Mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) disease is one of the most devastating biotic constraints of mungbean production in India. Dependable knowledge on the number and mode of action of genes controlling resistance to MYMV disease is one of the keys to develop resistant cultivars. The F1s of four crosses derived from four MYMV resistant genotypes × one highly susceptible genotype, their parents, F2s and F3s along with a susceptible check were screened for responses to MYMV disease following the infector-row technique under natural infection conditions. A good fit of F2 population segregation to the hypothesized ratio of 15 susceptible:1 resistant and that of F3 population segregation to the expected ratio of 55 susceptible:9 resistant at 55 days after planting confirmed the involvement of two recessive genes in imparting resistance to MYMV disease.

The development of crop varieties with enhanced economic value requires considerable resources, time and intellectual input. The individual/agencies/institutions other than the originator/developers can easily multiply and commercialize pure-line varieties which are the only cultivar option in predominantly self-pollinated crops like dolichos bean and derive economic benefits from them. Seeking legal rights on crop varieties is the best and the only way to protect them from unlawful claim of their origin/development and deriving economic benefits from them. Seeking legal protection from unauthorized commercialization of crop varieties under Indian PPV & FR Act requires establishment of their distinctness (D), uniformity (U) and stability (S). DUS of crop varieties are established predominantly using morphological descriptors. Five genotypes which include two released varieties (HA 3 and HA 4) (referred to as reference varieties) and one advanced breeding line, HA 11–3 and two elite germplasm accessions, Kadalavare and GL 66 (referred to as candidate varieties) were characterized for 25 morphological descriptors to establish their DUS. All the candidate varieties differed from reference varieties for at least one characterization descriptors, indicating their distinctness. The absence of off-types indicated the uniformity of reference and candidate varieties and hence was deemed stable. Thus, the study demonstrated the utility of morphological descriptors for establishing DUS dolichos bean genotypes.

Choice of the most appropriate breeding method hinges on mode of action of genes controlling expression of target traits. Pungency (capsaicin) and colour (oleoresin) are most important fruit quality traits in chilli. Genetics of fruit quality traits was unravelled using a combination of first and second degree statistics. An additive-dominance model was inadequate to explain the inheritance of fruit yield and quality traits. Magnitude of additive genetic effects [a] and their variances [σ2A] were higher than those of dominance genetic effects [d] and dominance genetic variances [σ2D] suggesting predominance of additive effect genes in the inheritance of both oleoresin and capsaicin contents. These results are discussed in relation to appropriate selection strategy to be followed for genetic improvement of chilli for oleoresin and capsaicin contents.

Mycetoma is a chronic granulomatous, suppurative and progressive inflammatory disease that usually involves the subcutaneous tissue and bones after traumatic inoculation of the causative organism. In India, actinomycotic mycetoma is prevalent in south India, south-east Rajasthan and Chandigarh, while eumycetoma, which constitutes one third of the total cases, is mainly reported from north India and central Rajasthan. The objective was to determine the epidemiological profile and spectrum of eumycetoma from a tertiary care hospital in Delhi, North India. Thirty cases of eumycetoma were diagnosed by conventional methods of direct microscopy, culture and species-specific sequencing as per standard protocol. The spectrum of fungal pathogens included Exophiala jeanselmei, Madurella mycetomatis, Fusarium solani, Sarocladium kiliense, Acremonium blochii, Aspergillus nidulans, Fusarium incarnatum, Scedosporium apiospermum complex, Curvularia lunata and Medicopsis romeroi. Eumycetoma can be treated with antifungal therapy and needs to be combined with surgery. It has good prognosis if it is timely diagnosed and the correct species identified by culture for targeted therapy of these patients. Black moulds required prolonged therapy. Its low reporting and lack of familiarity may predispose patients to misdiagnosis and consequently delayed treatment. Hence health education and awareness campaign on the national and international level in the mycetoma belt is crucial.

Maternal systemic inflammation during pregnancy may restrict embryo−fetal growth, but the extent of this effect remains poorly established in undernourished populations. In a cohort of 653 maternal−newborn dyads participating in a multi-armed, micronutrient supplementation trial in southern Nepal, we investigated associations between maternal inflammation, assessed by serum α1-acid glycoprotein and C-reactive protein, in the first and third trimesters of pregnancy, and newborn weight, length and head and chest circumferences. Median (IQR) maternal concentrations in α1-acid glycoprotein and C-reactive protein in the first and third trimesters were 0.65 (0.53–0.76) and 0.40 (0.33–0.50) g/l, and 0.56 (0.25–1.54) and 1.07 (0.43–2.32) mg/l, respectively. α1-acid glycoprotein was inversely associated with birth size: weight, length, head circumference and chest circumference were lower by 116 g (P = 2.3 × 10−6), and 0.45 (P = 3.1 × 10−5), 0.18 (P = 0.0191) and 0.48 (P = 1.7 × 10−7) cm, respectively, per 50% increase in α1-acid glycoprotein averaged across both trimesters. Adjustment for maternal age, parity, gestational age, nutritional and socio-economic status and daily micronutrient supplementation failed to alter any association. Serum C-reactive protein concentration was largely unassociated with newborn size. In rural Nepal, birth size was inversely associated with low-grade, chronic inflammation during pregnancy as indicated by serum α1-acid glycoprotein.

Yellow mosaic disease (YMD) caused by mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) is one of the most destructive biotic production constraints in mungbean. Development and introduction of resistant cultivars are considered as the most economical and eco-friendly option to manage YMD, for which availability of stable sources of resistance is a pre-requisite. A set of 14 mungbean genotypes including a susceptible check were evaluated for responses to YMD under natural infection across three seasons and under challenged inoculation in glasshouse for one season. None of the genotypes were immune to YMD and produced different degrees of response to MYMV in terms of yellow mosaic symptoms (YMS). Based on the delayed appearance of initial YMS, and lower estimates of per cent disease index and area under disease progressive curve (AUDPC) in response to natural infection and challenged inoculation, five genotypes namely AVMU 1698, AVMU 1699, AVMU 16100, AVMU 16101 and KPS 2 were identified as resistant to YMD. Failure of detection of MYMV through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using MYMV coat protein gene-specific primer and successful detection of the same through rolling circle amplification-PCR suggested latent infection of MYMV in resistant genotypes. The resistance response of the five genotypes could be attributed to enhanced activities of enzymes such as peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase and increased concentration of total phenols. These results are discussed in relation to strategies to breed mungbean for resistance to YMD.

Flow visualization and particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements are used to unravel the pattern transition and velocity field in the Taylor–Couette flow (TCF) of neutrally buoyant non-Brownian spheres immersed in a Newtonian fluid. With increasing Reynolds number ( $Re$ ) or the rotation rate of the inner cylinder, the bifurcation sequence in suspension TCF remains same as in its Newtonian counterpart (i.e. from the circular Couette flow (CCF) to stationary Taylor vortex flow (TVF) and then to travelling wavy Taylor vortices (WTV) with increasing $Re$ ) for small particle volume fractions ( $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}<0.05$ ). However, at $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}\geqslant 0.05$ , non-axisymmetric patterns such as (i) the spiral vortex flow (SVF) and (ii) two mixed or co-existing states of stationary (TVF, axisymmetric) and travelling (WTV or SVF, non-axisymmetric) waves, namely (iia) the ‘TVF $+$ WTV’ and (iib) the ‘TVF $+$ SVF’ states, are found, with the former as a primary bifurcation from CCF. While the SVF state appears both in the ramp-up and ramp-down experiments as in the work of Majji et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 835, 2018, pp. 936–969), new co-existing patterns are found only during the ramp-up protocol. The secondary bifurcation TVF  $\leftrightarrow$  WTV is found to be hysteretic or sub-critical for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}\geqslant 0.1$ . In general, there is a reduction in the value of the critical Reynolds number, i.e.  $Re_{c}(\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}\neq 0)<Re_{c}(\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}=0)$ , for both primary and secondary transitions. The wave speeds of both travelling waves (WTV and SVF) are approximately half of the rotational velocity of the inner cylinder, with negligible dependence on $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$ . The analysis of the radial–axial velocity field reveals that the Taylor vortices in a suspension are asymmetric and become increasingly anharmonic, with enhanced radial transport, with increasing particle loading. Instantaneous streamline patterns on the axial–radial plane confirm that the stationary Taylor vortices can indeed co-exist either with axially propagating spiral vortices or azimuthally propagating wavy Taylor vortices – their long-time stability is demonstrated. It is shown that the azimuthal velocity is considerably altered for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}\geqslant 0.05$ , resembling shear-band type profiles, even in the CCF regime (i.e. at sub-critical Reynolds numbers) of suspension TCF; its possible role on the genesis of observed patterns as well as on the torque scaling is discussed.

Over the past three years, my colleagues and I have embarked on an exciting journey into electric-field control of magnetism, parts of which we describe in this article. What we present to you is something that we believe is extremely exciting from both a fundamental science and applications perspective, and has the potential to revolutionize our world. Needless to say, this will require a lot of new innovations, both in the fundamental science arena as well as translating scientific discoveries into real applications. We hope this article will help spur more research in electric-field control of magnetism within the broad materials community.

Protein energy malnutrition (PEM) is prevalent in south-east Asian countries including India. Breeding and introduction of grain protein-rich varieties of legumes such as dolichos bean is considered as cost-effective approach to combat PEM. Exploitation of genetic variability within germplasm accessions (GAs) and/or breeding populations is the short-term strategy for identification and delivery of protein-rich dolichos bean cultivars to cater to the immediate needs of the farmers and target population. A set of 118 dolichos bean genotypes consisting of 96 GAs and 20 advanced breeding lines (ABLs) and two released varieties (RVs) was field evaluated in augmented deign for dry grain yield per plant and their grain protein contents were estimated. The grain protein content among the genotypes ranged from 18.82 to 24.5% with a mean of 21.73%. The magnitude of estimates of absolute range, standardized range, and phenotypic coefficient of variation (PCV) for grain protein content was higher among GAs than those among ABLs + RVs. However, average grain protein contents of GAs were comparable to those of ABLs + RVs. Nearly 50% of the genotypes (mostly GAs) had significantly higher grain protein content than those of RVs, HA 3 and HA 4. The grain protein contents of the genotypes were poorly correlated with grain yield per plant. These results are discussed in relation to strategies to breed grain protein-rich dolichos bean cultivars.

Association mapping (AM), an alternative method of quantitative trait loci (QTL) discovery, exploits historic linkage disequilibrium (LD) present in natural populations. AM is effective in self-pollinated crops such as Dolichos bean as LD extends over longer genomic distance driven-by low rate of recombination and thereby requiring fewer markers for exploring marker-traits associations. A core set of Dolichos bean germplasm consisting of 64 accessions was evaluated for nine quantitative traits (QTs) during 2014 and 2015 rainy seasons and genotyped using 234 simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers. Substantial diversity was observed among the core set accessions at loci controlling QTs and 95 of the 234 SSR markers were found polymorphic. The structure analysis and low magnitude of fixation indices suggested weak population structure, which in-turn indicated the low possibility of false discovery rates in the marker-QTs association. The marker allele's scores were regressed onto phenotypes at nine QTs following general linear model and mixed linear model for exploring marker-QTs associations. Significantly higher number of SSR markers was found associated with genomic regions controlling nine QTs. A few of the markers such as KT Dolichos (KTD) 200 for days to 50% flowering, KTD 273 for fresh pod yield per plant and KTD 130 for fresh pods per plant explained ≥10% of the trait variations. The study could also identify a few SSR markers such as KTD 273, KTD 271 and KTD 130 linked to multiple traits. These linked SSR markers are suggested for validation for their use in marker-assisted Dolichos bean improvement programmes.

The coronal field typically reorganizes itself to attain a force-free field configuration. We have evaluated the power law index of the energy distribution f(E) = f0E−α by using a model of relaxation incorporating different profile functions of winding number distribution f(w) based on braided topologies. We study the radio signatures that occur in the solar corona using the radio data obtained from the Gauribidanur Radio Observatory (IIA) and extract the power law index by using the Statistic-sensitive nonlinear iterative peak clipping (SNIP) algorithm. We see that the power law index obtained from the model is in good agreement with the calculated value from the radio data observation.

We present here the observations of solar jets observed on April 04, 2017 from NOAA active region (AR) 12644 using high temporal and spatial resolution AIA instrument. We have observed around twelve recurring jets during the whole day. Magnetic flux emergence and cancellation have been observed at the jet location. The multi-band observations evidenced that these jets were triggered due to the magnetic reconnection at low coronal null–point.

The flora of Laos remains one of the least known within the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. A floristic inventory was carried out in Phou Hin Poun National Biodiversity Conservation Area, an under-explored area of the Khammouane Limestone. This study provides a list of 27 taxa that are additions to the most recent country checklists. The Ebenaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Myrtaceae are the families with the highest species number. In this list, four species are endemic to Indochina (Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam): Cynometra dongnaiensis Pierre, Jasminum vidalii P.S.Green, Memecylon chevalieri Guillaumin and Pothos gigantipes Buchet ex P.C.Boyce. These results illustrate the paucity of our knowledge of the region surveyed and of the flora of Laos in general.

We observed single pulses from PSR J0034-0721 (B0031-07) simultaneously at the MWA (185 MHz) and the GMRT (610 MHz). Correlation analyses reveal that the phase difference of the average profiles at the two frequencies differs from the phase difference observed between individual subpulses, indicating that the individual emission columns above the pulsar’s rotating carousel of sparks do not evolve in frequency in the same way that the global magnetosphere does. This hints at a possible departure from the dipolar field geometry in this pulsar’s emission region. Moreover, the discrepancy depends on the drift mode, suggestive of a way to constrain the emission heights associated with each drift mode.

Low-frequency pulsar observations are well suited for studying propagation effects caused by the interstellar medium (ISM). This is particularly important for millisecond pulsars (MSPs) that are part of high-precision timing applications such as pulsar timing arrays (PTA), which aim to detect nanoHertz gravitational waves. MSPs in the southern hemisphere will also be the prime targets for PTAs with the South African MeerKAT, and eventually with the SKA. The development of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and the Engineering Development Array (EDA) brings excellent opportunities for low-frequency studies of MSPs in the southern hemisphere. They enable observations at frequencies from 50 MHz to 300 MHz, and can be exploited for a wide range of studies relating to pulsar emission physics and probing the ISM.

Studying the polarised properties of pulsars has a rich history giving unique geometric information about pulsars as well as testing the theories of pulsar emission physics. Performing such studies with the MWA has the attraction that the percentage of linear polarisation of many pulsars increases as the observing frequency decreases. Here we discuss the strategies being employed to verify the polarimetric response of the MWA’s high time resolution data.

The frequency dependence of normal pulsar radio emission is typically observed to be a power law, with some indications of a flattening or turnover at low frequencies (≲ 100 MHz). The spectrum of the Crab pulsar’s giant pulse emission has not been examined as closely. We conducted simultaneous wideband observations of the Crab pulsar, with the Parkes radio telescope and the Murchison Widefield Array, to study the spectral behaviour of its giant pulses. Our analysis shows that the mean spectral index of Crab giant pulses flattens at low frequencies, from −2.6 ± 0.5 between the Parkes bands, to −0.7 ± 1.4 between the lowest MWA subbands.