Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt; family: Myristicaceae) is an important tree spice of great export value due to the presence of secondary metabolites with scope in health, wellness and cosmetic industries. Its dioecious in nature due to which it is propagated by budding and grafting which requires specialised skill and as a result authentic planting material production is very expensive. Based on the constant demand from farmers and stakeholders for a suitable, fast and easy technique for determining the authenticity of nutmeg varieties, an attempt was made to develop morphological and molecular markers for the identification of three commercial varieties that are in high demand in India; viz. IISR Vishwashree, IISR Keralashree, Sindhushree and a monoecious nutmeg (MN) accession, along with their biochemical profiles. Among the various morphological characters as per distinctiveness, uniformity and stability guidelines, the varieties showed distinctness mainly in leaf shape, shape of female flowers, fruit shape and seed shape. Out of 35 ISSR primers screened, six primers viz., IS 02, ISSR 12, ISSR 05, ISSR 14, ISSR 01 and UBC 834 generated clear, unique reproducible polymorphic bands capable of distinguishing the varieties. Among the varieties analysed, MN was found to be superior in terms of seed butter and essential oil in nut, mace and leaves. IISR Vishwashree was on par with MN in nut essential oil content. IISR Keralashree was superior in terms of oleoresin in nuts and mace. The morphological and molecular markers identified may be used for effective checking of authenticity of planting materials of commercially grown nutmeg varieties.

This research investigates the MIMO antenna by using the Theory of Characteristics Mode (TCM) where 10 modes are subjected in designing. Also, 5 modes are the significant mode and 2 modes correspond to non-significant which defines the operating bandwidth and notched bands. The proposed 2 × 2 MIMO antenna configuration is designed for wideband applications with a size of 0.44 × 0.68 mm2. The two isolated 12-sided polygons radiating patches placed adjacent to each other share a common ground which is printed on an FR4 substrate. The measured impedance bandwidth covers bandwidth 3.11–11.98 GHz with two bands rejecting capability: Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Downlink-Uplink Satellite (DUS) system. These two interfering bands are mitigated by etching a C-type slot on the radiating patch and an inverted U-type slot in the microstrip feed. The simulated and measured results are also compared in the far-field region (Normalized Radiation Efficiency (NRE), Peak Gain (PG), and 2-D/3-D radiation pattern). Proposed MIMO antenna also offers good diversity performance with ECC2×2 < 0.00001, DG2×2 > 9.999 dB, TARC2×2 < −15.0 dB, CCL2×2 < 0.001 b/s/Hz and MEG2×2 ≅ −3.0 dB.

Variety registration is an important area of plant genetic resource characterization and utilization. Within the European Union, varieties must be included on a National List (NL) of a member state or on the Common Catalogue (a compilation of the NLs of the member states) before seed can be sold. This requires a series of tests and trials which assess if the variety is distinct, uniform and stable (DUS) and if it has sufficient value for cultivation and use (VCU). The same DUS criteria are also used world-wide for the granting of Plant Breeders' Rights (PBR), an intellectual property protection system. Both DUS and VCU are currently assessed primarily using field-based trials. However, the potential use of biochemical and molecular markers for DUS purposes is being actively investigated and such markers could have an important role to play in maintaining the quality and scope of PBR in an environment where the increasing number of countries involved in DUS testing and the number of variety comparisons to be made are causing logistical difficulties. More recently, given firstly the increase in the availability of markers from expressed regions of the genome, and secondly the possibilities raised by detailed DNA sequencing programmes and the association of markers (particularly single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) with specific genes, the prospects for a more molecular approach to VCU are also being discussed. This paper reviews the current situation with regard to the use of molecular markers for DUS and VCU testing and considers future prospects for variety registration in the 21st century, ‘-omics’, era.