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Isotopically enriched targets of 64,68Zn were prepared for heavy ion fusion and multi-nucleon transfer reactions. In view of the fragility of the targets under the ion current and during characterization, multiple targets of each isotope were required. Thin films of 64,68Zn isotopes were fabricated via vapor deposition in the target laboratory at Inter-University Accelerator Center (IUAC), New Delhi. Multiple targets of 64,68Zn in the thickness range 150 μ g/cm2–300 μ g/cm2, were synthesized on a carbon backing of 10 μ g/cm2 using only 30 mg amount of available enriched material for each isotope. The use of a pin source and carbon foils as substrate allowed the fabrication of Zn targets without employing previously suggested methods of substrate cooling and forced condensation for thin film fabrication of volatile elements. The deposition results have been estimated quantitatively. The thickness measurement of the targets was carried out using the α particle energy loss technique and Rutherford Back Scattering (RBS) method. The elemental composition of the targets was examined using RBS and Dispersive Wavelength X-ray Fluorescence (DWXRF) to investigate the contamination. Morphological analysis of the films was performed using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to study homogeneity and the impact of ion bombardment on the targets.

Antheraea assamensis (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae), is a semi-domesticated silkworm known to be endemic to Assam and the adjoining hilly areas of Northeast India. It is the only producer of a unique, commercially important variety of golden silk called “muga silk”. Herein, we report the de novo transcriptome of A. assamensis reared on Machilus bombycina leaves for the first time. Short reads generated by high throughput sequencing of cDNA libraries from multiple tissues, viz. alimentary canal, silk gland and residual body of the 5th instar of muga silkworm were assembled into transcripts via a de novo assembly pipeline followed by functional annotation and classification. A total of 1,21,433 transcripts were generated from ~ 231 million raw reads of which ~ 74% (89,583) were either allocated a functional annotation or categorized under Pfam/COG/KEGG categories. Identification of differentially expressed transcripts and their comparative sequence analysis revealed candidate genes related to silk synthesis, viz. silk gland factor-1 and 3, sericin-like transcript, etc. with conserved forkhead, homeo- and POU domains. Several candidate anti-microbial peptides which may have potential anti-bacterial, anti-fungal or anti-parasitic activity in A. assamensis were also identified. T/A and AT/TA were predicted to be the most abundant mono- and di-nucleotide simple sequence repeat markers in the transcriptome. Transcriptome validation was carried out by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) amplification of eight transcripts. The resources generated by this study will expand the periphery of existing genomic data on A. assamensis facilitating future in-depth studies on its unknown aspects.

Endophytic fungi constitute a remarkably diverse, ubiquitous group of eukaryotes with the ability to synthesize secondary metabolites of clinical significance. Their presence has an advantageous effect on growth and health of host plants under duress. They have also been envisaged as a source of diverse medicinal compounds since the discovery of taxol, a prominent anti-cancer drug. In this chapter, we have discussed how resident endophytic fungi aids the host plant in tackling various forms of biotic and abiotic stresses. Their therapeutic potential, viz. cancer cytotoxicity, immunomodulatory, anti-parasitic and anti-pathogenic potential have also been reviewed here. This chapter also explores the plethora of literature available for genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics of endophytic fungi alongside their available web-resources. Applications of omics-based studies on these mutualistic biotrophs have been instrumental in discovery of many unanswered and novel aspects of their biosynthetic potential and overall biology. Data reservoir on fungal endophytes has been constantly growing over the past decades and this reservoir can pave the route of future exploration of these beneficial organisms in therapeutics, biology and evolution via emergent and evolving modes of analysis like machine learning and more.

Uziflies (Family: Tachinidae) are dipteran endoparasites of sericigenous insects which cause major economic loss in the silk industry globally. Here, we are presenting the first full mitogenome of Blepharipa sp. (Acc: KY644698, 15,080 bp, A + T = 78.41%), a dipteran parasitoid of Muga silkworm (Antheraea assamensis) found in the Indian states of Assam and Meghalaya. This study has confirmed that Blepharipa sp. mitogenome gene content and arrangement is similar to other Tachinidae and Sarcophagidae flies of Oestroidea superfamily, typical of ancestral Diptera. Although, Calliphoridae and Oestridae flies have undergone tRNA translocation and insertion, forming unique intergenic spacers (IGS) and overlapping regions (OL) and a few of them (IGS, OL) have been conserved across Oestroidea flies. The Tachinidae mitogenomes exhibit more AT content and AT biased codons in their protein-coding genes (PCGs) than the Oestroidea counterpart. About 92.07% of all (3722) codons in PCGs of this new species have A/T in their 3rd codon position. The high proportion of AT and repeats in the control region (CR) affects sequence coverage, resulting in a short CR (Blepharipa sp.: 168 bp) and a smaller tachinid mitogenome. Our research unveils those genes with a high AT content had a reduced effective number of codons, leading to high codon usage bias. The neutrality test shows that natural selection has a stronger influence on codon usage bias than directed mutational pressure. This study also reveals that longer PCGs (e.g., nad5, cox1) have a higher codon usage bias than shorter PCGs (e.g., atp8, nad4l). The divergence rates increase nonlinearly as AT content at the 3rd codon position increases and higher rate of synonymous divergence than nonsynonymous divergence causes strong purifying selection. The phylogenetic analysis explains that Blepharipa sp. is well suited in the family of insectivorous tachinid maggots. It's possible that biased codon usage in the Tachinidae family reduces the effective number of codons, and purifying selection retains the core functions in their mitogenome, which could help with efficient metabolism in their endo-parasitic life style and survival strategy.

Crops, which lay the foundation of human health and economy, are continuously challenged by biotic and abiotic factors such as pests, pathogens, toxic agrochemicals, climate change, etc. An advanced approach adopted to protect crops and maintain long-term sustainability is nanotechnology, which acts on the concept of “minimal usage with maximum effect.” Nanoformulations of pesticides, nanosensors, and the generation of nanoparticle-mediated resistant crop varieties are a part of the spectrum of agricultural nanoapplications. Agrochemicals for plant protection that are encapsulated with polymer-based nanomaterials (nanocapsules, nanospheres, micelles, and nanogels), lipid-based nanomaterials (liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles), porous inorganic nanomaterials (mesoporous silica nanoparticles, porous hollow nanoparticles), and clay-based nanomaterials (clay, layered double hydroxides) for controlled release ensure better solubility, stability, and long-term effect of the agrochemicals. Silver, zinc oxide, copper oxide, and magnesium oxide nanoparticles have shown promising antimicrobial activity against phytopathogens. Usability of nanobased materials also lies in gene delivery, infection detection, pesticide/nutrient level measurement, etc., which will be helpful in effective farming and crop protection.

The self-supporting 206,208Pb enriched isotopic targets of thicknesses varying from 500 μg/cm2 to 800 μg/cm2 have been prepared in the high vacuum environment at the target laboratory of Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), by using the resistive heating method. The limited amount of the target material, selection of the parting agent, highly oxidizing tendency of the Pb in the atmosphere and the separation of the lead film from the glass slides were the few major challenges faced in the fabrication of the targets. A limited amount of isotopic material (100 mg) was utilized for the preparation of more than 20 thick self-supporting targets of 206Pb and 208Pb isotopes. Several attempts were made to overcome the difficulty of finding a suitable parting agent to avoid direct contact of water with the target material are discussed, along with the methods adopted for the fabrication of the targets. Further Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis was performed to check the elemental purity of the foils. These targets have been successfully used for several nuclear physics experiments using the neutron detector setup known as National Array of Neutron Detectors (NAND) at IUAC, New Delhi.

Nosema,a genus of parasitic microsporidia, causes pebrine disease in arthropods, including economically important silkworms and honeybees.Nosemahave gene-poor genomes shaped by loss of the metabolic pathways, as a consequence of continued dependence on host-derived substrates. As an act of counterbalance, they have developed an array of transporter proteins that allow stealing from their hosts. Here, we have identified the core set of twelve transporter families present inNosemagenus, viz.N. apis, N. bombycis, N. ceranaeandN. antheraeathroughin silicopipeline. Transportomes ofN. apis, N. bombycis, N. ceranaeandN. antheraeahave a dominant share of secondary carriers and primary active transporters. The comparatively rich and diverse transportome ofN. bombycisindicates the role of transporters in its remarkable capability of host adaptation. The core set of transporter families ofNosemaincludes ones that have a likely role in osmo-regulation, intra- and extra-cellular pH regulation, energy compensation and self-defence mechanism. This study has also revealed a set of ten species-specific transporter families within the genus. To our knowledge, this is the first ever intra-genus study on microsporidian transporters. Both these datasets constitutes a valuable resource that can aid in development of inhibitor-basedNosemamanagement strategies.

Muga (Antheraea assamensis) is an economically important silkmoth endemic to North-eastern part of India and is the producer of the strongest known commercial silk. However, there is a scarcity of -omics data for understanding the organism at a molecular level. Our present study decodes the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of A. assamensis and presents comparative analysis with other lepidopterans. Mitogenome is a 15,272 bp long AT rich (~80.2%) molecule containing 37 genes (13 PCGs, 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs) and a 328 bp long control region. The overall mitogenome arrangement was similar to the other lepidopterans. Two PCGs cox1 and cox2 were found to have CGA and GTG as start codons respectively like some lepidopterans. Typical clover-leaf shaped secondary structures of tRNAs were found with a few exceptions such as unstable DHU and TΨC loop in tRNASer1 and tRNATyr; significant number of mismatches (35) spread over 19 tRNAs. The control region contained a six bp deletion atypical of other Antheraea species. Phylogenetic position was consistent with the traditional taxonomic classification of Saturniidae. The complete annotated mitogenome is available in GenBank (Accession No. KU379695). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on complete mitogenome of A. assamensis.

Several studies reported that mtDNA mutations may play important roles in carcinogenesis although the mechanism is not clear yet. Most of the studies compared mtDNA sequences in a tumor with those in normal tissues from different individuals ignoring inter-individual variations. In this study, 271 SNPs, 7 novel SNPs (or SNVs), and 15 somatic mutations were detected in mtDNA of 8 oral cancer tissues with respect to reference (rCRS) and adjacent normal tissues, respectively, using Ion PGM next generation sequencing method. Most of the sequence variations (76 SNPs and 1 somatic) are present in D-loop region followed by CyB (36 SNPs), ATP6 (24 SNPs), ND5 (17 SNPs and 5 somatic), ND4 (18 coding and 2 somatic) and other non-coding and coding DNA sequences. A total of 53 and 8 non-synonymous SNPs and somatic mutations, respectively, were detected in tumor tissues and some of these variations may have deleterious effects on the protein function as predicted by bioinformatic analysis. Moreover, significantly low mtDNA contents and expression of several mitochondrial genes in tumor compared to adjacent normal tissues may have also affected mitochondrial functions. Taken together, this study suggests that mtDNA mutations as well as low expression of mtDNA coded genes may play important roles in tumor growth. Although the sample size is low, an important aspect of the study is the use of adjacent control tissues to find out somatic mutations and a change in the expression of mitochondrial genes, to rule out inter-individual and inter-tissue variations which are important issues in the study of mitochondrial genomics.

Isotopic targets of 90,94 Zr, with thickness of 280 μg/cm 2 , have been prepared in ultra-high vacuum chamber by electron beam deposition method on carbon backing of 45 μg/cm 2 thickness at Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi. Amounts of 50.9 and 58 mg isotopic materials were utilized for preparation of 90 Zr and 94 Zr targets, respectively. These targets have been successfully used in nuclear physics experiments at IUAC.

Carbon foils produced by electron beam evaporation of approximately 5 μg/cm2 thickness are regularly in use as stripper foils in the 15UD Pelletron Accelerator at Nuclear Science Centre. This report examines the role of defects produced by the ion beams in influencing usable life of these carbon foils. The life of the foils has been estimated by measuring the transmitted ion current at the high-energy end of the 15UD Pelletron. The lifetime of carbon stripper foils entirely depend on the defects produced by the ions. A relation between the onset of the degradation of current transmission and the accumulated defects has been established. An improved type of carbon stripper foils might be obtained by the introduction of thin C60 layers.

Muga (Antheraea assamensis) is an economically important silkmoth endemic to the states of Assam and Meghalaya in India and is the producer of the strongest known commercial silk. However, there is a scarcity of genomic and proteomic data for understanding the organism at a molecular level. Our present study is on decoding the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of A. assamensis using next generation sequencing technology and comparing it with other available lepidopteran mitogenomes. Mitogenome of A. assamensis is an AT rich circular molecule of 15,272 bp (A+T content ~80.2%). It contains 37 genes comprising of 13 protein coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA and 2 rRNA genes along with a 328 bp long control region. Its typical tRNAMet-tRNAIle-tRNAGln arrangement differed from ancestral insects (tRNAIle-tRNAGln-tRNAMet). Two PCGs cox1 and cox2 were found to have CGA and GTG as start codons, respectively as reported in some lepidopterans. Interestingly, nad4l gene showed higher transversion mutations at intra-species than inter-species level. All PCGs evolved under strong purifying selection with highest evolutionary rates observed for atp8 gene while lowest for cox1 gene. We observed the typical clover-leaf shaped secondary structures of tRNAs with a few exceptions in case of tRNASer1 and tRNATyr where stable DHU and TΨC loop were absent. A significant number of mismatches (35) were found to spread over 19 tRNA structures. The control region of mitogenome contained a six bp (CTTAGA/G) deletion atypical of other Antheraea species and lacked tandem repeats. Phylogenetic position of A. assamensis was consistent with the traditional taxonomic classification of Saturniidae. The complete annotated mitogenome is available in GenBank (Accession No. KU379695). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on complete mitogenome of A. assamensis.

Diptera, the true flies are frequently found in nature and their habitat is found all over the world including Antarctica and Polar Regions. The number of documented species for order diptera is quite high and thought to be 14% of the total animal present in the earth [1]. Most of the study in diptera has focused on the taxa of economic and medical importance, such as the fruit flies Ceratitis capitata and Bactrocera spp. (Tephritidae), which are serious agricultural pests; the blowflies (Calliphoridae) and oestrid flies (Oestridae), which can cause myiasis; the anopheles mosquitoes (Culicidae), are the vectors of malaria; and leaf-miners (Agromyzidae), vegetable and horticultural pests [2]. Insect mitochondrion consists of 13 protein coding genes, 22 tRNAs and 2 rRNAs, are the remnant portion of alpha-proteobacteria is responsible for simultaneous function of energy production and thermoregulation of the cell through the bi-genomic system thus different adaptability in different climatic condition might have compensated by complementary changes is the both genomes [3,4]. In this study we have collected complete mitochondrial genome and occurrence data of one hundred thirteen such dipteran insects from different databases and literature survey. Our understanding of the genetic basis of climatic adaptation in diptera is limited to the basic information on the occurrence location of those species and mito genetic factors underlying changes in conspicuous phenotypes. To examine this hypothesis, we have taken an approach of Nucleotide substitution analysis for 13 protein coding genes of mitochondrial DNA individually and combined by different software for monophyletic group as well as paraphyletic group of dipteran species. Moreover, we have also calculated codon adaptation index for all dipteran mitochondrial protein coding genes. Following this work, we have classified our sample organisms according to their location data from GBIF (https://www.gbif.org). Finally, result suggests that dipteran insects from different regions are gone through distinct selection process and even our outcome also indicate that dipteran mitochondrial genes from different climatic condition shows differential efficacy in their translation process.

Curcumin is one of the most intensively studied diarylheptanoid, Curcuma longa being its principal producer. This apart, a class of promising curcumin analogs has been generated in laboratories, aptly named as Curcuminoids which are showing huge potential in the fields of medicine, food technology, etc. The lack of a universal source of data on curcumin as well as curcuminoids has been felt by the curcumin research community for long. Hence, in an attempt to address this stumbling block, we have developed Curcumin Resource Database (CRDB) that aims to perform as a gateway-cum-repository to access all relevant data and related information on curcumin and its analogs. Currently, this database encompasses 1186 curcumin analogs, 195 molecular targets, 9075 peer reviewed publications, 489 patents and 176 varieties of C. longa obtained by extensive data mining and careful curation from numerous sources. Each data entry is identified by a unique CRDB ID (identifier). Furnished with a user-friendly web interface and in-built search engine, CRDB provides well-curated and cross-referenced information that are hyperlinked with external sources. CRDB is expected to be highly useful to the researchers working on structure as well as ligand-based molecular design of curcumin analogs. Database URL: http://www.crdb.in