Gene makes racing dogs fast, study finds

   By Maggie Fox

WASHINGTON, May 2-2k7 (Reuters) A gene that helps control muscle development makes all the difference between an elite racing dog and a freak that is put down at birth, scientists reported.

   Racing whippets that carried one copy of the mutated gene were among the fastest runners, but those that carried two copies became unattractively bulky and were usually destroyed by breeders, the researchers said yesterday.

   The next step may be to look for this gene in human athletes to see if it helps explain what makes some competitors excel, said Dr Elaine Ostrander of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who led the study.

   The gene controls a muscle protein called myostatin.
   ”Our work is the first to link athletic performance to a
mutation in the myostatin gene and could have implications for competitive sports in dogs, horses and possibly even humans,” Ostrander said.

   Ostrander’s team has been studying dogs to find the genes for various traits and just last month reported that a gene called IGF1 was responsible for making small dogs small.

   They believe this has implications for differences in human size, as well.    While studying whippets, a small, very thin racing breed, they noticed ones that were big and bulky called ”bully” whippets.

   ”They were very, very heavily muscled,” Ostrander said. ”We were really struck by their remarkable physical appearance.”

   But breeders do not like them. ”The bottom line is, these dogs are not given a chance. When they are born, breeders in this community will describe their appearance as grotesque,” she said. Such whippets are usually put down immediately.

   The dogs resembled a breed of Belgian blue cattle and certain pigs, and Ostrander’s team knew that in livestock this muscling came from a mutation in the myostatin gene.    ”The same turns out to be true in whippets,” she said.

   GORGEOUS DOGS
   Ostrander’s team then looked at the parents of the mutant
whippets. ”They were absolutely gorgeous dogs,” she said.
   Well-muscled and sleek, they lacked the anorexic  appearance of most racing whippets, Ostrander said. It turned out the parents each had just one copy of the mutated genes, while their ”bully” offspring carried two copies.
   When they learned one of these parents was called ”Fast Eddie,” Ostrander’s team knew what to look for next.

   ”We wanted to know whether or not this was something that could explain racing speed,” she said. So her team visited a dog track and got DNA samples from the dogs.

   Racing whippets are classified as A, B, C or D, with A racers
being the fastest, Ostrander said.    They found the mutation in 12 of 41 dogs graded A or B racers, and in just one of the 43 dogs in the slowest racing grades, the researchers report in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS  Genetics.

   The gene, called MSTN, affects ”fast-twitch” muscle, which is linked to sprinting ability.    Tests of greyhounds, close relatives of whippets, did not find the gene, and Ostrander noted that in cattle with the mutation the lungs are abnormally small.

   She believes the gene may affect lung size and thus stamina, which would not matter for whippets, which run a short course. But this would be devastating to a greyhound bred to run longer  distances.

   Checks of other dog breeds such as Rottweilers, bulldogs and bull terriers found no evidence of the mutation.//eom//

Bangalore, Nov 26 (UNI) In what could be a major boon to the farmers, scientists at the University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS), Bangalore, have developed a nature-friendly hybrid variety of rice, which not only consumes substantially less water but can also take Indian farmers to the Credit Emission Reduction (CER) trade at the international arena.

  A team of agricultural scientists from the Department of Genetic and Plant Breeding of the UAS have developed ‘Aerobic Rice’ uuccessfully cross breeding a local variety and IR64 variety procured from the Institute of International Rice Research, Philippines.

  Aerobic rice consumed half the amount of water, had longer rots than the conventional variety that helped better absorption of water and facilitated better air ventilation. This special character of the new variety prevented the process of methanogenesis, in which green house gases were released due to decomposition of organic matter.

  Dr H E Shashidhar, Professor and Head, Department of Genetics and  Plant Breeding, informed UNI that usually methane was produced during flooded rice cultivation by the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter in the soil, but the new variety’s lengthy roots, three times more than the conventional crop, helped to prevent the  process of methanogenesis without oxygen. It did not need flooding
of water at any stage, thereby avoiding the release of methane into the atmosphere.

  He said cultivation of paddy contributed to about 20 to 25 per cent of methane gases emitted into the atmosphere. The intensive use of Aerobic rice variety prevented the release of greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide. While the conventional rice crop needed about 5,000 litres per kg, the new variety needed only half of it.

Mr.Shashidhar said the UAS scientists were currently engaged in conducting field trials of the new variety at six places –Bangalore, Chhattisgarh, Cuttack, Faizalabad, Coimbatore and Hazaribagh and would be commercially made available next year. The UAS had developed six varieties of Aerobic rice, which could be sown directly in the field and needed no transplantation. The new variety gave yield on par with the traditional varieties and would be ready for harvesting between 120 and 130 days.

  He said that after developing the new variety, scientists were now involved in exploration of drawing carbon credits and entering the over 100 billion US Dollar CER Trade at the global level.

Entering CER trade involved a laborious exercise and a dedicated mechanism needed to be created for the purpose. The department had approached the Union Environment and Forests Ministry to take the process forward and get the Carbon Credit Certificates for contributing to reduction in emission of greenhouses gases, which caused global warming, he added.

  He said Indian farmers, facing a crisis now, would not only
benefit from the use of the new variety, but could also earn foreign xchange by selling carbon credit certificates for contributing to eduction in global warming. ”Concerted efforts by NGOs, Government agencies and the farming community can go a long way in achieving the goal.” //EOM//
Posted by Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

By   Archana Devraj

Kochi(India),Nov 24,2k6: After ‘basmati rice’ and ‘Darjeeling tea’, it is the turn of the famous ‘Kozhikode Halwa’ from Kerala to seek protection under the Geographical Indications(GI) status, which grants legal recognition to a particular region’s claim to a locally produced product.

While the Act does not provide for individual ownership, any association of producers or any organisation or authority representing the interest of the producers can apply for registration in accordance with the provision of the Act.//eom//

Posted by Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna 

 Chandigarh, Nov 8 (UNI) The tedious, laborious and error-prone  system of rice-grading would soon be a thing of past with the path-breaking computerised classification system developed by scientists here.  
   The server-based analytical instrument with complete ‘knowledge and data’ could provide world-class sample testing over the internet, leading to ‘uniform procurement specifications and testing’, which would also be a boon for exporters.
   The device, developed by Central Scientific Instruments
Organisation (CSIO) here, ”could provide transparency in the
procurement process and could be useful for food procuring and marketing agencies, rice shellers, grain marchants and exporters,” the CSIO Director Dr Pawan Kapur told UNI.
   The rice grading, which would take into account the colour, shape  and size of each grain, would be most useful in meeting the export  requirements which seek absolute rice dimensions and accumulative stringent percentages in broken and undesirable items.
   Project Head, Dr H K Sardana said the system meets export or superior quality requirements, including the moisture test. It could detect undesirable elements like foreign matter, broken, damaged, discoloured, chalky and red grains and could differentiate between various varieties mixed together.
   In addition, the system could provide grain-wise measurements and histogram, he said.
   Moreover, the whole process of classification of rice sample
takes only one or two minutes in comparision to hours that it takes  to manually and visually check the grains as per BIS standards.
   The system could be customised to suit export requirements and BIS standards including annual relaxations applicable to farmers during adverse weather conditions.  
   About the other benefits of the sorting machines, he explained that it could work even at sheller’s level for inspection while milling.
   A prototype unit of the system was successfully tested by
Markfed, as per the standard requirements of the BIS and FCI, Mr Sardana said.
   For remote sample submission,  people living even in remote areas could be connected to the system through internet and could submit the sample at their scanner for obtaining certified statistical
report.
   The new system would also turn out to be much cost-effective as BIS, as a central agency, could provide the on-line grading service to distant clients, he said. //EOM//

Pozted by: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna.

Lucknow, Nov 8 (UNI) National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Lucknow has undertaken an ambitious and advanced programme of developing DNA bar coding of indigenous fish species.
   The project will greatly help in the identification of fish
species, patenting of marine fauna and specialised research thereon.
   NBFGR has been recognised as a nodal organization under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi for undertaking advanced research programmes on exotic fish and quarantine.
   Bureau Director W S Lakra informed that the DNA bar coding of about 50 fish species had already been developed and research was on for other several varieties.
   Dr Lakra was addressing the nine-day ‘Symposium and Training Programme on Fish Biotechnology’, which was inaugurated yesterday.
   Leading Australian marine scientist Dr R D Ward — who is also Co-Chairman, Global Programme, DNA Bar Coding of Fish — emphasised its importance towards the documentation, characterisation and conservation of aquatic bio-diversity.
   Further, Dr Lakra informed regarding the recent development of  vital diagnostic tools such as monoclonal antibiotics, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), DNA finger printing and gene probes etc.
   He stressed the need for developing such diagnostic tools for all the major fish diseases, that cause huge economic losses to farmers.
   Lucknow Biotechnology Park Director P K Seth said fish were  good indicators of water quality. ”Marine biotechnology has tremendous potential towards improving production of food and ornamental fish, besides production of pharmaceuticals from fish.
   National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) Director Rakesh Tuli emphasised the need to undertake intensive research on production of transgenic fish with respect to improvement of economically important traits and production of stress-resistant fish.
   Fish and aquatic fauna constitute nearly 20 per cent — at Rs 7,200 crore — of India’s total agricultural exports annually.
   The annual fish production currently stands at 64 lakh tonnes, Dr S Ayyappan, Deputy Director General (Fisheries), ICAR had told UNI in an earlier interview.
   The per capita consumption of fish in India is 9 kgs/per year compared to 12 kgs/per year globally. The country stands second in aqua-culture and third overall in fish production in the world.
   ”India is home to about 2,400 fish species. Fisheries can play a vital role in maintaining the ‘food and nutritional’ security of the country,” Dr Ayyappan, who is also the Chief Executive, National Fisheries Development Board, observed.//EOM//

Posted by: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

NEW DELHI: Indian scientists working in a tropical forest in the country’s remote northeast have found a rare medicinal plant last seen 115 years ago, a scientific journal reported.

The botanists were working in the Upper Subansiri district of Arunchal Pradesh, an Indian state that borders China, when they found a specimen of “Begonia Tessaricarpa,” according to this month’s issue of Current Science, an Indian journal. The journal did not say when they found the plant.

The herbaceous plant was once regarded as having medicinal properties by the region’s ethnic tribes, and reportedly was used to treat stomach aches and dehydration. It’s juices were also reportedly used to ward off leeches.

The plant was first listed in scientific literature by British scientist C. B. Clarke in 1879 and 1890, but had not been seen since, the journal reported.

“This species is still surviving in a few pockets of Arunachal Pradesh and was found growing in damp rocky places,” the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Kumar Ambarish of the Botanical Survey of India as saying.

It was not immediately possible to independently verify the journal’s report.

Posted by: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna

ICTP moots Network of Scientists for Promoting  Collaborative Earthquakes Research

Hyderabad, Oct 23-2k6: The Italy-based Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is forming a network of scientists from Iran to Indonesia to study the formation of earthquakes and build capacities to respond to calamities caused by earthquake, ICTP Director K R Sreenivasan said today.Mr Sreenivasan, who was here in connection with a collaborative programme with the Central University of Hyderabad, said the network would have scientists from the National Geophysical Research in India and National Aeronautics Laboratory.

 Ludhiana, Oct 10-2k6: A virus known as ‘begomoviruses’, which reduces the yield, has ‘infected’ the chilli crop in India for the first time.
   The World Vegetable Centre–AVRDC located at Taiwan has detected the presence of this virus in the samples taken from  Ludhiana.
   This virus is believed to be a tentative strain of the chilli
leaf curl virus which is prevalent in Multan in Pakistan.
   The Centre has called upon breeders at Punjab Agricultural
University (PAU) that the presence of the ‘begomoviruses’ needs to be considered for developing chilli cultivars and virus resistant chilli plants.
   PAU’s Department of Vegetable Crops, Head- cum- senior
olericulturist, Dr Daljit Singh today said that chilli is an
vegetable important crop. It is sown on an area of 9882 hectares in Punjab, mainly in the districts of Sangrur, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Amnritsar and Jalandhar.
   In Punjab. the chilli production is around 15,888 tonnes annually.
   Dr Daljit Singh, who is working in collaboration with the
scientists of AVRDC, said the tomato leaf curl begomoviruses
infecting chillies in India was first noticed in 2004. The results of the analysis done at the World Vegetable Centre in Taiwan have been recently published.
   This is for the first time that this begomoviruses has infected chilli crop in India and it will significantly reduce productivity, he claimed.//eom//

Cashew to play role in nanotechnology
[ 7 Sep, 2006 0807hrs ISTIANS ]

BANGALORE: The delightful cashew nut loved by everybody will soon have a bigger role to play - in nanotechnology.

“Obviously, the size can be altered by changing the ratio of anacardic acid to metal,” Nagabhushana said. “And by mixing different metal complexes in solution, literally any alloy composition (in colloidal form) can be generated which is unprecedented.”

In hypothermal treatment, magnetic nanoparticles are directed to diseased tissue containing heat sensitive tumours. An alternating current magnetic field is applied such that the nanoparticles become heated, causing destruction of the cancerous cells while sparing normal tissue. //EOM//

Posted by: Dr.Y.Bala Murali Krishna