HYPOTHESIS

6. Berezinsky, V. S., Nuc. Phys. B (Proc.
Suppl.), 1993, 31, 413–427.
7. Watson, A., Science, 1997, 275, 1736–
1738.
8. Kanipe, J., New Sci., 1997, 14.
9. Vermeij, G. J. and Dorritie, D., Science,
1996, 274, 1550.
10. Isozaki, Y., Science, 1997, 276, 235–
238.
11. Isozaki, Y., Science, 1997, 277, 1745.
12. Retallack, G. J. and Holser, W. T.,
Science, 1997, 277, 1745.
13. Zioutas, K., Phys. Lett. B, 1990, 242,
257–264.
14. Collar, J. I, Phys. Lett. B, 1996, 368,
266–269.
15. Smith, D. G. (ed.), Cambridge Encyclo-
pedia of Earth Sciences, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, 1989,
p. 345.
16. Kivelson, M. G., Nature, 1996, 384,
537–541; Robinson, M. S. and Lucey,
P. G., Science, 1997, 275, 197–200.
17. Petuch, E. J., Science, 1995, 270, 275–
277.
Samar Abbas and Shukadev Mohanty
are in the Physics Department, Utkal
University, Bhubaneshwar 751 004,
India; Afsar Abbas* is in the Institute
of Physics, Bhubaneswar 751 005,
India. *For correspondence (e-mail: af-
sar@iopb.res.in)

SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE

Lightning return stroke electric field escaping out and giving rise to
optical and associated emissions
In connection with lightning, two new
terminologies, namely ‘Sprites1’ and
‘Elves2’ have appeared in many of the
papers on the topic. It did attract the
attention of readers but the use of
the nomenclatures for optical phenomena
arising due to the upward propagation of
lightning generated electric field continues
to be a riddle for workers in this field of
research. These phenomena are not at all
new and are occasional manifestations of
lightning that has been known for over a
century3. Scanning through the scientific
literature in this area, one finds scattered
anecdotal descriptions of lightning popu-
larly known as ‘blue’ or ‘green’ pillars and
rocket discharge-like columns of optical
emissions4–7 which continueto be an occa-
sionalfeature.Wilson8 discussed the possi-
bility of lightning discharges propagating
upwards from the cloud-top and undergo-
ing occasional multiple reflections between
the cloud and the ionosphere. Vaughan et
al.9 and Bell et al.10 have reported tele-
vision observations from the space shuttle
and showed that a large number of upward-
directed cloud discharges, either ‘red’ or
‘blue’, are observed at altitudes around
60 km and above. Using a low light level
All Sky Television System (ASTS), Sent-
man and Wescott11 recorded a large number
of upward-directed optical emission phe-
nomena during NASA’s single airborne
DC-flight over thunderstorms in Iowa,
Nebraska and Kansas. Initially, they
estimated the most probable terminal
heights of the events to be 60 km with
error bars extending up to 100 km. The
duration of this optical phenomenon
was found to be 16 m sec or less, and
brightness was estimated to be 25–50 kR,
which is almost the same as that of positive cloud-to-ground leader stroke and
bright aurora. The occurrence rate of the geometry of the return stroke is sche-
this optical phenomenon was found matically illustrated in Figure 1. The most
to vary from time to time and region to prevalent lightning phenomenon is the
region, and was estimated to occur cloud-to-ground discharge in which the
once for every 200–300 cloud-to-ground negative charge is lowered giving rise to
strokes12. In addition, the ‘Red Sprites’ positive return stroke. However, ‘Sprites’
and the ‘Blue Jets’ were also video- are associated with less frequent phenom-
recorded13 and their properties studied. ena of positive cloud-to-ground discharges.
Further refinements in the ongoing meas- The upward-directed electric field is
urements are being made and the results are known to generate this optical emission
being reported. around 60 km. Depending on the cloud fea-
Continued observations have shown that tures and details of the cloud-to-ground
high altitude luminous phenomena do take discharges, the return stroke is not termi-
place and are thought to be arising due to nated by the cloud-top and the electric
the escaping part of the cloud-to- field generated in the upper atmosphere is
ionosphere lightning discharges6,14. The allowed to extend upwards towards the
observed phenomenon is simple enough ionosphere. There are various possibilities
and occasionally it is seen to be generated which depend mainly on relative ori-
and extending upwards and, at times, un- entation of the return stroke; (i) stroke-
dergoing multiple reflections between the generated electric field may accelerate
cloud and the ionosphere. A state of non-
judgment prevails when it is observed by
aeroplane flights11. The first definite ob-
servation with supporting details has been
made by using the aeroplane ‘Sprite-94’,
although the detailed mechanism of the
optical features extending from cloud-to-
troposphere and ionosphere was not
known. The phenomenon of
escaping out of the ground-to-cloud genera-
ted electric field and the generation of opti-
cal emission into the upper atmosphere is
confined to the cloud-to-ionosphere12,15
region and is known as ‘Sprites’. Recorded
features have shown that many of these
events are spatially varying and one event
is different from the other. It has been
further shown that the ‘Sprites’ appearing
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of escaping
at different altitudes15 are ‘Red Sprites’ out cloud-to-ground lightning discharges.
and ‘Blue Jets’. The escaping out of the

1292 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 78, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2000


charged particles that undergo multiple
reflections between the cloud and the iono-
sphere; (ii) the electric field originating
from the cloud-top and the extended return
stroke may propagate through the cloud to
the ionosphere. Whenever the electric field
is large, the field-aligned plasma breaks
down, giving rise to optical emissions. If
the electric field is further increased, the
transient charged particle accelerations may
give rise to X-ray and even gamma-ray
emissions. Some of these features can be
clearly seen from the high altitude records
of atmospherics, which are not routinely
recorded. The statistical details of the
‘Sprites’ and fractured features of lumi-
nous traces known as ‘Elves’ are governed
by detailed features of causative lightning
and the physical features of the ionized
layer above. These details have not been
understood as yet. It is quite likely that
nonlinear plasma processes may be playing
an important role.
These upward propagating lightning are
recorded by aircraft missions since these
are not very common features. The
‘Sprites’ and ‘Elves’ brightness on ground
are measured by a chain of photometers16
known as ‘Fly’s Eye’ with weak intensity
measuring specification; time resolution of
30 µsec and field of view of 3.5° by 7°.
The observed features of upward propa-
gating lightning has drawn the attention of
many people. However we find that this
phenomenon has not yet fully developed
so as to sustain itself scientifically1,2. The
upward-directed lightning generated electric
field forming ‘Sprites’ and ‘Elves’ freely
propagates a much longer path in the lower
ionosphere, and under suitable conditions
interacts with the upper ionosphere giving
rise to these optical effects. The heated
optical channels carry a large current and
seem to become unstable as a result of
modulational instability. The fracturing
features of these optical traces into smaller
parts are known to result in short duration
features known as ‘Elves’. These pheno-
mena can be better investigated in terms of
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 78, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2000
SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
theoretical models and can be compared
with experimentally measured details only
if results of such measurements are sys-
temically collected over a long period of
time. Although most of the reportings are
made by a single major group of workers,
one finds inconsistent and varying state-
ments made, at times, about
the observed optical phenomena. Without
ascertaining the detailed nature of the opti-
cal phenomenon, it seems unjustified to
name the phenomenon after the aeroplane
used for the observing and recording mis-
sion. It is not well explained how the ter-
minology ‘Elves’ came into being. This
trend is still continuing and the optical
traces are being named ‘carrot’, ‘radish’,
etc. If this trend continues, we will have
many interesting nomenclatures. The phe-
nomenon is known to cover X-rays and
gamma-rays. Suggestions and arguments
are made that similar phenomena could also
be generated during cloud-to-cloud dis-
charges. When some of these suggestions
take concrete shape, we will have a better
picture. No doubt, the groups have freely
and extensively used these terminologies
and induced others to use these in their
papers. However, it is clearly seen that an
in-depth analysis of this phenomenon is
still lacking due to absence of precise
measurements with desired spatial and
temporal resolutions17. The origin of the
terminology ‘Elves’ is not adequately ex-
plained and seems to be arising from occa-
sional fracturing of Sprites into smaller and
smaller traces. If this be true, the notation
‘Elves’ which denotes the plural of ‘ELF’
is hardly justifiable. Since these details
have not been given in the reported papers
of the group, the reader’s curiosity remains
unquenched. It is hoped that the associated
and interested research groups would make
qualitative and extensive measurements of
this phenomenon and leave the terminol-
ogies to be decided by the scientific com-
munity.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. This work
was carried out by the author during his
tenure as ‘Emeritus Fellow’ of AICTE,
New Delhi, operating at C.S.J.M. Univer-
sity, Kanpur.
1. Reising, S. C., Inan, U. S. and Bell, T. F.,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 1999, 26, 987.
2. Barrington-Leigh, C. P. and Inan, U. S.,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 1999, 26, 683.
3. Everett, W. H., Nature, 1903, 68, 599.
4. Boys, C. V., Nature, 1926, 118, 749.
5. Malan, D., Acad. Sci., Paris, 1937.
6. Ashmore, S. E., Weather, 1950, 5, 331.
7. Wright, J. B., Weather, 1951, 6, 230.
8. Wilson, C. T. R., Proc. R. Meteorol.
Soc. London, 1956, 236, 32D.
9. Vaughan, O. H. Jr., Blakeslee, R., Boeck,
W. L., Vonnegut, V., Brook, M. and
McKune, Jr., Mon. Weather Rev., 1992,
120, 1459.
10. Bell, T. F., Reising, S. C. and Inan, U. S.,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 1998, 25, 1285.
11. Sentman, D. D. and Wescott, E. M.,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 1993, 20, 2857.
12. Sentman, D. D., Wescott, E. M., Os-
borne, D. L., Hampton, D. L. and
Heavner,
M. J., Geophys. Res. Lett., 1995, 22,
1205.
13. Sentman, D. D. and Wescott, E. M.,
Red Sprites an Blue Jets, Geophysical
Institute Video Production, University
of Alaska, Fairbanks, 9 July, 1994.
14. Wood, C. A., Weather, 1951, 6, 64.
15. Wescott, E. M., Sentman, D., Osborne,
D. L., Hampton, D. L. and Heavner, M.,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 1995, 22, 1209.
16. Cummer, S. A., Inan, U. S., Bell, T. F.
and Barrington-Leigh, C. P., Geophys.
Res. Lett., 1998, 25, 1281.
17. Pasko, V. P., Inan, U. S. and Bell, T. F.,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 1999, 26, 1247.
Received 10 October 1999; revised accepted
28 February 2000
R. N. SINGH
House No. 425,
IIT Kanpur,
Kanpur 208 016, India
(e-mail: rama.singh@usa.net)
1293
SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE

Application of atomic force microscopy in seed surface studies

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is a simultaneously captured and displayed the highest magnification do not reveal
valuable tool for studying physical and from the native seed surface at 512 × 512 some of these features. Figure 2, the high-
biological structures. Since the initial re- resolution. The image acquired was stored est magnification that we obtained, shows
ports of Binnig et al.1, considerable pro- in the system computer hard disk. 5–6 structural units (of the seed coat)
gress has been made, but applications in Figure 1 a and b shows the cotyledon within 20 Å (2 nm). Thus each unit size is
the field of biology are scanty. Bustamente surface of two strains of mung bean (from ~ 3–4 Å.
and Keller2 reviewed the possibilities of Malda and Lalgola in West Bengal, res- A large number of mung bean varieties
exploring biological structures under condi- pectively) at the same magnification (scan are found in India and a few of them are
tions in which living organisms exist. AFM size). The differences in the strains reflect endowed with unusually good aroma. A
is a kind of scanning probe microscope the different genomic imprint at this ultra- project on the aroma molecules of mung
where imaging of structural level. SEM micrographs even at bean by Brahmachary and Ghosh (unpub-
the sample is realized by interaction of the
probe with the sample surface and no im-
aging beam (light or electron) is involved in
the process. The tip of the probe is
mounted on the end of a flexible cantilever.
‘As the sample is scanned beneath the tip,
small forces of interaction with the sample
cause the cantilever to deflect, revealing the
sample’s topography. The most common
approach, called an optical lever approach,
is to reflect a laser beam off the backside of
the cantilever into a 4-segmented
photodetector’2. The photodetector gener-
ates a measurable signal voltage to make
the image.
Internet search reveals that no plant
materials (including seeds) have so far been
studied with the help of this new tool. We
therefore attempted AFM ima-
ging of mung bean seeds, a valuable com-
modity in the food market of India.
Seeds (mung bean) were collected from
various local geographical sites with and
without the seed coats in connection with a
project by these authors.
We approached with the rationale that
of the three modes of AFM operation,
contact, non-contact and tapping, the first
would be most suitable for the hard sur-
face. As this mode is also likely to offer
the best resolution, we tried to scan the
surface of the seed coat and the cotyledon
surface of different strains of mung bean.
(In this microscopy no sample preparation
is necessary, the image of the ‘native’ seed
is captured.) The cantilever was of the
100 µm wide-legged, triangular type in
which an optical lever reflects a laser beam
off the backside of the cantilever. The
forces selected in this mode of imaging are
the capillary force and atomic repulsion
force between the tip and the sample sur-
face. The microscope (Digital Instruments)
was a standard top view contact AFM, the
Nano Scope ESPM system. The image was Figure 1. Cotyledon surface: a, Malda strain; b, Lalgola strain.

1294 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 78, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2000

 SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank the
Director, IUC, Indore and Dr A. Dasgupta,
Biophysics Department, Kalyani University
for their kind co-operation.

Received 22 December 1999; revised ac-

cepted 4 April 2000

T. GUHA †,*
R. BHAR ‡
V. GANESAN #
A. SEN †
R. L. BRAHMACHARY **

†
USIC, Electron Microscope Centre,
University College of Science,
University of Calcutta,
92, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road,
Calcutta 700 009, India
‡
USIC, Jadavpur University,
Calcutta 700 032, India
Figure 2. Seed coat surface, Lalgola strain. #
Inter University Consortium,
University of Indore,
Indore 452 001, India
lished) reports at least 6 different mole- 1. Binnig, G., Quate, C. F. and Gerber, C., **21B, Moti Jheel,
cules. Together with the chemical studies Phys. Rev. Lett., 1986, 56, 930–933. Calcutta 700 074, India
an ultrastructural atlas of various strains 2. Bustamente, C. and Keller, D., Phys. To- *For correspondence
could be prepared. day, 1995, 48 , 32–38. (e-mail: tguha@cucc.ernet.in)

Heneicosane: An oviposition-attractant pheromone of larval origin in

Aedes aegypti mosquito

Oviposition aggregation pheromone can tify the oviposition-attractant factors pre-
specifically influence many insect females sent in the LCW, but the extremely small
to lay eggs in the same site resulting in amount released by the larvae thwarted its
more eggs deposition. The first unequi- characterization3,6. Here we report the
vocal evidence for an oviposition phero- chemical primarily responsible for the
mone occurrence in an insect vector oviposition activity of the LCW using gas
mosquito was in Culex1. However, studies chromatography coupled with mass spec-
on the influence of eggs of conspecific and trometry (GC/MS) followed by biological
heterospecific larval stages on the site se- evaluation in the laboratory.
lection by various Aedes species have given
conflicting results2,3. Surprisingly, in
Anopheles mosquito the presence of con- Table 1. Fragmentation pattern of the additional components in LCW
specifics may actually be a deterrent4.
Aedes aegypti prefers to oviposit on Peak
retention Compounds
water containing the larvae of the same time (min) identified MW
species5. This larval conditioned water
(LCW) is found to be effective after re- 17.25 Octadecane 254
17.63 Isopropyl myristate 270
moving the larvae by filtration and the
attractant activity is retained for several 20.20 Heneicosane 296
weeks. Many groups earlier tried to iden- 21.10 Docosane 310
26.82 Nonacosane 408
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 78, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2000
For these studies, water used for rearing
A. aegypti larvae only for twenty days
continuously was taken after filtration as
the LCW. We extracted this LCW with
hexane and ether (HPLC grade) sequen-
tially, combined the extracts, concen-
trated and analysed by GC/MS. Similarly
control water was extracted for comparison
(blank). GC/MS analyses were per-
Fragmentations
+
254 (M ), 57 (100), 71, 85, 99
270 (M+), 43 (100), 228, 102,
60
296 (M+), 57 (100), 71, 85, 99
310 (M+), 57 (100), 71, 85, 99
408 (M+), 57 (100), 71, 85, 99
1295
SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE
Figure 1. Comparison of the mass spectra of heneicosane (standard) and one of the additional components present in the solvent extract of
LCW of Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae.
formed on a HP 6890 gas chromatograph
coupled to a 5973 quadrupole mass spec-
trometer using capillary column coated
with 5% phenyl polydimethyl siloxane
stationary phase (HP-5). The column tem-
perature was programmed as follows:
50°C, 2 min, isothermal, then 10°C/min to
280°C ramp., 5 min isothermal (total
30 min run). Comparison between total ion
chromatogram of the LCW and the control
revealed that the LCW extract contained
additional five peaks which could be of
larval origin. The compounds were identi-
fied as heneicosane, docosane, nonacosane,
octadecane and isopropyl myristate on the
basis of comparison of their retention
times and fragmentation patterns with the
commercially available authentic samples
(Table 1). The mass spectrum of henei-
cosane from the LCW and the authentic
sample are shown in Figure 1 as a repre-
sentative example. A GC flame ionization
detector however could not identify these
tiny amounts.
In order to confirm the above identified
compounds to be of larval origin, GC/MS
analysis of the hexane extract
of the cuticular components from the A.
aegypti larvae was performed under iden-
tical conditions using selected ion monitor-
ing procedure corresponding to the m/z
values 254, 270, 296, 310 and 408. The
retention times and mass spectra of the
peaks were in agreement with the com-
pounds obtained from the LCW extract as
well as with the authentic samples. From
1296
Extracts of LCW
Retention time 20.20 min
Standard Heneicosane
Retention time 20.20 min
this it is evident that the origin of heneico-
sane and other identified components must
be from the larvae of A. aegypti in the
LCW.
We evaluated in the laboratory the ovi-
position attractancy essentially based on
the method described by Allan and Kline3
with slight modification of the above five
commercially available chemicals either
individually at various concentrations or as
a mixture. We varied the concentration of
heneicosane (6.9, 69, 690; 50, 69, 90 ppm)
in these experiments. This showed that
heneicosane is the most promis-
ing oviposition attractant for A. aegypti
females. The eggs laid per replicate
(mean ± SE, n = 50) were 67.83 ± 10.79 in
control water whereas eggs laid per repli-
cate were 121.00 ± 16.26 (P < 0.01) in
heneicosane-treated water at 69 ppm. Fur-
ther comparison of egg laying was made
with tap water, yeast water and heneico-
sane-treated water. While there was no
statistical difference between the first two,
there was 2-fold increase in heneicosane-
treated water in comparison to the other
two controls. However the eggs laid per
replicate were comparatively less than in
the LCW (eggs per replicate 179.00 ±
15.55, mean ± SE, n = 30) suggesting the
possibility of the presence of some minor
undetectable components.
Oviposition attractants may have seve-
ral benefits for the insect species. How-
ever, the oviposition behaviour of vectors7
is not yet fully studied. The oviposition-
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 78, NO. 11, 10 JUNE 2000
attractant pheromone identified can be
combined with novel vector control strate-
gies (Shri Prakash et al., unpublished).
1. Osgood, C. E., J. Econ. Entomol., 1971,
64, 1038–1041.
2. Kalpage, K. S. P. and Brust, R. A., Envi-
ron. Entomol., 1973, 265, 729–730.
3. Allan, S. A. and Kline, D. L., J. Med.
Entomol., 1998, 35, 943–947.
4. McCrae, A. W. R., Ann. Trop. Med.
Parasitol., 1984, 78, 307–318.
5. Bentley, M. D. and Day, J. F., Annu. Rev.
Entomol., 1989, 34, 401–421.
6. Soman, R. S. and Reuben, R., J. Med. En-
tomol., 1970, 7, 485–489.
7. McCall, P. J., Parasitol. Today, 1995, 11,
352–355.
Received 4 February 2000; revised accepted
6 April 2000
M. J. M ENDKI
K. GANESAN
SHRI PRAKASH *
M. V. S. SURYANARAYANA
R. C. MALHOTRA
K. M. RAO
R. VAIDYANATHASWAMY
Defence Research & Development
Establishment,
Jhansi Road,
Gwalior 474 002, India
*For correspondence
(e-mail: drde@gwr1.dot.net.in)