Global climatic instabilities have become the main reason for drastic yield losses in chickpea. This shift in climate could be a great threat in the future for food security in developing countries. ...Chickpea production is badly hampered by heat stress coupled with drought stress, and these factors can reduce yields by 40–45%. To mitigate yield losses due these abiotic factors, irrigation supplementation could be the best strategy. The present study aimed to (i) investigate the tolerance response of 9 desi chickpea genotypes against heat stress (H), irrigation (I), and a combination of both (I+H) through morphophysiological and biochemical indices at early growth stage, and (ii) assess yield performance across multiple locations of the country. Results revealed that under irrigation treatment, all genotypes perform well, but the genotypes D-09027 and D-09013 showed best performance because, as compared to control, they retained root length, seedling fresh weight, root fresh weight, root dry weight, esterase activity, Malondialdehyde (MDA) content, total chlorophyll, and total carotenoids. Shoot length and total phenolic contents (TPC) increased in both genotypes. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) increased in D-09027 and retained in D-09013. Catalase activity increased in D-09013 and retained in D-09027. Protease activity, total water potential and osmotic potential decreased in both genotypes and depicted high yield potential with 27 and 30% increase in yield over Bhakhar-2011 (check), respectively. In case of heat stress, maximum tolerance was found in genotypes CH104/06 and D-09013 with no change in shoot and root length, seedling dry weight, shoot fresh and dry weight, root dry weight, relative water content, turgor water potential, catalase (CAT) activity, esterase activity, increased root fresh weight, peroxidase activity (POD), ascorbate peroxidase activity (APX), and lycopene with low accumulation of protease and Malondialdehyde content (MDA). Both genotypes depicted high yield potential with 30 and 43% increase in yield over check across multiple locations of the country. Under the combined treatment, most genotypes showed good performance, while CH104/06 was selected as best performer genotype because significant of its increased root fresh weight, lycopene content, chlorophyll b, total carotenoids, total chlorophyll, retained shoot length, root length, seedling fresh and dry weight, total water potential, osmotic potential, relative water content, peroxidase activity (POD), catalase, esterase, and its ascorbate peroxidase (APX) activity and total soluble proteins (TSP) showed highest yield potential with 43% increase over check. Identified best performing and tolerant genotypes can further be employed for breeding climate-smart chickpea genotypes for sustainable production under changing climate.
Chickpea pod borer (CPB) (
) is one of the major pests, causing significant yield losses. The objectives were to screen chickpea mutants for pod borer resistance/tolerance under field conditions and ...identification of biochemical markers of tolerance. Chickpea mutant CM216-A/15 had highest leaf (25 trichomes/mm
) and stem trichome density (17 trichomes/mm
) with least pod damage at Kallur Kot and highest pod weight per plant (22.8 ± 2.6g) at AZRI. Higher total phenolic contents (TPCs) and antioxidant capacity were detected in tolerant mutants, i.e., CM216-A/15 and CM664/15. TPC was positively associated with pod yield and had negative correlation with pod damage. Mutants CM216-A/15, CM664/15, and CM766/15 depicted the highest resilience to CPB, owing to higher hairiness, better antioxidant defense response, and lower levels of hydrolytic enzymes and sugars. Identified biochemical markers like TPC, total oxidant status, superoxide dismutase, and pigments can be used for screening of CPB-tolerant/resistant mutants.
Chickpea is one of the major legume crops being cultivated in the arid and semi-arid regions of Pakistan. It is mainly grown on the marginal areas where, terminal drought stress is one of the serious ...threats to its productivity. For defining the appropriate selection criteria for screening drought tolerant chickpea genotypes, present study was conducted. Distinct chickpea germplasm was collected from different pulses breeding institutes of Pakistan and evaluated for drought tolerance at germination and early seedling stages, furthermore, at late vegetative growth stages physiochemical traits and multi-environment yield performance were also tested.
Chickpea genotypes under different environments, were significantly varied for different seedling traits, physio-chemical attributes and seed yield. Genotypes showing drought tolerance by performing better at an early seedling stages were not correspondingly high yielding. Screening for drought tolerance on seed yield basis is the most appropriate trait to develop the drought tolerant as well as high yielding chickpea genotypes. Results confirmed that traits of early growth stages were not reflecting the drought tolerance at terminal growth stages and also did not confer high yielding. NIAB-rain fed environment proved ideal in nature to screen the chickpea genotypes whereas, NIAB-lysimeter and Kalur Kot was least effective for selecting genotypes with high seed yield. Genotypes D0091-10, K010-10, D0085-10, K005-10, D0078-10, 08AG016, 08AG004, D0080-10, 09AG002, K002-10 and D0099-10 were high yielding and drought tolerant based on their performance across multiple hotspot environments.
The selected genotypes are intended for further evaluation for varietal approval to recommend for general cultivation on farmer fields in drought hit areas of Pakistan. Among physio-biochemical traits, higher proline, glycine betain, RWC and CMS were reflecting the higher capability to tolerate the drought stress in chickpea. Drought sensitive genotypes (K0037-10, 2204, K0052-10, 09AG015, K0042-10, CM709/06, K0068-10, K004-10, K0026-10 and K0063-10) were also identified in present study which were resourceful asset for using as contrasting parents in hybridization programs. To our knowledge, this is first report using an integrated approach involving, physio-biochemical indices, and multi-environmental yield trials, for comparison, screening and selection of chickpea genotypes for drought tolerance.
In Pakistan, chickpeas (
L.) are the largest grown legume crops, especially in desert areas. Along with an excellent source of nutrition, chickpea seeds have discernible medicinal and antioxidant ...characteristics. The diverse set of 90 chickpea genotypes (66 desi and 24 kabuli) were collected from different research zones in Pakistan, and seed flour was used for biochemical profiling. Genotypes were significantly different (Tukey HSD test,
< 0.05) for the traits under investigation. In non-enzymatic antioxidants, highest seed total phenolic contents (TPC) (34725 ± 275 μM/g s. wt.) was found in CM-98 (desi), ascorbic acid (AsA) (69.23 ± 2.25 μg/g s. wt.) in WH-3 (desi), and total flavonoid content (TFC) (394.98 ± 13.06 μg/mL sample) was detected in WH-11 (desi). In the class of enzymatic antioxidants, the highest seed ascorbate peroxidase (APX) (1680 ± 40 Units/g s. wt.) was detected in Tamman-2013 (kabuli), peroxidases (POD) (2564.10 ± 233.10 Units/g s. wt.) activity in CM1235/08 (desi), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) (279.76 ± 50 Units/g s. wt.) was detected in CH24/11 (desi). Highest seed catalase activity (CAT) (893 ± 50 Units/g s. wt.) and proline content (272.50 ± 20.82 μg/g s. wt.) was detected in an ICC-4951 (desi). In hydrolytic enzymes, the highest activity of esterase (37.05 μM/min/g s. wt) was found in, CH56/09(Kabuli), protease (11080 ± 10 Units/g s. wt.) in Karak-2 (desi), and α-amylase (213.02 ± 3.20 mg/g s. wt.) was observed in CH74/08 (kabuli). In other biochemical parameters, the highest seed total oxidant status (TOS) (356 ± 17.50 μM/g s. wt.) was detected in CM3457/91 (desi); malondialdehyde (MDA) content (295.74 ± 3.097 uM/g s. wt.) was observed in CM-2008 (kabuli), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (8.36 ± 0.082 μM/g s. wt.) was found in CM-72 (desi). In case of pigment analysis, Sheenghar-2000 (desi) depicted highest lycopene (12.579 ± 0.313 μg/g s. wt.) and total carotenoids (58.430.23 ± 0.569 μg/g s. wt.) contents. For seed therapeutic potential, the highest seed α-amylase inhibition (82.33 ± 8.06%) was observed in CM-88 (desi), while WH-1, WH-6, and ICCV-96030 (desi) depicted the highest value for seed anti-inflammatory potential (78.88 ± 0.55%). Genotypes with the highest antioxidant and therapeutic potential can be utilized as a natural antioxidant source and in breeding programs aimed at improving these traits in new breeding lines.
This study was planned with the purpose of evaluating the drought tolerance of advanced breeding lines of chickpea in natural field conditions. Two methods were employed to impose field conditions; ...the first: simulating drought stress by growing chickpea genotypes at five rainfed areas, with Faisalabad as the non-stressed control environment; and the second: planting chickpea genotypes in spring to simulate a drought stress environment, with winter-sowing serving as the non-stressed environment. Additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) and generalized linear models (GLM) models were both found to be equally effective in extracting main effects in the rainfed experiment. Results demonstrated that environment influenced seed yield, number of primary and secondary branches, number of pods, and number of seeds most predominantly; however, genotype was the main source of variation in 100 seed weight and plant height. The GGE biplot showed that Faisalabad, Kallur Kot, and Bhakkar were contributing the most in the GEI, respectively, while Bahawalpur, Bhawana, and Karor were relatively stable environments, respectively. Faisalabad was the most, and Bhakkar the least productive in terms of seed yield. The best genotypes to grow in non-stressed environments were CH39/08, CH40/09, and CH15/11, whereas CH28/07 and CH39/08 were found suitable for both conditions. CH55/09 displayed the best performance in stress conditions only. The AMMI stability and drought-tolerance indices enabled us to select genotypes with differential performance in both conditions. It is therefore concluded that the spring-sown experiment revealed a high-grade drought stress imposition on plants, and that the genotypes selected by both methods shared quite similar rankings, and also that manually computed drought-tolerance indices are also comparable for usage for better genotypic selections. This study could provide sufficient evidence for using the aforementioned as drought-tolerance evaluation methods, especially for countries and research organizations who have limited resources and funding for conducting multilocation trials, and performing sophisticated analyses on expensive software.
To determine vitamin D deficiency (25-OH-D level <20 ng/ml) frequency among apparently healthy Afghan adolescents.
Cross-sectional analytical study.
Pathology Department, French Medical Institute for ...Mothers and Children (FMIC) Kabul, from June to Sep 2016.
Adolescents who reported for analysis of vitamin D level in their sera were included. Age, gender, duration of sun exposure, area of exposed skin, types of living and eating lifestyles were documented. Vitamin D levels were measured by chemiluminescence method, using immunoassay autoanalysers. The participants were divided into five categories according to their serum vitamin D levels as sufficiency: >30-100 ng/ml; insufficiency: >20-29 ng/ml; deficiency: <20 ng/ml; severe deficiency: <10 ng/ml; and intoxication: >150 ng/ml. Participants who had vitamin D intoxication were excluded from the study.
Out of 308 cases for final analysis, 202 (65.6%) were females and 106 (34.4%) were males. Of all, 238 (77.3%) had a low level of vitamin D in their sera, whereas 70 (22.7%) had vitamin D sufficiency. Among those having hypovitaminosis D, 107 (45%) had severe deficiency, 81 (34%) had deficiency and 50 (21%) had vitamin D insufficiency. More pronounced lower levels were observed in females. Exposure to sun, use of a sun protector, vitamin D supplements, and vitamin D rich food intake, type of living, skin colour, and BMI of participants were seen as important factors linked to vitamin D levels.
Hypovitaminosis D is prevailing among Afghan adolescents, more pronounced in girls. Wearing of traditional clothes, duration of sunlight, type of living and inadequate consumption of vitamin D rich foods are significant determinants of hypovitaminosis D.
To identify the bacterial pathogens causing paediatric septicaemia in Kabul and to determine their antibiogram to improve empirical antibiotic therapy.
Cross-sectional study.
Microbiology Laboratory ...of FMIC, Kabul, Afghanistan, from January 2010 to June 2012.
Blood cultures from suspected cases of sepsis were processed in BD (Becton Dickinson, USA) for culture BACTEC™ 9240 Blood Culture System. Positive growths were examined and isolates were identified by conventional biochemical tests. Bacteria were identified to the species level using various Analytical Profile Index (API) identification strips. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by modified Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Drug resistant strains were studied for extended spectrum beta lactamase (ESBL) production by combination disk method and for methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by Cefoxitin disk diffusion method.
Out of a total 3360 blood cultures received from in-patients, 410 yielded monomicrobial growth; hence the frequency of positive blood culture was 12.2%. Out of a total 410 isolates, 212 (51.71%) were gram-negative bacilli and 184 (44.88%) were gram-positive cocci. In addition, 14 (3.41%) Candida species were also isolated. The frequently isolated species of gram-negative bacteria belonged to Enterobacteriaceae and included 66 Klebsiella (16.1%), 42 Enterobacter (10.2%), 35 Escherichia (E.) coli (8.5%) and 16 Serratia (3.9%) species. In addition, 21 (5.12%) Pseudomonas species were also isolated. Correspondingly, amongst gram-positive cocci, the most frequently isolated species were 108 coagulase-negative Staphylococci (26.34%) followed by 49 Staphylococcus aureus (11.95%) and 21 Streptococcus species (5.12%). Among gram-negative isolates, those that produced ESBL i.e., 110 out of 212 (51.9%) were found to be multidrug-resistant and showed high resistance to commonly used antibiotics namely Ampicillin, Gentamicin, 3rd generation Cephalosporins, Fluoroquinolones and Co-trimoxazole. Most of the isolates were susceptible to Imipenem (200/212, 94.3%), Amikacin (172/212, 81.1%) and Fosfomycin (166/212, 78.3%). Amongst gram-positive cocci, majority were resistant to Penicillin, Gentamicin, 3rd generation Cephalosporins, Fluoroquinolones and Cotrimoxazole. However, most were sensitive to Vancomycin (183/184) Pristinamycin (161/184, 87.5%) and Fosfomycin (134/184, 72.8%). All Staphylococci were resistant to Penicillin and 80/157 (51%) were MRSA.
Klebsiella, E. coli, Enterobacter and Staphylococci remain the principal organisms responsible for blood stream infection in a paediatrics tertiary care setting in Kabul. The most sensitive among the tested antibiotics for gram-negative organisms were Imipenem, Amikacin, and Fosfomycin and for gram-positive organisms were Vancomycin, Pristinamycin and Fosfomycin.
Selection of good filler-polymer pair results in improved gas separation performances. Present study deals with fabrication of Matrimid based hybrid or mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) by using three ...weight loadings (10, 20 and 30 wt. %) of 1D rod shaped nanoporous Pr(BTC)(H2O)6 metal organic framework (MOF). The fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometric analysis indicated the bonding of lanthanide metal ion with the linker and thus formation of the MOF, and further revealed that the structure of MOF remained intact after incorporation into the polymer matrix. Powder X-ray (PXRD) analysis revealed purity and crystallinity of the MOF while the PXRD results for the MMMs indicated that crystallinity of the MOF remained unaffected after fabrication of the MMMs. The Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results gave an indication of the formation of the MOF in same morphology as it is previously reported. Additionally, nice distribution and well adherence of the additive particles throughout the polymer matrix was observed while the interfacial voids were visibly absent. The MOF and the MMMs were thermally stable and crystallinity of MOF particles remained intact after dispersion into polymer matrix. The Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area of the MOF was also obtained that indicated its permanent porosity. The prepared MMMs were flexible enough to handle for all analysis. These findings led to conclude that a proper polymer-filler pair was made that produced defect free MMMs. The prepared MMMs can be evaluated in future for their performance towards separation of different gases after modification of the pore of the filler
The characterization of saccharidic compounds in atmospheric aerosols is important in order to retrieve information about organic carbon sources and their transport pathways through the atmosphere. ...In this study, composition and sources of saccharides in PM
10
were determined in a South Asian megacity (Faisalabad) during the year 2015 – 2016. PM
10
sampled on quartz filters was analyzed by anion exchange chromatography for the selected saccharidic compounds. The average PM
10
concentration was found to be 744 ± 392 μg m
−3
, exceeding the daily limits proposed by Pak-EPA (150 μg m
−3
), US-EPA (150 μg m
−3
), and WHO (50 μg m
−3
). The average total saccharidic concentration was found to be 2820 ± 2247 ng m
−3
. Among the different saccharidic categories, anhydrosugars were the most abundant in concentration followed by primary sugars and sugar alcohols. The correlation and principal component analysis indicated emissions from biomass combustion, soil suspensions from areas such as farmlands having high microorganism activity, and biogenic emissions such as airborne fungal spores and vegetation detritus as major sources of saccharides in the aerosol samples.
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