Diversity in thrips palmi: Exploration of genetic and ecological heterogeneity.

Thrips palmi Karny (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), an impactful pest in Southeast and East Asia, spread to Africa, Oceania, and the Americas in the past decades. Besides being a principal pest of vegetables, legumes, fibre, and ornamental crops, T. palmi serves as the vector for several plant viruses that cause substantial economic losses.

Induction of innate immunity and plant growth promotion in tomato unveils the antiviral nature of bacterial endophytes against groundnut bud necrosis virus.

Tomato is an important crop worldwide, but groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) often hampers its growth. This study investigates the antiviral potential of bacterial endophytes, including CNEB54, CNEB4, CNEB26, and BAVE5 against GBNV, as well as their ability to enhance immunity and growth in tomato. All four bacterial isolates demonstrated a significant delay in GBNV symptom development 10 days post-inoculation, with disease incidence ranging from 18% to 36% compared to 84% in control.

Long-term fertilization and manuring effects on the nexus between sulphur distribution and SOC in an Inceptisol over five decades under a finger millet-maize cropping system.

Our investigation revealed that alterations in sulphur (S) pools are predominantly governed by soil organic carbon (SOC), soil nitrogen (N), microbial biomass, and soil enzyme activities in sandy clay loam (Vertic Ustropept) soil. We employed ten sets of nutrient management techniques, ranging from suboptimal (50% RDF) to super-optimal doses (150% RDF), including NPK + Zn, NP, N alone, S-free NPK fertilizers, NPK + FYM, and control treatments, to examine the interrelation of S with SOC characteristics. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was utilized to analyze the functional groups present in SOC characterization across four treatments: 100% NPK, 150% NPK, NPK + FYM, and absolute control plots.

Structural and Functional Analysis of Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) Using Computational and Biochemical Approaches.

Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) belonging to the genus Orthotospovirus is transmitted by its vector Thrips palmi. It is a tri-segmented RNA virus that consists of L, M, and S RNA segments. We analysed the secondary structure features of GBNV proteins through various software and predicted the transmembrane helix, glycosylation, and signal peptidase sites within the GBNV protein sequences (G, G, N, NSm, and NSs).

A distinct strain of tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus that causes mosaic disease in ash gourd and other cucurbitaceous crops.

Ash gourd () is a cucurbitaceous crop cultivated as an edible vegetable rich in vitamins, minerals, dietary fibers and antioxidants. In a field survey conducted in the Udumalpet region of Tamil Nadu during 2019, the incidence of mosaic disease on ash gourd crop was observed to be 75%. The DNA-A and DNA-B components of begomovirus genome have been identified as associated with this disease.

Exogenous delivery of dsRNA for management of mungbean yellow mosaic virus on blackgram.

Exogenous application of dsRNA molecules targeting MYMV genes offers a promising approach to effectively mitigate yellow mosaic disease in blackgram, demonstrating potential for sustainable plant viral disease management. The exogenous application of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules to control plant viral diseases is gaining traction due to its advantages over conventional methods, such as target specificity, non-polluting nature, and absence of residue formation. Furthermore, this approach does not involve genome modification.

Seed Transmission of Begomoviruses: A Potential Threat for Bitter Gourd Cultivation.

Bitter gourd ( L.), one of the valued vegetable crops in India, is severely affected by yellow mosaic disease caused by two begomoviruses, tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) and bitter gourd yellow mosaic virus (BgYMV). The symptoms are yellowing, distortion of leaf, puckering, and malformed fruits.

Molecular studies on tobacco streak virus (TSV) infecting cotton in Tamil Nadu, India.

Unlabelled: Tobacco streak virus (TSV), the causal agent of cotton necrosis, is of emerging importance in the recent years. Unfortunately, all the cotton varieties and hybrids are susceptible to this virus. Cotton plants cultivated in different districts of Tamil Nadu were surveyed during 2014-2016.

Faculty perspectives of small group teaching experience in medical school in Tamil Nadu.

Background: The small group teaching (SGT) is gaining popularity in medical education since it improves the student's thinking capacity and aids knowledge retention. Several studies have been conducted to analyze students' attitudes regarding SGT. Faculty, on the other hand, have mixed perception about SGT methodology.

Molecular epidemiology on seasonal variation of yellow mosaic disease incidence in blackgram (Vigna mungo L. Hepper) with its vector Bemisia tabaci.

The yellow mosaic disease (YMD) of blackgram caused by Mungbean yellow mosaic virus has emerged as a serious threat to grain legume production, especially in Southeastern Asia. Seasonal incidence of YMD with its vector population was assessed in three different agroclimatic zones of Tamil Nadu in India for three consecutive cropping seasons namely, Rabi 2018 (October-December), Summer 2019 (March-May), and Kharif 2019 (June-August) at three different time intervals viz., 20, 40, and 60 days after sowing (DAS).

Mining the Genome of VB7 (CP047587) for MAMP Genes and Non-Ribosomal Peptide Synthetase Gene Clusters Conferring Antiviral and Antifungal Activity.

Chemical pesticides have an immense role in curbing the infection of plant viruses and soil-borne pathogens of high valued crops. However, the usage of chemical pesticides also contributes to the development of resistance among pathogens. Hence, attempts were made in this study to identify a suitable bacterial antagonist for managing viral and fungal pathogens infecting crop plants.

Thrips diversity of cotton ecosystem and the role of parthenium pollen grains in the transmission of tobacco streak virus (TSV) infection in cotton.

Unlabelled: Survey in the cotton fields of Coimbatore and Erode districts confirmed the presence of three different thrips species including, , , and Their identity was confirmed through morphometric analysis and molecular characterization. Tobacco streak virus (TSV) was detected in the leaves and pollen grains of both parthenium and cotton plants collected from infected cotton fields. The presence of TSV was confirmed through immuno-detection by direct antigen coating enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (DAC-ELISA).

Molecular modelling of coat protein of the Groundnut bud necrosis tospovirus and its binding with Squalene as an antiviral agent: In vitro and in silico docking investigations.

Bud blight disease caused by groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV) is a serious constraint in the cultivation of agricultural crops such as legumes, tomato, chilies, potato, cotton etc. Owing to the significant damage caused by GBNV, an attempt was made to identify suitable organic antiviral agents through molecular modelling of the nucleocapsid Coat Protein of GBNV; molecular docking and molecular dynamics that disclosed the interaction of the ligands viz., Squalene and Ganoderic acid-A with coat protein of GBNV.

Association of cucurbit aphid-borne yellows virus with cucumber plants in India.

Unlabelled: Symptoms like bright yellowing, puckering of the leaf, vein banding, and vein thickening were observed on different cucurbit hosts at the experimental farm of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi during 2019. Leaf-dip electron microscopy of the symptomatic leaves revealed the association of isometric virus particles measuring ~ 25 nm with bitter gourd and cucumber samples. The RT-PCR assay using polerovirus generic primers covering the partial RdRp, intergenic region, and partial CP region was resulted the amplicons of ~ 1.

Antiviral activity of basidiomycetous fungi against Groundnut bud necrosis virus in tomato.

Tomato is an important vegetable crop which is severely affected by Groundnut bud necrosis virus (GBNV). Until now effective antiviral agents have not been reported for the management of necrosis disease caused by GBNV. Therefore, a study was undertaken to manage the necrosis disease caused by GBNV using culture filtrate of basidiomycetous fungi viz.

Induction of in planta resistance by flagellin (Flg) and elongation factor-TU (EF-Tu) of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (VB7) against groundnut bud necrosis virus in tomato.

Role of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) in growth promotion and induction of resistance against various plant pathogens have been extensively studied. However, MAMP (Microbe Associated Molecular Pattern) triggered immunity (MTI) against plant viruses are not well exploited. The present study enlightens the role of two MAMP genes including, flagellin (Flg) and elongation factor (EF-Tu) in the induction of plant defense against GBNV infecting tomato.

A new seed-transmissible begomovirus in bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.).

A begomovirus isolate collected from bitter gourd plants showing yellowing, puckering and stunting symptoms from Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, India was characterized. The full-length genome of the virus isolate was amplified by rolling circle amplification using phi29 DNA polymerase. The virus isolate exhibited 98% identity in the nucleotide sequence of DNA-A component with the Coccinia mosaic Virudhunagar virus (GenBank accession no.

Evidence of seed transmission of dolichos yellow mosaic virus, a begomovirus infecting lablab-bean in India.

Yellow mosaic disease in field bean caused by begomoviruses belonging to the family Geminiviridae is a major threat to the cultivation of crop in South India. Appearance of bright yellow mosaic symptom in emerging seedlings in farmers field was suggestive of seed transmission of the begomovirus associated with the disease which was investigated in the present study. The begomovirus causing yellow mosaic disease was identified as dolichos yellow mosaic virus (DoYMV) and the presence of DoYMV in matured seeds was confirmed by DAS-ELISA with OD value up to 3.