Interview with Rohit Kotadiya - ASRB NET 2013 Qualified Candidate

'Indian Botanists Blog-o-Journal' arranged an exclusive interview with Rohit Kotadiya who has qualified Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board - National Eligiblity Test 2013 with 55% marks in unreserved category. We express our heartiest congratulations on his success. This important interview is being presented here which will be useful for the future aspirants of ASRB-NET.

Portable RT-PCR to Diagnose Plant Pathogens in Field

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Scientists from Texas A&M University, United States of America have developed a portable Real Time MicroChip PCR System to diagnose plant pathogens. The development was reported in PLOS ONE.

Arenga Pinnata offers free food and job with alcohol and energy

Rabish Chandra
@rabishchandra on twitter

Arenga pinnata PicCourtesy: wikipedia

National Geographic News portal published a story on this plant as a part of special series that explores energy issues. Though the news is old but its significance is always new as the whole world is looking for an alternate source of energy. The story talks about the feather palm Arenga pinnata as an important source of energy.  Marianne Lavelle for National Geographic News quotes Willie Smits, a tropical forest scientists, "The deep-rooted feather palm Arenga pinnata could serve as the core of a waste-free system that produces a premium organic sugar as well as the fuel alcohol, ethanol, providing food products and jobs to villagers while it helps preserve the existing native rain forest".  Find out more A Rain Forest Advocate Taps the Energy of the Sugar Palm

In India, in the eastern part, the sap is harvested for yielding jaggery or gur. Fibres produced from this plant  are highly durable, resistant to sea water and easy to process. It goes well in agroforestry systems too. In some parts this is used in traditional system of medicine and is considered for its stomachic pectoral diuretic and atihemophilic properties.
Domestication and further exploration of this plant needs more attention.

NET JRF -TAKE THE CHALLENGE (Multiple Choice Questions) - TERPENOIDS

NET JRF -TAKE THE CHALLENGE (Multiple Choice Questions) - ALGAE

DOWNLOAD ADMIT CARD and FORM NUMBER CSIR UGC NET JRF

 JOINT CSIR-UGC TEST FOR  JRF AND ELIGIBLILITY FOR LECTURERSHIP (NET)

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JOB ALERT - Applications are invited for the post of 181 Assistant Plant Protection Officer

Staff Selection Commission -NWR invites the applications for the post of Assistant Plant Protection Officer (APO)  in different categories in the Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage under Governemnt of India.

NET JRF -TAKE THE CHALLENGE (Multiple Choice Questions) - Photosynthesis

NET JRF -TAKE THE CHALLENGE (Multiple Choice Questions) - Structure of Plant

NET JRF -TAKE THE CHALLENGE (Multiple Choice Questions) - Gene Expression and Protein Synthesis

 To take the challenge ONLINE click here

1.An mRNA contains the following translated sequence, with the reading frame defined by the group of triplets: AUG CUC ACU UCA GGG AGA AGC  What amino acid would result from this sequence? If the first C encountered is deleted from the sequence what new amino acidsequence would result?

Herbal Products are Actually not Herbal in Many Cases.

Rabish Chandra 

@rabishchandra  (Views are personal)

     A group of researchers from Canada with the support of researchers from India (Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu) has detected contamination and substitution in forty four herbal products.

Textbook of Environmental Sciences by Divya Agarwal - A Review

Authored By Dr. Divya Agarwal Associate Professor and Dr. Manoj. K. Agarwal, Director (planning) in Accurate Institute of Management & Technology, Greater Noida; Comprehensive contents, Very simple language and clear-cut concepts, solved objective questions, Very-short, Short and Long questions. The value-added textbook includes the complete coverage of the syllabus laid down by versity Grants Commission (UGC), Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU) and Mahamaya Technical University (MTU). 

Indian Museum, Invites Application for the Post of Guide Lecturer (Botany)

Indian Museum, Kolkata invites application for the post of Guide Lecturer (Botany) along with other posts.

Post:  Guide Lecturer (Botany) 1 post (Unreserved)

Indian Institute of Science to Launch 'Online Digital Database' on Flora of Karnataka

Sankara K. Rao

Herbarium JCB, Center for Ecological Sciences
Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
Bangalore 560012, Karnataka, India
E-mail: bharadwaj@ces.iisc.ernet.in 

Introduction

    A conventional herbarium database maximizes the usefulness of the collection by providing authentic and lasting information. This information can effectively be used for the preservation of species and spaces (hábitats). Presently several herbaria, world over are actively engaged in developing digital databases for their collections. Herbarium at Centre for Ecological Sciences of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore which houses the specimen mainly from Karnataka is likely to be digitized and will be available online very soon.

Panormic view of one geographical region of Karnatka

   

3rd World Congress on Agroforestry - 10 - 14 February 2014 Delhi, India

 

Air layering for cloning elite genotypes of Kadamb, Neolamarckia cadamba (Roxb.) Bosser

Sanjay Singh

Botany, Silviculture and NWFP Division

Institute of Forest Productivity

Aranyodaya, NH-23, Lalgutwa, Ranchi- 835303, Jharkhand, India

E-mail: sanjaysingh@lycos.com; sanjaysingh@icfre.org

Download this article 

How to cite this article
Singh, Sanjay. 2013. Air layering for cloning elite genotypes of Kadamb, (Neolamarckia cadamba (Roxb.) Bosser. Indian Botanists Blog-o-Journal. http://www.indianbotanists.com/2013/09/air-layering-for-cloning-elite.html

National Conference on Emerging Trends in Medicinal Plants and Herbal Products

 

Status of Field Trials for Genetically Modified Plants in India

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The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) in India has approved experimental field trials for the purpose of generating biosafety data in respect of GM crops such as cotton, rice, castor, wheat, maize, tomato, groundnut, potato, sorghum, okra, brinjal, mustard, watermelon, papaya, sugarcane, rubber, banana, pigeon pea, Artemisia annua L. and chickpea. This was stated by Shrimati Jayanthi Natarajan Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on thursday 22nd August 2013.

Joint CSIR UGC test for NET JRF DECEMBER 2013

A. Date of Examination  22nd December 2013

Now Measure Photosynthesis from Space : NASA Scientists Use Satellites to Anticipate Plant Health

Seeing the above title you must have started recalling the different methods of measuring the rate of photosynthesis. Few methods used to measure the rate of photosynthesis conventionally are measuring the uptake of carbon dioxide, production of oxygen, production of carbohydrates and increase in dry mass. For these measurements certain devices and protocols are there through which rate of phtosynthesis can be obtained using some simple calculations. Infra-Red-Gas-Analyser is one device to measure the uptake of oxygen. All such methods one need to visit the plants to measure and observe photosynthesis. Health of plants is one factor which determines the rate of photosynthesis. But now NASA scientists have established a new way to use satellites to measure photosynthesis and have direct look at plant health.

NATIONAL SEMINAR ON TREE BIOTECHNOLOGY

Emerging Opportunities in Forestry and Tree Science

Rice Husk may be used to manufacture lithium ion batteries for cellphone, laptop etc.

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Yes! Very soon rice husk will be used to manufacture lithium ion batteries.

A group of scientists from different institutes from Korea has published their findings in PNAS. In their research paper they have reported that the silica layer present in the rice husk has developed an unique nanoporous structure naturally over a period of time. Taking advantage of this nanoporous structure they converted the silica to silicon and use it for high-capacity lithium battery anodes. The converted silicon exhibits excellent electrochemical performance as a lithium battery anode, suggesting that rice husks can be a massive resource for use in high-capacity lithium battery.

National Symposium Sponsored by Indian Phytopathological Society

For full circular click here

Web Link: http://www.crri.nic.in/national_symp_crurrs_circular.pdf

E-mail : ips.ezm2013@gmail.com

Traditianal Practice of Mango Plucking in Bihar, India

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Rabish Chandra

@rabishchandra on twitter

Mango is considered as 'The King of all Fruits' in India. Mangifera indica (Linn.) (scientific name for mango) belongs to family Anacardiaceae of plant kingdom. It is found wildly as well as several  introduced and cultivated varities also occurs in different parts of India. India occupies top position among mango growing countries of the world and produces 40.48% of the total world mango production (APEDA, 2010).

Life Cycle of a Leaf

Life Cycle of a Leaf shared by Sanjana Ghosh
@GHOSHGhosh93 on twitter

Death Before Life to Dalbergia Sissoo (Shisham) : Unfolding the Mysteries

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Rabish Chandra

@rabishchandra on twitter

'What will be its life'?...I asked.

'You have to contact a wood expert for that', he said. 

Wood expert!

Yes, he can only tell the life. 

But, I am a botanist, I can also tell it's life. Provided if you can tell the name of the plant of which it is made.

Gentleman, as a botanist you may tell the life of a live plant, but not the dead one and the life of any timber plants is counted only after it dies.

Ok. Ok. But is not made up of Shisham? I mean Dalbergia sissoo.

International Algae Congress - 2013

The main theme of the congress is Succesful Algae Applications in Aquaculture and Agriculture.

National Awards to Recognise and Promote Excellence in Coconut Cultivation and Marketing

Coconut Development Board under Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India has instituted national level awards to recognise and promote excellence in coconut cultivation and marketing. The awards carrying cash prize ranging from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000 will be given in 20 categories.

TRAINING-CUM-WORKSHOP ON ESSENTIAL OILS, PERFUMERY & AROMATHERAPY

Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre (FFDC) an autonomous body under Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, shall be conducting TRAINING-CUM-WORKSHOP ON ESSENTIAL OILS, PERFUMERY & AROMATHERAPY.

Impact of climate change on agriculture: an overview

Anjali Kumari
Research Associate

Plant Pathology, ICAR Research complex for Eastern Region

Palandu, Ranchi, Pin Code 834001

Jharkhand, India

How to cite this article

Kumari, Anjali. 2013. Impact of climate change on agriculture: an overview. Indian Botanists Blog-o-Journal.  http://www.indianbotanists.com/2013/06/impact-of-climate-change-on-agriculture.html

Introduction

Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth’s global climate or in regional climate over time. It describes changes in the state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years.

Global Plants: An Online Plants' 'Type Specimen' Database

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Marita La Monica
Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications

ITHAKA (www.ithaka.org)

151 East 61st Street

New York, NY 10065

Global Plants http://www.plants.jstor.org is a community-contributed database where worldwide herbaria can share their plant type specimens, experts can determine and update naming structures, students can discover and learn about plants in context, and a record of plant life can be preserved for future generations. The Global Plants Initiative (GPI), a collaboration of more than 270 herbaria in 70 countries, and JSTOR, a service of ITHAKA, released Global Plants a couple of months ago.

ROLE OF BIOINFORMATICS IN PLANT SCIENCES

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Shubhra Verma

M.Sc Bioinformatics

Department of Bioinformatics, Birla Institute of Technology

Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Bioinformatics is the study of biological data using information tools. Bioinformatics is a combination of computer, mathematics algorithm and statistics with concept in life science to solve biological problem. The main task of bioinformatics is to manage and analyse the biological data. Bioinformatics has a number of applications in animal as well as in plant biology.

International Day for Biological Diversity - 22nd May

Biocontrol: Need of the Hour in Indian Agriculture

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Ritesh Kumar
Senior Research Fellow (Plant Pathology)
ICAR Research Complex for Eastern Region-Research Centre

Ranchi-834010 Jharkhand, India 

Email id.- ritesh.nstt@gmail.com

According to Cook and Baker (1983) ‘Biological control is the reduction of the amount of inoculum or disease producing activity of a pathogen accomplished by or through one or more organisms other than man’. The terms “biological control” and its abbreviated synonym “biocontrol” have been used in different fields of biology, most notably entomology and plant pathology. In entomology, it has been used to describe the use of live predatory insects, entomopathogenic nematodes, or microbial pathogens to suppress populations of different pest insects. In plant pathology, the term applies to the use of microbial antagonists to suppress diseases as well as the use of host specific pathogens to control weed populations (Pal et al., 2006). In both fields, the organism that suppresses the pest or pathogen is referred to as the biological control agent (BCA). More broadly, the term biological control may also be applied to the use of the natural products extracted or fermented from various sources. These formulations may be very simple mixtures of natural ingredients with specific activities or complex mixtures with multiple effects on the host as well as the target pest or pathogen.

Conservation and Management of Mangroves and Coral Reefs in India

Ministry of Environment and Forests, Republic of India on Thursday (16th May 2013) through Press Information Bureau, informed that the Government seeks to protect, sustain and augment mangroves and coral reef in the country by both regulatory and promotional measures. Under the regulatory measures, the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification (2011) and the Island Protection Zone (IPZ) Notification 2011 regulates the development activities along the Sea coast and tidal influenced water bodies.

'Glowing Plants' : KickStart (Interview) with Antony Evans

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The concept of Glowing Plants is gaining more popularity on internet and among scientific communities in the last couple of months. In this regard Indian Botanists Blog-o-Journal also published an article, Will 'Glowing Plants' Replace Street Lights? recently. A group of biologists under the project ‘Glowing Plants’, aims to create a glow-in-the-dark plant using synthetic biology techniques. Will this replace the traditional street lights with glowing plants and trees in dark in near future? Rabish Chandra member of Indian Botanists Blog-o-Journal spoke to Antony Evans, Project Manager, Glowing Plant Project to understand about their ambitious project.

Will 'Glowing Plants' Replace Street Lights?

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Gangadhar Panday

Actor & short filmmaker

Author runs Babul Films to spread ecological awareness

Email: gangadhar@babulfilms.in

Can you recall the glowing vegetation in Avatar, an Oscar winning sci-fi movie by James Cameroon? It is high quality digital art and graphics. Films do complement the process of invention. Imagine trees as streetlamps, potted flowers that give reading light. Well, some biologists have started a project to develop glowing plants to make this a reality. These do-it-yourself experiments and also some institutional efforts use synthetic biology and genetic engineering to commercialize glowing plants, starting with ornamental ones.

Forest Cover in India: An Analysis

Forest Cover is defined as “All lands more than one hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10 % irrespective of ownership and legal status. Such lands may not necessarily be a recorded forest area. It also includes orchards bamboo and palm.”

Epiphyllum oxypetallum (Brahmakamal) : Orchid Cactus- An interesting plant

Dr Ichha Purak
Professor, Ranchi Womens College
Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Epiphyllum oxypetalum is a very interesting and unique plant. It belongs to Family Cactaceae. It is commonly known as Night blooming Cereus, Queen of the night, Lady of the night as its beautiful Lotus like flower blooms late night. In India it is called as Brahma Kamal ( ब्रह्मकमल ) and is treated as a sacred plant. It is popularly known as Orchid Cactus as the flower has orchid like beauty and plant resembles cactus in habit. It is known by different common names in different parts of the world viz. Jungle cactus, Dutchman's Pipe

International Mother Earth Day - 22nd April

Reaffirming the Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held at Johannesburg, South Africa on 26 August – 4 September 2002, United Nation General Assembly, on 1st May 2009 acknowledged that the Earth and its ecosystems are our home, and convinced that in order to achieve a just balance among the economic, social, and environmental needs of present and future generations, it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and the Earth. It was recognized that Mother Earth is a common expression for the planet earth in a number of countries and regions, which reflects the interdependence that exists among human beings, other living species and the planet we all inhabit, Noting that Earth Day is observed each year in many countries, United Nation General Assembly passed a resolution which decided to designate 22 April as International Mother Earth Day.

What Seduces Megaspore?

    Before actually entering into details, let us take you to secondary school where you might have studied the process of megaspore formation (megasporogenesis). During megasporogenesis megaspore mother cell (MMC) undergoes meiosis to produce four haploid cells called ‘megaspores’. Depending upon the pattern of cell plate and haploid cell formation it can be monosporic, bisporic or tetrasporic. 70% of angiospermic plants are monosporic (also called polygonum type), where out of four uninucleate megaspore, three degenerates resulting to a single functional megaspore (FM). It is well established that the functional megaspore then undergoes further process to form female gametophyte. However, the genetic basis and molecular mechanisms that determine the specification and fate of haploid cells remain unknown.

Indian Botanists

90% of the Natural Landscape of Western Ghats are Ecologically Sensitive

Western Ghats; Photo: keystone-foundation

HIGH LEVEL WORKING GROUP (HLWG) ON WESTERN GHATS headed by Dr. K. Kasturirangan, on Wednesday, April 17th 2013 submitted their report to Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), Government of India. Working Group proposes protecting 90 Per Cent of the Region’s ‘Natural Landscape’ as Ecological Sensitive Area.

The Working Group was constituted to advise the Government on the recommendations of an earlier report – that of the eminent ecologist Madhav Gadgil-led Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel (WGEEP). The WGEEP had recommended that the entire Western Ghats should be declared as an ecologically sensitive area; had suggested three levels of categorization where regulatory measures for protection would be imposed and had recommended the establishment of the Western Ghats Ecology Authority for management. In August 2012, MoEF constituted the High Level Working Group (HLWG) to examine the large numbers of public responses received to the recommendations of the Gadgil report and to suggest the way ahead.

BOTANY and NAMES - BioDiEt

Gangadhar Panday

Actor & short filmmaker. Author runs Babul Films to spread ecological awareness.

Email: gangadhar@babulfilms.in

    Yes. It is about names like you all thought of, yet it is not. Not, because I am not talking about the Botanical Nomenclature - the formal, scientific naming of plants; and definitely not about ICN or International Code of Botanical Nomenclature - ICBN.

     It is all about the places that are named after seeds, fruits, plants, trees and anything that is botanical.

    It is pertinent here to rewind my timeline by a couple of months. After having written the first article on Botany and Cinema (Light Action and Camera with Plant Sciences, published on Indian Botanists Blog-o-Journal on December 6th 2012), I was struggling to find more material for my next article. True, I was busy with Cinema and in promoting my recently formed NGO and trying to find a sustainable revenue model for it. Having worked for the Government for almost three decades, I realised that it is not an easy task adjusting to the open market conditions. Rabish Chandra gently reminded me about my next text with pictures. A kind of panic started in me and I was feeling more helpless, for the topic demanded heavy research and in depth knowledge, a really time consuming process.

TERPENOIDS : CLASSIFICATION, PROPERTIES, ISOLATION AND APPLICATION

Terpenoids are volatile substances which give plants and flowers their fragrance. They occur widely in the leaves and fruits of higher plants, conifers, citrus and eucalyptus. The rate of discovery of new terpenoids has increased over the last ten years largely as a result of the increase in the sophistication of separation and analytical techniques.

Ant Pollination Changes the Sugar Composition of Floral Nectar

Pollination through ants is called Mirmicophilly. Though several studies indicates that ants are ineffictive pollinators. A recent studies by Vega and Herrera have revealed that ant pollination indirectly changes the sugar composition of the floral nectar. This potential relevance can be an interesting topic for future research.

Government to Encourage Scientists Engaged in Quality Research & Development

Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India on Monday (1st April 2013) in a press release through Press Information Bureau has announced that the Government has taken a number of steps to encourage scientists to engage in quality research and development. 

Last three year performance of Indian states in Biotechnological Research

In our previous post we analysed the position of all states of India with regard to biotechnological research based on the number of ongoing projects funded by Department of Biotechnology as March 6th 2013. Based on the number of ongoing projects we categorised different states into three groups. States falling under different group are shown in table.

Biotechnological Research in Indian States: An Analysis

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    Department of Biotechnology, Government of India sanctions grant and funds to various institutes and organisations to conduct research and development in the field of biotechnology. Based on some data released by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) available on http://www.data.gov.in, Indian Botanists Blog-o-Journal took an attempt to analyse the position of each states of India with regard to biotechnological research. Let us see the number of ongoing projects in different states. Based on the number of ongoing projects (as on March 6th 2013) we have categorised different states into three groups.

Software for Automated Analysis of Phytoplankton

    Phytoplankton, also known as microalgae is an important bio-indicator for water quality. Water quality is of great concern to administrative authorities as it not only affects human health but also have other negative environmental impact. Conventional laboratory analyses of water quality which includes classification and analyses of phytoplankton are time consuming and requires special attention to quality control. Schulze et.al., have developed an automated system for the analysis of phytoplankton.

Difficult to Move Ahead Without Taxonomy and Taxonomists

    If you are a plant biologist (botanist), people around you expect you to recognize and identify plants in the surrounding areas and this irrespective of the branch of botany you have specialised in. It has been observed that many botanists having expertise in molecular plant biology, plant physiology, plant pathology face embarrassing situation when they are not able to identify and recognise plants. Scientifically, before starting any project with any plant it has to be certified by any taxonomical organisation and or taxonomists, so that it can be ascertained that the specimen collected is the correct plant. Moreover, taxonomists play an important role in studying the biodiversity of any region, nation and ultimately the planet. They also play an important role in identifying and integrating the traditional knowledge with scientific arena, though the individual may be ethnobotanist but their secondary stage is often attributed as taxonomists.

http://www.indianbotanists.com crossed 3500 hits in just a few months.

Biochemical Society, London Announces 'Science Communication Competition

Tomato Engineering - Understanding Fruit Development and Ripening Parameters

Tomato is an important ingredient of many Indian dishes. In many parts of Indian states you can't think of food with tomato. It is consumed in different forms such as tomato sauce, ketchup, condiments, added flavours, salad, etc. In southern part of India tomato-rice (takkali sadam) is one of the popular dish which is prepared adding tomato with rice. It adds sourness to the food and also it is used as base for gravy holding the spices and onion together.

32nd New Phytologist Symposium : 20 – 22 November, 2013

Symposium Title: ‘Plant interactions with other organisms: molecules, ecology and evolution’

International Trade of Rosewoods and Ebonies from Asia, Central America and Madagascar will now be regulated by CITES

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) triennial World’s Wildlife Conference which closed today on 14th March 2013 took decisive action to protect precious timber and marine species from overexploitation.

In a press release CITES informed that international trade in a range of rosewoods (belongs to genus Dalbergia) and ebonies (belongs to genus Dyspyros) from Asia, Central America and Madagascar will now be regulated by the Convention. Rapidly rising demand for these precious tropical hardwoods has led to serious concerns that unregulated logging is depleting populations of already rare species.

The joint programme between CITES and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) will support the efforts of the countries concerned to strengthen their capacities to implement the Convention. Cross-border movement of wooden musical instruments was also addressed during the meeting. Special procedures under CITES have been agreed for musicians and institutions travelling with musical instruments containing precious woods such as Brazilian rosewood, and other productes of species listed by the Convention.

Sci-fi Facilities for Plant Sciences - National Plant Phenomics Centre

Arran Frood

Science Writer & Film Maker

 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Swindon, UK 

    

    Blink and the future has arrived. Many modern inventions, from huge and mighty stealth bombers to electric-hybrid vehicles and touchscreen smartphones seem to arrive in an instant. But their presence defines where we are now and where we may be going.

    The same could be said of the new multi-million pound National Plant Phenomics Centre (NPPC), the technological scale and capability of which provokes a similar “wow!” factor. ‘Phenomics’ is the large-scale study of physical characteristics and the NPPC is unique within the UK. It is the future of agricultural and horticultural science, where thousands of plant traits are automatically measured on a cyber-industrial scale and recorded digitally: a true monument to the information age.

Govt. of India has announced, 'Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy-2013

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The Government has announced the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy-2013 which aims to provide both investment of science led technology and innovation in select areas of socio-economic importance. 

Accordingly, the STI Policy seeks to: 

(i) Enhance India`s global share of scientific publications from the present 3.5% to 7.0 %; 

(ii) Establish world class infrastructure for Research and Development (R&D) in some select areas; 

(iii) Make careers in science, research and innovation attractive enough for talented and bright minds;

 (iv) Create an environment for enhanced private sector participation in R&D, technology and innovation;

 (v) Seed S&T based high risk Innovation; 

(vi) Participate in international R&D projects that are high cost and high science. 

Indian Botanists Remembers One Among Many Indian Women Botanists : Dr. Edavaleth Kakkat Janaki Ammal

 (On the Occasion of International Women's Day )

Dr. Edavaleth Kakkat Janaki Ammal

 Born - 4th November 1897

Schooling - Tellichery, Kerala

Bachelor’s degree - Queen Mary’s College, Madras (now Chennai)

Honours degree in Botany- Presidency College , Madras in 1921

Master’s degree - Universityof Michiganin, USA in 1925

DSc (Oriental Barbour Fellow)- Michigan in1931

Professor of Botany - Maharaja’s College of Science, Trivandrum Kerala (1932-34)

Geneticist - Sugarcane Breeding Institute at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (1934-1939)

Assistant Cytologist - JohnInnes Horticultural Institution, London (1940-50)

Cytologist -Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley during 1945–51

Special Officer - BotanicalSurvey of India (BSI), 1951

Served Govt. of India in various capacities - 1951 to 1970

Associated with Centre for Advanced Study in Botany, Universityof Madras as Emeritus Scientists.

List of Possibly Extinct Plant Species in India

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    Out of 19,156 species of vascular plants (Angiosperms, Gymnosperms, Pteridophytes) so far recorded from India, 1236 species belong to different threatened categories like Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, etc. Out of these, following 17 species of plants are considered as possibly extinct as they have not been collected from wild for more than last fifty years :

LAST DATE EXTENDED FOR JRF AND NET EXAMINATION SCHEDULED ON 23rd JUNE 2013

COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH (CSIR), 
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT GROUP, EXAMINATION UNIT 

has 
notified that the last date for sale of 
Information Bulletin and Application Form 

through designated branches of 
Indian Bank 
and 
Oriental Bank of Commerce 
has been extended from

 01.03.2013 to15.03.2013

Allocation for Agricultural Research and Education in Budget 2013-14.

  Shri P Chidambram, Finance Minister, Government of India proposed an allocation of Rs.27,049 crore to Ministry of Agriculture, of this, agricultural research will be provided Rs.3,415 crore.

         He proposed to support the eastern Indian States (Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal) with an allocation of Rs.1000 crore in 2013-14 to continue green revolution in terms of rice production.

        

Understanding Vitamin C Synthesis in Plants for Ecological Adaptation

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    Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) plays important roles in the growth and development of plants.Its metabolism and function had been studied in depth by Nicholas Smirnoff. Broadly the function of ascorbic acid in plants may be divided into four categories, i.e, i) antioxidant, ii) enzyme co-factor, iii) electron transport and iv) Oxalate and tartrate synthesis. Antioxidant function is relevant with photoprotection.

Your Suggestion and Feedback to make IndianBotanists more reachable.

Indian Botanists has become one of the fastest growing online platform for plant lovers in India and abroad. In a very short span of time it has reached to a number of students, researchers and other plant lovers.

Blue Fluorescent Emissions from Carnivorous Plant Attracts Prey: Indian Scientists

     Scientists from Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Pacha-Palode, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India have reported a new prey capture mechanism in some species of carnivorous plants. They found the existence of distinct blue fluorescence emissions at the 'capture spots' of Nepenthes, Sarracenia, Drosera, Pinguicula, Dionaea muscipula and Utricularia stellaris at UV 366 nm. When the capture spot was masked by coating a non-fluorescent extract, the pray capture was drastically reduced. The study has been published as a short research paper in  the current issue of  'Plant Biology' 

Indian Botanists first to report application of DAMD markers in Citrus

    Indian Botanists Dr. Susheel Kumar and Dr. K Narayanan Nair from Tissue Culture and Cryopreservation Unit, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi and  Plant Diversity, Systematics and Herbarium Division, CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow respectively have reported genetic variation and phylogenetic relationships among 50 wild and cultivated accessions of 19 Indian Citrus genotypes using Directed Amplification of Minisatellite DNA (DAMD) markers technique. DMAD is said to be reliable and reproducible DNA profiling technique. This technique have been used to study the genetic diversity for various other plants previously.

                       Citrus  [Photo: http://en.wikipedia.org]

     The report has been published online on Saturday, 16th February 2013 by one of the SpringerLink group Journal, 'Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution'. It is claimed that this is the first report on application of DAMD markers in Citrus.Their study demonstrates the resolving power of DAMD markers for discrimination of individual genotypes of Citrus under its respective species, hybrid or cultivar groups and inferring their genetic and phylogenetic relationships.

Source: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10722-013-9954-7

Drosera - Carnivorous Plant from Jharkhand, India

Dr. Sutanu Lal Bondya
Assistant Professor
PG Dept of Botany, SKM University
Dumka, Jharkhand, India
E-mail: sutanubondya_8@rediffmail.com

        Drosera sp. commonly known as sundews belongs to family droseraceae and is one of the largest genera of carnivrous plants. IUCN in their 'Red Data List' has listed atleast seven genera of Drosera including Indian Sundew - Drosera indica which has been categorised under least concern. Author reports a species of Drosera from Dumka district of Jharkhand, India.

Traditional uses of Drosera

It was found from the local elderly farmers and dwellers that this plant used to grow surrounding the rice field which is usually  little elevated from the remaining field so as to demarcate the individual field. Interestingly farmer was aware of  it's biological pest control, however not scientific. They use to leave the plant as it is. Still they reports that their number has decreased and this may be because people are more use to with chemical pesticides ignoring the natural control of pests. Phyto-sociological disturbance may be another reason for its decrease in number. It is also being used as ethnomedicine by the local healers as one of the ingredients of  ethnic-polyherbal formulation.

Drosera sp. from Dumka, Jharkhand, India    Photo: Dr. Sutanu Lal Bondya

Conservation

This 'red data' listed plant needs more attention and proper conservation is required. As this plant is ethnomedicinally important and can be used as natural control for pests, it can be explored more scientifically and systematically.

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RSVP

If you are a plant lover and you have any information with regard to any plant listed in IUCN-RED DATA, do share with other plant lovers. www.indianbotanists.com will publish your information on priority basis.

Training Programme on Medicinal Plant Extraction and Product Making

Venue 
Periyar College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu 
Organiser
Periyar Technology Business Incubator attached to the Periyar Maniammai University, Thanjavur
Sponsored by
Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi
Partcipants Eligiblity
Diploma/ degree holders in science or technology
Age Group
18-35 Years
Fee 
NIL

Starting date

Third week of February 

Contact Person

Coordinator N.S.Jeganathan , Ph. 9840503339 / 0431 – 2459911

News Source: http://bit.ly/12bcFOM

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Postdoctrol Position

Position  Postdoctoral Molecular Plant Pathologist

Institute The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA, Scotland, UK

Academic requirements
Applicants must have a PhD in a relevant subject, such as molecular plant pathology or fungal molecular biology.
 
Skills required
Essential:

• Applicants must show evidence of potential ability to produce good refereed journal papers.
• Ability to plan experiments, and to carry through plans.
• Good writing and communication skills in relation to scientific and non-scientific audiences.

Desirable:

• Good interpersonal skills.

Experience required
Essential:

• Understanding of molecular plant-pathogen interactions and the role of pathogen effectors in the development of infection.
• Experience in working aseptically.
• Experience in fungal transformation.

Desirable:

• Experience in generation and characterisation of knock-out fungal transformants, including pathogenicity testing.
• Experience in bioinformatics.

*Appointment of this post will be made under the terms of the James Hutton Institute Post-Doctoral Training Scheme and is available for 3 years

Further particulars and updates are available from www.hutton.ac.uk/careers.

Closing date Friday 8 March 2013.

The Sixth Mathematics in the Plant Sciences Study Group

[Reproduced from the website'The centre for plant integrative biology a centre for integrative systems biology' http://www.cpib.ac.uk]

The Sixth Mathematics in the Plant Sciences Study Group is taking place 25-28 March 2013 at the University Park campus of the University of Nottingham.

Date and time

The meeting will run from 10:00 on Monday 25 March and finish at 16:00 on Thursday 28 March.

Venue

The meeting will be held in the ESLC building on University Park Campus of the University of Nottingham

Accommodation & Meals

Participants will be staying in en-suite, single rooms in Lenton and Wortley Halls of Residence on University Park Campus. Accommodation for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights will be provided free of charge for participants who are external to University of Nottingham. All refreshments, lunches and dinners are provided free of charge for all registered participants.

For more details and any updates please visit  http://www.cpib.ac.uk/events/mpssgvi/