DEPARTMENT OF BIOCHEMISTRY

SKN College of Agriculture, Jobner

In view of importance of Biochemistry in agriculture research and teaching, a separate Department of Biochemistry was established in 1989 with Dr. Vimal Sharma as its first Head of the Department and Presently Dr. G. K. Mittal, Assistant  Professor (Biochemistry) working as Incharge of the Department since May, 2016. Department of Biochemistry shifted to a new building constructed with financial support from ICAR in 1998 and a new lab with financial support from Govt. of Rajasthan in 2013. The department imparts education in Biochemistry both at Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels. At under graduate level one Biochemistry course is offered according to V Dean’s committee – Fundamentals of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology. M. Sc. (Ag.) Biochemistry programme was conducted during session 2013-14 to 2015-16 (08 students completed M. Sc. Degree) after that it was deferred due to lack of faculty. The department has one well equipped UG lab which can accommodate 60 students, one PG lab, one instruments lab having high speed refrigerated centrifuge, microfuge, gel electrophoresis for proteins and nucleic acids, UV-visible spectrophotometer, Environmental shaker, Bacterial incubator, BOD incubator, -20 Fridge, Fibre analysis system, Micro-kjeldahl unit. Other facilities like PCR, Gel documentation system, HPLC, GC are available in central laboratory located in the same building. Now the department offers two minor courses at M.Sc. level (BIOCH-511-Plant Biochemistry and BIOCH-512-Techniques in Biochemistry), one at Ph.D. level (BIOCH-531-Biochemistry of Biotic and Abiotic Stresses) and the department is also involved in PG and Ph.D. research activities of the PG students by providing laboratory facilities and advised regarding biochemical and quality analysis.

• Imparting education and training in modern biochemistry both at Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels.
• Guiding M. Sc. (Ag) Biochemistry and other M. Sc. and Ph. D. students for their research work
• Conducting research work on Biochemical and Molecular Biological aspects in crop plants.
• Metabolomics in crop plants for Biotic and Abiotic Stress Tolerance.
• Quality Evaluation of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and seed spices.

COURSES RUNNING IN THE DEPARTMENT:

Undergraduate: Revised as per the V Deans committee recommendations

Post Graduate: Revised as per BSMA Committee for M.Sc. & Ph. D. for Minor/Supporting/Common courses.

* Ph. D. Course

FACILITIES OR INFRASTRUCTURE:

The department has one UG lab which can accommodate 60 students, one PG lab, one instruments lab having high speed refrigerated centrifuge, microfuge, gel electrophoresis for proteins and nucleic acids, UV-visible spectrophotometer, Environmental shaker, Bacterial incubator, BOD incubator, -20 Fridge, Fibre Analysis (FibroTron) system, Micro Kjeldahl Equipment, Soxhlet System. Other facilities like PCR, Gel documentation system, HPLC, GC are available in central laboratory housed in the same building.

HOD DETAILS: Dean & Faculty Chairman, SKNCOA, Jobner: Email: hod.biochem@sknau.ac.in

DETAILS OF FORMER HOD

STAFF POSITION:

ACHIEVEMENTS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINDINGS

Number of M.Sc. Ag. Biochemistry Degree Completed:

• 07 students.

Completed Projects/Schemes in detail:

• ‘Biochemical aspect of heavy metal ion toxicity in wheat’ sponsored by the University Cess fund, 1991-1993.
• ‘Isolation and cloning of gene encoding salinity resistance from a soil borne microbe’ funded by ICAR, New Delhi, May 2000 to Aug 2002
• All India Coordinated Research Projects on Seed Spices – On-going. One Assistant Professor’s (Dr. G. K. Mittal) worked from July 2012 to March, 2018.

Recommendations and Findings:

1. Application of polyamines in management of water stress:

1. Putrescine (0.1 mM foliar spray) increased drought tolerance in wheat by decreasing degree of membrane injury, increasing relative water content and accumulating active metabolites. It also increased the grain yield, biological yield, test weight and harvest index under water stress conditions. Putrescine also ameliorated the effect of drought stress in cow pea C-152 to some extent by enhancing transpirations rate, stomatal conductance, and photosynthetic efficiency. This suggests that putrescine could be useful for inducing drought tolerance
2. The drought tolerant genotype of wheat C-306 exhibited lower accumulation of hydrogen peroxide on account of increased activities of super oxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase showing that these enzymes could be used as drought tolerant markers in crop plants.

Scientific Awards and Honors received by the faculty members:

• Dr. G. K. Mittal got Appreciation award by Hon’ble VC for best AICRP on Spices centre in 2016 on the occasion of republic day.
• Dr. G. K Mittal, awarded for best oral presentation on  “Chemo-profiling of volatile oil in cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) Varieties” in  two days National seminar on “Seed Spices for enhancing farmer’s prosperity and livelihood security” jointly organized by ICAR-NRC on seed spices, Ajmer and Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development, Calicut on January 21 & 22, 2017 held at NRCSS, Ajmer (Rajasthan).
• Dr G. K. Mittal, Visited as visiting scientist at Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Science, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK for three months overseas training on “Metabolomics of PMiGAP in Pearl Millet samples for health benefiting traits” from 14-6-2023 to 13-9-2023 under ICAR-IDP-NAHEP.
  Dr. Heena Saheewala, Received YOUNG SCIENTIST AWARD and BEST Ph.D. THESIS AWARD on the ocassion of International Conference ”Innovative Approaches in Agriculture, Horticulture and Allied Sciences” jointly organized by SGT University, Gurugram, ISAHRD, Chandigarh and Just Agriculture.
  
  PUBLICATIONS

IMPORTANT PHOTOGRAPHS: