Enhancement of growth and coumarin production in hairy root cultures of witloof chicory (Cichorium intybus L.cv.Lucknow local) under the influence of fungal elicitors

Studies were conducted to determine the possible production of coumarins in hairy root cultures of Cichorium intybus L.cv.Lucknow local under the influence of microbial agents. Pythium aphanidermatum and Phytopthora parasitica var. nicotiana were cultured and their mycelial and medium filtrate were used for the elicitation of coumarin production. The media filtrate of P. parasitica at 1.0% v/v added to the MS basal medium led to the maximum growth of hairy roots of C. intybus, which was 1.57-fold higher than the untreated control on the 28th day of culture, along with maximum esculin and esculetin yields which were 4.06- and 3.71-fold higher than the control on the 28th day. The yields of esculin and esculetin in hairy root cultures of chicory strongly correlated with growth. To check the effect of these fungal elicitors on endogenous polyamine metabolism, titers of total endogenous polyamines were analyzed. It was confirmed that the media filtrate of P. parasitica at 1.0% v/v concentration resulted in maximum accumulation of total endogenous polyamines, wherein endogenous spermine titers were found to be maximum as compared to endogenous spermidine and putrescine titers on the 28th day. Total endogenous spermine in the case of 1.0% MF v/v P. parasitica was 1.3-fold higher than that of the control on the 28th day of culture. Maximum growth index with greater length of primary root (17.61±0.18 cm) and greater number of secondary and tertiary roots was recorded for the medium filtrate of P. parasitica at 1.0% v/v concentration. This study also provided an insight into the morphological changes in terms of branching patterns, occurring in roots under the influence of these fungal elicitors.     

Exposing the Zenana: Maharaja Sawai Ram Singh II's Photographs of Women in Purdah

This paper explores a group of photographic portraits taken by the Jaipur maharaja Ram Singh II of female inhabitants of his zenana. These largely unexplored portraits of upper-class Rajput women who lived in purdah inhabit a peculiar intermediate zone between orientalist ‘harem’ photography and Victorian studio portraiture, upsetting our expectations of both. In order to elucidate the unique character of these portraits, this paper sets them within the context of colonial and Rajput ideas about female roles in domestic space and norms of female representation. It argues that the portraits present the zenana as a sanitized and modernized domestic space and thereby defend this long-standing domestic institution from the critiques of late nineteenth-century social reform movements. Ultimately, Ram Singh's portraits of women in purdah are found to represent a staging of modernity in the service of tradition.     

Decadence, mourning and revolution: facets of the 19th-century landscape of Lucknow, India

Gardens played a significant role in the evolution of the city of Lucknow in the last quarter of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. In a period of eight decades from 1775, when it became the court of Avadh province, the city experienced a period of efflorescence in art, architecture, and garden design unmatched in its later history. This era was abruptly terminated by the mutiny or first war of independence in 1857, bringing colonial rule in its wake. Gardens in this brief period can be seen as settings of decadence, theatres of mourning, and arenas of rebellion. The paper explores these three themes interwoven in the landscape narrative.