Department of Biotechnology

About: Department of Biotechnology is a government organization based out in New Delhi, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Silver nanoparticle. The organization has 4800 authors who have published 5033 publications receiving 82022 citations.

Micropropagation of Spilanthes acmella Murr.

Abstract: Multiple shoots of Spilanthes acmella Murr. were induced from hypocotyl segments obtained from 1-week-old seedlings on Murashige and Skoog's (MS) medium containing benzyladenine (BA), isopentenyl adenine, and naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA). High frequency shoot proliferation (95 %) and maximum number of shoots per explant (10 ± 0.6) were recorded with 0.5 mg dm−3 BA in combination with 0.1 mg dm−3 NAA. A proliferation was achieved by repeatedly subculturing the nodal segments on shoot multiplication medium. About 95 % of the in vitro shoots developed roots after transfer to half strength MS medium containing indole-3-butyric acid (1.0 mg dm−3). 95 % of the plantlets were successfully acclimatized and established in soil. Transplanted plantlets showed normal flowering without any morphological variation.

Integrative analysis of hexaploid wheat roots identifies signature components during iron starvation.

Abstract: Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for all organisms. In crop plants, Fe deficiency can decrease crop yield significantly; however, our current understanding of how major crops respond to Fe deficiency remains limited. Herein, the effect of Fe deprivation at both the transcriptomic and metabolic level in hexaploid wheat was investigated. Genome-wide gene expression reprogramming was observed in wheat roots subjected to Fe starvation, with a total of 5854 genes differentially expressed. Homoeologue and subgenome-specific analysis unveiled the induction-biased contribution from the A and B genomes. In general, the predominance of genes coding for nicotianamine synthase, yellow stripe-like transporters, metal transporters, ABC transporters, and zinc-induced facilitator-like protein was noted. Expression of genes related to the Strategy II mode of Fe uptake was also predominant. Our transcriptomic data were in agreement with the GC-MS analysis that showed the enhanced accumulation of various metabolites such as fumarate, malonate, succinate, and xylofuranose, which could be contributing to Fe mobilization. Interestingly, Fe starvation leads to a significant temporal increase of glutathione S-transferase at both the transcriptional level and enzymatic activity level, which indicates the involvement of glutathione in response to Fe stress in wheat roots. Taken together, our result provides new insight into the wheat response to Fe starvation at the molecular level and lays the foundation to design new strategies for the improvement of Fe nutrition in crops.