International Colloquium on Biotechnology

The Chief Guest Prof. Ajaib Singh Brar, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar congratulated the Principal, Member of Biotechnology Department for Organising International Colloquium on Biotechnology. He said that 21st century is a century of biotechnology. Biotechnology is a complex subject, it’s a combination of all sciences. It is an attempt to know the nature. He said it is a 2000 year old subject. Highlighting the various aspect of biotechnology like plant, medicine fermentation, information etc. he pointed out that there is a serious need to co-relate the scientific development, progress with employment. He also stressed upon the modernisation of labs for quality research. He said, Such Conferences, also provide a platform for young inquisitive minds to interact, to brainstorm and to learn. It is also a platform to know and be known.

Dr. Amitab Mishra, Manager (Biotechnology), NRDC, New Delhi, congratulated the principal, members of biotechnology department for orginsing this great event. He ensured all support of his department to the college for Development in the field of science.

Key-note: Dr. E. Momotani, Senior Research Scientist, NARO, Japan presented his key-note address. Speaking on the topic Pathogenesis and Control of Paratuberculosis- Importance of Discovery and its Application, he said that Johne’s disease (JD), caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), is a chronic and progressive granulomatous enteritis that affects many ruminants and other wild/livestock animals worldwide . In the United States, JD causes an estimated annual loss of $220 million to the agricultural economy. Prevalence of JD in cattle in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the US ranges from 10 to 60%. In Japan, all dairy cattle (1 million head counts) have been examined for JD every 5 years by using ELISA and bacterial culture. About 1,000 of 500,000 examined cattle were diagnosed as JD positive, most of them showed minor or no clinical sign and typical lesion. The eradication of JD, it is very important to develop a method

that can detect MAP infection before the infected animals start shedding MAP organisms to the environment.

Dr. S.V. Singh, Principal Scientist, Central Institute for Research on Goats, MATHURA (UP) presented his paper on Therapeutic Aspects of Indigenous Johne’s Disease Vaccine. He said that India possess substantially large population (>485 million) of domestic livestock and is presently ranked second after China with respect to human population in the world. Livestock husbandry is very popular means of livelihood and nutritional security and is source of income to the millions of poor and marginal farmers in India. Livestock sector contributes, 5.26% of the total GDP and share 30.0% GDP of agriculture sector (FAO, 2007). Of the total working population, 5.5% is dependent on livestock sector for their livelihood and income. Therefore a significant proportion of poor people (rural and urban) survive by keeping few animals for milk and meat purpose on community and government grazing resources. Presently, India is the leading milk producer and ranked

second in meat production in the world. However, per animal productivity is much below the Asian and world averages (Bajarbaruah and Joseph 2008). Factors that contribute greatly toward the reduced productivity is the presence of chronic infectious diseases that are difficult to diagnose and control. Among the chronic infections, incurable paratuberculosis or Johne’s disease (JD) caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) is most important and responsible for serious economic losses in terms of productivity.

Dr. Swati Subodh, The Centre for Genomic Application (An IGIB-IMM Collaboration), New Delhi presented his paper on Microarray (Understanding the genetic network). He said that dramatic changes are being registered as a consequence of the development of techniques and tools that allow the collection of biological information at an unprecedented level of detail and in extremely large quantities. The nature and amount of information now available open directions of research that were once in the realm of science fiction. Pharmacogenomics, diagnostics and drug target identification are just a few of the many areas that have the potential to use this information to change dramatically the scientific landscape in the life sciences. Microarray is one of the ways in which a burgeoning amount of data can be viewed at a global scale and sieved to understandable, coherent information for the researcher.

Dr. Pravin K Singh, Scientific Technical Executive, VitaeGen Biotech, Varanasi presented his paper on Gene Therapy: A New Millennium Drug. He said that Gene therapy (GT) is a form of molecular medicine that has the potential to cure many of life-threatened human diseases. It has progressed from a dream to a bedside reality in quite a few human diseases. GT is a technique for correcting defective genes responsible for disease development.

Dr. Sharada M. Potukuchi1,School of Biotechnology, College of Engineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, J&K presented his paper on Modulation of Plant Metabolite Production Through Elicitation: Production of Bacosides from Bacopa Monnieri. He said that Higher plant species synthesize various secondary metabolites which are endogenous compounds containing specialized biomolecules. The study of the biosynthesis of these specialized compounds (Medicinal Plant Biotechnology) can best be analyzed and manipulated using in vitro cultured plant tissues in the form of, callus suspension, multiple shoot, axenic root, somatic embryos, transformed organ cultures or regenerated plantlets. Use of in vitro cultures has pushed this science to realm of technological applications by providing the base for modern biotechnology because of their easier techniques of conservation, propagation, improvement and utilization and added new dimensions using genetically

transformed tissues.

Similarly the other Scholars presented their papers on different aspects of biotechnology.

On the 2nd day the interaction among the scholars, scientists, continues on different aspects of biotechnology. Dr. Manjinder Singh Khera, Centre For Water And Wastewater Technology, Department Of Biotechnology And Food Technology, Durban University Of Technology, Durban, South Africa presented his paper on A New Industrial Paradigm: Cultivation and Processing of Microalgae into Valuable Consumer Products. In his paper he said Microalgae biotechnology has recently emerged into the lime light owing to numerous consumer products that can be harnessed from microalgae. Product portfolio stretches from straightforward biomass production for food and animal feed to valuable products extracted from microalgal biomass, including triglycerides which can be converted into bio-diesel. For most of these applications, the production process is moderately economically-viable and the market is developing. Considering the enormous biodiversity of microalgae and recent

developments in genetic and metabolic engineering, this group of organisms represents one of the most promising sources for new products and applications. With the development of detailed culture and screening techniques, microalgal biotechnology can meet the high demands of food, energy and pharmaceutical industries. This review article discusses the technology and production platforms for development and creation of different valuable consumer products from microalgal species. The discussion encompasses recycling of carbon dioxide for microalgal biomass production and subsequent utilisation of biomass to create valuable and vital commodities.

Dr. Pratap Kumar Pati, Head, Department of Biotechnology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar presented his paper on Biotechnological Approaches Towards Enhancement of Commercial Value of withania somnifera (l.) dunal. He said Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal known as ‘ashwagandha’ or ‘asgandh’ has a high repute in traditional Indian medicine, and is one of the most extensively used plant in Ayurveda and Unani medicines. It belongs to the family Solanaceae and besides India, it is wide spread in Africa, Mediterranean region and middle-east. In pharmaceutical industries, roots are used as major source of alkaloids. Some of the major alkaloids are tropine, pseudotropine and somniferine. Besides alkaloid, W. somnifera possesses other secondary metabolites, such as, withaferin-A, withanoloides, flavonol glycosides, glycowithanolides, sterols, and phenolics. It possesses immense therapeutic value against a large number of ailments such as mental

diseases, asthma, inflammation, arthritis, rheumatism, tuberculosis and a variety of other diseases including cancer. It is also called ‘Indian Ginseng’ for its rejuvenating properties.

Dr. Sukesh Chander Sharma, Department of Biochemistry Panjab university, Chandigarh presented his paper on Role of Hal5p: A Protein Kinase in Ethanol Tolerance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. He said It is quite well known that presence of ethanol above critical level is a major stress factor even to ethanologenic micro-organisms. Ethanol concentration above the threshold level evokes water /osmotic stress by selectively leaking intracellular K+ as one of the key factors and also by oxidative stress thereby leading to loss of cell viability. In addition, trehalose and glutathione molecules have been reported to be the key molecules counteracting oxidative stress in microorganisms. Recently, Hal5p a protein kinase has been reported to activate uptake of K+ when cells are exposed stressing conditions. Several strategies have been to alleviate toxic affect of ethanol.

Prof. J. S. Virdi, Microbial Pathogenicity Lab., Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi South Campus Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi presented paper on Genomics of Yersinia enterocolitica – An Enteric Pathogen. He said Yersinia enterocolitica, an important food- and water-borne gastrointestinal agent (Sharma et al. 2003) is known to cause syndromes ranging from acute gastroenteritis to more invasive syndromes like terminal ileitis, mesenteric lymphadenitis and septicemia Post-infectious sequelae include erythema nodosum and reactive arthritis. Pigs and water have been regarded as the major reservoirs of Y. enterocolitica and the organism is transmitted to humans by consumption of contaminated food and water (Bottone, 1999). Biochemically and serologically Y. enterocolitica is an extremely heterogeneous organism, which is represented by six biotypes viz. 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and about 70 serotypes.

Exhibition : On this occasion an exhibition concerning Biotechnology was also organized. Nearly 100 posters were made on theme showing the different aspects of Biotechnology and its impact on the life of individual. A jury comprises Prof. J. S. Virdi, Dr. Amitabh Mishra, Dr. S P Singh, Dr. Sharda, judged the posters and 1st prize go to Kamaljeet Kaur, Second to Priyanka Mahajan and third to Vasundra Sharma.

Valedictory - Justice A L Bahri, Vice-President, DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi was the Chief guest of the function. Prof. Subash Chander from USA was the Guest of Honour. Justice A L Bahri congratulated the Principal, Member of Biotechnology Department for Organising this great event. He said that knowledge is on the cheaps and tips. It is easy to acquire knowledge in this age of science but the use of that knowledge is makes the difference. He suggested the young scientists to hardwork and to use the knowledge for betterment of community.

On this occasion, the delegates, experts, scientists who have come from all parts of country were honoured. The different rapporteurs of 2-day international colloquium Dr. Komal Arora, Dr. Sanjay Sharma, Prof. Anu Gupta, Prof. Jagdeep Singh Sohal presented their reports. Dr. Renuka Malhotra, Head Department of Biotechnology proposed vote of thanks.

Nearly 400 delegates from all parts of the country participated in the Colloquium. A healthy interaction on various aspects of biotechnology made the day quite fruitful. Nearly 60 research papers were presented. A souvenir containing the research papers was released on the occasion. Posters exhibition containing posters on different aspects of science was also organized. On this occasion alongwith the members of biotechnology and staff members, chairman local committee Seth Kundal Lal, Programme was conducted by Dr. Renuka Malhotra, Head Department of Biotechnology, Prof. Sharad Mancho & Prof. Kanwar Rajiv.