<div>Background: The objective of the present study was to confirm the presence of CPV-2 in dogs with acute gastroenteritis and to characterize the antigenic variants circulating in the Aizawl region of Mizoram, India.&nbsp; 
 
&nbsp;</div>

<div>Methods: A hospital based epidemiological study was carried out from April, 2019 to January, 2020. Faecal samples were collected from the dogs with gastroenteritis and screened for CPV-2 infection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The distribution of positive cases according to various epidemiological factors was studied. Partial sequencing of VP2 gene was performed for the analysis of CPV-2 variants.&nbsp; 
 
Result: A total of 96 faecal samples were collected during the study period out of which 70 (72.91%) were found positive for CPV-2 infection. The distribution of positive cases was highest in young dogs of the age group between 3-6 months (47.14%), cross-bred (48.57%) and unvaccinated dogs (64.28%). The percentage of CPV-2 infection was relatively higher in male (54.28%) as compared to female dogs (45.71%). The analysis of nucleotide sequences from amplified products and phylogenetic analysis revealed presence of CPV-2a (1/5, 20.0%) and CPV-2c (4/5, 80.0%). Furthermore, sequence analysis of large number of samples is required to ensure the prevalent antigenic variant of CPV-2 linked to the infection.</div>

​Molecular Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of Canine Parvovirus Type 2 (CPV-2) in the Aizawl Region of Mizoram Reveals Circulation of CPV-2c Antigenic Variant: A Hospital based Study

<div>Background: Leaf curl or yellowing symptoms, typical of those caused by begomovirus infection, are commonly observed in capsicum (bell pepper) plants in polyhouses. Three capsicum samples with leaf curl and yellowing symptoms were collected from polyhouse at Hi-tech Horticulture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, India, during 2017-2018.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: Total nucleic acid was isolated from symptomatic and non-symptomatic samples by following CTAB (Cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide) method and PCR amplified using degenerate and coat protein gene primers of chilli and tomato leaf curl virus. The virus was confirmed by gel electrophoresis with 0.8 per cent agarose. Amplified PCR product was eluted and sent to sequencing (Chromous biotech Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru). 
 
Result: The primer pair could amplify only Chilli leaf curl virus at ~500 bp but not Tomato leaf curl virus. Sequence homology of ChiLCV isolate form Dharwad matched with ChiLCV-Papaya-New Delhi (HM14036), ChiLCV-Chilli-Jodhpu (HM007104) and ChiLCV-Chilli-Noida (HM007114) respectively. The present study results showed that Chilli leaf curl virus is associated with the leaf curl and yellowing symptoms on capsicum under protected cultivation in Dharwad, Karnataka, India.</div>

​Molecular Characterization of Viruses Associated with Leaf Curl Symptoms on Capsicum (Bell Pepper) under Protected Cultivations in Dharwad, Karnataka

<div>Background: Kachchhi-Sindhi horses are famous for their &lsquo;Rewal chal&rsquo; (a unique style of running). These horses dominantly exist in the western-northern border of India adjoining Pakistan. The breeding tract of these horses is Surat, Navsari, Kachchh district of Gujarat and Jaisalmer-Barmer districts of Rajasthan in India. Most familiar colors in the Kachchhi-Sindhi horses are bay and chestnut. Roman nose, ears curved at tips but not touching each other, short back, short pastern length, broader hoof for better grip and docile temperament are major characteristics of these horses. 
 
Methods: The present study is an effort to phenotypically characterize Kachchhi-Sindhi horse breed based on their different biometric indices for selection and conservation of stallions and mares for breeding purposes by private breeders. Fourteen biometric indices were recorded for phenotypic characterization of each breed viz., height at wither (HW), body length (BL), heart girth (HG), neck length (NL), face length (FL), face width (FW), pole, ear length (EL), ear width (EW), foreleg length (FLL), canon, pastern, hoof length (HoL) and hoof width (HoW). On average, these horses stand 148 cm height, have a body length of ~140 cm, a heart girth of ~165 cm, an ear length of ~15 cm and a face length of ~61 cm. 
 
Result: Horse keepers sustain horses in intensive as well as an extensive system of rearing. It has also been ascertained from various sources that horse number is declining rapidly, however, breed population statistics are not available. There is, therefore, an urgent need to conserve this breed. Proper managemental practices and conservation efforts will pave the way for the multiplication of this valuable equine genetic resource of India.</div>

<div>Phenotypic Characterization of Kachchhi-Sindhi Horses of India</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: Chicken represents a valuable genetic resource and protein source, it remains a potential threat to human health as they serve as a reservoir for diseases and food borne pathogens. Diversification of the poultry production is one of the viable options to enhance the food production with less susceptibility to the threats from the emerging diseases and changing climatic conditions. Ducks are promising species suitable for the diversification and will be complimentary with an adaption potential from small to commercial farming. Majority of ducks in the country are desi type with a meagre proportion of improved duck strains.&nbsp; genetic characterization by developing duck specific microsatellite markers and designing suitable improvement program are required to be undertaken at the earliest. The microsatellite markers are extensively used for assessing genetic structure, diversity, and relationships. Information about genetic diversity of indigenous duck breeds is important to design effective improvement and conservation strategies. Therefore, the current studies aim at genetic characterization and evaluation of growth, production and reproduction traits of the crosses of local duck population besides undertaking a suitable duck improvement program. 
 
Methods:&nbsp;Spectrophotometric evaluation of DNA extraction,&nbsp; Electrophoretic evaluation of DNA extraction , microsatellite primers- Presently, a panel of 10 informative duck microsatellite markers were identified from database as reported by <a href="#alyethodi_2010">Alyethodi and Kumar (2010)</a> and <a href="#huang_2006">Huang et al., (2006)</a> and used for the studies, Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) , Documentation of PCR products by Agarose Gel Electrophoresis, Metaphor agarose gel electrophoresis(MAGE)of microsatellites alleles, Determination of molecular size of microsatellite alleles and genotypes, Statistical analysis of population genetics data, Data on genotype of all experimental birds at ten microsatellites were compiled and analyzed using POPGENE&reg; 3.1 software (<a href="#yeh_1999">Yeh et al., 1999</a>) for their population genetics parameters. 
 
Results: The study was conducted at College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Khanapara, Guwahati, Assam, India.&nbsp; In this study, the genomic DNA was isolated and characterized microsatellite loci in crossbred&nbsp; duck (Pati x White Pekin). Ten&nbsp; microsatellites were used to detect polymorphisms in 50 cross bred ducks. A total of 28 nos of alleles were observed and all loci were polymorphic. The number of alleles ranged from 2 to 5 with an average of 2.6 &plusmn;0.08 per microsatellite locus. The observed and expected heterozygosity of these polymorphic makers ranged from 0.00 to 0.42 &nbsp;with an average number of 0.047 &nbsp;and 0.41 to 0.82 with an average number of 0.57, respectively. &nbsp;The Polymorphic markers consist of observed heterozygosities of loci were less than 0.50. The polymorphism information content (PIC) of 10 loci ranged from 0.32 to 0.78 with an average of 0.477. Microsatellite markers will be useful tool for constructing the genetic linkage map of the duck as well as comparative mapping with the chicken.&nbsp; &nbsp;</div>

Characterization of Microsatellite Markers in Crossbred Ducks

Majority of the Kargil sheep populations are indigenous. Very scanty information is available for morphological characterization of Purky sheep population. Therefore, the present study was undertaken with the objectives to study the morpho-metric characteristics and body measurements for phenotypic characterization of the local sheep. A stratified random sample survey was conducted on various parameters (horn size, tail size, chest girth, punch girth, body length, height at wither and body weight) in seven different age groups. Data were collected randomly from 510 sheep of either sex. The local sheep population of Kargil which was selected for the present investigation is named as &lsquo;Purky&rsquo; by the name of the community that reared this breed. In Purky sheep white body colour was predominant in both the sexes. The sheep breed was of low to medium body weight. The chest girth, punch girth, height at withers of Purky sheep showed it to be medium sized. Sex had significant effect (P&lt;0.05) on height at wither only. For males the least squares means were higher for all the traits of all age groups baring few exceptions. The phenotypic correlations of age groups with different morpho-metric traits were very high. The phenotypic correlations of &nbsp;body weight with other body measurements like tail size, chest girth, paunch girth, body length and height at wither were very high. Further studies should be carried out to fully exploit their genetic potential and to register the breed and in-situ conservation of this population. 
&nbsp;

Phenotypic characterization of Purky sheep population of Kargil district 
&nbsp;

<div style="text-align: justify;">Chickpea is one of the most important pulse crops in the world. However, chickpea productivity is not high enough to fulfill the requirements of an ever-increasing demand. One of the major constraints in the chickpea improvement is the narrow genetic base in the cultivated chickpea (Cicer arietinum L) and its sexual incompatibility with other Cicer species. Knowledge of molecular characterization, genetic diversity, and relatedness in the germplasm is a prerequisite for varietal registration, protection and overall crop improvement. The present study reports molecular characterization of 75 genotypes using 46 STMS markers. All the STMS loci were found to be highly polymorphic. A total of 132 alleles were found with an average of 2.87 per locus. The highest numbers of alleles were observed with marker TA-21. A cluster analysis arranged these 75 genotypes in 7 clusters. The genotypes ICRISAT 3073 and Pusa 212 showed remarkable genetic similarity (0.796) and the largest genetic distance was observed between C. reticulatum wild-1 and CSG 9505 (0.547). The present analysis provides an insight into the interrelationship among the genotypes and highlights the requirement for effective supplementation of morphological data with additional molecular markers to efficiently unearth the genetic inter-relationship among the genotypes.</div>

Morpho-molecular characterization of landraces/wild genotypes of Cicer for Biotic/ Abiotic stresses

The present research was conducted to isolate and characterize native rhizobium isolates from the root nodules of horse gram [MACROTYLOMA UNIFLORUM [Lam] Verdc.] plants grown under sub-humid to semi-arid regions of Rajasthan in India. These plants were collected from various locations of Rajasthan viz; Banswara, Bhilwara, Pratapgarh and Udaipur districts in India under variable agro-climatic regions. Total nine rhizobial isolates were characterized based on morphological and biochemical analysis. Majority of the isolates showed pH, NaCl concentration and temperature tolerance between 6.0to 8.0, 0.5 to 3.0 per cent and 34 to 40 0C respectively. The horse gram rhizobium isolate R5 showed tolerant towards temperature and NaCl concentration upto 450C and 5% respectively whereas the isolate R3 showed positive growth upto alkaline pH of 10.0. The molecular characterization based on RAPD &nbsp;revealed that rhizobium isolates are closely related to each other as only two major clusters was formed based on Jaccards, s similarity coefficient.

Molecular diversity of rhizobial isolates of horse gram [MACROTYLOMA UNIFLORUM [Lam] Verdc.] and it&rsquo;s biochemical characterization&nbsp;under in-vitro conditions

<div>Background: Forebrain embryonic zinc finger-like (FEZL) gene is an important candidate associated with mastitis resistance in dairy cattle. FEZL is involved in transcriptional regulation of neuronal development and there exists a crosstalk between neuronal development and immunity via downstream cytokine expression. A single glycine insertion into glycine stretch of FEZL gene has large effect on downstream cytokine pathway making the cows susceptible to mastitis. The present study was aimed to sequence characterize FEZL gene in Sahiwal (Bos indicus) and Karan Fries (Bos inidcus X Bos taurus) cattle. 
 
Methods: Sequence characterization of bovine FEZL gene was carried out by primer walking method. Ten sets of oligonucleotide primers were designed to synthesize overlapping fragments and generate the complete sequence of about 3.7 kb covering all exons and 5&rsquo; upstream regulatory and flanking regions. 
 
Result: A total of eight nucleotide variations including three INDELS and five substitution mutations were observed among FEZL gene sequences of Bos taurus, Bos indicus (Sahiwal) and Bos taurus X Bos indicus (Karan Fries) cattle. The conceptualized amino acid sequence of bovine FEZL gene in Sahiwal and Karan Fries cattle was found to have 13 tandem Glycine residues and a serine to proline change within exon 1 region. The percent identity of FEZL gene of Sahiwal and Karan Fries cattle was 99% with that of Bos taurus, 95% with dog, horse and pig, 94% with human, 93% with rabbit, 92% with marmoset, 89% with rat and 79% with chicken. Sequence characterization of ~0.7 kb 5&rsquo; flanking region showed that it is highly conserved among bovines and resulted in prediction of six putative sites for binding of transcription factors (including Elk-1, Oct-1, HNF4, Lmo2 complex, GATA-3 and Nkx2-5). Elucidation of Bos indicus FEZL gene will further form the basis to identify candidate gene markers for association with mastitis resistance/susceptibility in cattle.</div>

<div>Sequence Characterization of Forebrain Embryonic Zinc Finger-like (FEZL) Gene in Indian Zebu (Bos indicus) Cattle and their Crossbreds</div>

<div>Background: Lectins are carbohydrate binding proteins which perform diverse roles in plants. One important role is in plant defense. These proteins hold great potential as entomotoxic proteins as a part of integrated pest management.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: Lectins were purified and characterized from seeds of two legumes, Glycine max-Soybean and Lens culinaris-Lentil, employing ammonium sulfate fractionation and ion exchange chromatography. Bioefficacy of the purified lectins was evaluated against mustard aphid. 
 
Result: Lectins isolated from seeds of soybean (Glycine max agglutinin GMA-I, II) and lentil (Lens culinaris agglutinin LCA-I) were purified upto 9.30 (GMA-I), 4.60 (GMA-II) and 8.70 (LCA-I) fold, respectively. Lectin characterization revealed that soybean agglutinin and lentil agglutinin were specific towards D-Galactose and D-mannose, respectively. Insect bioassay was carried out with five different concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 &micro;g/ml) of purified lectins of soybean and lentil against mustard aphid. The lethal concentration LC50 value for GMA-I was obtained as 32.1 &micro;g/ml with a 95% confidential interval of 18.2 to 40.5 &micro;g/ml and that of LCA-I was 19.1 &micro;g/ml with a 95% confidential interval of 9.3 to 26.8 &micro;g/ml. Lentil lectin (LCA-I) with lower LC50 value, was found to be the potential candidate for integrated pest management.</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">Purification, Characterization and Bioefficacy of Legume Lectins against Mustard Aphid</div>

<div>Background: Riemerella anatipestifer (R. anatipestifer) is a gram negative, microaerophilic, non-motile, bipolar bacteria. High genetic diversity and molecular differentiation were reported among field isolates. Although the bacterium causes one of the most economically important duck diseases in the north-eastern region of India, little work has been done on isolation, identification and molecular characterization of the bacteria. Hence, the present investigation was undertaken with a view to characterize the R. anatipestifer isolates from ducks of Assam.</div>

<div> 
Methods: Phenotypic and molecular identification of R. anatipestifer isolates from domesticated ducks of Assam, India were carried out during the period from February, 2019 to January 2020. A total of 624 samples (Ocular swab, throat swab, liver, spleen, kidney, brain, heart, lung) from ducks comprising of apparently healthy, ailing and dead ducks were collected from five districts of Assam, India were processed to isolate and identify the bacteria. The tentative identification of the bacteria was done based on phenotypic characteristics viz., colony morphology, growth characteristics and biochemical reactions. All the phenotypically positive isolates were further subjected to molecular identification based on PCR assay targeting 16S rRNA gene and ERIC sequence. 
 
&nbsp;</div>

<div>Result: The bacteria could be isolated from different field samples. The highest percentage of the samples that yielded the bacteria are from brain (76%) followed by spleen (74%) of dead ducks and less number of ocular swab (33%) from apparently healthy ducks were found positive. Sequencing of the amplified product of the selected R. anatipestifer isolates targeting 16S rRNA gene revealed homology percentage of 96.5-100%. Further, sequences representing five geographical locations were submitted to NCBI gene bank. Phylogenetic studies of the isolates indicated that there is prevalence of at least two genetically different strains of R. anatipestifer in the study area. The study suggested that the R. anatipestifer infection is endemic in Assam causing varying rate of morbidity (39%) and mortality (53%) and molecular based confirmation is necessary besides phenotypic identification.</div>

Molecular Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of Canine Parvovirus Type 2 (CPV-2) in the Aizawl Region of Mizoram Reveals Circulation of CPV-2c Antigenic Variant: A Hospital based Study

Molecular Characterization of Viruses Associated with Leaf Curl Symptoms on Capsicum (Bell Pepper) under Protected Cultivations in Dharwad, Karnataka

Phenotypic Characterization of Kachchhi-Sindhi Horses of India

Characterization of Microsatellite Markers in Crossbred Ducks

Phenotypic characterization of Purky sheep population of Kargil district

Morpho-molecular characterization of landraces/wild genotypes of Cicer for Biotic/ Abiotic stresses

Molecular diversity of rhizobial isolates of horse gram [MACROTYLOMA UNIFLORUM [Lam] Verdc.] and it’s biochemical characterization under in-vitro conditions

Sequence Characterization of Forebrain Embryonic Zinc Finger-like (FEZL) Gene in Indian Zebu (Bos indicus) Cattle and their Crossbreds

Purification, Characterization and Bioefficacy of Legume Lectins against Mustard Aphid

Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Riemerella anatipestifer from Domesticated Ducks of Assam, India