Improving Growth Performance of Jatropha curcas by Inducing Polyploidy through Colchicine Treatment

This study was planned to assess genetic variation in Jatropha curcas as affected by colchichine treatments. During the experiment, seeds of Jatropha curcas were collected from mature and healthy Jatropha plants and were soaked in different concentrations of colchicines. The second treatment was that of time of soaking (seeds were soaked in different concentrations for different time durations). The results clearly revealed that by increasing the concentration of colchicine treatment, parameters like stomatal density, and size of the guard cells were reduced.

Gene Action Studies in the Inheritance of Economic Traits in Diallel Cross of Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik)

The present study was conducted in 4 × 4 half diallel cross fashion using the genotypes named as NL-2002, NL-2006, Punjab Masoor-2009 and Markaz-2009 for the evaluation of gene action in the inheritance of economic traits of lentil by following the Griffing (1956) Method of analysis. Minirap 13.1 Copyright© 2000, Minitab inc. Method II, Model I was used for the analysis and gene action was computed by variance component analysis using Mixed Model with GLM (general linear model) procedure. The F1 direct crosses along with the parental genotypes were then evaluated by framing the experiment in RCBD in 3 replications. The data were recorded for the characters which are under the study are, plant height (cm), number of primary branches, number of secondary branches, number of pods per plant, number of seed per pod, seed yield per plant, biomass (gram), 100 seeds weight (gram), harvest index (%), yield per plant. The simple ANOVA for all the characters revealed that difference among genotypes was highly significant. As significant differences were present between the genotypes, it permitted subsequent analysis of the data. The Combining Ability (CA) results showed that value of variance for GCA (General Combining Ability) was significantly higher than that of those of the values of variance of SCA (Specific Combining Ability). Hence current results clearly depicted the role of additive type of gene action governing the characters under study.

Predictions of future hydrological conditions and contribution of snow and ice melt in total discharge of Shigar River Basin in Central Karakoram,Pakistan

The high mountains of Hindu-Kush Karakoram and Himalaya(HKKH) contain a large volume of snow and ice, which are the primary sources of water for the entire mountainous population of HKKH. Thus, knowledge of these available resources is very important in relation to their sustainable use. A Modified Positive Degree Day Model was used to simulate daily discharge with the contribution of snow and ice melt from the Shigar River Basin, Central Karakoram, Pakistan. The basin covers an area of 6,921 km2 with an elevation range of 2,204 to 8,611 m a.s.l.. Forty percent of the total area is glaciated among which 20% is covered by debris and remaining 80% by clean ice and permanent snow. To simulate daily discharge, the entire basin was divided into 26 altitude belts. Remotely sensed land cover types are derived by classifying Landsat images of 2009. Daily temperature and precipitation from Skardu meteorological station is used to calibrate the glacio-hydrological model as an input variable after correlating data with the Shigar station data(r=0.88). Local temperature lapse rate of 0.0075 °C/m is used. 2 °C critical temperature is used to separate rain and snow from precipitation. The model is calibrated for 1988~1991 and validated for 1992~1997. The model shows a good Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency and volume difference in calibration(0.86% and 0.90%) and validation(0.78% and 6.85%). Contribution of snow and ice melt in discharge is 32.37% in calibration period and 33.01% is validation period. The model is also used to predict future hydrological regime up to 2099 by using CORDEX South Asia RCM considering RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 climate scenarios.Predicted future snow and ice melt contributions in both RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 are 36% and 37%, respectively. Temperature seems to be more sensitive as compared to other input variables, which is why the contribution of snow and ice in discharge varies significantly throughout the whole century.

Multi-model assessment of glacio-hydrological changes in central Karakoram, Pakistan

The multi-model assessment of glacio-hydrological regimes can enhance our understanding of glacier response to climate change.This improved knowledge can uplift our computing abilities to estimate the contributing components of the river discharge.This study examined and compared the hydrological responses in the glacier-dominated Shigar River basin(SRB)under various climatic scenarios using a semi-distributed Modified Positive Degree Day Model(MPDDM)and a distributed Glacio-hydrological Degree-day Model(GDM).Both glacio-hydrological models were calibrated and validated against the observed hydro-meteorological data from 1988–1992 and 1993–1997.Temperature and precipitation data from Shigar and Skardu meteorological stations were used along with field estimated degree-day factor,temperature,and precipitation gradients.The results from both models indicate that the snow and ice melt are vital contributors to sustain river flow in the catchment.However,MPDDM estimated 68%of rain and baseflow contribution to annual river runoff despite low precipitation during the summer monsoon,while GDM estimated 14%rain and baseflow contribution.Likewise,MPDDM calculated 32%,and GDM generated 86%of the annual river runoff from snow and ice melt.MPDDM simulated river discharge with 0.86 and 0.78 NSE for calibration and validation,respectively.Similarly,GDM simulated river discharge with improved accuracy of 0.87 for calibration and 0.84 NSE for the validation period.The snow and ice melt is significant in sustaining river flow in the SRB,and substantial changes in melt characteristics of snow and ice are expected to have severe consequences on seasonal water availability.Based on the sensitivity analysis,both models’outputs are highly sensitive to the variation in temperature.Furthermore,compared to MPDDM,GDM simulated considerable variation in the river discharge in climate scenarios,RCP4.5 and 8.5,mainly due to the higher sensitivity of GDM model outputs to temperature change.The integration of an updated melt module and two reservoir baseflow module in GDM is anticipated to advance the representation of hydrological components,unlike one reservoir baseflow module used separately in MPDDM.The restructured melt and baseflow modules in GDM have fundamentally enriched our perception of glacio-hydrological dynamics in the catchment.