of disease is the disappearance from cultivation of otherwise excellent but susceptible varieties.

Vegetable crops have been found to be highly susceptible to biotic stresses from the disease causing microorganisms and insects-pests. The ability of pathogen and insect-pests to attack and proliferate in the host plant is highly specific. There are wide differences in the host plants in response to the attack by pathogens and insects. Although control of the diseases and insects by the use of chemicals is possible to certain extent but indiscriminate use of fungicides or insecticides over the crop has several disadvantages. Besides increasing cost involved in chemical control, residual toxicity of the chemicals such as fungicides, antibiotics and insecticides in food chain and development of resistance against pathogens and insect-pests to different chemicals are serious problems.

Genetic improvement of host plants conferring resistance to diseases and insect-pests is considered to be the best approach in the management of diseases and insect-pests, and this is more particularly true in case of vegetable crops. Indiscriminate use of chemicals in the vegetable sector has led to health hazard. This has resulted in switching towards organic vegetables. However, cost of production of organic vegetables naturally will not permit the common people to consume these products. Therefore, the best option is to induce resistance in the host varieties. The resistant varieties could in turn be an important component in the organic vegetable farming, thereby reducing cost of production to certain extent.

Breeding objectives genetic resources and techniques for breeding

• There are countries that consume 100 to 150 kg yearly per capita while others which do not even make it to 10kg.
• Genetic variability is the raw material of the plant breeder.
• International network for the improvement of Banana and Plantain (1 NIBAP), Prance to conserve the available germplasm.
• Only pathogen gene-free planting material can be used for construction or distribution from the gene bank for further multiplication or utilization in any breeding program.
• Fruit breeders have therefore tended to utilize single gene variants in performance to polygenic variation.
• In general, for most commercial requirements, homozygous is inadequate by six or seven generations of selling (56 or 37).
• In the dominance hypothesis, it is assumed that the deleterious gene is normally recessive.
• The simplest approach for the selection of our breeders is mass selection.

Important breeding methods can be classified as follows:
    1.    Introduction
    2.    Selection
    a.    Mass selection: Done in self pollinated crops, cross pollinated crops and dioecious crops.
    b.    Individual plant selection: Done in self pollinated crops, cross pollinated crops (line breeding) without control of pollination, artificially self pollinated lines, dioecious plants and clonally propagated lines.
    3.    Hybridization
    a.    Crossing in self pollinated crops.
    b.    Single crosses, double crosses and synthesized varieties.
    c.    Varietal crosses.

17.1 Introduction

Almond or badam is a high energy nut. Almond kernels contain lipids (52.2%), protein (20%), carbohydrate (20.4%) and water-soluble sugars (4.4%). Irrigation affects almond yield and quality. Almond quality is primarily genotype dependent. Maturity at harvest can also influence kernel quality.

12.1 Introduction

Aonla (also called Amla, Indian gooseberry) is a tropical and sub-tropical fruit. It is mainly recognized due to its high nutritive, medicinal and therapeutic properties. It contains high amount of vitamin C (500-1500 mg/100 g); it is also rich in pectin, iron, calcium and phosphorus. Dried fruits of aonla are used in curing haemorrhage, diarrhoea, chronic dysentery, diabetes, jaundice, dyspepsia, cough etc. Aonla is the main ingredient of Chavanprash and Triphala powder. The fruit contains gallic acid and leucoanthocyanin which have antioxidant property. Its cultivation is more common and widely grown in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

14.1 Introduction

Apple is the most widely grown temperate fruit of the world. It is considered as King of temperate fruits. It is rich in carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorous, iron, potassium, vitamin B6 . Apple is rich in antioxidant, flavonoids and dietary fibre. It is recommended to reduce the incidence of dental caries. The phytonutrients and antioxidants may help reduce the risk of developing cancers, hypertensions, diabetes and heart disease. Apple is mainly used for table purpose. The various processed products are prepared from fruit, e.g., juice, jelly, preserve, canned slice, wine, concentrated juice, cider and powder. It is widely cultivated in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan etc.

20.1 Introduction

Arecanut (or betel palm) is chewed as narcotic either alone or more commonly along with betel leaf. Its nut has medicinal and pharmaceutical properties. About 1/10th of world population has a habit of betel chewing. Nut contains polyphenol (11-18 %) which includes flavonols like catechin, epicatechin, leucocyanidin, fat (9-15%), polysaccharides (17-25%), fibre and protein (6- 7.5%) and some minerals like calcium, phosphorous and iron.

4.1 Introduction

Banana (Musa spp.) is one of the oldest fruits and second largest growing fruit crop in the world. It is also known as Adam’s Fig and Apple of Paradise. Important banana growing states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam. In South India, banana is extensively used in all auspicious occasions such as wedding, festival and worship. Banana is a good table fruit. The cultivar Nendran is used for cooking; it is also used for preparation of halwa, sweet, chips etc. Main bud or heart of banana bunches is also used as vegetable in India, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. Musa textiles is known for strong fibre quality. Ripe banana contains about 20% sugar (but no starch) and about 4.7% protein. Further, it contains vitamins A, B, C, D and E and minerals such as K, P, Ca and Fe.

11.1 Introduction

Ber (also called Indian Jujube, Indian Plum, Chinese Apple and Masau) is an important minor fruit of India. It is most widely cultivated in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra etc. Fruits are mostly eaten fresh but other forms, such as dried, candied, squash etc. can be prepared from ber. Stem, bark, root and leaves have some medicinal values. Leaves of ber are used as fodder in dry regions.

21.1 Introduction

Cashewnut or cashew is an export-oriented crop grown for its nuts, a true drupe. It is often referred to as ‘wonder nut’. It is highly delicious and nutritive. Its nutritional composition compares well with almond, hazelnut and walnut. The economic part is kernel which is a unique combination of fats (47%), protein (21%), carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins. Nutritionally it is equivalent to milk, egg and meat, it is good appetizer, an excellent nerve tonic, stimulant, body builder. India is the largest producer, processor and exporter; and second largest consumer in the world. Cashew is grown in Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra along the west coast and in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal along the east coast.

5.1 Introduction

Citrus is one of the most important fruit crops in the world. It is grown in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. The top ten citrus producing countries are China, India, Nigeria, Brazil, Mexico, USA, Spain, Egypt, Italy and Argentina. The citrus industry in India is the third fruit industry after mango and banana. The important groups of crops in citrus are sweet orange, mandarins, limes, lemons, grape fruits and pummelo. The most important commercial Citrus species grown in India are mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco.), followed by sweet orange (Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck) and acid lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle). The major citrus producing states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.