Many soils are contaminated by heavy metals, with arsenic posing serious environmental threat. Enrichment of soil with phosphate is believed to reduce the arsenic toxicity. However, only a few attempts have already been conducted towards understanding the precise role of phosphate in controlling As toxicity. Moreover, there is no adequate information on the effect of phosphate on As-induced oxi...

A simple, genotype-independent and efficient method for plant regeneration using shoot tip explants of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) was established. Linsmaier and Skoog (LS) medium supplemented with 2,4-dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid (2.5 mg l(-1)) and kinetin (0. 2 mg l(-1)) was used for induction of embryogenic calli. Development of numerous somatic embryos was observed within 10 days after...

Micronutrient malnutrition, especially deficiency of two mineral elements, iron [Fe] and zinc [Zn] in the developing world needs urgent attention. Pearl millet is one of the best crops with many nutritional properties and is accessible to the poor. We report findings of the first attempt to mine favorable alleles for grain iron and zinc content through association mapping in pearl millet. An as...

Thiaminase type 1 and 2 activities and thiamine content of five plants were determined. Of these Pteridium aquilinum and Equisetum ramosissimum were found to have considerably more thiaminase activity and lower thiamine content than Malva parviflora, Pennisetum clandestinum and Medicago sativa.

Bufflelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare syn. Cenchrus ciliaris) is an African grass that has been widely introduced in subtropical arid regions of the world to improve rangelands for cattle production. However, it can have a negative effect on the diversity of native plant communities. Buffelgrass was introduced to Sonora, Mexico in the 1970s as a means to bolster the cattle industry. ‘‘Desmonte,’’ th...

A considerable proportion of the arable land cropped with pearl millet in northern Nigeria is affected by salt concentration. Pot experiments were conducted at Maiduguri in Sudan savanna to determine the influence of NaCl concentration on growth and nutrient content of pearl millet. The treatments comprised of three NaCl concentrations: 0.0, 1.4336 and 2.1504g/kg of soil and five pearl millet v...

Apomixis is a naturally occurring mode of reproduction that results in embryo formation without the involvement of meiosis or fertilization of the egg. Seed-derived progeny of an apomictic plant are genetically identical to the maternal parent. We are studying a form of apomixis called apospory that occurs in the genus Pennisetum, a taxon in the grass family. A cultivated member of this genus, ...

Pearl millet is a staple food crop for millions of people living in the arid and semi-arid tropics. Molecular markers have been used to identify genomic regions linked to traits of interest by conventional QTL mapping and association analysis. Phenotypic recurrent selection is known to increase frequencies of favorable alleles and decrease those unfavorable for the traits under selection. This ...

This report describes the construction of integrated genetic maps in pearl millet involving certain purple phenotype and simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. These maps provide a direct means of implementing DNA marker-assisted selection and of facilitating "map-based cloning" for engineering novel traits. The purple pigmentation of leaf sheath, midrib and leaf margin was inherited together 'e...

Reciprocal differences persist in nature because of the unequal contribution of cytoplasmic determinants from male and female gametes to the zygote. The inheritance of genetic differences is an important factor that influences various traits, including somatic embryogenesis and regeneration in vitro. In this report, we estimate the cytoplasmic and maternal effects in pearl millet and their adeq...