The evolutionary relationship between domesticated Oryza species and their wild relatives in North East India is not well understood. To improve the understanding of the evolutionary relationship, this study investigates the genetic diversity of 68 indigenous rice landraces from North East India, ten O. rufipogon genotypes, and nine O. nivara genotypes using chloroplast variable repeat markers which, due to non-recombination and uniparental inheritance, enable better phylogenetic inference. Reference genotypes IR64 (indica) and Nipponbare (japonica) were included to characterize various phylogenetic clusters. Using distance-based hierarchical clustering, model-based structuring and principal component analysis, selected landraces from the three North Eastern Indian states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh were grouped into two phylogenetically different clusters that represented the IR64 and Nipponbare groupings. Interestingly, despite the fact that a cluster analysis combining North East landraces and wild relatives likewise produced two separate clusters (cluster I: Nipponbare, cluster II: IR64), the majority of the wild relatives were only clustered in the IR64 cluster. This suggests that the two distinct evolutionary histories of the rice landraces in North East India are distinguished by their genetic affinity for wild relatives and their variation in the indica and japonica pools. These results highlight chloroplast divergence influencing the genetic diversity of North East landraces with wild relatives. Further, these findings will enable in-depth studies on the functional significance of chloroplast diversity on trait adaptation in rice landraces.

The prevalence of anaemia and its continuous growth, especially among women, is a global health concern. The present study aims to examine the prevalence of anaemia and its determinants in the North Eastern region of India. The study used secondary data from the National Family Health Survey 2015-2016 on women of reproductive age group in India. The data were adjusted for sampling weight, stratification and cluster sampling design for analysis. Binary logistic regression and multivariable regression analysis were performed to determine factors associated with anaemia. Of the 65941 participants, 25993 (40%) had anaemia. High prevalence of mild or moderate anaemia was found among women with following socio-demographic characteristics: residing in the rural area (41.20%), having no education (43.07%), belonging to the low-income family (43.39%), having a well as source of drinking water (46.29%), using the traditional method of contraception (44.55%), underweight (42.18%) and those who had first delivery before 20 years of age (40.66%). Logistic regression (adjusted odds ratio) showed that women in the following categories were more likely to develop anaemia: in the age-group of 35-49 years, with no education, with poor wealth, having low nutrition levels; using traditional contraception and women who ate pulses or fish once a week. Alarming rates of anaemia (two in every five), found in the study, need effective strategies for fortification of iron supplement among women. Generation of mass awareness in this regard by utilizing the ongoing adolescent, maternal, child health and nutrition programmes will help in reducing the incidence of anaemia among women.

The current study focused on characterization of the underlying genetic divergence in inbred lines developed from local landraces of North Eastern Hill Region of India – a designated Asiatic maize diversity centre – following six generations of inbreeding. Substantial genetic differentiation was indicated based on very high to moderate Fst values for 22 of the 38 simple sequence repeat markers studied. STRUCTURE analysis partitioned the subset into two distinct and one admixture subgroup (Populations I, II and III respectively) accompanied by a significant reduction in heterozygosity. Population II was further subdivided into subpopulations Pop-M9 and Pop-T9. Nei's pairwise genetic distance and population Fst values indicated that Populations I and II were more divergent with neighbour joining clustering analysis clearly defining landraces originating from the states of Tripura (Population II) and Sikkim (Population I) as most divergent. Principal coordinates analysis could explain 31.26% of the variation present in the subgroups wherein Population I was more variable. Analysis of molecular variance and Fst coefficients (P < 0.001) indicated 17% population structuring with 55% variation detected for individuals within populations. These results combined with the presence of phenotypic variability in the subgroups for yield traits supported by results of a preliminary partial diallel analysis strongly suggest the existence of distinct heterotic groups. Divergence studies are crucial for exploiting heterosis, and the current study would go a long way to help establish a germplasm base for developing varieties with improved agronomic performance and surer commercial prospects no reports of which are available thus far.