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The past decades have witnessed the discovery of several gaseous signaling molecules in plants, including nitric oxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), and methane (CH4). These gasotransmitters (GTs) are endogenously synthesized in plant cells and participate in a variety of developmental processes and stress responses. Heavy metals (HMs) are one of the most widespread environmental cues that cause hazardous effects in plants and raise wide safety concerns. The involvement of GTs in the plant responses to HM has been demonstrated; however, our understanding of their exact roles and mechanisms in this area remains very fragmented. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent advances in the biosynthesis and regulation of each of the four GTs, their roles and mechanisms in plant HM uptake, accumulation, and detoxification, and the crosstalk between various GTs related to HM. Some reports on the negative roles of GTs on plant HM responses are also discussed. Certain important future directions for more in-depth studies are proposed based on the current understanding. Overall, this review provides a collection of rare information that helps to elucidate the regulation and functions of GTs in plant HM responses. This subject is of significant importance in the strategies of the agricultural efforts to reduce the risks associated with HMs by manipulating GTs.

Pea (Pisum sativum L.), a cool-season legume crop grown in more than 85 countries, is the second most important grain legume and one of the major green vegetables in the world. While pea was historically studied as the genetic model leading to the discovery of the laws of genetics, pea research has lagged behind that of other major legumes in the genomics era, due to its large and complex genome. The evolving climate change and growing population have posed grand challenges to the objective of feeding the world, making it essential to invest research efforts to develop multi-omics resources and advanced breeding tools to support fast and continuous development of improved pea varieties. Recently, the pea researchers have achieved key milestones in omics and molecular breeding. The present review provides an overview of the recent important progress including the development of genetic resource databases, high-throughput genotyping assays, reference genome, genes/QTLs responsible for important traits, transcriptomic, proteomic, and phenomic atlases of various tissues under different conditions. These multi-faceted resources have enabled the successful implementation of various markers for monitoring early-generation populations as in marker-assisted backcrossing breeding programs. The emerging new breeding approaches such as CRISPR, speed breeding, and genomic selection are starting to change the paradigm of pea breeding. Collectively, the rich omics resources and omics-enable breeding approaches will enhance genetic gain in pea breeding and accelerate the release of novel pea varieties to meet the elevating demands on productivity and quality.

In the present study, we have re-visited Musa taxonomy based on morphological and molecular data. DNA sequence data (ITS, trnL-F) and population assessment reveal that Musa balbisiana var. andamanica and Musa sabuana should be synonymized under Musa balbisiana. Based on the present work, we recognize four species of Musa namely M. acuminata, M. balbisiana, M. indandamanensis, and M. paramjitiana in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Key message Groundnut has entered now in post-genome era enriched with optimum genomic and genetic resources to facilitate faster trait dissection, gene discovery and accelerated genetic improvement for developing climate-smart varieties. Abstract Cultivated groundnut or peanut (Arachis hypogaea), an allopolyploid oilseed crop with a large and complex genome, is one of the most nutritious food. This crop is grown in more than 100 countries, and the low productivity has remained the biggest challenge in the semiarid tropics. Recently, the groundnut research community has witnessed fast progress and achieved several key milestones in genomics research including genome sequence assemblies of wild diploid progenitors, wild tetraploid and both the subspecies of cultivated tetraploids, resequencing of diverse germplasm lines, genome-wide transcriptome atlas and cost-effective high and low-density genotyping assays. These genomic resources have enabled high-resolution trait mapping by using germplasm diversity panels and multi-parent genetic populations leading to precise gene discovery and diagnostic marker development. Furthermore, development and deployment of diagnostic markers have facilitated screening early generation populations as well as marker-assisted backcrossing breeding leading to development and commercialization of some molecular breeding products in groundnut. Several new genomics applications/technologies such as genomic selection, speed breeding, mid-density genotyping assay and genome editing are in pipeline. The integration of these new technologies hold great promise for developing climate-smart, high yielding and more nutritious groundnut varieties in the post-genome era.

The recent finding of the gravitational wave (GW) signal by the NANOGrav collaboration in the nHZ frequency range has opened up the door for the existence of stochastic GWs. In the present work, we have argued that in a hot dense neutrino asymmetric plasma, GWs could be generated due to the instability caused by the finite difference in the number densities of the different species of the neutrinos. The generated GWs have amplitude and frequency in the sensitivity range of the NANOGrav observation. We have shown that the GWs generated by this mechanism could be one of the possible explanations for the observed NANOGrav signal. We have also discussed generation of GWs in an inhomogeneous cosmological neutrino plasma, where GWs are generated when neutrinos enter a free streaming regime. We show that the generated GWs in an inhomogeneous neutrino plasma cannot explain the observed NANOGrav signal. We have also calculated the lower bound on magnetic fields' strength using the NANOGrav signal and found that to explain the signal, the magnetic fields' strength should have atleast value $\sim 10^{-12}$ G at an Mpc length scale., 7 Pages and 1 figures

Jasminum L. (Oleaceae) consists of ∼200 species that are distributed in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of the world. In India, this genus is represented by ca 47 species of which 16 are endemic. Based on the nuclear (internal-transcribed spacer (ITS) region of nrDNA and chloroplast markers (matK, trnL-F and trnH-psbA), phylogenetic relationships in 22 species including one variety of Jasminum in India have been assessed. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses from individual markers, as well as from combined dataset, reveal that the group is monophyletic if Menodora spp. are excluded from the analyses. Our analyses recovered three strongly supported clades. Ancestral character state reconstruction of taxonomically useful characters (leaf forms, leaf arrangement and flower colour) which were used to demarcate sections within the genus reveals homoplasy. Our study suggests that after split from the last common ancestor, there have been at least four reversals to unifoliolate condition. Pinnately compound leaf form evolved at least twice and trifoliolate condition evolved one time only. Alternate leaf form evolved at least twice, once inclade 1 and once in clade 3 and all the time from ancestors having opposite leaf forms. Flower colour evolution clearly depicts that clade 1 is yellow-flowered and clades 2 and 3 have admixture of white and yellow-flowered Jasminum species. Our study suggests that yellow-flowered condition evolved from the white-flowered ancestor. The present study is first to estimate the evolutionary history of Indian Jasmines.

Premise of the study The domestication history of melon is still unclear. An African or Asian origin has been suggested, but its closest wild relative was recently revealed to be an Australian species. The complicated taxonomic history of melon has resulted in additional confusion, with a high number of misidentified germplasm collections currently used by breeders and in genomics research. Methods Using seven DNA regions sequenced for 90% of the genus and the major cultivar groups, we sort out described names and infer evolutionary origins and domestication centers. Key results We found that modern melon cultivars go back to two lineages, which diverged ca. 2 million years ago. One is restricted to Asia (Cucumis melo subsp. melo), and the second, here described as C. melo subsp. meloides, is restricted to Africa. The Asian lineage has given rise to the widely commercialized cultivar groups and their market types, while the African lineage gave rise to cultivars still grown in the Sudanian region. We show that C. trigonus, an overlooked perennial and drought-tolerant species from India is among the closest living relatives of C. melo. Conclusions Melon was domesticated at least twice: in Africa and Asia. The African lineage and the Indian C. trigonus are exciting new resources for breeding of melons tolerant to climate change.

Depending on taxonomic concept, the genus Dactyliandra (Cucurbitaceae) comprises up to four species: two from Southwest Africa, D. luederitziana (Namibia) and D. welwitschii (Angola), and two very locally distributed and poorly known taxa from Northeast Africa, D. nigrescens and D. stefaninii. In addition to these African populations, D. welwitschii was also reported as a possibly native species from the Thar desert of Northwestern India and Pakistan ca. 8,000 km away from the Namib range. A phylogenetic analysis of plastid and nuclear ribosomal ITS DNA sequences including all Dactyliandra species and D. welwitschii from the Thar desert revealed that this striking disjunction is of very recent origin. Dactyliandra is monophyletic only after exclusion of the East African taxa, which are best placed in Trochomeria. The species Dactyliandra welwitschii is monophyletic and includes the Indian plants, which group with a sample from an Angolan population. We hypothesize that this unexpected connection ...

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is a model crop plant for the study of fruit ripening and disease resistance. Here we present a systemic study on in planta transformation of tomato with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 harboring pCAMBIA1303 binary vector bearing HPTII as a plant selectable marker and mGFP/GUS fusion as the reporter gene. We attempted the transformation of tomato at different developmental stages viz. during seed germination, seedling growth, and floral bud development. The imbibition of seeds with Agrobacterium suspension led to seed mortality. The vacuum infiltration of seedlings with Agrobacterium suspension led to sterility in surviving plants. Successful transformation could be achieved either by dipping of developing floral buds in the Agrobacterium suspension or by injecting Agrobacterium into the floral buds. Most floral buds subjected to dip as well as to injection either aborted or had arrested development. The pollination of surviving floral buds with pollen from wild-type plants yielded fruits bearing seeds. A transformation efficiency of 0.25–0.50% was obtained on floral dips/floral injections. Transgenic plants were selected by screening seedlings for hygromycin resistance. The presence of the transgene in genomic DNA was confirmed by Southern blot analysis and expression of the reporter gene up to the T4 generation. The amenability of tomato for in planta transformation simplifies the generation of transgenic tomato plants obviating intervening tissue culture.

The lectotypification of Saussurea laneana W. W. Sm. is discussed. The name has been considered to be lectotypified based on in sched. annotation of a Dungboo collection at K. However, that did not constitute effective lectotypification, and moreover, it is unclear whether the collection is original material. Original material preserved at CAL is designated here as the lectotype for the name. This lectotypification does not change the application of the name.

In the present work, we have studied the spectrum of the primordial gravitational waves due to magnetic instability in the presence of neutrino asymmetry. The magnetic instability generates a helical magnetic field on a large scale. The anisotropic stress generated by the magnetic field shown to be a source of primordial gravitational waves (GWs) at the time of matter-neutrino decoupling. We expect that the theoretically predicted GWs by this mechanism may be detected by Square Kilometer Array (SKA) or pulsar time array (PTA) observations. We also compare our findings with the results obtained by the earlier work where the effect of magnetic instability was not considered., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

Crepedium acuminatum is extensively used in the Indian traditional system of medicine and being over-harvested from natural habitats which have caused great damage to its population and species diversity. Despite its high medicinal importance, not much information is available on its genetic and conservation studies. The present study focuses on assessing the genetic diversity and population structure of C. acuminatum from the Middle and Lower Himalayas. Start Codon Targeted Polymorphism (SCoT) and Inter Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR) markers were used to assess the diversity within- and among all the populations. Thirteen SCoT primers amplified 73 fragments with 97.26 % polymorphism, whereas, 10 ISSR primers amplified 45 fragments with 91.83 % polymorphism. Analysis of Molecular Variance (AMOVA) revealed higher intra-population (SCoT + ISSR = 61 %) than inter-population diversity (SCoT + ISSR = 39 %). Maximum diversity was observed using SCoT and ISSR markers in the populations from Uttarakhand (Tehri and Gothura respectively) and the least diversity was recorded in populations from Himachal Pradesh (Solan and Kasauli respectively). Grouping patterns obtained by STRUCTURE analysis separated populations collected from North and Northeast India into different groups. Genetic diversity and population structure were found to be directly correlated to the altitudinal range and anthropogenic activities. The results showed usefulness of dominant markers in genetic diversity assessment and conservation of C. acuminatum.

Maple trees are known for their varied sexual and floral systems. One such system, andromonoecy, has generated considerable interest in terms of sexual system and evolution in angiosperms. In Acer oblongum three different flowering morphs were present on each individual: Staminate type I (Male type I), hermaphrodite and Staminate type II (Male type II) flowers. Staminate type I flowers bloom early in the season followed by hermaphrodite and Staminate type II. The objective of this study was to elucidate sexual system in A. oblongum by comparing male and female organ performance of different floral morphs and assess its adaptive significance. Phenology, morphometry, resource allocation patterns, and pollen and pistil performance of three morphs were compared in order to elucidate the sexual system. Significant differences were observed in resource allocation patterns of different floral morphs. The variation was mainly because of androecium and gynoecium weight. Anthers of hermaphrodite morphs remain indehiscent while number and size of anthers were less than that of staminate types. The number of pollen per flower in case of hermaphrodite flowers was smaller and their pollen showed lower viability when compared with staminate types. Although pollen from hermaphrodite flowers failed to germinate on the receptive stigmas, it yielded positive FCR viability test. Morphologically hermaphrodite flowers of A. oblongum do not possess male function and are functionally female, although a relict function of attracting pollinators cannot be ignored. Acer oblongum is cryptically monoecious while functionally andromonoecious.

A new species, Alysicarpus poklianus Gholami & Pandey from Sinhgarh, Maharashtra, India is described. It is morphologically most similar to Alysicarpus hamosus but differs in having ovate leaves, rounded-ovate bracts, larger size of calyx, pods comprising 5–7 longer than broad joints with easily separable septa. In this study, a comprehensive description, and identification key of Alysicarpus poklianus are provided.

A new species of Crotalaria from Meghalaya (Northeast India) is described and illustrated. The new species is assigned to Crotalaria section Calycinae based on affinities to C. sessiliflora and C. occulta. The distribution, ecology, and conservation status of C. meghalayensis are briefly discussed. We also provide evidence from molecular data and statistical analyses to authenticate the distinctiveness of the new species.

Two new species of Fabaceae-Papilionoideae are described and illustrated. Crotalaria suffruticosa from Karul Ghat region of Maharashtra is morphologically close to C. albida and C. epunctata. C. multibracteata from Panhala region of Maharashtra resembles C. vestita. C. suffruticosa differs from C. albida and C. epunctata in its habit, leaf, inflorescence, callosity, keel type, stigma, style morphology and number of seeds/pod. To test if the new species differ from their morphologically most similar species, we measured various traits and performed a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). This analysis shows that the new species differs from similar species in gross morphology for several diagnostic traits and showed correlations between the variables or distance among groups and estimated the contribution of each character. Phylogenetic analyses were also conducted based on nuclear (ITS) and plastid (matK) markers. The analyses revealed nucleotide differences between the new species and their close allies attributing to their distinctiveness. A map and key including all species of Crotalaria from Maharashtra state are provided. Conservation status of the two new species have also been assessed.

MSH2 is the core protein of MutS‐homolog family involved in recognition and repair of the errors in the DNA. While other members of MutS‐homolog family reportedly regulate mitochondrial stability, meiosis, and fertility, MSH2 is believed to participate mainly in mismatch repair. The search for polymorphism in MSH2 sequence in tomato accessions revealed both synonymous and nonsynonymous SNPs; however, SIFT algorithm predicted that none of the SNPs influenced MSH2 protein function. The silencing of MSH2 gene expression by RNAi led to phenotypic abnormalities in highly silenced lines, particularly in the stamens with highly reduced pollen formation. MSH2 silencing exacerbated formation of UV‐B‐induced thymine dimers and blocked light‐induced repair of the dimers. The MSH2 silencing also affected the progression of male meiosis to a varying degree with either halt of meiosis at zygotene stage or formation of diploid tetrads. The immunostaining of male meiocytes with centromere localized CENPC (centromere protein C) antibody showed the presence of 48 univalent along with 24 bivalent chromosomes suggesting abnormal tetraploid meiosis. The mitotic cells of root tips of silenced lines showed diploid nuclei but lacked intervening cell plates leading to cells with syncytial nuclei. Thus, we speculate that tetraploid pollen mother cells may have arisen due to the fusion of syncytial nuclei before the onset of meiosis. It is likely that in addition to mismatch repair (MMR), MSH2 may have an additional role in regulating ploidy stability.

Post-genomics era has witnessed the development of cutting-edge technologies that have offered cost-efficient and high-throughput ways for molecular characterization of the function of a cell or organism. Large-scale metabolite profiling assays have allowed researchers to access the global data sets of metabolites and the corresponding metabolic pathways in an unprecedented way. Recent efforts in metabolomics have been directed to improve the quality along with a major focus on yield related traits. Importantly, an integration of metabolomics with other approaches such as quantitative genetics, transcriptomics and genetic modification has established its immense relevance to plant improvement. An effective combination of these modern approaches guides researchers to pinpoint the functional gene(s) and the characterization of massive metabolites, in order to prioritize the candidate genes for downstream analyses and ultimately, offering trait specific markers to improve commercially important traits. This in turn will improve the ability of a plant breeder by allowing him to make more informed decisions. Given this, the present review captures the significant leads gained in the past decade in the field of plant metabolomics accompanied by a brief discussion on the current contribution and the future scope of metabolomics to accelerate plant improvement.

Aflatoxin is considered a “hidden poison” due to its slow and adverse effect on various biological pathways in humans, particularly among children, in whom it leads to delayed development, stunted growth, liver damage, and liver cancer. Unfortunately, the unpredictable behavior of the fungus as well as climatic conditions pose serious challenges in precise phenotyping, genetic prediction and genetic improvement, leaving the complete onus of preventing aflatoxin contamination in crops on post-harvest management. Equipping popular crop varieties with genetic resistance to aflatoxin is key to effective lowering of infection in farmer’s fields. A combination of genetic resistance for in vitro seed colonization (IVSC), pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination (PAC) and aflatoxin production together with pre- and post-harvest management may provide a sustainable solution to aflatoxin contamination. In this context, modern “omics” approaches, including next-generation genomics technologies, can provide improved and decisive information and genetic solutions. Preventing contamination will not only drastically boost the consumption and trade of the crops and products across nations/regions, but more importantly, stave off deleterious health problems among consumers across the globe.

We study the generation and evolution of magnetic field in the presence of chiral imbalance and gravitational anomaly which gives an additional contribution to the vortical current. The contribution due to gravitational anomaly is proportional to $T^2$ which can generate a seed magnetic field irrespective of plasma being hirally charged or neutral. We estimate the order of magnitude of the magnetic field to be $10^{30}$~G at $T\sim 10^9$ GeV, with a typical length scale of the order of $10^{-18}$ cm, which is much smaller than the Hubble radius at that temperature ($10^{-8}$ cm). Moreover, such a system possesses scaling symmetry. We show that the $T^2$ term in the vorticity current along with scaling symmetry leads to more power transfer from lower to higher length scale as compared to only chiral anomaly without scaling symmetry., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures

This paper explores the nature and dynamics of adaptation and resilience in the face of a diverse and varied environmental and ecological context using the case study of South Asia’s Indus Civilization (ca. 3000–1300 BC). Most early complex societies developed in regions where the climatic parameters faced by ancient subsistence farmers were varied but rain falls primarily in one season. In contrast, the Indus Civilization developed in a specific environmental context that spanned a very distinct environmental threshold, where winter and summer rainfall systems overlap. There is now evidence to show that this region was directly subject to climate change during the period when the Indus Civilization was at its height (ca. 2500–1900 BC). The Indus Civilization, therefore, provides a unique opportunity to understand how an ancient society coped with diverse and varied ecologies and change in the fundamental environmental parameters. This paper integrates research carried out as part of the Land, Water and Settlement project in northwest India between 2007 and 2014. Although coming from only one of the regions occupied by Indus populations, these data necessitate the reconsideration of several prevailing views about the Indus Civilization as a whole and invigorate discussion about human-environment interactions and their relationship to processes of cultural transformation.

We study the generation of magnetic field in the primordial plasma of the standard model (SM) particles at temperature $T>80$~TeV much higher than the electroweak scale. It is assumed that there is an excess number of right-handed electrons over left-handed positrons in the plasma. Using the Berry-curvature modified kinetic theory to incorporate the effect of the Abelian anomaly, we show that this chiral-imbalance leads to generation of hyper-magnetic field in the plasma in both the collision dominated and the collisionless regimes. It is shown that in the collision dominated regime the chiral-vorticity effect can generate finite vorticity in the plasma together with the magnetic field. Typical strength of the generated magnetic field is $10^{27}$~Gauss at $T\sim 80$~TeV with the length scale $10^5/T$ whereas the Hubble length scale is $10^{13}/T$. Further the instability can also generate the magnetic field of order $10^{31}$~Gauss at typical length scale $10/T$. But there may not be any vorticity generation in this regime. We show that the estimated values of the magnetic field are consistent with the bounds obtained from present observations., 8 pages

The ancestor of tomato underwent whole genome triplication ca. 71 Myr ago followed by widespread gene loss. However, few of the triplicated genes are retained in modern day tomato including lycopene beta cyclase that mediates conversion of lycopene to β-carotene. The fruit specific β-carotene formation is mediated by a chromoplast-specific paralog of lycopene beta cyclase (CYC-B) gene. Presently limited information is available about how the variations in CYC-B gene contributed to its neofunctionalization. CYC-B gene in tomato clade contained several SNPs and In-Dels in the coding sequence (33 haplotypes) and promoter region (44 haplotypes). The CYC-B gene coding sequence in tomato appeared to undergo purifying selection. The transit peptide sequence of CYC-B protein was predicted to have a stronger plastid targeting signal than its chloroplast specific paralog indicating a possible neofunctionalization. In promoter of two Bog (Beta old gold) mutants, a NUPT (nuclear plastid) DNA fragment of 256 bp, likely derived from a S. chilense accession, was present. In transient expression assay, this promoter was more efficient than the "Beta type" promoter. CARGATCONSENSUS box sequences are required for the binding of the MADS-box regulatory protein RIPENING INHIBITOR (RIN). The loss of CARGATCONSENSUS box sequence from CYC-B promoter in tomato may be related to attenuation of its efficiency to promote higher accumulation of β-carotene than lycopene during fruit ripening.

Conservation of biodiversity, a growing concern today, faces multiple challenges. Although ecosystem approach has been recommended as a solution, conservation of threatened species is difficult as they are spread across the ecosystems and are often restricted to microhabitats. In this article, the importance of taxonomy, herbarium and field germplasm bank in conservation of threatened species is discussed. It is concluded that individually each of these measures has important role to play in conservation. They also complement each other in reversing the threat perspective of the species.

Plants can regenerate from a variety of tissues on culturing in appropriate media. However, the metabolic shifts involved in callus formation and shoot regeneration are largely unknown. The metabolic profiles of callus generated from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cotyledons and that of shoot regenerated from callus were compared with the pct1-2 mutant that exhibits enhanced polar auxin transport and the shr mutant that exhibits elevated nitric oxide levels. The transformation from cotyledon to callus involved a major shift in metabolite profiles with denser metabolic networks in the callus. In contrast, the transformation from callus to shoot involved minor changes in the networks. The metabolic networks in pct1-2 and shr mutants were distinct from wild type and were rewired with shifts in endogenous hormones and metabolite interactions. The callus formation was accompanied by a reduction in the levels of metabolites involved in cell wall lignification and cellular immunity. On the contrary, the levels of monoamines were upregulated in the callus and regenerated shoot. The callus formation and shoot regeneration were accompanied by an increase in salicylic acid in wild type and mutants. The transformation to the callus and also to the shoot downregulated LST8 and upregulated TOR transcript levels indicating a putative linkage between metabolic shift and TOR signalling pathway. The network analysis indicates that shift in metabolite profiles during callus formation and shoot regeneration is governed by a complex interaction between metabolites and endogenous hormones.

Pittosporum eriocarpum Royle, a medicinally important taxon, is endemic to Uttarakhand region of Himalaya. It has become endangered due to over-collection and the loss of habitats. As raising plants through seeds in this plant is problematic, a reliable protocol for micropropagation using nodal explants has been developed. High shoot regeneration (95%) occurred in MS medium augmented with BA 0.4mg/l in combination IBA 0.6mg/l. In vitro regenerated shoots were rooted in MS medium supplemented with three auxins, of which 0.6 mg/l indole butyric acid proved to be the best for rooting (90%) with maximum number of roots per shoot. Thereafter, rooted plants were hardened and nearly 73% of rooted shoots were successfully acclimatized and established in the field. Start codon targeted (SCoT), inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers were used to validate the genetic homogeneity amongst nine in vitro raised plantlets with mother plant. DNA fingerprints of in vitro regenerated plantlets displayed monomorphic bands similar to mother plant, indicating homogeneity among the micropropagated plants with donor mother plant. The similarity values were calculated based on SCoT, ISSR and RAPD profiles which ranged from 0.89 to 1.00, 0.91 to 1.00 and 0.95 to 1.00 respectively. The dendrograms generated through Unweighted Pair Group Method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) analysis revealed 97% similarity amongst micropropagated plants with donor mother plant, thus confirming genetic homogeneity of micropropagated clones. This is the first report on micropropagation and genetic homogeneity assessment of P. eriocarpum. The protocol would be useful for the conservation and large scale production of P. eriocarpum to meet the demand for medicinal formulations and also for the re-introduction of in vitro grown plants in the suitable natural habitats to restore the populations.

Alysicarpus gautalensis, a new species of legume, is described from Maharashtra, India. It differs from A. bupleurifolius in having glabrous branches, elliptic-oblong, obtuse leaves with ciliate margins and trichomes present on both surfaces, lobes of the calyx ciliate, pods 2–6 jointed, moniliform with a foveo-rugulate surface sculpturing.