No abstract

The present study was carried out to analyse the effect of rate of growth on the wood quality of teak from samples collected from trees which were grown within India as well as from outside. Teak samples (basal discs) from 14 different locations viz. Nilambur, Malayattoor, Konni, Ranni, Vadavar (TN) and Betul (MP) within India and Myanmar, Thailand, Ghana, Benin, Cameroon, Sudan, Tanzania and Trinidad outside India were included in the study. To study the effect of growth rate on wood quality, the collected samples were classified as fast grown and slow grown based on their average ring width. Those samples having an average ring width C5 mm and those having an average ring width \5 mm were categorised into fast grown and slow grown respectively. The analysis on variation in wood physical, anatomical and biochemical properties between the two categories revealed that, fast grown samples were characterized with higher specific gravity, moisture content (air dry) and shrinkage compared to the slow grown, but properties like vessel diameter, vessel area, ray height, ray width and extractive content (%) was found to be significantly higher for slow grown samples. However, fast and slow grown teak showed similarity with respect to other properties such as heartwood content (%), heartwood colour and bark thickness.

Forty-six Casuarina equisetifolia clones were evaluated for growth and wood parameters to study their genetic divergence. The clones were grouped into seven clusters using Mahalanobis D 2 analysis. Vessel frequency contributed maximum (51.50%) towards divergence followed by specific gravity (16.23%). Maximum intercluster distance was observed between clusters 3 and 5 (14.58) followed by clusters 5 and 7 (12.098). Intracluster distance was maximum in cluster 5 (9.225) followed by clusters 6 (8.991), 7 (8.068) and 1 (7.700). Highest value of heritability, genetic advance and genetic gain were obtained for specific gravity, fibre length and volume respectively. Both phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) and environmental coefficients of variation (ECV) were highest for vessel frequency, while genotypic coefficients of variation (GCV) was highest for volume. ECV was observed to be higher than GCV for all the traits showing the influence of environmental factors on these traits. The results on genetic divergence had potential for immediate application in the establishment of clonal seed orchards. Information on genetic divergence provides an opportunity for hybridisation among the genotypes and obtaining quality seeds with high vigour.

In the study, endophytic fungi isolated from Ophiorrhiza mungos were screened for camptothecin (CPT) biosynthetic potential by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Among the 16 fungi screened, OmF3, OmF4, and OmF6 were identified to synthesize CPT. Further LC-MS analysis also showed the presence of CPT specific m/z of 349 for the extracts from OmF3, OmF4, and OmF6. However, the fragmentation masses with m/z of 320, 305, 277 and 220 specific to the CPT could be identified only for the OmF3 and OmF4. These CPT producing fungi were further identified as Meyerozyma sp. OmF3 and Talaromyces sp. OmF4. The cultures of these two fungi were then supplemented with nanoparticles and analyzed for the quantitative enhancement of CPT production by LC-MS/MS. From the result, Meyerozyma sp. OmF3 was found to produce 947.3 ± 12.66 μg/L CPT, when supplemented with 1 μg/ mL zinc oxide nanoparticles and the same for uninduced parental strain OmF3 was only 1.77 ± 0.13 μg/L. At the same time, Talaromyces sp. OmF4 showed the highest production of 28.97 ± 0.37 μg/L of CPT when cultured with 10 μg/mL silver nanoparticles and the same for uninduced strain was 1.19 ± 0.24 μg/L. The observed quantitative enhancement of fungal CPT production is highly interesting as it is a rapid and cost effective method. The study is remarkable due to the identification of novel fungal sources for CPT production and its enhancement by nanoparticle supplementation.

Anthocephalus cadamba is an important tree species for pulp and paper industry. Anatomical studies were conducted between trees of different age viz., 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 were selected from different plantation. One plus tree from each age was felled for the study. The transverse discs of 10 cm thickness were collected from three different heights of tree representing base, middle and top positions. Anatomical properties like Fibre Length, Fibre Diameter, Fibre Lumen Width, Fibre Wall Thickness, Flexibility, Slenderness ratio, Runkel ratio, Vessel Length, Vessel Diameter, Vessel Area, Vessel Frequency, Ray Height, Ray Width and Ray Frequency were studied. Present study revealed that the average Runkel ratio of Anthocephalus cadamba was 0.48; hence it is suitable for pulp and paper production. Fibre length at the ages of 6, 8 and 10 were at par. Fibre wall thickness were not significantly different at 2, 4, 6 and 8 age but 10 years of age fibre wall thickness differed significantly from other five different ages. Fibre diameter, fibre lumen width and slenderness were at par for all the five ages. Flexibility was at par in the ages of 2, 4, 6, and 8. Best practice of harvesting Anthocephalus cadamba would be at the age of six. Ray and vessel morphology did not show any specific trend from two to ten years old tree.