the wood adulteration is a common problem and under-studied aspect in the timber industry of Sri Lanka. Hence we conducted a survey to assess the status of timber adulteration and check the applicability of morphometric parameters and DnA barcoding to detect the adulterated timber sources. We interviewed the stakeholders of the timber industry to collect information regarding timber adulterations. We measured the morphometric parameters; wood density and sizes of the xylem elements of the standard and adulterant species. for DnA barcoding, DnA was extracted from the wood of the selected standard and adulterant species and subjected to pcR using the markers, matK-trnT and atpB-rbcL. the pcR products were subjected to DnA sequencing. According to the survey, 92.5% of patrons, 73.7% of manufacturers and 96.7% of carpenters said timber adulteration is taking place in the country. the respondents said that the standard timber species; Tectona grandis, Artocarpus heterophyllus, and Swietenia macrophylla, profoundly undergo adulteration in Sri Lanka. the morphometric parameters did not discriminate the adulterant species from the standard species. the DnA barcodes matK-trnT and atpB-rbcL provided unique polymorphic DNA sequences with specific lengths for each species permitting the precise establishment of species identity and enabling the accurate detection of timber adulterations.

Purpose: Water spinach (WS) (Ipomoea aquatica) is a popular leafy vegetable. However, WS is highly prone to bioaccumulation of toxic heavy metals. Sweet potato (SP) (Ipomoea batatas) is primarily a root tuber crop with fast growing shoots that can be used to replace WS to safe guard the human and livestock health. However, SP is an under-utilized leafy vegetable and no studies have been conducted to assess the consumer preference and food safety except photochemical assessments to profi le its high nutritious value. Therefore, in the present study, we assessed the heavy metal content, consumer preference and phytochemical contents to test the applicability of using shoot-tops of SP to replace bioaccumulation prone WS if grown in polluted sites. We also conducted a DNA barcoding analysis to discriminate SP from WS. Research Method:We obtained three greenhouse grwon shoot-top samples from WS (WS1, WS2 and WS3) and two greenhouse grown SP samples (SP1 and SP2) for all the analyses and two additional WS collected from the market (WSC) and a polluted site (WSP) a for XRF analysis. To assess the consumer preference we carried out a taste panel with 30 human subjects. For qualitative detection of the phytochemical contents, we performed routine laboratory tests. Finally, we carried out molecular based analyses using agarose gel electrophoresis and DNA barcoding using the markers rbcL and ITS. Findings:The sensory analysis revealed that human subjects equally preferred both WS and SP dishes. According to phytochemical assessment, SP contained higher amounts of anthocyanin, fl avonoids, phlobatannins, reducing sugars, tannins and terpenoids. The XRF analysis revealed that SP shoot-tops did not accumulate toxic heavy metals while WS shoot-tops grown in the same garden soil accumulated toxic heavy metals in trace amounts. Commercially available WS in Sri Lanka contained Hg (4500 mg/ Kg), Cd (1056 mg/Kg), As (598 mg/Kg) and Cr (74 mg/Kg). WSP contained Hg (1820 mg/Kg), Cd (228 mg/Kg), As (126 mg/Kg), Cr (138 mg/Kg), Sb (114 mg/Kg), Sn (464 mg/Kg) and Pb (2100 mg/Kg) and the highest amount of Fe (6894 mg/Kg). Research Limitation:It is imperative to study the heavy metal profi les of WS samples grown in diverse locations of Sri Lanka in collaboration with state consumer protection agencies to profi le the food safety levels.Originality/ Value: It is apparent from the present study that the consumption of WS is unsafe to human and animal health. DNA barcoding assays can be successfully employed by the consumer protection agencies to confi rm the identity of SP. Out of the two tested markers, ITS is more straight forward in exhibiting the length polymorphism. The sequence data confi rms band sizes detected using agarose gels and ITS is more informative in studying the genus Ipomoea than rbcL.

Consumers hesitate to purchase field-grown shoot-tops of amaranths in Sri Lanka, citing the low-cleanliness making growers focus on greenhouse farming. However, the photosynthetic and growth variations in relation to the organoleptic preference of the greenhouse-grown amaranths in comparison to field-grown counterparts have not been studied. Also, the species delimits of the amaranths in Sri Lanka have not been identified, limiting our ability to interpret species-specific production characteristics. Thus, we assessed the common types of amaranths under greenhouse and field conditions. The photosynthesis was measured using a MultispeQ device of the PhotosynQ phenomic platform, which records chlorophyll fluorescence-based parameters. The shoot-tops were harvested and prepared as dishes according to the typical recipe for amaranths in Sri Lanka. The dishes were subjected to an organoleptic assessment for the parameters color, aroma, bitterness, texture, and overall taste. The differences in plant and the shoot-top biomass were also assessed. The markers atpB-rbcL, matk-trnT, and ITS were used to define the species delimits. The field-grown and greenhouse-grown amaranths exhibited species/cultivar-specific photosynthetic variations. The texture and overall taste of the dishes were different among greenhouse and field-grown material. The tasters preferred the texture and the overall taste of the greenhouse-grown shoot-tops. The greenhouse-grown plants also yielded higher shoot-top harvests compared to field-grown counterparts. Out of the tested markers, ITS defines the delimits of amaranth species. The higher organoleptic preference, the appreciable yield levels, unique photosynthetic patterns of the greenhouse-grown amaranths, and species definitions provide the much-needed platform for clean shoot-top production guaranteeing the highest end-user trust.

Yield improvement is a major aspect in rice breeding programs. Ghd7 is a pleiotropic gene which regulates yield, plant height, and heading date in rice. Although Ghd7 has been previously cloned and sequenced in several other rice cultivars, none of the studies have been conducted for Sri Lankan rice germplasm. Therefore, in this study, we assessed the yield performance of 12 rice cultivars, genetic polymorphism of Ghd7 locus and associations between DNA markers and yield traits. Breeder seeds of the selected cultivars were obtained from RRDI, Bathalagoda, and established under greenhouse conditions at Peradeniya, Sri Lanka in Maha and Yala seasons, 2017. The cultivars were subjected to morphometric analysis, genotyped for 12 DNA markers and sequenced at Seq7-8 locus. Morphometric data were subjected to single marker analysis using General Linear Model (GLM) in SAS 9.4. Here we reported six marker haplotypes based on the arrangement of 13 DNA maker alleles at Ghd7. Moreover, twenty-three SNP/INDEL variations at Seq7-8 locus revealed close genetic relationships between the rice cultivars Bg 90-2, Bg 352 and At 307, Bg310. Four polymorphic markers (Seq7-8, Seq1-2, RM5436 and RM5346) were significantly associated with rice yield traits so that they could be used in marker assisted selection. The SNPs/INDELs of Ghd7 were significantly associated with all the yield traits except 100 seed weight and 100 endosperm weight. Thus the present study demonstrate the possibility of employing marker assisted breeding to improve rice yield using the polymorphic genomic information at Ghd7 locus.Keywords: DNA markers for rice, Rice marker haplotypes, Pleiotropic genes in rice, Rice breeding in Sri Lanka, SNP and INDEL in rice breeding.

The efficacy of modern rice varieties has been challenged by global warming because of their incapability to tolerate heat stress. Breeding for heat tolerance (HT) is therefore essential. Molecular breeding studies on HT in hybrid rice is sparse although HT quantitative trait loci (QTL) have been discovered. China is the leading country for hybrid rice production, however, introgression of HT alleles to hybrids is not practiced in breeding programmes. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to introgress HT alleles from indica donors Bg 90-2 and Mengguandamagu to SH 527, a popular parent in hybrid variety development, and to identify the associated DNA markers with HT to facilitate hybrid rice molecular breeding in China. The BC 2 F 2:4 introgression lines were produced by crossing donor and recurrent parents and their performances were evaluated at two provinces of China in 2011 and 2012 under normal and heat stress conditions. The data were subjected to ANOVA and HT was compared against the standard heat-check variety N22. Out of 600 SSR markers, 61 and 59 markers were polymorphic for the two crosses SH 527/ Bg 90-2 and SH 527/ Mengguandamagu, respectively and introgression lines were subsequently genotyped. The single-marker analysis was performed to detect marker trait associations. A total of 46 HT introgression lines were obtained with 88.3 % of homozygosity for HT alleles and seven high yielding HT lines were specifically selected for the provinces. Under heat stress, 42 significant marker trait associations were detected. Two of these were previously reported in HT QTLs implying their applicability in rice breeding programmes.