Evaluation of Elite Sorghum Accessions for Multiple Disease Resistance
Several plant diseases reduce grain and fodder yields of sorghum (Sorg/jum bicolor) and its stover quality (Bandyopadhyay et al. 2001). Participatory rural appraisal studies In India by Rama Devi et al. (2000) Indicated that sale of crop residues to perl-urban milk producers accounted for approximately 50% of the income from sorghum cropping In rural areas of the Deccan Plateau of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra, and diseased residues command much lower price In the fodder market. Adverse effects of foliar and panicle diseases on quality and quantity of sorghum grain, fodder and residues have recently been reported (Bandyopadhyay et al. 2000, 2001). Most sorghum diseases can be effectively managed through host-plant resistance. The objective of this study was to Identify resistance to multiple diseases in the selected agronomic elite landrace accessions and breeding lines of sorghum. In this article we report both agronomic features and multiple disease resistance of some of the accessions for their possible use in resistance breeding program.
Sorghum pathology and biotechnology - a fungal disease perspective: Part II. Anthracnose, stalk rot, and downy mildew
Foliar diseases and stalk rots are among the most damaging diseases of sorghum in terms of lost production potential, thus commanding considerable research time and expenditure. This review will focus on anthracnose, a fungal disease that causes both foliar symptoms and stalk rots along with the stalk rots caused by Fusarium spp. and Macrophomina phaseolina. Although the downy mildews are caused by oomycetes rather than true fungi, recent outbreaks have revealed resistance to previously effective chemical seed treatments and the evolution of new pathogenic races, once again pointing out the need for continuous vigilance. Sorghum diseases are described with respect to the causal organism or organisms, infection process, global distribution, pathogen variability and effects on grain production. In addition, screening methods for identifying resistant cultivars and the genetic basis for host resistance including molecular tags for resistance genes are described where possible along with prospects for future advances in more stable disease control. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Instrumentation and Automated Photometric Titration Procedure for Total Acidity Determination in Red Wine Employing a Multicommuted Flow System
An automated procedure for photometric titration of red wine and associated instrumentation is described. The procedure was based on the flow-batch approach implemented employing multicommutation. The photometric detection was carried out using a homemade LED-based photometer. The mixing device, LED, and photodetector were attached to the titration chamber in order to form a compact and small-sized unit. The flow system comprised an automatic injector and three-way solenoid valves, which were controlled by a microcomputer through an electronic interface card. The software, written in Quick BASIC 4.5, was designed with abilities to accomplish all steps of the titration procedure including data acquisition and real-time processing to decide about the course of titration in the following step and so forth, until the titration endpoint was reached. The usefulness of the proposed titration system was demonstrated by analyzing red wine samples. When results were compared with those obtained using the AOAC reference method, no significant difference was observed at the 95% confidence level. A relative standard deviation of ca  2% (n=9 ) was obtained when processing a typical red wine sample containing 7.3 gl -1 total acidity expressed as tartaric acid.