Plant breeding is mainly concerned with genetic improvement of crops through hybridization, screening and selection of advance lines. The conventional methods give advance varieties with desirable traits but take consume more time (6 to 12 years) to achieve. Biotechnology tools makes breeding methods more advance by reducing the time to get improved varieties. Other than conventional methods varietal advancement can be achieved by applying plant tissue culture, transgenic approaches and molecular breeding methods. Crop improvement by using biotechnology approaches is mostly concerned with protoplast fusion to get somatic hybrids, gene transfer to get genetically modified organisms and use of DNA markers to select trait of interests. Variety with improved biotic and abiotic stress resistance can be developed in less time and more accuracy using recent biotechnological approaches. Several advance tools are being utilized for that purpose including, nanotechnology, bioinformatics tools offers new era of genomics assisted molecular breeding. Next Generation Sequencing and high throughput genotyping approaches are increasing efficiency and output of biotechnological tools in agriculture. Current review focused on overview of biotechnological tools being applied for crop improvement.

Fusarium wilt is one of the most destructive biotic stress reducing chickpea productivity worldwide. As a step towards understanding the basis of wilt resistance in chickpea, we investigated the morpho-physiological and biochemical traits of 29 desi and 15 kabuli chickpea genotypes and screened these genotypes for fusarium wilt disease using gene based molecular markers. The number of branches per plant were significant and positively correlated with number of pods per plant (r=0.635) and number of seed per plant (r=0.556) at 1% significance level. Biochemical parameters related to stresses were also analyzed for proline (1.19-3.92 µ mol/g), sugar (23.6-37.4 mg/g), malondialdehyde (MDA) (1.1 -3.67 nmol/g) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (10.4-21.5 µ mol/g) in seeds of these genotypes grown under normal field conditions. Molecular screening was done by using15 gene-based markers. Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) value was in the range of 0.221 to 0.695, respectively. The genotypes JG-63 and Vijay identified during the investigation could be included in the hybridization programs during development of high yielding and wilt resistant varieties. The molecular markers TA194, TA-59, TA-96, TR-19, TR-29 and TR-31 can be used as marker assisted breeding tools for screening, validation and development of fusarium wilt resistant chickpea genotypes.

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IntroductionLiver abscesses are rare, but whenever they occur, it is predominantly among males over 60 years of age. The paradigm in the treatment has changed, and percutaneous drainage is now the initial treatment for drainage of the abscesses. Open surgery is reserved for patients with septated abscesses and those greater than 5 cm. ObjectiveTo study the etiological, clinical, pathological, and demographic characteristics of individuals with liver abscesses and to evaluate the outcome associated with different treatment strategies. MethodsThis clinico-epidemiological study was carried out at a tertiary care hospital in Jodhpur. One hundred patients with liver abscesses were studied. Patients were assigned to three groups: Group 1 -medical management alone (in non-aspirable uncomplicated abscess), Group 2 -USG-guided needle aspiration or pigtail percutaneous catheter drainage plus medical management (in unruptured aspirable abscess), Group 3 -open surgical drainage plus medical management (In ruptured abscesses). Of the total patients, 36% were treated with medical therapy alone, 45% with USG-guided needle aspiration, 10% with USG-guided percutaneous catheter drainage, and 9% with open surgical drainage. ResultsIn our study, fever and hepatomegaly were the commonest presentations, observed in 91% and 62% of cases, respectively. Escherichia coli (E.coli) was the predominant organism cultured in 28 (43.75%) patients followed by Klebsiella growing in 24 (37.50%) patients. The right lobe was affected more (83%) than the left lobe and in the majority (83%), a solitary abscess was present. The mean age of liver abscess presentation was 40.72 years, with a 5.67:1 male-to-female ratio. Alcohol consumption was reported by 33% of patients, the majority of whom were men. Serum bilirubin was elevated in 56% of liver abscess patients, while it was normal in 44%. The mean serum bilirubin was 2.08 mg/dl. The mean value in group 1, group 2, and group 3 was 1.44 mg/dl, 2.23 mg/dl, and 2.57 mg/dl, respectively. Liver abscesses were identified in 76% of patients with right lobes; 83% had solitary liver abscesses and 17% had numerous abscesses. Abscess culture showed E. coli in 21 (32.81%) and Klebsiella in 17 (26.56%) patients. ConclusionRight-sided solitary pyogenic liver abscess caused by E.coli is the most common liver abscess, with fever and hepatomegaly as the most common presentation. Non-aspirable liver abscesses, regardless of aetiology, can be successfully treated by medical therapy alone. Needle aspiration or catheter drainage is standard for liver abscesses. Thus, needle aspiration has replaced the surgical exploration of liver abscesses.

Background: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), a self-pollinating legume being cultivated globally as a rich source of vegetarian protein. It plays an important role in human feed and nutritional security, especially in agricultural-based communities. Chickpea has higher bioavailability of protein, good sources of polyphenols and flavonoids. Besides their nutritional value, chickpea seeds contain various phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds are of particular interest due to their contribution to the seed colour, sensory characteristics and several biological properties. Flavonoids are one of the main groups of phenolic compounds found in grain legumes. Desi and Kabuli chickpeas are being used worldwide and there are few studies where both desi and kabuli chickpeas seed flour for above properties with respect to physiological traits has been reported. Methods: The present investigation has been formulated to compare popular chickpea genotypes of desi and kabuli types for biochemical parameters viz., protein content, amino acid, total flavonoid content, total phenolic contents and RSA as well as two physiological traits i.e., chlorophyll content and leaf area index. The experiment consisted of 44 genotypes () grown in Randomized Block Design with row to row distance of 30 cm, in two replications during Rabi 2018-19. Result: The average crude protein content in desi and kabuli chana varied from 18.2% (Dollar variety) to 26.7% (JG315) and total phenolic content (TPC) ranged 1.22 to 0.74 mg/g. Total Flavonoid content (TFC) varied from 0.39 (ICCV-2) to 0.61 mg/g (JAKI-9218) with mean value of 0.47. Radical scavenging activity (RSA) in chickpea genotypes ranged from 36.2 to 49.5% with mean value of 40.86%. Total amino acid significantly correlated with TPC and TFC and TPC significantly correlated with TFC at 5% significant level.