Ongoing Research Projects

Alagappa University (A State University Accredited by NAAC with 'A' Grade)
Department of Biotechnology
(DST-FIST Sponsored Department )

Major Thrust Areas of Research

1.	Biotechnology for Leather
2.	Metagenomics
3.	Marine Genomics / Biodiversity
4.	Gene Silencing
5.	Gene Expression and Regulation
6.	Screening of Antimicrobials
7.	Marine Natural Products
8.	Quorum Sensing
9.	Screening Tetrodotoxin Producing Marine Bacteria
10.	Micropropagation of Medicinal Plants
11.	Agrobacterium Mediated Transformation
12.	BioBank Repository of Marine Bacterial Cultures at the Department of Biotechnology, Alagappa University

Ongoing Major Research Projects

1. DBT - Metagenomics Project (PI: Prof. S. Karutha Pandian)

Title of the Project : Bioprospecting Marine Microbial Wealth through Metagenomics

Funding Agency : Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 49.360 lakhs.

2. UGC Major Research Project (PI: Prof. S. Karutha Pandian)

Title of the Project : Screening and molecular characterization of Group A Streptococcus by 16S rDNA sequencing and emm protein serotyping .

Name of the Funding Agency : University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 8.268 lakhs.

3. AU - ITC Collaborative Research Project (PI: Prof. S. Karutha Pandian & Dr. K. Balamurugan)

Title of the Project : Antimicrobial and Antiaging studies.

Name of the Funding Agency : ITC, Bangalore.

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 36.12 lakhs.

4. CSIR Major Research Project (Pl: Dr. K. Balamurugan)

Title of the Project : Caenorhabditis elegans response to human pathogens through proteomics studies .

Name of the Funding Agency : CSIR, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 21.920 lakhs.

5. DST [SERC Fast Track Young Scientist Scheme] (Pl: Dr. K. Balamurugan)

Title of the Project : Characterization of innate immune regulators in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Name of the Funding Agency : Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 23.300 lakhs.

6. DBT Major Research Project (Pl: Dr. K. Balamurugan)

Title of the Project : Studies on immune regulatory proteins during Salmonella typhi infection.

Name of the Funding Agency : Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 12.182 lakhs.

7. ICMR Major Research Project (Pl: Dr. K. Balamurugan)

Title of the Project : Analysis of Antimicrobial gene expression pattern in C. elegans.

Name of the Funding Agency : ICMR, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 25.281 lakhs.

8. UGC Major Research Project (Pl: Dr. A. Veera Ravi)

Title of the Project : Quorum quenching mediated attenuation of virulence genes expression of pathogenic Vibrio harveyi infection in Penaeus monodon.

Name of the Funding Agency : University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 10.268 lakhs.

9. UGC Major Research Project (Pl: Dr. M. Ramesh)

Title of the Project : In vitro selection and Agrobacterium mediated transformation studies for developing drought and salinity tolerant indica rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Name of the Funding Agency : University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 10.408 lakhs.

10. UGC Major Research Project (Pl: Dr. K. Pandima Devi)

Title of the Project : Seaweeds inhabiting South Indian Coastal area: Possible drugs for the treatment of neurodegerative disorders.

Name of the Funding Agency : University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 11.348 lakhs

11. ICMR Research Project (Pl: Dr. K. Pandima Devi)
.
Title of the Project : Gelidiella acerosa- Seaweed inhabiting Gulf of Mannar : Assessment of the possible suppression of dioxin mediated immunotoxicity

Name of the Funding Agency : Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi.

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 8.619 lakhs.

Major Research Projects Completed

1. CSIR’s NMITLI Project- Phase I (PI: Dr. S. Karutha Pandian)

Title of the Project : Biotechnology for Leather: Towards Cleaner Processing. (Identification and cataloguing of microflora in skin by 16S rRNA gene typing, RAPD and multilocus DNA fingerprinting).

Funding Agency : CSIR (Project No. 5/258/13/2002-NMITLI)

Duration : April 2002 to March 2005

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 24.69 lakhs

2. DCI funded Sehthusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP)

(Project Coordinator: Prof. S. Karutha Pandian) (in collaboration with Departments of Oceanography and Coastal Area Studies and Industrial Chemistry of Alagappa University)

Title of the Project : Environmental Impact Monitoring (EIM) of Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP) (Microbiological Parameters)

Name of the Funding Agency : Dredging Corporation of India Limited, Visakhapatnam

Duration : June 27 to October 06, 2005

Amount : Rs . 71.58 lakhs

3. DBT Marine Biotechnology project (PI: Prof. S. Karutha Pandian)

(In collaboration with Fisheries College and Research Institute (Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University), Thoothukkudi 628 008)

Title of the Project : Evaluation of bacterial diversity associated with the coral Acropora digitifera by 16S rRNA gene sequences and screening for antiviral activity against the aquaculture pathogen blotched snakehead virus (BSNV).

Name of the Funding Agency : Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Duration : October 2006 to September 2009

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 36.315 lakhs.

4. CSIR’s NMITLI Project- Phase II (PI: Prof. S. Karutha Pandian)

Title of the Project : Biotechnology for Leather: Towards Cleaner Processing

(Further Evaluation and Formulation of Natural and Synthetic Products for Preservation of Goat Skin and Evaluation and Validation of Marine Bacterial Enzymes for Application in Leather Industry).

Funding Agency : CSIR

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 32.28 lakhs.

5. DBT (Rapid Grant for Young Investigator Scheme) (Pl: Dr. K. Balamurugan)

Title of the Project : RNA-interference mediated silencing of antimicrobial genes on the pathogenic effect of Salmonella typhi on vitamin transport of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Name of the Funding Agency : Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 24.940 lakhs.

6. UGC Major Research Project (Pl: Dr. K. Balamurugan)

Title of the Project : Screening of marine bioresources for antibacterial compounds which promote survival of C. elegans and human intestinal epithelial cells infected with human pathogens

Name of the Funding Agency : UGC, New Delhi.

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 11.768 lakhs.

7. DST’s [SERC Fast Track Young Scientist Scheme] (PI: Dr. K. Pandima Devi)

Title of the Project : Antioxidant properties of Olive oil: Possible role in Preventing environmental Immunotoxicity and associated oxidative stress.

Total Budget : Rs. 10.02 lakhs.

Duration : Jan 2005 to Dec 2007

Funding Agency : Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India

8. UGC Minor Project I (Pl: Dr. A. Veera Ravi)

Title of the Project : Selection and evaluation of potential Probiotics for the commercial production of Mud Crab seeds ( Scylla serrara, Portunidae)

Name of the Funding Agency : University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

Duration : Apr 2007–Mar 2009

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 1.00 lakhs.

9. UGC Minor Project II (Pl: Dr. M. Ramesh)

Title of the Project : In vitro micropropagation from different explants of Jatropha curcas. L - A potential energy source for the mass production of renewable energy (Bio-diesel)

Name of the Funding Agency : University Grants Commission, New Delhi.

Duration : April 2007–March 2009

Total Approved cost of the Project : Rs. 0.95 lakhs.

Other Grants Received

1	UGC - SAP - DRS I (Sanction No. F. 3-28/2011 (SAP-II) dated 03.03.2011)
	Coordinator	Prof. S. Karutha Pandian
	Name of the Funding Agency	University Grants Commission , Govt. of India, New Delhi
	Duration	2011 - 2016
	Amount	Rs. 68.88 lakhs.

2	DST-FIST Grant (Sanction No. SR/FST/LSI-087/2008 dated 09.01.2009 )
	Coordinator	Prof. S. Karutha Pandian
	Name of the Funding Agency	Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
	Duration	2009-2014
	Amount	Rs. 50 lakhs

3	DST - PURSE Scheme
	Name of the Funding Agency	Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
	Amount	Rs. 600.00 lakhs. (Shared with other Science Departments of Alagappa University)

4	Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility Sanction No. BT/BI/04/055/2001 dated 22.09.06; 14.09.07 and 24.06.2008 )
	Coordinator	Prof. S. Karutha Pandian
	Name of the Funding Agency	Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi
	Duration	Oct 2006-
	Amount	Rs. 70.377 lakhs.

5	DBT’s Post M.SC., Advanced Diploma in Molecular Diagnostics (Sanction No. BT/HRD/TTC/04/08 dated 29.08.08 )
	Course Coordinator	Prof. S. Karutha Pandian
	Name of the Funding Agency	Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
	Duration	Oct 2008-Sep 2013
	Amount	Rs. 104.325 lakhs.

6	DBT Grant for M.Sc., Biotechnology Programme (Sanction No. BT/HRD/01/02/2006 dated 4 th March 2009 )
	Coordinator	Prof. S. Karutha Pandian
	Name of the Funding Agency	Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
	Amount	Rs. 35 lakhs

FUNDS RECEIVED FROM UGC UNDER PLAN GRANTS:

1	UGC X PLAN	Rs. 34.00 lakhs
2	UGC Xl PLAN	Rs. 79.31 lakhs

FUNDS RECEIVED FROM UGC FOR OTHER SCHEMES:

1	UGC Grant for Infrastructure (as an identified Non-SAP Department)(Sanction No. F.4-7/ 2008 (BSR)/11-61/2008(BSR) Dated 27 May 2008).
	Period	2008 -
	Amount	Rs. 40.00 lakhs.

2	UGC Research Fellowships (Four) for Meritorious Students (as an identified Non-SAP Department) (Sanction No. F.4-3/2007(BSR)/11-61/2008(BSR) dated 10 June 2008 ).
	Period	2008-2013
	Amount	Rs. 33.12 lakhs.