No abstract

A systematic study has been carried out to assess the underground water contamination and the effect of textile effluents on Noyyal River basin in and around Tiruppur Town. Twenty six sampling locations were selected at random and the ground water samples were collected mostly from tube wells at Noyyal River basin in and around Tiruppur area. The samples were analyzed for major physical and chemical water quality parameters like pH, alkalinity, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (TH), Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl & SO42-. It was found that the underground water quality was contaminated at few sampling sites due to the industrial discharge of the effluents on to the river or land from the Tiruppur town. The sampling sites namely Orathupalayam, Karuvapalayam, Kulathupalayam, Uttukuli and Kodumanalpudur showed high deviations in total alkalinity, total hardness, Ca, Mg and chloride concentrations. Hence our study concludes that the underground water quality study in this region shows a constant variation in different parameters in different periods (before and after monsoon). So it is highly important to take periodical monitoring of the underground water quality in this region for our future sustainability

Adventitious shoot regeneration from root, hypocotyl, cotyledon and primary leaf explants of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) was studied. Shoot regeneration was promoted by benzyladenine (BA) + naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), BA + indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), kinetin + NAA and thidiazuron (TDZ) + NAA incorporated in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium. High frequency of shoot regeneration and high number of shoots per regenerating explant were obtained on a wide range of TDZ + NAA combinations. Proliferated shoots were elongated in MS + 0.5 mg dm -3 kinetin and well-developed shoots were rooted in half strength MS + 0.5 mg dm -3 NAA. Rooted shoots were successfully acclimatized and established in soil.

Modern breeding of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), which started 100 years ago, increased the number and the diversity of cultivated forms. In addition, for more than 50 years, wild sunflower and other Helianthus species have been collected in North America where they all originated. Collections of both cultivated and wild forms are maintained in gene banks in many countries where sunflower is an important crop, with some specificity according to the availability of germplasm and to local research and breeding programmes. Cultivated material includes land races, open pollinated varieties, synthetics and inbred lines. The majority of wild accessions are ecotypes of wild Helianthus annuus, but also 52 other species of Helianthus and a few related genera. The activities of three gene banks, in USA, France and Serbia, are described in detail, supplemented by data from seven other countries. Past and future uses of the genetic resources for environmental adaptation and breeding are discussed in relation to genomic and improved phenotypic knowledge of the cultivated and wild accessions available in the gene banks.

The organogenic competence of leaf explants of eleven Carthamus species including C. tinctorius on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different concentrations of thidiazuron (TDZ) + -naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 6-benzyladenine (BA) + NAA was investigated. Highly prolific adventitious shoot regeneration was observed in C. tinctorius and C. arborescens on both growth regulator combinations and the shoot regeneration frequency was higher on medium supplemented with TDZ + NAA. Nodal culture of nine Carthamus species on media supplemented with BA and kinetin (KIN) individually revealed the superiority of media supplemented with BA over that of KIN in facilitating a higher shoot proliferation index. Proliferating shoots from axillary buds and leaf explants were transferred to medium supplemented with 1.0 mg dm -3 KIN or 0.5 mg dm -3 BA for shoot elongation. Elongated shoots were rooted on half-strength MS medium supplemented with 1.0 mg dm -3 each of indole-butyric acid (IBA) and phloroglucinol. The plantlets thus obtained were hardened and transferred to soil.