BTISNet site

GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY, AMRITSAR

About the Bioinformatics Centre

The Distributed Information Sub Centre (DISC) at Department of Biotechnology, Guru Nanak Dev University was established in the year 1995 with the financial assistance from DBT, Govt. of India, New Delhi to cater to the scientific information needs of the scientists and research fellows working in the University and other institutes of this region. The Centre is providing practical training in computer based applications, computer languages, software analysis, computational methods, sequence analysis tools, etc. to M.Sc. and Doctoral students. Training workshops are also organized at regular intervals to apprise the faculty and students about the latest developments in Bioinformatics. For more information Visit our site

Area of Specialization: The broader areas of research being pursued by the faculty in the Department are as under :

Plant Biotechnology
Medical Biotechnology:
Microbial Biotechnology
Structural and Computational Biology

About the Department

The Department of Biotechnology at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar was established in 1991 by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and is a constituent of National Network of thirty plus centers imparting job-oriented training to the students in Biotechnology. The Department is offering a two-year degree programme leading to M.Sc. in Biotechnology. The Department admits the students to a Postgraduate Biotechnology Programme through an All India Combined Entrance Test (AICET) conducted by Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and also on the basis of University test. The students selected through AICET in Biotechnology are awarded a scholarship of Rs.3000.00 P.M. throughout the two years of their study. The Department has well equipped teaching, research and computer laboratories for imparting training to the students and for carrying out basic/applied research in the areas of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics. The department is recognized by the university to carry out research for the Ph.D. degree in these areas.

Objectives

To provide services for analysis of biological data
To train the users in Bioinformatics by organizing workshops
To develop the databases and applications as per the requirements of research being carried out in the Department.

Achievements at a glance

Adequate Infrastructure along with requisite hardware and software have been procured at centre, and the facilities are being used by the faculty members and students of the University as well as neighboring Institutes. So far about 26500 users comprising of students, research fellows and teachers of Guru Nanak Dev University and Neighbouring Institutes have availed the services of this Centre.
A three credit point course module in Bioinformatics is also offered to M.Sc. Biotechnology students to impart them with hands on training on the use of various bioinformatics tools.
Since its inception in the year of 1995. The DISC has organized twelve workshops benefiting more than 199 users
A website of the department has been developed and being maintained
Development of various databases is underway and will be completed during the year 2014

Current Areas of Research

The broader areas of research being pursued by the faculty in the Department are as under :

Plant Biotechnology

Role of genes encoding peptidyl Prolyl Cis-Trans Isomerases in plants
Transgenic analysis for the role of genes involved in vesicle transport in abiotic stress tolerance of wheat
Studies are being carried out to understand the role calmodulin-binding proteins in abiotic stress tolerance of plants.
Study of leaf spot disease of Withania somnifera and development of a biotechnological approach for its resistance.
Molecular and biochemical approaches to study brassinosteroid mediated responses in rice using salt and pesticide stress:

Medical Biotechnology

Therapeutic potential applications of PSA mimetics in cell culture and mouse models of brain injury and disease:
Ashwagandha derived phytochemicals for development of differentiation-based therapy of brain cancers:
Cellular and molecular mechanisms of adverse effects of antiepileptic (AEDs) and mood stabilizing drugs:

Microbial Biotechnology

Characterization of cellulolytic microorganism
Myxobacteria as a potential source of antimicrobial activity

Structural and Computational Biology

Database/Applications developed

The Departmental website has been developed and integrated with the university website. The URL and a screenshot is as under :

Website of the centre

Databases on cell adhesion molecular in neuronal plasticity, MyxoDB and Plant NADPH oxidase in different species are being developed, which on completion will be integrated with the University Website.

A software application named etracker on lab inventory also being developed for efficient ordering and inventory process.

Faculty Members

Name	Designation
Dr. Prabhjeet Singh	Professor & Head Coordinator DISC
Dr. Gurcharan Kaur	Professor
Mr. Pramod Kumar Verma	Associate Professor
Dr. Pratap Kumar Pati	Associate Professor
Dr. Ramandeep Kaur	Assistant Professor (Senior Scale)
Dr. Prakash Chandra Mishra	Assistant Professor

Staff members working in the centre

Name	Designation
Mr. Bhupesh Kumar	Programmer
Mr. Harbhajan Singh	Computer Operator
Mr. Kawaljeet Singh	Attendant
Mr. Yuvraj Ghaly	Trainee

About the Institution

Guru Nanak Dev University established at Amritsar on November 24,1969 is both a residential and an affiliating university. To promote research among its faculty, almost all the Departments have been provided with independent computer facilities, internet connectivity and departmental libraries. In addition to the academics, the University has also created necessary facilities for recreation and all round development of students and faculty. Being an affiliating University, it also .performs the parenting role of directing and monitoring the academic programmes of more than 100 affiliated colleges.

The University has won Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy 17 times and inter-versity youth festival championship four times consecutively. UGC has granted the University Centre for Excellence in Sports Sciences. National Assessment and Accreditation Council accredited the University at the "Five Star Level". Guru Nanak Dev University has also attained the status of University with Potential for Excellence (UPE) which is the highest status awarded by the University Grants Commission (UGC). With this rare honour, the University is the only University in Punjab to acquire this status.

Inter Institutional Collaboration

a) National collaboration

Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT), Palampur
University of Delhi, South Campus, Delhi
JNU, New Delhi
IMTECH, Chandigarh
ICGEB, New Delhi
CCMB, Hyderabad
Panjab University, Chandigarh
IIIM, Jammu

International collaboration

National Institute of Advanced industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan
INSERM, Lille, France
CIRAD, Montpellier, France
University of Hamburg, Germany
University of North Carolina , USA
University of Kentucky, USA

Recent Publications

Singh B., Chauhan H., Khurana J.P., Khurana P. and Singh Prabhjeet (2013). Evidence for the role of wheat eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 subunit g (TaeIF3g) in abiotic stress tolerance. Gene. 532:177-185

Bender K.W., Dobney S., Ogunrinde A., Chiasson D., Mullen R.T, Teresinski H.J., Singh Prabhjeet, Munro K., Smith S.P. and Snedden W.A. (2013). The calmodulin-like protein, 1 CML43, functions as a salicylic acid-inducible, root-specific Ca2+ sensor in Arabidopsis. Biochem. J. (in press)

Kaur A., Kaur P., Singh N., Virdi A.S., Singh Prabhjeet and Rana J.C. (2013). Rice bean (Vigna umbellata): Grain, starch and protein characteristics. Food Research International 54:102-110.

Sekhon S.S., Kaur H., Dutta T., Singh K., Kumari S., Park S-G., Park B.C., Jeong D-G, Pareek A., Woo E-J., Singh Prabhjeet and Yoon T-S. (2013). Structural and biochemical characterization of a cytosolic wheat cyclophilin TaCypA-1. Acta Crystallographica D Biol. Crystallogr. 69:555-563.

Kumari S., Roy S., Singh Prabhjeet, Singla-Pareek S-L. and Pareek A. (2013). Cyclophilins: Proteins in Search of Function. Plant Signaling and Behaviour 8: e22734.

Singh Prabhjeet and Virdi A.S. (2013). Ca2+, Calmodulin and Plant-Specific Calmodulin-Binding Proteins: Implications in Abiotic Stress Adaptation. In ‘Stress Signalling in Plants: Genomics and Proteomics Perspectives’, Springer (invited Chapter, in press)

Gabriele Loers, Vedangana Saini, Bibhudatta Mishra,Florentia Papastefanaki, David Lutz, Sidhartha Chaudhury, Daniel R. Ripoll, Anders Wallqvist, Sheraz Gul, Melitta Schachner and Gurcharan Kaur (2013) Nonyloxytryptamine mimics polysialic acid and modulates neuronal and glial functions in cell culture. J Neurochem. [Epub ahead of print] PMID 23957498.

Hardeep Kataria, Sunil C. Kaul, Renu Wadhwa and Gurcharan Kaur (2013) Withania somnifera water extract as a potential candidate for differentiation based therapy of human neuroblastoma. PLoS ONE, 8(1):e55316. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0055316.

Sushil Kumar and Gurcharan Kaur (2013) Intermittent Fasting Dietary Restriction Regimen Negatively Influences Reproduction in Young Rats: A Study of Hypothalamo-Hypophysial-Gonadal Axis. PLoS ONE, 8(1):e52416. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052416.

Shivani Saini, Isha Sharma, Navdeep Kaur, Pratap Kumar Pati (2013) Auxin: A Master Regulator in Plant Root Development. Plant Cell Reports 32:741-757

Liuyin Ma, *Pratap Kumar Pati, Man Liu, Qingshun Q Li, Art Hunt (2013) High throughput characterizations of poly(A) site choice in plants. Methods http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ymeth.2013.06.037

Isha Sharma, Erwan Ching, Shivani Saini, Renu Bhardwaj and Pratap kumar Pati (2013) Exogenous application of brassinosteroid offers tolerance to salinity by altering stress responses in rice variety Pusa Basmati-1. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 69:17-26

Isha Sharma, Bhardwaj, R. and Pati, P. K. (2013) Stress modulation response of 24-epibrassinolide against imidacloprid in an elite indica rice variety Pusa Basmati-1. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology 105: 144–153

Ashutosh Sharma and Pratap Kumar Pati (2013) First Record of Ashwagandha as a new host to the invasive Mealybug (Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley) in India. Entomological News 123 (1), 59-62

Sharma Ritu, Virdi, A.S. and Singh Prabhjeet (2012). A Novel method for whole blood PCR without pre-treatment. Gene 501:85-88

Hardeep Kataria, Sunil C. Kaul, Renu Wadhwa and Gurcharan Kaur (2012) Withania somnifera water extract as a potential candidate for differentiation based therapy of human neuroblastoma. PLoS ONE (Accepted)

Hardeep Kataria, Sunil C. Kaul, Renu Wadhwa and Gurcharan Kaur (2012). Water Extract from the Leaves of Withania somnifera Protect RA Differentiated C6 and IMR-32 Cells Against Glutamate-Induced Excitotoxicity. PLoS ONE, 7(5): doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0037080

Raman Kumar Kamboj, Sukhprit Singh, Avinash Bhadani, Hardeep Kataria, and Gurcharan Kaur (2012) Gemini Imidazolium Surfactants: Synthesis and their Bio-Physiochemical Studies. Langmuir, 28(33):11969-78.

Rumani Singh, Dinesh Lakhanpal, Sushil Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Hardeep Kataria, Manpreet Kaur, Gurcharan Kaur (2012) Late onset intermittent fasting dietary restriction as a potential intervention to retard age associated brain function impairments in male rats.

Sushil Kumar, Jyoti Parkash, Hardeep Kataria, Gurcharan Kaur (2012) Enzymatic Removal of Polysialic Acid from Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule Interrupts Gonadotropin- Releasing Hormone (GnRH) Neuron-Glial Remodeling. Mol Cell Endocrinol., 348 (1): 95-103.

Ashutosh Sharma, Varinder Singh, Gagandeep Singh and Pratap Kumar Pati (2012) First report of leaf spot disease in Withania coagulans caused by Alternaria alternata in India. Plant Disease (http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-12-0559-PDN)

Isha Sharma, Bhardwaj, R. and Pati, P. K. (2012) Mitigation of adverse effects of Chlorpyrifos by 24-epibrassinolide and analysis of stress markers in a rice variety Pusa Basmati-1. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. 85: 72–81

Ashutosh Sharma, P. K. Nagar and Pratap Kumar Pati (2012) ROS modulated responses during pathogen infestation in plants. In: Advances in Plant Physiol- An Int. Treatise Series Vol 14: Edited by A. Hemantaranjan, Scientific Pub., India.

Ashutosh Sharma, Abhinay Thakur, Sanehdeep Kaur and Pratap Kumar Pati (2012) Effect of Alternaria alternata on the coccinellid pest Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata and its implications for biological pest management. Journal of Pest Science (DOI 10.1007/s10340-012-0432-3).

Sharma A and Pati P. K. (2012) First record of the carmine spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, infesting Indian genseng, Withania somnifera, in India. Journal of Insect Science. 12, 50

Savita, Alka, Pati P. K., Virk GS and Nagpal A (2012) An efficient micropropagation protocol for Citrus jambhiri Lush. and assessment of clonal fidelity employing anatomical studies and RAPD markers. In vitro Cell Dev. Biol.-Plant. (DOI 10.1007/s11627-012-9430-7)

Contacts:

Name of the Coordinator	Prof. Prabhjeet Singh
Postal Address	Distributed Informatics Sub-Centre (DISC) Department of Biotechnology Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar – 143 005
Phone No.	0183-2258431
Fax No.	0183-2258272
Email	Prabhjeet_s@yahoo.com gnduniv.btisnet@nic.in
Website	http://www.gndu.ac.in/
Name of Contact Person	Mr. Bhupesh Kumar, Mr. Harbhajan Singh

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