Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

DNA barcoding of biodiversity: proposal submitted to UGC

MADURAI: A proposal has been submitted to the University Grants Commission seeking Rs.7 crore to establish a Centre with Potential for Excellence in Biodiversity Inventories/DNA barcoding at Madurai Kamaraj University.

The proposal was submitted last month to the UGC by the Centre for Biodiversity and Forest Studies, outlining the special initiatives proposed to be undertaken, particularly towards the protection of rare/endangered and threatened flora species in Tamil Nadu.

Documentation

According to K. Muthuchelian, Head and Chairperson, School of Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, the proposed centre will help to document and conserve biodiversity by applying scientific tools and involvement of experts.

“Only a few laboratories are working on DNA barcoding to document our bioresources.

If the centre is established here, it will help in solving problems related to species identification and take care of socio-economic aspects of exploitation of rare/endangered species,” he said.

Analytical study

Dr. Muthuchelian, who is also a Syndicate member of the university, told ‘The Hindu' on Tuesday that the Centre with Potential for Excellence in Biodiversity Inventories would do an analytical study on individual organisms, evolutionary biology, behavioural sciences and pollination biology.

Inter-disciplinary

In order to make it inter-disciplinary, the university wants to involve experts from other departments also including genomics, bio-energy, computer science, mathematics and sociology.

It is also planned to introduce a multidisciplinary postgraduate programme called M.Sc. in Biodiversity Informatics.

“Our proposed centre will amalgamate morphological taxonomy with molecular taxonomy to produce reliable DNA barcodes of our nation's biodiversity. We will make a detailed presentation at the UGC about the objectives of our proposal,” Dr. Muthuchelian informed.

Technical skill

Stressing the need for having an exclusive centre for DNA barcoding in the field of biodiversity, he said that morphological taxonomists were willing to provide only consultancy service and not ready to transfer their technical skills to biologists.

More tools needed

“We need more tools and knowledge to solve the crisis in biodiversity and for utilisation.

More awareness programmes are needed for sustainable utilisation of bio-resources,” Dr. Muthuchelian, a member of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Switzerland, said.

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