Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir is an agricultural university located in Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. With its main campus and Faculty of Horticulture in Shalimar, Srinagar, the University has multiple campuses, colleges, research and extension centers across the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh Union Territory. The Faculty of Agriculture (FoA) is located in Wadura, Baramulla and the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry (F.V.Sc & A.H) campus is located in Shuhama, Alusteng, Ganderbal.
Carbon-based nanomaterials (CBMs), including fullerenes, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene, and their derivatives, are increasingly utilized across industrial, biomedical, and environmental applications, leading to their inevitable release into aquatic ecosystems. Despite extensive studies on CBMs toxicity, a critical gap remains in integrating their environmental sources, transformation processes, and mechanistic toxicity within an aquaculture-specific risk assessment framework. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the occurrence, physicochemical properties, environmental fate, and ecotoxicological effects of CBMs in freshwater and marine systems, with particular emphasis on aquaculture-relevant exposure conditions. Key processes governing environmental behavior, including aggregation dynamics, sediment interactions, and associations with natural organic matter, are discussed in relation to their influence on colloidal stability, transport, and bioavailability. Mechanistic toxicity pathways, including oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, immunomodulation, and tissue-level alterations are examined in connection with material properties such as surface functionalization, aspect ratio, and structural defects. In addition, this review highlights current analytical challenges in CBM detection and quantification in complex aquatic matrices and distinguishes between modelled and experimentally measured environmental concentrations. Available evidence indicates variability in sensitivity across species and life stages, with early developmental stages often showing greater susceptivity. Although environmental concentrations are generally lower than acute toxicity thresholds, CBMs may significantly influence contaminant dynamics through sorption and carrier-mediated transport, particularly under intensive aquaculture conditions. By integrating environmental behavior with mechanistic toxicity and exposure assessment, this review proposes a conceptual risk profiling framework tailored to aquaculture systems and identifies key research gaps to support improved environmental risk assessment and the sustainable management of carbon-based nanomaterials.
Rice blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae, is one of the most destructive diseases of rice (Oryza sativa L.), leading to severe yield losses worldwide. Deployment of resistant cultivars remains the most sustainable and cost-effective management strategy. In this study, 500 temperate rice landraces were evaluated under uniform blast nursery (UBN) conditions, of which 168 accessions exhibited resistance with disease scores of 0–3. The resistant landraces were evaluated for blast resistance following isolate-specific inoculation under controlled conditions, using three virulent M. oryzae isolates (Mo-nwi-32, BLKH-1, and BLL-7) that helped to identify 23 landraces with consistent resistance response. These landraces, along with a susceptible check, were characterized for 17 major blast resistance (R) genes (Pi1, Pi2, Pi40, Pi54, Pi33, Pi9, Pia, Pib, Pigm, Pikh, Pikm, Pish, Pita, Piz, Pi36, Pi38, and Pi42). Four landraces (IC256630, IC4582154, IC462761, IC513430) carried 14 R- alleles each, while three (IC388740, IC56689, IC462799) possessed 13 alleles. In contrast, the susceptible check, Mushk Budji, lacked most of the targeted R genes. Despite the cloning of numerous blast R genes, their durability is often undermined by rapidly evolving pathogen populations. The resistant landraces identified in this study represent valuable genetic resources for novel allele discovery and functional characterization. Genotype-specific molecular screening provides a precise strategy to distinguish resistance donors, which can be used in breeding programs and development of rice cultivars with durable resistance.
Gametophytic self-incompatibility, a natural mechanism present in pear and other fruit tree species, is typically regulated by the S‑locus with allelic variations (S1, S2, and Sn). Recently, biochemical, and genetic techniques have been used to identify S‑genotypes in many crop species. This study involved the development of S‑allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers aimed at 27 previously identified S‑RNase alleles to facilitate accurate genotyping. Primers were developed using unique nucleotide sequences that preferentially amplify regions associated with their respective S‑alleles, providing precise and efficient S‑genotype identification for enhanced breeding efficiency. Three Asian cultivars, ‘Kashmiri Nakh’ (Sc/Sd), ‘Badshah Nakh’ (S2/S8), and ‘Kosui’ (S4/S5), exhibited no shared S‑alleles, indicating complete compatibility among them. Two European cultivars, ‘William Bartlett’ (S101/S102) and ‘Starkrimson’ (S101/S108), had one shared S‑allele, indicating partial compatibility. The S‑allele-specific primer pairs created in this study will facilitate effective S‑genotyping and enhance marker-assisted selection in pear breeding. These findings, together with previous studies on S‑allele genotyping, anticipate the possibility of new cases of cross-incompatibility for this crop in the future. The method described and the determination of S‑genotypes will facilitate the characterization of self- and cross-incompatibility relationships in this species.
Dried stigmas of the saffron crop represent a supremely distinguished, sparsely grown, antique spice. In India, Jammu and Kashmir is renowned for its saffron cultivation. However, corm rot disease poses a serious threat to saffron production, with Fusarium species being the predominant pathogen in the Kashmir region. During a routine disease survey of saffron fields, characteristic corm rot symptoms were observed in the areas adjacent to the Saffron Research Station in Pampore, Pulwama. The study aimed to characterize the pathogen and to evaluate biocontrol potential of native Trichoderma isolates. Three fungal isolates were obtained from diseased samples, of which the Fus07 isolate was confirmed as the causal pathogen based on Kochʼs postulates. The fungus was identified as Fusarium acuminatum based on multilocus phylogenetic analyses of Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) and Translation Elongation Factor1-alpha (TEF1-α), in combination with morphological characters. The amplicon sequences are deposited in the NCBI GenBank database under the accession numbers OK175730 and OL372262, respectively. Furthermore, in vivo efficacy of native Trichoderma isolates against F. acuminatum, revealed that Trichoderma IV isolate showed the highest reduction in rot incidence (38.98
Publicly accessible genomic databases facilitate high-throughput identification of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, vital for monitoring genetic variation in fungal pathogens. This study mined the 40.92 Mb genome of Diplodia bulgarica isolate Sun2024a an emerging Botryosphaeriaceae species causing destructive cankers in apple (Malus domestica) using SSRMMD, identifying 8,200 SSR loci across mono- to hexanucleotide motifs. Genome-wide primer design was accomplished using Primer3 software. In silico electronic PCR (ePCR) validation confirmed the amplification of 613 markers, 83.64
