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Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur
The history of agricultural education in Kerala can be traced back to the year 1896 when a scheme was evolved in the erstwhile Travancore State to train a few young men in scientific agriculture at the Demonstration Farm, Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, presently, the Cropping Systems Research Centre under Kerala Agricultural University. Agriculture was introduced as an optional subject in the middle school classes in the State in 1922 when an Agricultural Middle School was started at Aluva, Ernakulam District. The popularity and usefulness of this school led to the starting of similar institutions at Kottarakkara and Konni in 1928 and 1931 respectively.
Agriculture was later introduced as an optional subject for Intermediate Course in 1953. In 1955, the erstwhile Government of Travancore-Cochin started the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Mannuthy, Thrissur for imparting higher education in agricultural and veterinary sciences, respectively. These institutions were brought under the direct administrative control of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Animal Husbandry, respectively. With the formation of Kerala State in 1956, these two colleges were affiliated to the University of Kerala. The post-graduate programmes leading to M.Sc. (Ag), M.V.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees were started in 1961, 1962 and 1965 respectively.
On the recommendation of the Second National Education Commission (1964-66) headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, the then Chairman of the University Grants Commission, one Agricultural University in each State was established. The State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) were established in India as an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System to give the much needed impetus to Agriculture Education and Research in the Country. As a result the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) was established on 24th February 1971 by virtue of the Act 33 of 1971 and started functioning on 1st February 1972. The Kerala Agricultural University is the 15th in the series of the SAUs.
In accordance with the provisions of KAU Act of 1971, the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, were brought under the Kerala Agricultural University. In addition, twenty one agricultural and animal husbandry research stations were also transferred to the KAU for taking up research and extension programmes on various crops, animals, birds, etc.
During 2011, Kerala Agricultural University was trifurcated into Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU).
Now the University has seven colleges (four Agriculture, one Agricultural Engineering, one Forestry, one Co-operation Banking & Management), six RARSs, seven KVKs, 15 Research Stations and 16 Research and Extension Units under the faculties of Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering and Forestry. In addition, one Academy on Climate Change Adaptation and one Institute of Agricultural Technology offering M.Sc. (Integrated) Climate Change Adaptation and Diploma in Agricultural Sciences respectively are also functioning in Kerala Agricultural University.
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ThesisItem Open Access Characterization and identification of black pepper accessions (Piper nigrum L.) for stress tolerance and quality(Department of plant breeding, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Prakash, K M; KAU; Jiji, JosephBlack pepper (Piper nigrum L.), often described as the ‘King of spices’ is the most important spice crop, grown for its berries in the world. Indian pepper is preferred across the globe due to its intrinsic qualities. Foot rot is a devastating disease of black pepper. In the changing climate, drought can be a major threat in black pepper production. Hence, the present study was taken up at College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara and ICAR-IISR, Kozhikode to characterise and to identify superior accessions of black pepper for yield, quality and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Fifty accessions of black pepper in the bearing stage maintained in the National Active Germplasm Site of ICAR-IISR, Kozhikode formed the base material for the study. The accessions were characterised for fifty qualitative and fifty quantitative characters following the descriptor developed by IPGRI (1995). Wide variability was observed among the accessions for ten qualitative characters. Quantitative characters of shoot, leaf, spike and fruit also showed wide variability. Field tolerance to foot rot disease and pollu beetle infestation was observed among the accessions. Twenty accessions were selected from the base collection based on superiority of yield (> 450g green berries/vine) , field tolerance to foot rot disease infection (biotic susceptibility score 1) and pollu beetle infestation (biotic susceptibility score 1-3). They were further evaluated for biochemical principles of quality, tolerance to foot rot disease under artificial inoculation and tolerance to drought by physiological and biochemical analyses. Piperine, essential oil and oleoresin ranged from 3.61 - 6.96 per cent, 3.00 - 5.87 per cent and 7.10 - 11.18 per cent, respectively, across the accessions. The accessions with high value of piperine, essential oil and oleoresin were identified as 7293, 7211 and 7289 respectively. The two accessions identified viz. 7293 and 7252 contained more piperine than the highest of Panniyur 2 (6.6 per cent) reported among the released varieties . Artificial inoculation of selected accessions using Phytophthora capsici culture for screening for foot rot disease resistance based on over all disease severity index of both stem and leaf lesions showed that accession 7259 was moderately resistant. The selected accessions did not exhibit significant variation for various physiological and biochemical parameters at field capacity. However higher value of photosynthesis, chlorophyll content, chlorophyll stability index, relative water content and membrane stability index and low leaf temperature were observed for accessions viz. 7215, 7240, P 5 and 7241 after five days and ten days of moisture stress induction following field capacity compared to other accessions. Higher values of proline, SOD, catalase and peroxidase were also observed for these accessions. The visual scoring showed that accessions with higher values for most of physiological and biochemical parameters of drought tolerance viz. 7215, 7240, P5, and 7241 had lesser number of fallen leaves and more number of leaves retained at permanent wilting point (PWP). The accessions 7215 and 7240 took twenty days to reach PWP compared to eleven accessions which took only 16 days to reach PWP. Foliar nutrition with sulphate of potash, IISR - Power mix and Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophs (PPFM) had positive effect on drought tolerance for the accessions (7215, 7240, P5 and 7241) having natural tolerance. The identified accessions with high yield , quality and tolerance to biotic or abiotic stress can be used for further breeding programme.ThesisItem Open Access Evaluation of CMS based rice hybrids developed from rice varieties of Kerala identified as restorers(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2018) Nayana Jyothibas, KAU; Jayalekshmy, V GThe present study entitled “Evaluation of CMS based rice hybrids developed from rice varieties of Kerala identified as restorers” was carried out in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2016-2018, with an objective to evaluate CMS based rice hybrids developed from rice varieties of Kerala as restorers, for heterosis for yield and grain quality. The study was conducted in two experiments i.e., 1) Hybrid seed production 2) Evaluation of hybrids. The first experiment, on hybrid seed production was undertaken in College of Agriculture, Vellayani during May to August, 2017 (Virippu, 2017). Two CMS lines viz., CRMS31A and CRMS32A were crossed with nine restorers. Restorers were sown in three staggers, 10 days before the sowing date of CMS lines, at the sowing date of CMS lines and 10 days after the sowing date of CMS lines. Synchronized flowering dates of the CMS and restorer lines were recorded. CRMS31A was crossed with Remya, Jayathy, Swarnaprabha, Kanakom and Neeraja. CRMS32A was crossed with Annapoorna, Aiswarya, Mattatriveni and Kanakom. Six crosses i.e., CRMS31A x Jayathi (H1), CRMS31A x Kanakom (H2), CRMS31A x Remya (H3), CRMS32A x Annapoorna (H4), CRMS32A x Kanakom (H5), CRMS32A x Mattatriveni (H6) that had given more than 1500 viable seeds were carried forward for hybrid evaluation. Date of sowing of the restorers and maintainers for getting synchronization in flowering to undertake hybridization was standardized in this experiment. In the second experiment, hybrids along with the better parent and checks were evaluated in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications during October 2017 to February 2018 (Mundakan) in IFSRS (Integrated Farming System Research Station), Karamana. Observations on 12 yield contributing traits and 8 grain quality traits were recorded in the hybrids. Genetic parameters calculated from these observations showed that the GCV and PCV values for the characters studied did not vary greatly indicating low influence of the environment in these characters. The mean performance of hybrids showed that the yield plot -1 was the highest for H5 (CRMS32A x Kanakom) followed by H3 (CRMS31A x Remya), H1 (CRMS31A x Jayathi), H2 (CRMS31A x Kanakom) and H4 (CRMS32A x Annapoorna). The hybrid H5 (CRMS32A x Kanakom) showed the highest mean values for plant height, number of filled grains panicle-1, length breadth ratio of grain and grain yield (g) plant-1. Pollen fertility of the hybrid H3 (CRMS31A x Remya) was superior to the standard check. This shows that the variety Remya is a complete restorer for male sterile cytoplasm CRMS31A. Hybrid H5 also showed pollen fertility on par with the check showing that the variety Kanakom is restorer for CRMS32A. The other hybrids H4 (CRMS32A x Annapoorna) and H6 (CRMS32A x Mattatriveni) had pollen fertility per cent around 50. So the male parents Annapoorna and Mattatriveni for CRMS32A can be considered as only partial restorers. The low level of pollen fertility was the reason for low yield of hybrids H4 (CRMS32A x Annapoorna) and H6 (CRMS32A x Mattatriveni) despite high number of productive tillers. Five out of six hybrids were red kernelled. It was found that the hybrids inherited the kernel colour from the male parents. The kernel length by breadth ratio of all the hybrids was significantly higher than that of Uma. The hybrids had a medium to slender grain shape (kernel length by breadth ratio 2.1 to 3 and above). This may be the reason behind the phenomenon of curling noted in cooked rice in all the rice hybrids studied. Standard heterosis for yield plot-1of the hybrids calculated over the standard check variety Uma was the highest for H5 (CRMS32A x Kanakom) followed by H3 (CRMS31A x Remya) and H1 (CRMS31A x Jayathi). Heterobeltiosis for yield calculated over the better parent was maximum for H1 (CRMS31A x Jayathi) followed by H5 (CRMS32A x Kanakom). Amylose content of most of the hybrids fell into intermediate category along with that of the check variety Uma, showing the hard and non sticky nature of the cooked rice of the hybrids. Cooking time for hybrids was less compared to that of Uma (29 minutes). This evaluation of hybrids could identify two promising hybrids for Kerala H5 (CRMS32A x Kanakom) and H3 (CRMS31A x Remya) which could give a yield advantage of 17.91% and 16.37% over the popular rice variety Uma. These two hybrids had long slender grain shape with red kernel colour. The amylose content of these two hybrids was also intermediate and low. These hybrids had a lower cooking time and good head rice recovery. Hence the hybrids can be recommended for Kerala after trials over locations and seasons. A better seed production technique has to be standardized before commercial release.ThesisItem Open Access Identification of water stress tolerant amaranthus genotypes (Amaranthus tricolor L.) with high yield and quality(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2018) Shahiba, A M; KAU; Beena ThomasThe present study entitled “Identification of water stress tolerant amaranthus genotypes (Amaranthus tricolor L.) with high yield and quality” was carried out in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani during 2016-2018, with an objective to identify high yielding genotypes of amaranthus with good quality and tolerance to water stress. The study was conducted under two experiments. In the first experiment thirty accessions of Amaranthus tricolor L. available in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics and collected from other sources were evaluated for yield under field condition and morphologically described using IBPGR descriptor for the amaranthus. Madhur local (A22) recorded highest yield plant-1(125.926g) followed by Kalliyoor local (A4), Ayyanthole local (A28), Haripad local (A7), Palakkadu local (A2), Anachal local (A6), Aryanadu local (A21), Poonkulam local (A20), Kazhakkuttom local (A9) and Kannara local (A29). In the second experiment, these ten genotypes selected based on the yield were evaluated in a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with three replications during November 2017- December 2017. Water stress was imposed after 5 days of irrigation to water holding capacity to the transplanted seedlings by scheduling the irrigation at a depth of 20mm at 20mm CPE (Cumulative Pan Evaporation). Analysis of variance was calculated for all the characters under study and was found to be significant for all the genotypes evaluated. The mean performance of the genotypes for the characters were studied. The maximum yield was observed for the genotype A22 (Madhur local) followed by the genotype A9 (Kazhakkuttom local), genotype A20 (Poonkulam local) and genotype A2 (Palakkadu local) and the minimum yield was recorded for genotype A4 (Kalliyoor local). The genotype A22 (Madhur local) showed the highest mean values for stem girth, number of branches, length of leaf lamina, leaf to stem ratio, membrane integrity, relative water content, proline content of leaves, vitamin A and lowest oxalate content. The character Vitamin A content registered the highest GCV (41.22%) and PCV (41.25%). High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was observed for leaf width, number of branches, yield plant-1, protein content, fibre content and vitamin A. The yield plant-1was found to be significantly and positively correlated with leaf width, number of branches, yield plot-1, membrane integrity, proline content of leaves and vitamin A both at genotypic and phenotypic levels. Petiole length and percentage leachate were found to be negatively correlated with yield plant-1. Path analysis revealed that number of branches, yield plot-1and proline content of leaves had the maximum positive direct effect on yield plant-1. The results of the present study showed that genotype A22 (Madhur local) was superior in yield performance under water stress condition followed by the genotype A9 (Kazhakkuttom local), genotype A20 (Poonkulam local) and the genotype A2 (Palakkadu local). The genotype A22 (Madhur local) also recorded the maximum stem girth, number of branches, length of leaf lamina, leaf to stem ratio, membrane integrity, relative water content and proline content of leaves with high Vitamin A and low oxalate content. Presence of proline in the leaves might be considered as an important water stress tolerance mechanism.ThesisItem Open Access Development of F1 hybrids in okra [Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench](Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, College of Agriculture,Padannakkad, 2019) Jaseera, U A; KAU; Raji Vasudevan, NamboodiriThe project entitled “Development of F1 hybrids in okra [Abelmoschus esculentus L .Moench]” was carried out at the Instructional farm, College of Agriculture, Padannakkad during April-July 2019 to study heterosis and combining ability. The experiment was carried out in two parts. In part I, six diverse parents viz. AE5, AE16, AE18, AE20, AE30 and Salkeerthi were raised in a crossing block. They were crossed in half diallel fashion and 15 F1 hybrids were produced. In part II, the hybrids were evaluated along with their parents and checks in a randomized block design with 26 genotypes and three replications. Arka Anamika and Salkeerthi were used as OPV checks and Manjima and Arka Nikita as F1 hybrid checks. Parents of Manjima viz. Gowreesapattam local and IC282257 were also included as checks. Half diallel analysis was adopted for combining ability analysis. Relative heterosis, heterobeltiosis and standard heterosis using F1 hybrid Arka Nikita as standard check were worked out for all the characters. The estimation of heterosis revealed significant standard heterosis in the hybrids in desirable direction for growth, earliness and fruit traits. Three hybrids AE30 x AE18, AE30 x Salkeerthi and AE20 x AE30 showed highly significant positive standard heterosis for plant height. Three hybrids AE30 x Salkeerthi, AE30 x AE5 and AE18 x Salkeerthi showed highly significant positive standard heterosis for primary branches per plant. Two hybrids AE16 x AE5 and AE18 x AE5 showed highly significant negative standard heterosis for internode length. Two hybridsAE16 x Salkeerthi and AE20 x Salkeerthi showed highly significant negative standard heterosis for days to flowering. One hybrid AE18 x AE5 showed highly significant negative standard heterosis for days to 50% flowering. Five hybrids AE16 x AE30, AE16 x AE18, AE16 x AE5, AE20 x AE18, and AE30 x AE18 showed highly significant negative standard heterosis for node of fruit set. None of the hybrids showed significant positive standard heterosis for number of fruiting nodes. For fruit length AE20 x AE18 and AE20 x Salkeerthi showed significant positive standard heterosis. Three hybrids AE16 x AE30 AE5 x Salkeerthi and AE30 x AE5 showed significant positive standard heterosis for fruit girth. For fruit weight the hybrids AE30 xAE5, AE18 x AE5, AE20 x Salkeerthi, and AE20 x AE18 showed significant positive standard heterosis. None of the crosses showed significant positive standard heterosis for number of fruits per plant, marketable fruits per plant, marketable fruits per plant and yield per plant. The hybrid AE30 x Salkeerthi showed significant positive standard heterosis for mucilage content. Analysis of variance for combining ability revealed significant difference among the genotypes for all traits except fiber content, indicating sufficient variability for selection. The gca variance/ sca variance ratio indicated preponderance of non-additive gene action for all traits. None of the cross combinations exhibited high significant combining ability effects in desirable direction for all characters studied. The association of sca effects of outstanding crosses with gca effects of parents for each of the characters revealed that the high specific combiners involved high x high, high x low and low x low general combiners as parents. A combination of mean performance and gca effect was used to identify best parents and it revealed AE16, AE30 and AE20 as better performing parents for maximum number of characters. Even though the mean performance of AE16 was higher for fruit weight, number of fruiting nodes, yield per plant and marketable yield per plant, it was a poor general combiner for characters viz. number of fruiting nodes, fruit weight, and yield per plant compared to AE20 and marketable yield per plant compared to AE30. High gca effects for fruit yield in AE20 and AE30 were associated with good gca effects for number of fruits per plant and fruit weight. The parental lines AE20 and AE30 performed well even they were affected by yellow vein mosaic disease and fruit and shoot borer. Hence they can be used in further breeding program for higher yield. The parental line AE20 was the high general combiner for all of the three earliness attributes such as days to first flowering, days to 50% flowering, and node of fruit set, indicating its potential for exploiting earliness in okra. Promising crosses were identified based on mean performance, sca effect and standard heterosis for important growth and yield characters. None of the hybrids exhibited significant standard heterosis in the desirable direction for yield. Hence the hybrids showing lower value of negative standard heterosis were selected. The four better performing crosses identified were AE30 x AE5, AE20 x AE5, AE20 x Salkeerthi and AE30 x Salkeerthi. All these four crosses were good performers for marketable yield even when they were affected by yellow vein mosaic disease and shoot and fruit borer. In addition, these crosses showed good performance for few other yield contributing characters also. The cross AE30 x AE5 performed well for fruit weight, number of fruiting nodes and yield per plant. The cross AE20 x AE5 showed good performance for number of fruits per plant, marketable fruits per plant and yield per plant. AE20 x Salkeerthi was a good performer for fruit weight and fruit length. AE30 x Salkeerthi was good performer for plant height, primary branches per plant, internode length and mucilage content.ThesisItem Open Access Genetic analysis of yield and quality in fodder cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp)(Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, College of Agriculture,Vellayani, 2019) Praveena, V S; KAU; Mareen AbrahamIn the present study, "genetic analysis of yield and quality in fodder cowpea {Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp)", evaluation of different fodder cowpea accessions were done to assess the variability in the available population to identify the good performers for forage yield and quality. Based on the morphological and molecular characterization superior parents were selected for crop improvement through hybridization to develop superior cross combinations. The salient features of the study are discussed below. Significant variation was observed for all tlie fourteen characters studied, the range of mean values observed refers to the phenotypic and genotypic variability present in the base population. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed for number of primary branches plant ', number of leaves plant ', leaf area index, green fodder yield plant ', dry matter yield plant"', leaf fresh weight plant"', stem fresh weight plant"', leaf dry weight plant"', stem dry weight plant"' and crude fiber content. High heritability and genetic advance for crude fiber content, crude protein content, leaf area index, leaf dry weight plant ', dry matter yield plant"', stem dry weight plant"', number of leaves plant"', stem dry weight plant'', number of leaves plant"', stem fresh weight plant"', leaf fresh weight plant*' and green fodder yield plant"'. Green fodder yield and dry matter yield had significant positive phenotypic and genotypic correlation with leaf fresh weight plant"', followed by stem fresh weight plant"', stem dry weight plant"', dry matter yield plant"', leaf dry matter plant"', number of primary branches plant"' and number of leaves plant"'. The thirty fodder cowpea genotypes were grouped into eleven clusters. Maximum contribution to divergence was shown by leaf fresh weight plant"' followed by crude fibre content, stem dry weight plant"', leaf area index, dry matter yield plant*', number of leaves plant"', crude protein content and green fodder yield plant"'. Selection index was hi^est for IT-37154999-38 and least for IC- 202804. The genotypes were ranked for characters green fodder yield, crude protein content, crude fibre content and selection index. Based on this and maximum inter cluster distance eight genotypes CO-8, MFC-09-1, IC-1061, IC- 39916, IC-97767, lC-38956-1, 17-37154999-38 and Pant Lobia-2 were selected for further hybridization programmes. Molecular characterization revealed two clusters (I and II) with 0.34 per cent similarity. The statistical cluster diagram from value and dendrogram from molecular characterization were not similar. But the eight parents selected had considerable difference in dendrogram with minimum difference between parents IT-38956-1 and IT-37154999-38. Diallel analysis is one of the techniques used to find the genetic makeup. Gca variance was greater than sea variance, for all characters except for days to first flowering and crude protein content, indicating predominance of additive gene action for most of the characters. Days to first flowering and crude protein content had non-additive gene action. Presence of heterosis also shows the ability of the parents to combine well in a hybridization programme. Superior expression of Fi may be due to fixable (additive) type of gene action and non-additive type of gene action. Thus combining ability and heterosis helps in identifying desirable cross combinations. Twenty eight hybrids from eight parent were evaluated for combining ability in diallel mating design without reciprocals. Relative heterosis and heterobeltiosis were calculated for different traits. Gca variance was greater than sea variance, indicating predominance of additive gene action. P4, Ps and Pe were good general combiners among eight parents for plant height. Gca variance was greater than sea variance, indicating predominance of additive gene action in green fodder yield and dry matter jdeld. Ps, Pe, P? and Ps were good general combiners for green foddra* yield, dry matter yield, leaf fresh weight, stem fresh weight, crude protein content and crude fibre content. Nineteen of the hybrids were good specific combiners for I7f7^^ ni green fodder yield. Seventeen hybrids were good specific combiners for lower crude fibre content. Pi X ??, P2X P7, P5X P7 and P5X Pg were selected based on high green fodder yield, dry matter yield, higb protein content and low fibre content for raising F2 population. F2 families of these four hybrids exhibited differences among the progenies for different characters studied. Progenies of hybrid PiX P7 was identified as the best superior cross combinant useful for further improvement for superior variety development.ThesisItem Open Access Development of Cytoplasmic male sterile line in an identified rice variety of Kerala through marker assisted back crossing(Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, College of Agriculture, Vellayani, 2019) Tejashree Shivaputra, Lachyan; KAU; Jayalekshmy, V GProduction and productivity of rice, the staple food for over half of the world's population, is insufficient to meet the demand of the increasing population in the rice consuming nations. One of the readily available and economically viable technological options for meeting the projected global demand of rice is exploitation of heterosis through large-scale cultivation of rice hybrids. The role of hybrids in enhancing the productivity is widely acknowledged. The commercial rice hybrids are currently based on cytoplasmic genic male sterility (CGMS) system. The availability of stable cytoplasmic male sterility and fertility restoring system is vital for commercial exploitation of heterosis in rice. The cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) lines introduced from China were found unsuitable to use as such in developing hybrid rice in India. Limited resources of CMS and low variation of CMS lines causes genetic vulnerability. Therefore, to diversify CMS lines, breeders can transfer this character to the existing putative maintainer lines through repeated backcrosses. So the present study entitled “Development of cytoplasmic male sterile line in an identified rice variety of Kerala through marker assisted back crossing” was undertaken as an initial step for the development of hybrid rice for Kerala with the objective of transferring the cytoplasmic male sterility from the CMS line to the Kerala rice variety, identified as maintainer for CGMS system through marker assisted back crossing. This study was conducted from December 2016 to August 2019. In the present study, four Kerala rice varieties were used, which were reported as potential maintainers of CRMS31A line in the research work conducted by Das (2017). For identification of the best maintainer among the four potential maintainers under study, these lines were crossed with CMS line CRMS31A. The pollen fertility per cent and spikelet fertility percent of hybrids was lowest in the cross CRMS 31A x Jyothi and highest in the cross CRMS 31A x Aruna. The highest pollen and spikelet fertility percent was observed in cross with Aruna with 60% seed set. Kanchana and Bharathy on crossing with CRMS31A showed 91% and 57% pollen sterility which lead to 99.11% and 74.83% of spikelet sterility respectively. Among 30 F1’s obtained from the cross CRMS31A x Jyothi, two F1 plants showed 99.99% pollen sterility and 100% spikelet sterility. Pollen and spikelet sterility of the hybrids indicated that Kanchana, Bharathy and Aruna were partial maintainers for CMS line. Rice variety Jyothi, alone was identified as maintainer for cytoplasmic male sterile line CRMS31A. The transfer of ms gene was confirmed at molecular level using mitochondrial WA-CMS-specific marker “drrcms”. Foreground selection was carried out in 30 F1 plants and it showed homozygous band similar to male sterile line. F1 plants with 99.99% pollen sterility and 100% spikelet sterility, were backcrossed with maintainer Jyothi to obtain BC1F1 seeds.. These BC1F1plants were screened with cytoplasmic male sterility specific marker and all the plants were identified with gene of interest i.e. cms gene. Selection of polymorphic markers was done for background selection in the identified plants with 100% spikelet sterility. 170 genome wide SSR primers were used for screening of the maintainer and CMS line to locate 31 SSR markers specific to the maintainer. The background selection was carried out on 17 BC1F1 plants using 31 loci polymorphic in the parents. The BC1F1 plants with highest percentage of recurrent parent genome recovery were selected based on the background markers. The maximum percentage of recovery of recurrent parent genome was found to be 68.13% in BC1F1 generation. Pollen sterility in these plants was also studied by screening for fertility restoration gene (Rf). Out of 10 Rf markers used for screening only four markers for Rf4 Rf6 and Rf7 gene were present in the maintainer line Jyothi. The identified markers were then used for screening of BC1F1 plants. It was observed that the BC1F1plants had only Rf7 gene. Pollen and spikelet sterility percent of these plants could not be recorded due to absence of flowering even on the 240th day after sowing. The plants were under vegetative phase upto 260-270 days, after which they started wilting. Due to absence of flowering, these plants were screened with marker specific to flowering time gene Hd3a. On gel documentation the band was obtained revealing the presence of Hd3a gene at 179bp. To confirm the possible reason for absence of flowering even in the presence of Hd3a gene, the expression of Hd3a gene was studied. Expression was studied at different stages of plant growth i.e. 15, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 110 days after sowing in Jyothi variety and 240 days old BC1F1 plants. It was observed that the expression of target gene in the variety Jyothi was reduced at 30 days after sowing. But in later stages, gradual increase in the expression level was observed. A drastic increase in expression was recorded at flowering stage (75DAS) of the Jyothi variety and then the expression was gradually reduced towards maturity stage. Whereas the Hd3a gene was not expressed in BC1F1 plants i.e. the gene was silenced. The reason for non expression of Hd3a gene in the background of sterile cytoplasm and ms gene requires further investigation. Advanced generation of the cross between another CMS line, UPRI95-17A and maintainer line Kanchana, which was developed earlier under a project for transferring male sterility to Kanchana variety was further studied. Sterility was studied by pollen test and spikelet test. Three of the plants showed 99.09% - 100% pollen sterility and 100% spikelet sterility. All the plants were screened with 28 SSR markers. Foreground selection was carried out using mitochondrial WA-CMS-specific marker “drrcms”. Band obtained in the advanced generation plants were similar to the band of male sterile parent. Recovery of the recurrent parent genome was analysed using 28 SSR markers. One plant of this advanced generation, recovered 92.86% of recurrent parent genome. Observations were taken on eight morphological traits viz. plant length, leaf length, leaf breadth, total number of tillers, panicle length, days for flowering, number of spikelets per panicle and pollen fertility percentage. It was observed that out of eight quantitative traits, four traits i.e. plant length, leaf length, total number of tillers and panicle length were almost similar to the maintainer line Kanchana. The number of spikelets per panicle and leaf breadth was less than Kanchana. In the present study, Kerala rice varieties, Jyothi and Kanchana showed 100% pollen and spikelet sterility when crossed with CMS line CRMS 31A and UPRI95-17A respectively. On the basis of pollen and spikelet sterilirty Jyothi and Kancjana were identified as maintainers for WA-CMS line CRMS 31A and UPRI95-17A. The reason for non expression of Hd3a gene in the background of sterile cytoplasm i.e. backcrossed plants of Jyothi variety needs to be further investigated. The identified plants from the backcross population of UPRI95-17A and Kanchana, with higher recurrent parent genome (RPG) recovery percentage can be backcrossed for another generation to get RPG of 99%. Later it can be used for commercial hybrid seed production with compatible restorers for UPRI95-17A. This will be the first CMS line in the background of Kerala rice variety.ThesisItem Open Access Alleilic difference in the putative gene ipk1 sequence and phytic acid (INSP6) content in Black Pepper(Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics, College of Agriculture, Padannakkad, 2019) Gladish Mary, Joy; KAU; Sujatha, RBlack pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is one of the world’s highly demanded and most traded spices with high medicinal and therapeutic values. A unigene pnc135 (995 bp) was developed by the Expressed sequence tags data obtained by next generation sequencing. This unigene was found to show similarity with ipk1 gene reported in other crop species which encodes for inositol pentakisphosphate-2 kinase enzyme (Unpublished data, Sujatha,R.). This enzyme is involved in the phosphorylation of inositol pentakisphosphate to inositol hexakisphosphate or phytic acid (InsP6), last step in the biosynthetic pathway of phytic acid. This unigene was later partially sequenced (1072 bp) towards the 3’ end by directional genome walking by Giridhari (2017). Phytic acid functions as the major storage form of phosphorus in seeds, cereals and legumes possessing significant benefits including signalling, plant communication, messenger RNA transport etc. However, phytic acid also acts as an anti-nutrient in animals as its chelating property will cause malnutrition in organisms and also leads to environmental pollution due to phosphorus excretion by non-ruminant animals. Therefore researchers are finding ways to create ipk1 mutants for either to decrease or increase the phytic acid content in organisms. However the genetic information about the black pepper crop remains very limited and the metabolic pathways and the genes related to it are also poorly understood. So in this study entitled “Allelic difference in the putative gene ipk1 sequence and phytic acid (InsP6) content in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)”, the objective was to find out the flanking region towards the 5’ region of pnipk1 gene fragment (1072 bp) reported earlier by Giridhari (2017), to identify the allelic differences in pnipk1 gene in 10 black pepper genotypes and to estimate and quantify the phytic acid content in these 10 black pepper genotypes using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Genomic DNA was isolated from Panniyur 1 variety of black pepper and used it for the whole genome amplification by Rolling Circle Amplification method using Phi 29 DNA polymerase and walker adaptors (WA1, WA2, WA3 and WA4) reported by Reddy et al. (2008). After whole genome amplification, genome walking using primer combinations of walker primers, locus specific primers and nested locus specific primers were performed to find out the flanking region towards the 5’ region of pnipk1(1072 bp) gene fragment of black pepper. The walker primers (WP1 and WP2) used for genome walking were same as that of reported in Reddy et al. (2008) and the locus and nested locus specific primers were designed on the basis of pnipk1 gene fragment (1072 bp) sequenced by Giridhari (2017). From the nested PCR amplification four products, two amplicons, A1R3 and A4R3, each at two different temperatures viz., 51.6⁰Ϲ and 56.8⁰Ϲ were obtained and sequenced. On assembling the sequences a contig of length 523 bp was obtained towards the 5’ region of pnipk1 gene fragment and this showed similarity to ipk1 gene in other crops. This 523 bp contig was assembled with ipk1 gene fragment (pnipk1-1072 bp) to get a total length of 1535 bp. The newly assembled ipk1 gene sequence (pnipk1-1535 bp) was analysed in ORF finder for the coding region and found an Open Reading Frame (ORF) with 645 bp encoding for 214 amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequence and translated amino acid sequence showed closer evolutionary relationship with that of Dendrobium catenatum. Primers were designed based upon the pnipk1 gene sequence (1535 bp) to amplify the genomic DNA of Panniyur 1 and other 10 black pepper genotypes. The selected 10 genotypes were Panniyur 5, Panniyur 7, Chettanvally, Kottanadan, Karimunda 7, Thottamundy, Karimunda kuttyatur, Payyanganam 2, PRS 160 and Chumala. Amplification of pnipk1 gene (1535 bp) was obtained from genomic DNA of Panniyur 1, Panniyur 5, Panniyur 7 and Karimunda 7 with the expected of amplicon size indicating a similar sequence among these genotypes. Whereas amplification was not obtained in genomic DNA in rest of the genotypes showing allelic variation is present for ipk1 gene in these genotypes. To estimate and quantify the phytic acid content in Panniyur 1 and 10 black pepper genotypes, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) was performed. Phytic acid was extracted from black pepper varieties same as that of selected for allelic difference analysis in ipk1 gene (pnipk1-1535 bp). The samples were loaded with phytate standards and band intensities of each concentration were determined with Gelquant.NET. The values of phytic acid in black pepper genotypes were estimated by the standard curve. The quantity of phytic acid in samples are: Panniyur 5 with 502.5nmoles/g, Panniyur 7 with 367.5nmoles/g, Chettanvally-511.5nmoles/g, Kottanadan-463.5nmoles/g, Karimunda7- 387nmoles/g, Chumala-201nmoles/g, Karimunda kuttyatur-637.5nmoles/g, Payyanganam 2-196.5nmoles/g and Panniyur 1- 275 nmoles/g, Thotamundy- 198nmoles/g, PRS 160-697.5nmoles/g. Based on the phytic acid content in the black pepper genotypes, they can be classified into low (<210 nmoles/g), medium (210-510 nmoles/g) and high (>510 nmoles/g) phytic acid content. The ipk1 gene fragment (pnipk1-1535 bp) was amplified in the genotypes Panniyur 1, Panniyur 5, Panniyur 7 and Karimunda 7. These genotypes all came under the category of medium phytic acid content group. The study resulted in sequencing a total of 1535 bp long segment of ipk1 gene black pepper variety Panniyur 1 and analysing the presence of allelic variation in ipk1 gene and phytic acid content in selected black pepper genotypes.ThesisItem Open Access Marker assisted selection for heat tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.)(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Silpa, V; KAU; Sindhumole, PRice is highly susceptible to heat stress, particularly during the reproductive and ripening stages. In the major rice growing tracts of Kerala viz., at Palakkad, Kole and Kuttanad, the temperature tends to rise up to 40 ºC or more during the second/third crop. Consequently, high temperature induced sterility has become a serious problem. To tackle this, high yielding varieties coupled with heat stress need to be developed. As most of the prevalent high yielding rice varieties in Kerala including Uma are highly susceptible to heat stress. It is therefore, essential to impart heat tolerance to such varieties which are cultivated to a very large extent. Marker assisted selection (MAS) has been identified as a dependable, reproducible and time saving strategy to confirm the presence of desirable gene and to quicken the breeding cycle. A study conducted for the identification of SSR markers linked to the genes for heat tolerance in rice through bulked segregant analysis approach using F3 population of the cross Uma x N22 revealed that microsatellite marker, RM5749 was tightly linked to spikelet fertility trait under heat stress. The F4 population (59 nos.) raised from seven F3 lines that were found tolerant to heat stress comprised the base population for the present study. They were characterised morphologically and heat tolerance was scored under natural heat stress in the field conditions based on IRRI spikelet fertility classification. In the 26 F4 lines that registered more than 75 per cent spikelet fertility, foreground selection was done using RM5749. All the 26 F4 plants registered an amplicon corresponding to the heat tolerant parent N22. Background selection of these 26 lines was done using 35 markers found polymorphic between the parents Uma and N22. Seventy five F5 plants were evaluated for morphological characters. Among these, nine F5 plants (Plant nos.16.1.4, 16.1.5, 16.1.6, 31.2.3, 31.2.4, 31.2.5, 31.5.1, 31.6.6, and 31.6.9) with high spikelet fertility (60-70 %) were selected and genotyped using RM5749. These lines were further genotyped using the 35 polymorphic background markers. All the nine F5 plants recorded 54-64 % similarity to Uma genome. The highest spikelet fertility percentage was observed in plant no.16.1.5 (70.78 %) while the highest recovery of the parental genome of Uma was found in plant no. 31.2.5 (64.28 %). Backcrossing of the seven selected heat tolerant lines of F4 (lines 12, 13, 15, 16, 31, 41, and 45) with Uma as male parent resulted in production of BC1F1 seeds. However, the seedlings raised from these seeds did not survive under field conditions. The results obtained thus indicated that the nine lines selected in the present study are to be evaluated in further generations morphologically inorder to isolate genotypes with tolerance to heat stress.ThesisItem Open Access Identification of saline tolerant rice hybrids for pokkali tract(Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Vellanikkara, 2018) Nikhil Narayanan; Biju, SVarious abiotic stresses causing a decline in global rice production are drought, salinity and chillness. Among these, salinity is the major factor that affects crop productivity. The traditional rice varieties grown under Pokkali area show remarkable tolerance to salinity and floods making it unique. However, the yield potential of these varieties is low. In India, out of ninety three rice hybrids developed, a few viz. DRRH 28, KRH 4, PSD 3, etc. were reported to have tolerance to salinity. Considering the potentials of hybrids, identification of salt tolerant hybrids suitable for Pokkali tract of Kerala is an urgent need of the hour. Hence, the study was designed to explore the adaptability of eight rice hybrids to the unique tract of Pokkali and evaluation of traits associated with salinity tolerance. The study comprised of two experiments, the first experiment was Laboratory screening for salinity tolerance and the second experiment was Field evaluation of rice hybrids in Pokkali tract. The laboratory screening was done following a completely randomised design and the genotypes were grown in Yoshida's solution and evaluated for various seedling characters. High shoot length, root length, high root CEC and high root and shoot proline content were seen in Vytilla-6 followed by Ezhome-2. Low root and shoot proline content were observed in IR-29 confirming its susceptibility to salinity. Among the hybrids, a high value for shoot length, root length, total number of roots, root CEC, root proline, shoot proline and survival per cent was observed in the hybrids CORH-3 and KRH-4. Vigour index was high in Sahyadri 4 followed by KRH-4 and low in MRP- 5401. Vytilla-6 and Ezhome-2 showed the high survival per cent while low survival per cent was noticed in Sahyadri 2 and MRP-5401. Vytilla-6 exhibited high chlorophyll content and RWC while low RWC was recorded in MRP-5401, Sahyadri- 2 and Sahyadri-4. Ca in root and shoot along with Na content in shoot were high in IR-29 while Vytilla-6 had low Ca and Na content. High Na in root was seen in Sahyadri 4 followed by Sahyadri 3. High amount of root Cl2 was recorded in Sahyadri-3, Sahyadri-1, Sahyadri-4, IR-29 and Sahyadri-2 while, the lowest amount of root and shoot Cl2 was in Vytilla-6. High amount of shoot Cl2 was seen in Ezhome-2 and IR-29. High amount of root and shoot SO4 content was seen in IR-29, Sahyadri-3, Sahyadri-4, Sahyadri-2 and Sahyadri-1. The lowest root and shoot SO4 content was recorded in Ezhome-2, followed by Vytilla-6. Low visual score of 3 was recorded in Vytilla-6 and Ezhome-2; a score of 5 was recorded for CORH-3, MRP-5401, TNAU RH-4 and KRH-4. Sahyadri-2, Sahyadri-3 and Sahyadri-4 were observed to have scored more than seven. Score 9 was noticed in Sahyadri-1 and IR-29, indicating that these genotypes are more susceptible to salinity. Visual score under salinity was found to be negatively correlated with shoot and root length, number of roots, vigour, proline content and RWC, while it was positively correlated with content of Ca, Na, Cl2, SO4 and K in the plant tissue. Field evaluation of rice hybrids in Pokkali tract was done during Kharif season of 2016-17, following a randomised block design. Days to fifty per cent flowering and maturity showed that all hybrids became early under salinity. Tall plants were observed in Vyttila-6 and Ezhome-2 and short plants in IR-29. High number of productive tillers was observed in CORH-3 and low in Sahyadri-2. Ezhome-2, IR-29 and Vyttila-6 had high number of spikelets per panicle while seed setting percentage and long panicles were observed in Ezhome-2. Spikelet sterility was high in Sahyadri-2 and low Ezhome-2. High 1000 grain weight was observed in Ezhome-2 and low in IR-29. Based on visual scoring Vyttila-6 was classified as highly tolerant and IR-29 as highly susceptible. Correlation studies indicated that grain yield per plant was positively correlated with productive tillers per plant and seed setting per cent, while it was found to be negatively correlated with sterility per cent. Visual scoring was negatively correlated with plant height, uppermost internodal length, days to maturity and seed setting per cent. The hybrid CORH-3 was found to be moderately tolerant based on visual scoring and it produced highest yield per plant indicating that this hybrid is better than saline tolerant traditional varieties.
