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In the years 2012-14 a series of extensive surveys for natural enemies of parthenium were conducted in Haryana. During survey, a leaf spot disease has been regularly reported on congress grass at different parts of the Kurukshetra and its adjoining areas.The fungal pathogen was isolated from the affected parts of parthenium leaves and on the basis of cultural, morphological and molecular characteristics, was identified as Alternaria macrospora MKP1. Koch’s postulate was performed and found satisfactory for the isolate and proved to be pathogenic to this weed. The growth of A. macrospora MKP1 was studied on eight different media and it exhibited varying degrees of growth on different media. The literature survey indicates that A. macrospora has never been reported on the parthenium weed and it is the first report of occurrence of this pathogen causing leaf spot disease on parthenium weed from the world.

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Backgrounds: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of cryptococcaemia in HIV infected patients with CD4 counts of ≤100 cells/mm3 in a tertiary care hospital.
Materials & Methods: The present cross sectional study was conducted at the Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Health Sciences and Research, India, as a tertiary care hospital. All HIV infected patients with CD4 counts of ≤100 cells/mm3, referring to the hospital during May 2020 to May 2021 were enrolled in this study. Blood samples taken from patients were processed for wet mounting, negative staining with India ink, gram staining, fungal culture, and cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) lateral flow assay (LFA). Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software Version 20.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA) by employing Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests to compare categorical variables.
Findings: Out of 100 patients enrolled, 28 (28%) cases had CD4 counts below 50, while 72 (84.7%) patients had CD4 counts in the range of 51-100. Also, 55 patients (55%) received antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 45 (45%) cases were ART naï􀇅ve. About 56% of patients had no opportunistic infections, and 37% had pulmonary tuberculosis. Three samples were positive in LFA, showing a prevalence of 3%, while only one of the culture samples was positive for Cryptococcus species. However, low CD4 count was found to be strongly correlated with positive serum cryptococcal antigenemia.
Conclusion: The present study reveals that cryptococcal antigenemia is a health problem, and that cryptococcal antigen screening and treatment policy recommended by WHO should be performed routinely for HIV patients registered in ART centres in the current setting, especially for those who are ART naï􀇅ve and have CD4 counts of ≤100 cells/mm3.

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Investigating learners' motivational factors from Basic Psychological Needs (BPN) has been prevalent in a foreign/second language domain, but there is a dearth of well-documented research on ESP instruction. This study addressed the void by scrutinizing ESP learners' BPN of relatedness, competence, and autonomy using a validated and reliable BPN instrument to assess online ESP practices and challenges within unideal EFL situations. A total of 617 ESP students and 94 ESP lecturers from 14 universities across provincial areas of Indonesia participated in the study. A mixed-method design administering questionnaire and interview was applied to draw ESP students' BPN from the perspective of lecturers and students. The results revealed significant differences between lecturers' and learners' perceptions regarding several indicators of relatedness, competence, and autonomy categories. While the lecturers' questionnaire and interviews reported that the ESP students had an acceptable level of engagement with wider ESP communities, the students mentioned their low engagement with content lecturers, stakeholders/experts, and communities. These differences are then utilized as a stepping stone to design a more 'ideal' ESP program using a specific BPN framework to enhance ESP lecturers' and students' specific English and content knowledge under the online learning platforms. The study implies that to help ESP students learn English, online ESP programs should be collaboratively designed by involving English lecturers, content lecturers, ESP stakeholders from relevant fields, and technology-related materials that meet English and specific content knowledge needs.
 

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A long-term field experiment was conducted for 7 years to evaluate the effect of different amendments to mitigate the adverse effect of saline-sodic water in a calcareous soil under cotton-wheat cropping system. The pooled results over 7 years revealed that the application of saline-sodic water decreased the mean cotton-seed yield by 20.7% as compared to good quality canal water. However, wheat-grain yield was not adversely affected by quality of irrigation water.  Among the different amendments, gypsum and farmyard manure were more effective in mitigating the adverse effect of saline-sodic irrigation water. Cotton-seed yield reduction was 9.8% with the addition of farmyard manure and remained only 8.8% with the addition of gypsum as compared to good quality water. However, when saline-sodic water was used alternately with good quality canal water, the recorded cotton-seed yield reduction was only 6.1%.  These results suggest that in calcareous soils, farmyard manure is useful in ameliorating long-term deleterious effects of saline sodic irrigation water and sustaining the productivity of cotton-wheat system. 

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Pieris brassicae (L.), a brassica specialist, is one of the most destructive and widespread pests of cruciferous crops in many countries of the world. It causes about 40 per cent damage on cruciferous crops including cabbage and cauliflower which are the two major vegetables produced and consumed in India. Development of an insect resistant cultivar is a sought after goal in insect-pest management as it provides farmers with an effective, economically sound, and environment friendly option for pest management. However, the first step in the development of an insect resistant cultivar is precise knowledge of source(s) of resistance. In this study, we screened a diverse array of 63 brassicaceous accessions (mostly wild crucifers) under field as well as laboratory conditions to determine P. brassicae performance under free choice (in the field) and no choice (in laboratory) conditions. Resistant accessions were identified among Brassica barrelieri, B. fruticulosa, B. maurorum, Crambe abyssinica, Diplotaxis muralis, D. tenuisiliqua, Erucastrum abyssinicum, Raphanus rugosum, Sinapis alba and S. arvensis. Biochemical analysis of the putative accessions revealed that high concentration of total glucosinolates had a significant negative impact on insect development, while reverse was true for total phenols and total flavonols. Our findings may be useful for genetic improvement of both vegetable and crop brassicas aimed at development of cultivars resistant to P. brassicae. This research again shows the importance of crop wild relatives for finding pest resistance.
 

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Fruit cracking is a predominant physiological disorder of lemon that limits its productivity. The present study aimed to compare the physiological and biochemical traits of cracked and normal fruits of lemon, to understand the cause of fruit cracking and find a viable solution for this disorder. This study was conducted on five-year-old uniform healthy trees grown at fruit research farm, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, during 2017-2018. Fruits of lemon cracked in different patterns and the cracking peaked due to sudden rainfall and high humidity after a dry spell during the two consecutive years of study. The peel thickness, peel percent and chlorophyll content of the cracked peel was significantly low as compared to the normal ones. Activity of peroxidase and two cell wall degrading enzymes, namely, cellulase and polygalacturonase were higher in cracked peels. Juice content and ascorbic content were low in cracked fruit juice as compared to normal ones. Meanwhile, calcium, potassium and boron content were higher in the normal peel and lower in the cracked peel. A significant positive correlation of fruit cracking incidence with proline, peroxidase, cellulase and polygalacturonase was established, whereas a negative significant correlation was established between fruit cracking percent and peel thickness, calcium, potassium, boron, juice percent and ascorbic acid content. Nutrient deficiency and higher activities of cellulase and polygalacturonase in peel of cracked fruits emerged as the cause of fruit cracking incidence in lemon. Hence, foliar application of calcium, potassium, and boron are recommendable as a remedial measure for prevention of fruit cracking in lemon.

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Elevated temperature negatively affects the production of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) especially under North Indian plains where the temperature is above 40°C during summers. In the present study, the effect of exogenous application of Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) viz. Salicylic Acid (SA) and 24-Epibrassinolide (EBR) on biochemical parameters and antioxidant system of bell pepper cv. Royal Wonder was evaluated. PGRs were applied exogenously 30, 60 and 90 Days After Transplantation (DAT). All the concentrations of PGRs i.e SA (0.10, 0.20, and 0.50 mM) and EBR (0.05, 0.10, and 0.20 µM) were effective in ameliorating the heat shock-induced effects, which enhanced thermotolerance in terms of increased proline content, soluble proteins, total phenols, total soluble sugars and starch content, improved antioxidant system (CAT, APX, POX, SOD and GR) with reduced lipid peroxidation and cellulase enzyme activity at high temperature, and, ultimately, improving total fruit yield. Application of 0.20 mM SA improved thermotolerance most efficiently at all growth stages, specifically when spray was done at 30 and 60 DAT. It resulted in a significant enhancement in biochemical parameters and antioxidant enzyme system as compared to the untreated control.

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Kinnow mandarin fruit possesses high nutraceutical value, but it exhibits heavy loss in antioxidant quality during long-term storage. The effect of sodium alginate coating and combination of Sodium Alginate (SA) and Neem Leaf Extract (NLE) coatings was evaluated on cold stored Kinnow fruits. The results revealed that fruits applied with composite coating exhibited slower decline in the levels of phenols (7.89%), flavonoids (16.8%) and carotenoid content (6.64%) during the storage as compared to the control. Coated fruits also retained better antioxidant activity as compared to the control during storage period. In addition, SA +NLE coating reduced the spoilage, loss in weight, loss of juice content, acidity and vitamin C in the Kinnow fruits. Similarly, at the end of 75 days storage period, maximum TA, TSS, juice content, Ascorbic acid, carotenoid content, TPC, TFC and anti-oxidant activity was maintained in 2% SA + 20% NLE coating, hence being the most effective coating.

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The objective of the current investigation was to examine the effects of botanically induced resistance against the Bipolaris sorokiniana causing spot blotch disease in susceptible barley cultivar (PL 426). Different concentrations of botanical extracts prepared from leaf, fruit and bark of Terminalia bellerica and Terminalia chebula were tested against B. sorokiniana using poisoned food approach. The ethanolic and aqueous fruit extracts resulted in more than 70% mycelial inhibition of B. sorokiniana. The foliar spray of promising doses of botanical extracts was done 2 days prior to inoculation under in-vivo conditions. The physiological and biochemical variations were recorded after treatments from 1 to 7 Days After Treatment (DAT). Foliar spraying of botanical extracts resulted in an increase in total phenol content in inoculated barley plants from 1 to 7 DAT. The malondialdehyde content was significantly lower in plants treated with botanicals as compared to inoculated and un-inoculated controls. The activity of peroxidase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase was significantly higher in all plants sprayed with botanical extracts as compared to the controls. Furthermore, botanicals reduced the percentage of disease severity in the treated plants while increasing the percentage of yield increase. Plants treated with T. chebula fruit extracts had the highest yield increase, followed by T. bellerica fruit extracts. From the present study, it can be concluded that the fruit extracts of T. chebula and T. bellerica are a promising approach for the eco-friendly management of spot blotch.