A field trial was conducted during 2015 and 2016, to study the effect ofgrowth regulators on growth, flowering, yield and fruit quality of strawberry cv. Chandler. The experiment was laid out in completely randomized design with 16 treatments viz.CPPU at 1, 2 and 4 ppm, GA3 at 25, 50 and 75 ppm, Promalin at 2, 4 and 6 ppm, GA4+7 at 5, 10 and15 ppm, NAA at 10, 20 and 30 ppm and control (water spray) and each treatment was replicated thrice. The results revealed that the plants sprayed with 15 ppm GA4+7 two weeks before flowering significantly reported highest plant height (33.43 cm), leaf area (239.70 cm2), number of flowers (31.94), fruit set (87.45 %), number of fruits per plant (29.02), yield (540.01 g/plant), fruit length (53.63 mm) and fruit diameter (37.19 mm) and fruit weight (23.70 g) as compared to control. This treatment resulted in 196.36 % increase in yield and 56.22 %in fruit weight over control. Plants sprayed with 6 ppm promalin also showed significant improvement in vegetative growth, fruit size, yield and fruit quality, which resulted in 137.92 % increase in yield and 51.81 % increase in fruit weight over control. Hence, it is concluded that foliar spray of 15 ppm GA4+7 applied 2 weeks before flowering is beneficial in improving growth, yield and fruit quality of strawberry plants.

Sheep and goat production is a predominant livestock activity in harsh climatic regions of the country particularly in hilly areas. The goat and sheep population in Himachal Pradesh is 1.12 and 0.81 million respectively. Gaddi and Rampur-Bushair are the two indigenous sheep breeds of the state well adapted to the prevalent migratory production system. The somatotrophic axis (GH/IGF-I axis) is considered as the key in postnatal growth and metabolism in different mammals including farm animals. The technique of PCR-RFLP was used to analyze polymorphism of IGF-1 gene in sheep and goat breeds of Himachal Pradesh and to study association with body measurements in Gaddi goats. For polymorphism studies, genomic DNA was isolated from 63, 68, 197 and 73 animals belonging to Gaddi sheep, Rampur- Bushair sheep, Gaddi goat and Chegu goats, respectively.. PCR amplification of IGF-1 yielded 363 bp amplicon. The PCR-RFLP digestion of amplified products with HaeIII revealed three fragments of 363 bp, 264 bp and 99 bp after digestion. Allele frequencies for A allele were 0.66 0.59, 0.65 and 0.70 and for B allele were 0.34, 0.41, 0.35 and 0.20 in Gaddi sheep, Rampur-Bushair sheep, Gaddi goat and Chegu goat, respectively. The frequency of AA, AB and BB genotypes ranged from 0.38 to 0.55, 0.30 to 0.42 and 0.14 to 0.19 in different breeds studied .The Ne, Hobs and Hexp ranged from 1.80 to 1.99, 0.30 to 0.43, 0.42 to 0.48, and 0.33 to 0.37, respectively in different populations. The PIC revealed median level of polymorphism in studied breeds. Alignment of sequences also confirmed presence of C/G substitution at 264 bp. Nucleotide variability was found at 17 places between different breeds. Genetic variability was detected among all four breeds studied, however no significant association could be detected in Gaddi goats.

Principal component analysis (PCA) was employed on 12 biometric traits of Rampur-Bushair sheep of Himachal Pradesh. Morphological and biometrical observations were recorded on 162 young and 566 adult animals. Multivariate statistics and principal component analysis revealed that body measurements except for peripheral traits were mostly positively and significantly correlated. The correlation among conformation traits ranged from -0.08 to 0.79 and "0.18 to 0.71 in young and adult sheep respectively. Three and four factors were extracted in young and adult sheep respectively, which accounted for 57% and 61% of variation. The principal component extracted contributed effectively to explain general body conformation. The regression analysis suggested that use of principal component was more appropriate than the use of original correlated variable in estimating body weights. Therefore, factor extracted could be helpful in breeding programme with sufficient reduction in the number of biometric traits to be recorded to explain the body conformation.

No abstract

Migratory goat farming, practiced by nomadic communities is common in Himalayan regions. Gaddi also known as ‘White Himalayan goat’ is the predominant goat breed constituting 60–65% of total goats in the state. The Kisspeptin gene (KISS1) that encodes kisspeptin protein is considered to be a candidate gene affecting multiple birth in goats. The present study was carried out to identify polymorphism at kisspeptin (KISS1 gene) and its association with litter size in migratory Gaddi goat. Polymorphism of KISS1 gene was investigated in Gaddi goats (89) using PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing approach. PCR-RFLP analysis at KISS1 locus revealed 3 different genotypes, viz. AA with undigested one fragment at 377 bp, TT with two digested fragments at 256 and 121 bp, and AT with three fragments at 377, 256 and 121 bp. The frequencies of AA, AT and TT genotypes were 0.17, 0.52 and 0.31, respectively while the frequency of A and T alleles was 0.43 and 0.57. AT genotype was predominant genotype while AA genotype was having least frequency among the goats screened. The observed allele number (No) and effective allele number (Ne) were 2 and 1.96, respectively. Observed heterozygosity (Hobs), expected heterozygosity (Hexp) and PIC values estimated were 0.52, 0.49 and 0.37, respectively. Hobs and PIC values indicated that sufficient genetic variation exist at the locus. Sequencing of representative sample of different genotypes confirmed presence of SNP (T125A) as detected by PCR-RFLP. The mean litter size for animals belonging to AA, AT and TT genotypes were 1.12±0.08, 1.34±0.11 and 1.73±0.15 kids, respectively. Significant association of genotypes was observed with litter size in Gaddi goat. The study detected association between allele T in KISS1 gene and litter size. Study on additional data based on more number of animals in diversified flocks should be carried out for validation of the preliminary findings.