Programme Area 300
The three sub-thematic areas in the Biotechnology Programme at MSSRF use cutting-edge biotechnological tools that address different areas of research, namely, crop abiotic stress tolerance and nutritional enhancement, developing microbial products for promoting crop yield enhancement and isolating novel compounds of pharmaceutical importance from lichen species. Under the subtheme ‘Genetic Enhancement’, the study of mechanisms governing salinity tolerance in halophytic wild rice Oryza coarctata using transcriptomic, cell and molecular biological methods has been continued. In addition, mechanisms conferring salinity tolerance to cultivated rice Oryza sativa L. landraces have also been elucidated. The subtheme ‘Bioprospecting’ established additional lichen cultures and subcultures for the biosynthesis of secondary compounds and a lead molecule. The group also carried out a baseline survey on non-timber forest product (NTFP) collectors, especially lichen collectors in the lower Palani Hills. Under the subtheme ‘Microbial Diversity’, screening and characterization of micronutrient-mobilizing plant-growth-promoting strains and whole genome sequence analysis of the Pseudomonas sp. MSSRFD41 have been carried out. Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) synthesizing and catabolizing bacterial strains have been isolated and characterized.
