Publications by authors named "Rajeev Kumar Varshney"

Wheat stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici, Pst) is the most damaging wheat disease, causing substantial losses in global wheat production and productivity.

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Helicoverpa armigera (also known as gram pod borer) is a serious threat to chickpea production in the world. A set of 173 chickpea genotypes were evaluated for H. armigera resistance, including mean larval population (MLP), percentage pod damage (PPD), and pest resistance (PR) for 2 consecutive years (year 2020 and 2021).

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Anthracnose (ANT) caused by is the most devastating seed-borne fungal disease of common bean. In response to fungal infections, it is hypothesized that pathogen-plant interactions typically cause hypersensitive reactions by producing reactive oxygen species, hydrogen peroxide and lipid peroxidation of cell membranes. esent study was conducted by inoculating susceptible bean genotype "SB174" and resistant bean genotype "E10" with pathogen "".

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Identifying a congenially targeted production environment and understanding the effects of genotype by environmental interactions on the adaption of chickpea genotypes is essential for achieving an optimal yield stability. Different models like additive main effect and multiplicative interactions (AMMI 1, AMM2), weighted average absolute scores of BLUPs (WAASB), and genotype plus genotype-environment (GGE) interactions were used to understand their suitability in the precise estimation of variance and their interaction. Our experiment used genotypes that represent the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) region.

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Heterosis refers to the better performance of cross progeny compared with inbred parents, and its utilization contributes greatly to agricultural production. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain heterosis mainly including dominance, over-dominance (or pseudo-overdominance) and epistasis. However, systematic dissection and verification of these hypotheses are rarely documented.

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Anthracnose, caused by the fungus , is one of the devastating disease affecting common bean production and productivity worldwide. Several quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for anthracnose resistance have been identified. In order to make use of these QTLs in common bean breeding programs, a detailed meta-QTL (MQTL) analysis has been conducted.

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Chickpea is the most important nutrient-rich grain legume crop in the world. A diverse core set of 147 chickpea genotypes was genotyped with a Axiom(®)50K CicerSNP array and trait phenotyped in two different environments for four seed micronutrients (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn). The trait data and high-throughput 50K SNP genotypic data were used for the genome-wide association study (GWAS).

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The soilborne oomycete plant pathogen causes seed rot and pre-emergence damping-off of chickpea ( L). The pathogen has been controlled for several decades using the fungicide metalaxyl as seed treatment but has re-emerged as a severe problem with the detection of metalaxyl-resistant isolates of the pathogen from infested fields in the United States Pacific Northwest. The objective of this study was to identify genetic markers and candidate genes associated with resistance to in an interspecific recombinant inbred line population (CRIL-7) derived from a cross between (PI 599072) x (FLIP 84-92C) and conduct genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for disease resistance using a chickpea diversity panel consisting of 184 accessions.

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Background: The exploration of genetic diversity is the key source of germplasm conservation and potential to broaden its genetic base. The globally growing demand for chickpea suggests superior/climate-resilient varieties, which in turn necessitates the germplasm characterization to unravel underlying genetic variation.

Methodology And Results: A chickpea core collection comprising of diverse 192 accessions which include cultivated Cicer arietinum, and wild C.

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Genetic diversity studies provide important details on target trait availability and its variability, for the success of breeding programs. In this study, GBS approach was used to reveal a new structuration of genetic diversity and population structure of pigeonpea in Benin. We used a total of 688 high-quality Single Nucleotide Polymorphism markers for a total of 44 pigeonpea genotypes.

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Despite several efforts by the Government of India, the national burden of anaemia remains high and its growing prevalence (between 2015-2016 and 2019-2021) is concerning to India's public health system. This article reviews existing food-based and clinical strategies to mitigate the anaemia burden and why they are premature and insufficient. In a context where multiple anaemia control programmes are in play, this article proposes a threefold strategy for consideration.

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Unlabelled: LncRNAs (long noncoding RNAs) are 200 bp length crucial RNA molecules, lacking coding potential and having important roles in regulating gene expression, particularly in response to abiotic stresses. In this study, we identified salt stress-induced lncRNAs in chickpea roots and predicted their intricate regulatory roles. A total of 3452 novel lncRNAs were identified to be distributed across all 08 chickpea chromosomes.

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Pearl millet is an important food and fodder crop cultivated in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia, and is now expanding to other regions for forage purpose. This study was conducted to better understand the forage quantity and quality traits to enhance the feed value of this crop. Two sets of pearl millet hybrids (80 single cross hybrids in Set-I and 50 top cross hybrids in Set-II) along with their parents evaluated multi-locationally for the forage-linked traits under multi-cut (two cuts) system revealed significant variability for the forage traits in the hybrids and parents.

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The north-western Indian Himalayas possesses vast diversity in common bean germplasm due to several years of natural adaptation and farmer's selection. Systematic efforts have been made for the first time for the characterization and use of this huge diversity for the identification of genes/quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for yield and yield-contributing traits in common bean in India. A core set of 96 diverse common bean genotypes was characterized using 91 genome-wide genomic and genic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers.

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Biofortification through plant breeding is a cost-effective and sustainable approach towards addressing micronutrient malnutrition prevailing across the globe. Screening cultivars for micronutrient content and identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs)/genes and markers help in the development of biofortified varieties in chickpea ( L.).

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Agricultural production faces a Herculean challenge to feed the increasing global population. Food production systems need to deliver more with finite land and water resources while exerting the least negative influence on the ecosystem. The unpredictability of climate change and consequent changes in pests/pathogens dynamics aggravate the enormity of the challenge.

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Crop populations derived from experimental crosses enable the genetic dissection of complex traits and support modern plant breeding. Among these, multi-parent populations now play a central role. By mixing and recombining the genomes of multiple founders, multi-parent populations combine many commonly sought beneficial properties of genetic mapping populations.

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Silique number is the most important component of yield in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). To dissect the mechanism underlying the natural variation of silique number in rapeseed germplasm, a series of studies were performed.

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Drought is the most important constraint that effects chickpea production globally. RNA-Seq has great potential to dissect the molecular mechanisms of tolerance to environmental stresses. Transcriptome profiles in roots and shoots of two contrasting Iranian kabuli chickpea genotypes (Bivanij and Hashem) were investigated under water-limited conditions at early flowering stage using RNA-Seq approach.

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Chickpea is the second most important legume crop largely grown under semi-arid tropics where terminal drought is one of the major constraints for its productivity. A trait-based selection had been considered more beneficial in drought tolerance breeding to overcome the environmental influence on drought yields. Large number of traits had been suggested in literature, with less indication on their importance and priority, for use in such breeding programs resulting in poor utilization of critical traits in drought tolerance breeding.

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The physiological and molecular responses of five strains of Streptomyces sp. (CAI-17, CAI-68, CAI-78, KAI-26 and KAI-27), with their proven potential for charcoal rot disease control in sorghum and plant growth-promotion (PGP) in sorghum and rice, were studied to understand the mechanisms causing the beneficial effects. In this investigation, those five strains were evaluated for their PGP capabilities in chickpea in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 post-rainy seasons.

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Modern agriculture faces challenges, such as loss of soil fertility, fluctuating climatic factors and increasing pathogen and pest attacks. Sustainability and environmental safety of agricultural production relies on eco-friendly approaches like biofertilizers, biopesticides and crop residue return. The multiplicity of beneficial effects of microbial inoculants, particularly plant growth promoters (PGP), emphasizes the need for further strengthening the research and their use in modern agriculture.

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To understand the genetic basis of tolerance to drought and heat stresses in chickpea, a comprehensive association mapping approach has been undertaken. Phenotypic data were generated on the reference set (300 accessions, including 211 mini-core collection accessions) for drought tolerance related root traits, heat tolerance, yield and yield component traits from 1-7 seasons and 1-3 locations in India (Patancheru, Kanpur, Bangalore) and three locations in Africa (Nairobi, Egerton in Kenya and Debre Zeit in Ethiopia). Diversity Array Technology (DArT) markers equally distributed across chickpea genome were used to determine population structure and three sub-populations were identified using admixture model in STRUCTURE.

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Six actinomycetes, CAI-13, CAI-85, CAI-93, CAI-140, CAI-155 and KAI-180, isolated from six different herbal vermi-composts were characterized for in vitro plant growth-promoting (PGP) properties and further evaluated in the field for PGP activity in rice. Of the six actinomycetes, CAI-13, CAI-85, CAI-93, CAI-140 and CAI-155 produced siderophores; CAI-13, CAI-93, CAI-155 and KAI-180 produced chitinase; CAI-13, CAI-140, CAI-155 and KAI-180 produced lipase; CAI-13, CAI-93, CAI-155 and KAI-180 produced protease; and CAI-13, CAI-85, CAI-140 and CAI-155 produced ß-1-3-glucanase whereas all the six actinomycetes produced cellulase, hydrocyanic acid and indole acetic acid (IAA). The actinomycetes were able to grow in NaCl concentrations of up to 8%, at pH values between 7 and 11, temperatures between 20 and 40 °C and compatible with fungicide bavistin at field application levels.

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