| Director |
Dr. R. Tuli
National Botanical Research Institute
Rana Pratap Marg Lucknow - 226 001
U.P., India
Phone: +91-522-2205831-35
Fax: +91-522-2282836, 2205839
Website : http://www.nbri-lko.org
| R & D Activities in Biotechnology |
AN ARTIFICIALLY DESIGNED
(DNA) - GENE EXPRESSION
An Artificially Designed DNA Sequence for Activation of Gene Expression
and Regulation of Transcription in both Directions.
MOLECULAR TAXONOMY
Molecular taxonomy for molecular characterization of species developed by the Institute so as to protect IPR of the plant resources of India.
BIOINFORMATICS & BIOTECHNOLOGY
NIBRI Bioinformatics is acting as the South Asian Regional Center of ILDIS, and has established an advanced Phase I Database of Legumes of eight South Asian countries, namely, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and Maldives in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK and University of Reading, UK under the aegis of ILDIS. The South Asian Legume Database has been edited by renowned legume tribe coordinators, and it is now probably the first of its kind in South Asia.
BIOMASS BIOLOGY
The group has evaluated over 80 tree and shrub species for their survival, establishment and productivity at its center. Tree improvement studies (species selection, provenance evaluation, half-sib progeny testing) have been carried out in several species such as Azadirachta indica, Prosopis juliflora, Acacia nilotica, Terminalia aijuna, Albizia procera etc. The group is distinct for its expertise on Neem. It is a major partner of the National Neem Network. Neem is the Potential tree for biotechnological studies.
PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY - GENE EXPRESSION
The mission of the group is to understand and unravel various phenomena in the life cycle of a plant, which it undergoes or encounters. Using tools of physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and genetic engineering unfold underlying mechanism of various useful traits, develop state-of-the-art technologies for crop improvement through gene transfer and optimize efficient and environmentally friendly sustainable production system. Specific crops chosen for these studies are banana, cotton and
Populus.
PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY - GENOMICS
Development of stable transgenic plants of chickpea/pigeonpea and tomato expressing BT-endotoxin gene for insect pest resistance.
PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY - TRANSGENICS
The group possesses knowledge base and technical expertise in the area of plant molecular biology and genetic engineering of crop plants for basic research and industrial applications. The group has advanced expertise in the designing and chemical synthesis of genes and plant expression systems. Present activities aim at the development of genetically engineered plants for agronomically improved transgenic cultivars, edible vaccines, industrially valuable proteins and basic studies on gene expression, metabolic engineering, plant development, environment responses and phytodiversity.
| Biotechnology Resource Person |
| Name | Designation | Qualification | Research Experience | Area of Specialization |
| Dr. R. Tuli | Director | Ph.D | 25 years | Molecular Genetics, Biotechnology |
| Dr. Sudershan Kumar | Scientist | Ph.D | 20 years | Bioinformatics |
| Dr. H. M. Behl | Scientist | Ph.D | 30 years | Biomass Biology |
| Dr. Pravendra Nath | Scientist | Ph.D | 25 years | Plant Molecular Biology - Gene Expression |
| Dr. D. V. Amla | Scientist | Ph.D | 25 years | Plant Molecular Biology - Genomics |
| Major Biotechnology Research Publications |
Please refer to website http://www.nbri-lko.org
| Technologies |
Agro-technology, Gladiolus, Tuberose
Protected Environment Nurseries technology, which is useful for commercial nurseries, clonal propagation for forest and horticulture species and propagation of medicinal and other species that require specific conditions.
Tree improvement: Studies were conducted on species suitable for plantation on waste lands, degraded soil sites and agro forestry tree and shrub species such as Prosopis julifora, Acacia nilotica, Terminalia arjuna, Azadirachta indica, Albizia procera etc. Selected seeds (small quantities) of non-forest tree species are provided on request.
Breakthrough technologies have been developed for clonal propagation of important tree and shrub species. Clonal propagation in sheesham (Dalbergia sissoo), teak (Tectona grandis), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Aonla (Emblica officinalis), guava (Psidium guaja) and several shrub species. Technology for clonal propagation has been imparted to Forest department, World Bank sponsored Horticulture programs and to private entrepreneurs.
Land use management for waste and degraded soil sites such as and lands and semiarid sodic (usar) soil sites as these sites are often poor in productivity and have poor tree cover. Studies are conducted to select suitable tree and shrub species, tree improvement, optimizing productivity and improve nutrient cycling. Greening of sites with degraded soil types is a specialty of the group.
Technologies have been developed for integrated organic management of the fields.
Techniques of genetic engineering have been applied to promote preferential rhizosphere colonization of bacteria by engineering host plant to confer a superior ability to use a novel substrate and an efficient greenhouse assay was developed to evaluate the root colonizing capability of the native rhizospheric bacterial population. Findings published in impact factor microbiology journals along with Indian and U.S. patents should further the understanding of the involvement of rhizosphere competent bacteria for stable and consistent biological seed treatment.
A novel technology of phytoremediation was developed for the abatement of metal contaminated sites.
Know-how was developed to vegetate the fly-ash landfills with suitable tree/shrub species to overcome the problem of fly ash entering the atmosphere, causing health hazards.
Technical know-how for dehydration of foliage and flowers and floral craft.
Developed technique for preservation of fresh flowers and maintaining their natural colour.
Expertise in tissue and organ culture of economic plants, which include medicinal plants, ornamentals, fruits and forest trees, mainly with the objective of micropropagation/ cloning of even intractable-to-regenerate and difficult-to-root plants as well as development of in vitro strategies for gerrnpaism preservation in order to develop a Tissue or Gene Bank.
An in vitro technology for rapid mass clonal multiplication of the most promising trees of social forestry, namely, Populus deltoids has been developed and transferred to the Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi for upscaling and mass production of clonal plants for afforestation. The technology has also been taken up for commercial launching by NVs Cadila Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Ahmedabad. On this technology, a National Award has been given for Development of Technology for Advancement of Science: Biotechnology Efforts for the year 2000 by DBT/ DST, Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi.
A breakthrough at the international level has been made for the regeneration of complete plants of some commercially important Citrus species through culture of excised shoot meristem measuring less than I mm in length.
An innovative method of germplasm preservation through regenerative excised root cultures has been developed for a number of economic plants, including trees.
Standardized some important herbal drugs, such as 'Jivak', 'Gandira', 'Palash", etc.
| Technology Transferred / Developed |
Technology for the preparation of Herbal Beer from plants resources was transferred by the Institute toM/s. ANJS Exports Pvt. Ltd. Kanpur
A 1671 bp long DNA sequence coding for strategically designed rabies virus coat protein gene was synthesized. The gene was introduced in tabacoo to express the protein for the purpose of developing plant-based vaccine.