Department of Biotechnology
The Department of Biotechnology at UAS, Dharwad was established in 1998. It was supported by the fore-thought of the Vision Group on Biotechnology, Government of Karnataka to set up the state-of the-art molecular biology laboratories in 2002. It gained a status of an institute (Institute of Agri-Biotechnology, IABT). The overall objective is to impart high quality education to the masters and doctoral students through hands-on research projects leading to dissertation. This is achieved through excellent faculty with finest exposure in the discipline and the state-of-the-art facilities. The student intake is 20 masters and 5 Ph. D. per year. M. Sc. programme is also supported by DBT-JNU. Students who have passed out from this Department are excelling in academics and other areas nationally and internationally. A few courses are being offered for undergraduates and diploma students. PG Diploma in Plant Genetic Engineering is also being offered at the Department.
In addition, development of biotech-based technologies for the farmers through various ad hoc projects (DBT, DST, ICAR, Indo-Japan collaborative project, DRDO, BRNS etc) is also an important mandate. These components of teaching and research programs are being implemented by the teachers/scientists with high academic qualification, expertise and experience.
Several novel genes have been cloned and expressed for various trait improvement. They include the genes coding for cry, glucanase, chitinase, DREB, lectins etc. They have been transferred to various model and commercial crops to develop transgenics, which have been characterized for events and expression of the genes. The Department has also developed Bt brinjal in six varieties. Promoter-probe vectors with xylanase and gfp reporters have been constructed and validated. Considerable efforts have also been made to develop gene-silenced plants for various traits. Now the Department is also engaged in genome editing in various crops. Monoclonal antibodies have been produced by phage display technology against various antigens by cloning and expressing the respective genes. Ds tagging for generating insertional inactivation tagged and activation tagged mutants have been developed for the functional genomics in sorghum.
PG Programmes in the Department
| 1 | M.Sc. | 1997 |
| 2 | Ph.D. | 2002 |
PG Students admitted in last five years
| Sl. No. | Course No. | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 |
| 1 | M.Sc. (Agri.) | 19 | 13 | 4 | 11 | 4 |
| 2 | Ph.D. | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Faculty
| SlNo | Name | Designation | Specialisation |
| 1 | Dr. Narayan Moger | Professor and Head | Molecular Biology & Biotechnology Bio-safety, IPR and Bioethics Immunology and Mol. Diagnostics |
| 2 | Dr. Spurthi N. Nayak | Assistant Professor | Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, Genomics, Bioinformatics |
| 3 | Dr. Basavaraj Bagewadi | Assistant Professor | Plant Molecular Biology |
| 4 | Dr. Ravikumar Hosamani | Assistant Professor | Molecular Biology & Biotechnology Plant Tissue Culture and Genetic Transformation, Principles of Biotechnology, Molecular Cell Biology |
Supporting Staff:
| Sl No | Name | Designation |
| 1 | Mr. SanjayKumar V. Turamari | Lab Assistant |
| 2 | Mr. Addivappa Doddawad | Farm Labour |
| 3 | Mr. G. M. Mallur | Messenger |
| 4 | Dr. Mallik M. | Project Coordinator, BIRAC |
| 5 | Ms. Meenakshi N. Mohite | Project Assistant, BIRAC |
| 6 | Ms. Asha U. Shaikh | Office Assistant, BIRAC |
| 7 | Dr. Shreya M. Joshi | Post Doctoral Innovation Fellow, BIRAC |
B.Sc. Agriculture (Hons.) courses
| Sl.No | Course No. | Course Title | Credits | |
| 1 | BTH 302 | Fundamentals of Plant Biotechnology | 2+0 | |
| 2 | BTH 311 | Micropropagation Technology (ELECTIVE) | 1+1 | |
B.Sc. Agriculture Business Management (Hons.) courses
| Sl.No | Course No. | Course Title | Credits |
| 1 | BTH 302 | Fundamentals of Plant Biotechnology | 1+0 |
- Sc. Community Science (Hons.) courses : NIL
| Sl. No. | Course No. | Course Title | Credits |
| – | – | – | – |
B.Tech. Food Technology (Hons.) courses
| Sl. No. | Course No. | Course Title | Credits |
| 1 | BTH 102 | Fundamentals of Food Biotechnology | 1+1 |
Experiential Learning Modules offered : NIL
| Sl. No. | Course No. | Course Title | Credits |
| – | – | – | – |
M.Sc. Agriculture in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
| Sl. No. | Course No. | Course Title | Credits |
| 1 | MBB 501 | Principle of Biotechnology | 3+0 |
| 2 | MBB 502 | Fundamentals of Molecular Biology | 3+0 |
| 3 | MBB 505 | Omics and Systems Biology | 2+1 |
| 4 | MBB 504 | Techniques in Molecular Biology | 0+3 |
| 5 | MBB 591 | Master’s Seminar | 0+1 |
| 6 | MBB 599 | Master Research | 0+27 |
| 7 | MBB 503 | Molecular Cell Biology | 3+0 |
| 8 | MBB 508 | Introduction to Bioinformatics | 2+1 |
| 9 | MBB 513 | Immunology and Molecular Diagnostics | 3+0 |
Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
| Sl. No. | Course No. | Course Title | Credits |
| 1 | MBB 601 | Plant Molecular Biology | 3+0 |
| 2 | MBB 602 | Plant Genome Engineering | 3+0 |
| 3 | MBB 691 | Doctoral Seminar | 0+1 |
| 4 | MBB 699 | Doctoral Research | 0+66 |
| 5 | MBB 603 | Plant Omics and Molecular Breeding | 3+0 |
| 6 | MBB 608 | Computational and Statistical tools in Biotechnology | 2+1 |
Ongoing Externally funded ad hoc Projects:
| Sl No | Name of Adhoc Project | PI/Co-PI | Duration | Funding Agency | Project Outlay (Lakhs) | Objectives of Project | Expected Outcome |
| 1 | DBTBUILDERUniversity of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) Dharwad -Inter discip linary Life Science Program for Advanced Research and Education | Dr. Narayan Moger (Coordinator), All faculty from Dept. are PIs | 5 years | DBT, N. Delhi | 649.44 | 1. To enhance the post-graduate education in life science departments 2. Molecular breeding and next-generation technologies for crop improvement 3. Plant microbe interaction and soil and plant health management | Development of markers based on base substitutions and repeat element variatio |
| 2 | Development of ImmunoRapiDot kit for early detection of pathogens in cropmanagement. | Dr. Narayan Moger (PI) | 2 years | RKVY, Govt. India | 65.00 | Cloning and expression of Papaya Ringspot Virus coat protein gene (PRSV-CP)Production of single chain fragment variable (scFv) antibodies against Papaya Ringspot Virus coat protein. | Development of ImmunoRapiDot kit |
| 3 | Development of transgenic chilli resistant to Chilli leaf curl virus using CRISPR-Cas9 | Dr. B. Bagewadi (PI) | 3 years | DBT, N. Delhi | 38.00 | In-planta transformation of chilli with two other CRISPR-Cas9 constructs targeting Rep and coat protein genes of ChLCV and transfer to greenhouse for hardening Screening of To and T1 plants andconfirmation of transgenic chilli lines expressing for Cas9 and sgRNA expression | Testing for transgenic chilli plants for virus protection using either agrobacterium based virusinfectious clones and/or by whitefly transmission in the protected greenhouse |
| 4 | Evaluation of rabi sorghum lines with enhanced terminal moisture stress tolerance for Northern Dry and Northern Transitional Zones of Karnataka with farmers participation | Dr. B. Bagewadi (PI) | 2 years | RKVY, GoI, New Delhi | 51.50 | Development of sorghum genotypes with enhanced moisture stress tolerance | Sorghum genotypes tolerant to terminal moisture stress condition |
| 5 | BIRAC – Empowering Youth for Undertaking Value Added Innovative Translational Research (EYUVA) Centre at UAS Dharwad | Prof and Head | 3 years | BIRAC E-YUVA, DBT N. Delhi | 236.00 | To facilitates the startup | Young motivated student for entrepreneurship |
| 6 | DBT-supportedM.Sc.Agr. Biotechnology. DBT,N.Delhi | Prof and Head | 2006 till now | DBT N. Delhi | 160.00 | Imparting biotechnology education to the PG students | M.Sc. degree |
Major Projects completed (Last five years):
| S.N | Name of Adhoc Project | PI/Co-PI/Associate | Duration | Funding agency | Project Outlay | Objectives of Project | Major Outcome |
| 1 | Identification and molecular characterization of novel salt resistance genes from halophytes and their functional analysis in agricultural crops | Dr. Narayan Moger | 2 years | RKVY | 60.00 | Isolation and molecular characterization of salt resistance genes from halophytes and their functional analysis in agricultural crops. 2. Exploration of halophytes for economic utilization and Bioamelioration of salt-affected soils of irrigated ecosystem | The present project concentrates on crop management approach which includes breeding for salt-tolerance and screening of better performing crops / varieties under salinity stress conditions. |
| 2 | Isolation and purification of salt tolerance genes from marine microorganisms and their functional studies | Dr. Narayan Moger | 3 years | DST, N Delhi | 27.00 | Isolation and molecular characterization of salt resistance genes from halophytes and their functional analysis in agricultural crops. | The present project concentrates on crop management approach which includes breeding for salt-tolerance and screening of better performing crops / varieties under salinity stress conditions. |
| 3 | Genetic dissection of heat tolerance using bulk-segregant RNA sequencing (BSR-seq) in groundnut | Spurthi N. Nayak | 3.5 years | DBT, GoI | 37.32 lakhs | To identify the differentially expressed genes/ genomic regions that confer high temperature stress tolerance | Identification of DEGs for heat tolerance and deciphering the mechanism of heat tolerance in groundnut genotypes |
| 4 | Hypergravity as a novel tool for enhancing germination and seedling vigor in selected crops | Dr. R R Hosamani | 3.5 years | DST, N Delhi | 38.00 | 1) To determine the intensity and duration of hypergravity treatment that can induce better germination and seedling vigor 2) To assess a) the impact of hypergravity on germination and seedling vigor b) to elucidate the molecular basis of altered traits . | A novel screening approach using hypergravity can be a potential, simple and cost-effective method that can be used for crop improvement. |
| 5 | Identifying the genomicregions and genes for droughtandheattoleranceingroundnut,NASF,ICAR,New Delhi | Dr. Ramesh Bhat | 3.0 years | ICAR, New Delhi | 78.00 | Identifying the genomicregions and genes for droughtandheattoleranceingroundnut | Major Outcome??? |
| 6 | A strategy to exploit genomicselection for achieving highergenetic gains in groundnut”under Joint call for proposal on”Pulses and Oilseeds ResearchInitiative (PORI)” | Dr. Ramesh Bhat | 4.0 years | Newton-BhabhaFund , DBT-BBSRC, DBT,N.Delhi | 46.93 | genomicselection for achieving highergenetic gains in groundnut | Major Outcome??? |
Technologies Developed:(Last Five Years)
| Sl. No. | Technology | Name of the Scientist |
| 1 | DBG 3, a backcross line of JL 24 and DBG 4, a backcross line of TMV 2 using MABC. | Dr. Ramesh Bhat |
Awards/Recognitions
| Sl. No. | Name | Institute | Award | Year |
| 1 | Dr. Spurthi N. Nayak | Vision Group of Science and Technology (VGST),Government of Karnataka | Award for Research Publications (ARP) for 2019-20 | Presented on 29-04-2022 |
Facilities/ Field Laboratory/Fertility Laboratory
| Laboratories | PG Seminar hall |
| Molecular Biology Laboratories | BIRAC- E YUVA centre |
| Common Instrumentation facility | BIRAC centre |
| Incubation facility for startups | DBT-support PG program |
| Green houses | Bioinformatics facility and e-LAB |