Dietary habits of lesser bandicoot rat (Bandicota Bengalensis) in an agro-ecosystem, Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan

Dietary habits of bandicoot rats (bandicota bengalensis) were investigated in the agricultural crops of the Pothwar Plateau, Pakistan by analysing stomach contents. The research activities were conducted in major field crops including wheat-groundnut and in the fallow lands during non-crop season at the field boundaries. The specimens were captured from the fields using kill/snap traps, and dissected to collect their stomach samples for laboratory analysis. Light microscopic slides of the plant material were recovered from stomach samples and the reference materials were collected from the field. Results revealed that the bandicoot rat predominantly fed upon cultivated crops during cropping season but consumed wild vegetation during non-cropping season. There was no significance difference between summer and winter diets. Most frequently consumed crop food items were wheat (Triticum aestivum; 28.57%), groundnut (Arachis hypogea; 11.26%), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor; 10.17%), chickpea (Cicer arietinum; 9.52%), maize (Zea mays; 6.49%), millet (Pennisetum glaucum; 5.84%), barley (Hordeum vulgare; 4.98%) and mustard (Brassica campestris; 4.98%). Among wild vegetation were consumed khbal gha (Cynodon dactylon; 7.79%), baron dhab (Demostachya bipinnata; 7.36%) and Prickly flower (Achyranthes aspera; 3.03%). The study concludes that, in addition to consuming wheat and groundnut crops, the Lesser bandicoot rat also subsists on grasses, weeds, and some fodder crops, as important component of its diet in agro-ecosystem of the Pothwar Plateau.

Cultivated and wild pearl millet display contrasting patterns of abundance and co-occurrence in their root mycobiome

Fungal communities associated with roots play a key role in nutrient uptake and in mitigating the abiotic and biotic stress of their host. In this study, we characterized the roots mycobiome of wild and cultivated pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br., synonym: Cenchrus americanus (L.) Morrone] in three agro-ecological areas of Senegal following a rainfall gradient. We hypothesized that wild pearl millet could serve as a reservoir of endophytes for cultivated pearl millet. We therefore analyzed the soil factors influencing fungal community structure and whether cultivated and wild millet shared the same fungal communities. The fungal communities associated with pearl millet were significantly structured according to sites and plant type (wild vs cultivated). Besides, soil pH and phosphorus were the main factors influencing the fungal community structure. We observed a higher fungal diversity in cultivated compared to wild pearl millet. Interestingly, we detected higher relative abundance of putative pathotrophs, especially plant pathogen, in cultivated than in wild millet in semi-arid and semi-humid zones, and higher relative abundance of saprotrophs in wild millet in arid and semi-humid zones. A network analysis based on taxa co-occurrence patterns in the core mycobiome revealed that cultivated millet and wild relatives had dissimilar groups of hub taxa. The identification of the core mycobiome and hub taxa of cultivated and wild pearl millet could be an important step in developing microbiome engineering approaches for more sustainable management practices in pearl millet agroecosystems.

Stage specific comparative transcriptomic analysis to reveal gene networks regulating iron and zinc content in pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.]

Pearl millet is an important staple food crop of poor people and excels all other cereals due to its unique features of resilience to adverse climatic conditions. It is rich in micronutrients like iron and zinc and amenable for focused breeding for these micronutrients along with high yield. Hence, this is a key to alleviate malnutrition and ensure nutritional security. This study was conducted to identify and validate candidate genes governing grain iron and zinc content enabling the desired modifications in the genotypes. Transcriptome sequencing using ION S5 Next Generation Sequencer generated 43.5 million sequence reads resulting in 83,721 transcripts with N50 of 597 bp and 84.35% of transcripts matched with the pearl millet genome assembly. The genotypes having high iron and zinc showed differential gene expression during different stages. Of which, 155 were up-regulated and 251 were down-regulated while during flowering stage and milking stage 349 and 378 transcripts were differentially expressed, respectively. Gene annotation and GO term showed the presence of transcripts involved in metabolic activities associated with uptake and transport of iron and zinc. Information generated will help in gaining insights into iron and zinc metabolism and develop genotypes with high yield, grain iron and zinc content.

Effect of Pre and Post Emergence Herbicides Application on Economics of Pearl Millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.)

An experiment was conducted during kharif 2020 at Post Graduate Research Farm, Agronomy Section, College of Agriculture, Dhule to study the effect of pre and post emergent herbicides application on economics of pearl millet production. Experiment consisted of nine treatments namely weedy check (T1), weed free (T2), atrazine @ 500 g/ha PoE (T3), 2,4-D (Dimethyl amine) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T4), 2,4-D (Na Salt) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T5), atrazine @ 500 g/ha PE fb 2,4-D (Dimethyl amine) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T6), atrazine @ 500 g/ha PE fb 2,4-D (Na Salt) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T7), pendimethalin 750 g/ha PE fb 2,4-D (Dimethyl amine) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T8), pendimethalin 750 g/ha PE fb 2,4-D (Na Salt) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T9) laid out in randomized block design with three replications. Among the herbicidal treatments, grain yield (kg/ha) and straw yield (kg/ha) was observed better with application of pendimethalin @ 750 g/ha PE fb 2,4-D (Na Salt) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T9). Among the chemical weed management treatments, application of pendimethalin @ 750 g/ha PE fb 2,4-D (Na Salt) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T9) observed higher gross and net monetary returns (₹/ha). However, the gross and net monetary returns (₹/ha) were maximum under weed free treatment but lower B:C ratio as compared to sequential application of pendimethalin @ 750 g/ha PE fb 2,4-D (Na Salt) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T9) and pendimethalin @ 750 g/ha PE fb 2,4-D (Dimethyl amine) @ 500 g/ha at 25-30 DAS PoE (T8) due to higher cost for labour weeding.