Department of Plant Biology And Plant Biotechnology

The department started with PUC in 1968. By the hard work and efforts put in by the Principal and staff, the department was awarded with major B.Sc., Branch V Botany with ancillary subjects Zoology and Chemistry, from1979. The department has been renamed in 2002 as Plant Biology and Plant Bio-Technology, bearing in mind the changing mind set of the society at large. The new name not only has lent it an extra charm but has made it more accessible.  After getting autonomy in 2006 the department started the PG course, M..Phil., in 2011 and Ph.D. in 2012.  This technology-oriented major on the study of plants and the related fields have made the course job oriented.

Faculty with subject expertise, spacious labs, exhaustive specimen collections, well-timed field trips are some of the special features of the department. The department has done a remarkable service to the society by turning out eco-conscious graduates, post graduates and research scholars.

Courses Offered

Aided Stream

·         B.Sc. Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology

·         Ph.D. – Full time and part time

Self Finance

·         M.Sc. Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology

·         M.Phil. Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology

Staff Details

Name

Qualification

Designation

Specialization

No. of years of service

Dr. (Mrs.) R. Siva

 

M.Sc., M.Phil, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

 

Mycology

 

08

Dr.(Mrs.)C. B. Nirmala

M.Sc., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Biotechnology

13

Mrs.K.Arulmeha PonRadha

 

M.Sc.,M.Phil,

 

Assistant Professor

 

Algology

 

10

 

Dr. K.Ramani

M.Sc., M.Phil.,

Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Pharmacognosy

6

Dr.(Mrs.)S. Subhashini

M.Sc., M.Phil, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Pharmacognosy

1½

Zoology

Dr.(Mrs.)I.Deepa Persis

M.Sc., M.Phil, B.Ed.,Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Entomology

2

 

PG

Name

Qualification

Designation

Specialization

No. of Years of service

Dr. L. Sheeja

 

Ph.D

Assistant Professor

Algology

6 years

Dr. D. Lakshmi

 

Ph.D

Assistant Professor

Algology

 

5 years 9 months

Dr. A. K. Rathna Kumari

Ph.D

Assistant Professor

Taxonomy

 

3 years 6 months

Mrs. E. V. Sheena

 

M.Phil, SET

Assistant Professor

Plant Tissue Culture

 

1 year 6 months

 

Specialties of the Department

·         Field visits to Research Centres

·         Biomedical laboratories

·         Industrial visits to Commercial firms

·         Training on Mushroom cultivation, Spirulina cultivation, Biofertilizer production, and Vermicompost.

·         Medicinal and Kitchen Garden

·         Irula Tribal Centre

·         Visits to the sea coast for algal collection

·         Collaboration with other R&D laboratories for internships and research work to support our M. Phil and Ph.D. research scholars.

 

Career oriented certificate course sponsored by UGC – “Mushroom Cultivation”

Successfully two batches of students completed UGC sponsored course for which the certificates are issued by the University of Madras.

As a part of this scheme the staff and students involved in this program conducted a training program on “ Mushroom Cultivation” in rural areas which help them to develop entrepreneur skill among the unemployed house wives.

 

DBT sponsored Star College Scheme

Under this scheme an interdisciplinary certificate course “ Herbal Cosmetology” was started on this year. III year Physics and Chemistry students are the beneficiaries of this course.

 

List of skill based paper :

“Terrace Garden” has been introduced as a skill based paper in IV Semester.

 

Staff doing Ph.D

S.No.

Name

Pursuing PH.D

1.

K. Arulmeha Pon Radha

 From 2012

2.

EV. Sheena

From 2012

 

 

Association activities (Madhulika)

 

“Madhulika” were scheduled between 8th September to 11th September 2015.   There were events such as  Biozap, Pot Pouri, Connexion, Flower Arrangement, Biocartooning,   Treasure hunt, Miss Madhulika  and Quiz Programme .

 

Intercollegiate Competitions participated by Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology students. 

D. Poornima, M.Sindhu, N. Mahalaxmi, M. Sandhya Lakshmi, B. Ashvitha, P. Vidhya and R. Pushpalatha participated in Loyola College Genotsav 2015 -2016 And Ethiraj College Lantana 2015-2016 and won 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes in various events. Individual  over all  trophy  won by Sindhu.M. Overall rolling trophy won by students of Plant Biology And Plant Biotechnology in Ethiraj College.

 

Seminar and Conference

Conference

Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology Organized National Conference on “Algal Taxonomy and Application” in collaboration with Krishnamoorthy Institute of Algology on 27th and 28th of November 2015.

 

Seminar

On 8th  September 2015,  a  seminar on “Hydrophonics”  by Karthik Mohansundaram, Agriculture Engineer at Emirates Hydroponics Farms, Abudhabi.  

 

Student Achievements

 

Paper presentation and Research articles

S. Suganthi and G. Rani, 2015. Morphological and Anatomical studies of some members of Rhodophyceae, Seaweed research and utilization (SRU) Vol.37.

 

S. Aghizion Inbakani, S. Nirmala and R. Siva, 2015. “ Biodegradation of Congo red dye by the Mushroom Tricholoma sp. International Journal of Life Sciences Research, Vol. 3, 57-62pp. 

 

Poster presentation

 

R. Vijayalakshmi, K. Kairunnisa, C.B. Nirmala and S. Natarajan 2016.  Phosphate solubilizing bacteria isolated from the soils of  Satkhol, Uttarakhand, India.  In, Indian Science Congress, University of Mysore, Mysore, 3rd to 7th of January, 2016.

 

Paper presentation and Research articles of students  

S. Aghizion Inbakani, S. Nirmala and R. Siva, 2015. “ Biodegradation of Congo red dye by the Mushroom Tricholoma sp. International Journal of Life Sciences Research, Vol. 3, 57-62pp.

 

Paper Presented

Sangeetha A.  presented a paper on “ DNA barcoding of selected red algae” in National Conference on “Algal Taxonomy and Application” conducted by Krishnamoorthy Institute of Algology on 27th and 28th of November 2015.

Kavitha V.  presented a paper on “ DNA barcoding of selected green macroalgae using 18s rDNA Diversity” in National Conference on “Algal Taxonomy and Application” conducted by Krishnamoorthy Institute of Algology on 27th and 28th of November 2015.

Emeemal Sharon S presented a paper entitled Isolation of Nitrogen fixing bacteria from seaweed extract and comparison of their effects on the growth of Oryza sativa in National Conference on “Algal Taxonomy and Application” conducted by Krishnamoorthy Institute of Algology on 27th and 28th of November 2015.

Swetha Balakrishnan presented a paper entitled Morphological and Oospore variation in Chara zeylanica in National Conference on “Algal Taxonomy and Application” conducted by Krishnamoorthy Institute of Algology on 27th and 28th of November 2015.

Poster Presentation

Sangeetha A. and Kavitha V   presented a poster entitled “Isolation and Screening of phosphate solubilizing bacteria from different field in the National seminar on New vistas in Marine Biotechnology held on 28th February 2015 organized by the Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Vels University.

Emeemal Sharon S presented a poster entitled “Screening of marine nitrogen fixing bacteria from seaweeds in the National Confernce on Microbes in extreme environments conducted by Department of Botany and Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, H. N. B Garhwal University, Srinagar from Oct. 30- 31st 2015.