Plants species possess different morphological and biochemical properties, which resultantly induce in them different mechanisms of resistance. Present studies were carried out to investigate the mechanism of resistance in different host plants against Phenacoccus solenopsis. The results revealed a significant variation in tested plant species for percentage infestation and population of P. solenopsis. On the basis of field data, Digeria arvensis, Launea nudicaulis and Conyza bonariensis plants were ranked as incidental host plant species of P. solenopsis as they supported mealybug for < 3 months. The resuls of physico-morphic based antixenosis study revealed that attractiveness of first, second and third instars of P. solenopsis had positive correlation with trichome density (r= 0.56, 0.65, 0.41), trichome length (r= 0.26, 0.30, 0.33), leaf area (r=0.38, 0.44, 0.26) and leaf thickness (0.50, 0.57, 0.50). The resuls of biochemical based antixenosis also demonstrated association between attractiveness of first, second and third instar nymphs of P. solenopsis with phosphorus (r=0.05, 0.27 and 0.03), potassium (r= 0.03, 0.27, 0.03), nitrogen (r= 0.12, 0.07, 0.12), sodium (r= 0.21, 0.47, 0.27), total soluble sugar (r= 0.01, -0.12, 0.06), reducing sugar (r= 0.10, 0.1, 0.06), crude protein (r= 0.12, 0.07, 0.12) and chlorophyll (r= 0.29, 0.36,0.12) contents, respectively. The results of biochemical based antibiosis revealed that phosphorus, potassium and sodium had positive association with nymphal mortality, nymphal durations, pre-oviposition and oviposition periods of the female but had negative association with crawlers density. Nitrogen, total soluble sugar, chlorophyll and crude protein had positive association with crawler density but negative with nymphal duration, nymphal mortality and reproductive periods. Sodium had negative association with crawler density. Coefficient of determination values (R2) exhibited that phosphorus explained 27.5, 29.3, 49.3, 27.78, 31.6, 33.9, 45.2, 52.9 and 68.8%; potassium demonstrated 21.7, 30.8, 11.3, 21.3, 26.4, 24.1, 14.6, 7.5 and 18.07%; nitrogen attributed 8.2, 9.6, 9.1, 2.5, 4.9, 4.4, 6.5, 0.15 and 17.38%; crude protein contributed 8.2, 9.6, 9.1, 2.5, 4.9, 4.4, 6.5, 0.1 and 17.3%; total soluble sugar explained 27.8, 7.9, 8.6, 26.0, 12.8, 17.34, 8.8, 20.4 and 25.4%; reducing sugar described 0.01, 0.3, 3.18, 0.1, 1.2, 0.2, 1.68, 1.37 and 1.48%; sodium demonstrated 31.4, 22.2, 39.2, 25.2, 37.2, 38.0, 52.3, 30.4, 33.6% and chlorophyll attribiuted 12.0, 12.0, 4.4, 7.9, 5.96, 10.0, 0.3, 2.3 and 1.8% of total variation in preoviposition-period, oviposition-period, crawlers/ovisac, mortality of 1st, 2nd and 3rd instars and nymphal duration of 1st, 2nd and 3rd instars, respectively. The results of biochemical based tolerance mechanisms exhibited that nitrogen, crude protein, sodium, total soluble sugar and chlorophyll were negatively correlated with mealybug density, but phosphorus, reducing sugar and potassium were positively correlated. The tolerance level was affected at higher density (100 CMB/plant). As a tolerance mechanism, plants exhibited reduction in nitrogen, crude protein sodium, total soluble sugar and chlorophyll contents while demonstrated an increase in phosphorous, reducing sugar and potassium contents when infested with different densties of P. solenopsis.The pairwise Mahalanobis distances among three clusters established for 25 plant species revealed that members of cluster-2 demonstrated the maximum diversity against cluster-1 for infestation and population incidence of P. solenopsis (D2=96.0) and for antixenosis and morphological traits (D2=208.9). Cluster-2 established maximum diversity against cluster-3 for antixenosis and biochemical traits (D2=25.3). Cluster-1 expressed the maximum diversity against cluster-3 for antibiosis and biochemical traits (D2=55.2) and against cluster-2 for tolerance and biochemical traits (D2=18). The results of Principal components (PCs) explained that 82% of the total variability in infestation and population of P. solenopsis and 55.2% of the total variability in antibiosis and biochemical traits of the selected plant species were explained by PC1. The results also revealed that 73% of the total variability in antixenosis and morphological traits and 99% of the total variability for tolerance and biochemical traits of the selected plant species was explained by PC1 and PC2 commutatively. On the basis of antixenosis, antibiosis and tolerance mechanism of resistance, it was observed that D. arvensis plant exhibited resistance due to provision of different morphological and biochemical traits against P. solenopsis.
The present study aims at exploring positive psychological capital in the verses of Qur’an. Positive psychology is the latest advancement in the field of psychology which focuses on improving the well-being of society. Positive psychological capital refers to the combination of overall qualities of positive psychology that contributes to the well-being and mental health. The present study is based on the content analysis of the verses of Qur’an. Content analysis comprises of three steps including identifying the categories or themes, dividing the information into units or parts and finally rating all the themes in all units. In the first step the researchers identified 41 themes from Qur’an by using committee approach and reading the verses between the lines. All these categories were identified by keeping in view the underlying themes of positive psychology. In the second step 30 units were devised from Qur’an by considering each Part as a single unit. The categories included behavior modification, belief in divine help, brotherhood, bravery, contentment, civility, credibility, encouragement of virtue, emotional regulation, excellence, forgiveness, generosity, gratitude, honesty, hopefulness, humility, justice, knowledge, lawful spending, learning, meaningfulness, mindfulness, moderation, obedience, patience, peace, determination, positivity, prosperity, repentance, resilience, reward, self-actualization, self-awareness, self-control, sincerity, social leadership, truthfulness, trust, and wisdom. Results suggest that the most prominent category in Qur’an is the reward. Validity of the study was maintained through the selection of the themes with the help of committee approach. Reliability of the scoring system was maintained through partial inter-rater reliability. Overall the present research has many implications in the positive psychology of religion.
The thesis in hand mainly describes the isolation and structure elucidation of compounds from the ethyl acetate and chloroform soluble fractions. Four new and eight known compounds have been isolated from Zynthoxylem armatum DC. New Compounds. 1. 2, 6, 7-trimethoxy-8-(3-methyl-2-butenyl) carbazole-3-carbaldehyde (117) 2. Methyl-2, 6, 7-trimethoxy-8-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)carbazole-3-carboxylate (118) 3. 4-methoxy-12, 12-dimethylcyclopenta furoquinoline-10-carbaldehyde (123) 4. Methyl, 4-methoxy-12, 12-dimethylcyclopenta furoquinoline-10-carboxylate (124) Known Compounds. 1. Sezamine (119) 2. Methyl Piperitol (120) 3. Fargesin (121) 4. Dictamine (122) 5. Planispine A (125) 6. Planispine B (126) 7. Lupenone (127) 8. Lupeol (128) A brief discussion on biological activities of various fractions as well as of the isolates is presented in the present work. It was observed that the compounds 117-122 showed higher anti oxidant properties than ascorbic acid. The compounds 117, 118 and 122 were found to be more active than the rest of the isolates. The two new furoquinoline alkaloids (123) and (124) showed significant DPPH radical scavenging activity compared to ascorbic acid. The compound 123 was found to be more active than compound 124, which was further supported by ABTS radical scavenging assay. The n-hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform and n-butanol fractions were screened for anti fungal activities against Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. It was found that ethyl acetate soluble fraction showed maximum inhibition and decreased the fungal growth by 55.5 and 61%, chloroform fraction showed moderate inhibition while n-hexane and n-butanol fractions showed minimum inhibition of the corresponding fungi.