Department of Botany
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/4383
Since establishment in 1984, the department flourished with tireless efforts of faculties, staff and students. The course curriculum of the department has always been strong and forward looking. Syllabi have been revised regularly and the latest version was done with the introduction of semester system offering five special papers, namely Cytogenetics, Microbiology, Molecular Plant pathology and Fungal Biotechnology, Plant Biochemistry and Taxonomy of Angiosperms and Biosystematics.
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Item Open Access Acaricidal and Ovicidal Effects of Vitex negundo, Against Oligonychus coffeae, A Common Pest Found in Tea Gardens of North Bengal, India(University of North Bengal, 2023) Ghosh, Sandipan; Sen, Gargi; Ghosh, Chandra; Sen, ArnabTea, a widely consumed and economical beverage across 65 nations, confronts substantial challenges from pests, notably the destructive Red spider mites, which pose significant hurdles for the industry due to their resilient nature and severe impact. Chemical pesticides, while effective against pests in tea production, degrade tea quality, prompting exploration into natural alternatives like floral diversity for pest control. A study in North Bengal, India, aims to the pest-controlling abilities of common weed found in tea gardens in the Terai and Dooars regions.The aqueous extracts of Vitex negundo L. as biocide employed in this study demonstrated substantial acaricidal and oviposition deterrent action against the tea Red Spider Mite Oligonychus coffeae after 48 hours of application. In the future, this aqueous extract could prove to be a fairly priced and efficient acaricide.Item Open Access Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer in higher plants(University of North Bengal, 2007-03) Roy, Subhas ChandraThe genetic engineering of plants actually started with the discovery of a pathogenic bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, causing a disease known as crown gall (tumor). The bacterium transfers a set of genes from its plasmid into infected plant cells, where the transferred genes are expressed and produced gall at the junction of root and stem (i.e., crown region of the plant). This discovery has revolutionized the plant transformation method through which any gene can be introduced into plant genome to change their genetic make-up for commercial benefits, spaning from disease resistance to the production of pharmaceutically important proteins.Item Open Access Antagonism of fluorescent Pseudomonas BRL-1 against Curvularia lunata(University of North Bengal, 2008-03) Sen, S.; Tahsin, K.S.; Acharya, K.A potato rhiszospheric isolate, fluorescent Pseudomonas BRL-I, showed in vitro antagonistic activity against Curvularia lunata. Microscopic studies of the mycelium after antagonism illustrated hyphal shriveling, swelling, vaculation, short branching and granulation of cytoplasm resulting in lysis of hyphae of C. lunata.. Association of antagonistic property of the isolate has been found to be coupled with chitinolytic and proteolytic activity as weii as by the production of indole acetic acid and spiderophore.Item Open Access Anthrax and Bioterrorism(University of North Bengal, 2008-03) Chowdhury, J.; Sen, A.Bioterrorism is the deliberate discharge or dissemination of viruses, bacteria, or other germs used to cause sickness or death in people, animals, or plants. Though these agents are found in nature they are usually modified to increase their ability to cause disease, make them resistant to current antibiotics, or to increase their ability to be spread into the environment. Biological agents can be spread through the air, through water, or in food. Terrorists may use biological agents because they can be extremely difficult to detect and do not cause illness for several hours to several days. Among these biological agents, Anthrax is considered to be the Category-A agent because of its high potency for adverse public health impact and serious effect on large-scale dissemination. Though there is a big hue and cry in the recent past about bioterrorism particularly after 9/11 attack, the history of bioterrorism is fairly old. In the present paper, we have sketched the history and the evolution of bioterrorism with reference to anthrax, particularly microbiology and pathogenesis of the disease causing agent and its clinical symptoms and treatments.Item Open Access Antidiabetic and anti-oxidant activity of Moringa oleifera leaf extract in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats(University of North Bengal, 2009-03) Chakraborty, U; Das, HThe effect of the aqueous extract of Moringa oleifera Lamk. leaves (MOLE) in the treatment of diabetes along with its antioxidant activity in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats was determined in the current study. Oral administration of MOLEt @ 125 and 250 mg/kg for 20 days significantly prevented the STZ- induced hyperglycemia. Administration of the extracts at the dose of 250 mg/kg body weight/day resulted in a marked decrease in the levels of fasting blood glucose and urine sugar. The extract also produced a significant decrease in peroxidation products, viz.. thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. The activity of reduced glutathione and glycogen content were found to be increased in the hepatic tissue of SiZ- diabetic rats treated with MOLEL. STZ-diabetic rats treated with MOLEt significantly reversed all these changes to near normal. The MOLBt thus exhibits antidiabetic and anti-oxidative activity in STZ-induced diabetic rats.Item Open Access Antifungal Agents for Treatment of Mycoses(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Mandal, Narayan ChandraBeing eukaryotes the similarity of fungi with animals in great extent, it is very difficult to develop suitable antifungal compounds which target only to the fungi and spare the host compare to anti-bacterials. Concerted systematic programmes to discover and develop new antibiotics and anti-fungals have been driven to a considerable extent by the development of resistance by these organisms to the drugs commonly used against them as well as the side effects they exerted on host body. Fungal diseases are usually divided into five groups according to the level of infected tissue and mode of entry into the host which are: superficial, cutaneous, subcutaneous, systemic, and opportunistic infections. The most common types of mycoses which are responsible for humans fungal diseases are- Tinea capitis; disease of Scalp (Trichophyton spp. and Microsporum spp.), Tinea corporis: Due to social exchanges and contacts (Trichophyton spp.), Tinea cruris: Disease of itching (Epidermophyton sp.), Tinea pedis: Athletes foot, in bengali 'haza' (T. rubrum), Tinea manuum: similar disease on hands (T. rubrum), and Tinea unguium: Attacking nails (T. rubrum).Item Open Access Antifungal and antiprotozoal activity of some members of Rubiaceae-a review(University of North Bengal, 2011-03) Dutta Choudhury, Katyayani; Dutta Choudhury, ManabendraThe Rubiaceae is the largest and most popularly known woody plant family in the wet tropics and subtropics. It contains approximately 13,200 species in 660 genera, some of the species having ethno medicinal significance and reported to possess a wide range of medicinal practices. Some of the important genera belonging to the family are Coffea, Rubia, Cinchona, Uncaria, Gardenia, Hedyotis, Morinda, Mitragyna, Oldenlandia, xora, etc, having used by traditional peoples in curing various diseases and reported to be used as antimicrobials, antioxidants, antifeedants, analgesics, antivenomous and also found to play roles in hepatoprotection and activity against tumour formation. The review paper deals with the presert status of the family Rubiaceae being used as antifungals and antiplasmoidals and the chemical constituents investigated till date showing bioactive principles against various pathogenic fungi and protozoan. Literature survey reveals that only 35 plants have been investigated to possess antifungal properties and 22 have been reported to be used as antiplasmoidals out of 660 genera of Rubiaceac.Item Open Access Antifungal Efficacy of Cu-Based Nano-Chitosan on Rhizopus stolonifer, A Virulent Phytopathogen(University of North Bengal, 2022) Chouhan, Divya; Choudhuri, Chandrani; Dutta, Poulami; Mandal, Palash; Mathur, PiyushAgro-scientists are giving endless efforts for synthesizing a bio-derived molecule that can act as a promising antifungal agent for combating a large number of phytopathogens. Harmful phytopathogens decrease crop yield and its quality. Rhizopus stolonifer is one such virulent phytopathogen that causes huge losses during the post-harvest period of crops. This pathogen mainly causes rot disease in fruits, crops, and vegetables. The second most abundantly available biological macromolecule, Chitosan and its metal-based nanoparticles stands as a potential antifungal agent for combating Rhizopus stolonifer. This study includes the synthesis of Cu chitosan nanoparticles (Cu-CNPs) and chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) through the ionic gelation method and its characterization based on UV Vis spectrophotometer, FE-SEM, EDXS, and DLS. Cu-CNPs and CNPs were screened from 100-2000 µg/mL concentration against R. stolonifer for the assessment of its antifungal activity. Spore viability assay and lipid peroxidation of the pathogen using Cu-CNPs and CNPs were also determined. Generation of oxidative stress in the mycelium of the pathogen on the application of Cu-CNPs and CNPs was traced by fluorescence microscopy. Changes in the ultra-structure of the sporangium of R. stolonifer after treatment with Cu-CNPs and CNPs were visualized under SEM. Results showed that Cu-CNPs inhibit the growth of R. stolonifer at 2000 µg/mL and elevate malonaldehyde (MDA) content in the pathogen as a result of lipid peroxidation and produces defined damages on the sporangium membrane as observed under electron microscope. Fluorescence microscopy revealed the emission of high intensity of fluorescence due to the generation of oxidative stress in Cu-CNPs treated fungal mycelium.Item Open Access Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of a common liverwort from Darjeeling Himalaya(University of North Bengal, 2009-03) De, Rajib; Saha, Jayati; Sarkar, Prabir KThe study was concerned with an examination of antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanolic extract of Marchantia convoluta (Merch.) L.. collected from Darjeeling Himalaya. The antioxidant activities were evaluated by means of five in vitro methods, viz. free radical-scavenging activity, Fe3+ -reducing power, metal-chelating ability, trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and activity in hydroxyl radical-scavenging system. The total phenol content was 1.1 mg gallic acid equivalents g-1 dried thallus. After 30 min of reaction, the 100 mg lyophilized extract possessed 6.7 % free radical-scavenging activity. The same amount of extract exhibited 13.4 % 168.2 % metal-chelating and hydroxyl radical scavenging activities, respectively. The reducing activity was found to be 28.5 mg ascorbic acid equivalents g-1 dried thallus. Total antioxidant activity was 0.18 μg TEAC g-1 dried thallus. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by testing the methanolic extract of the samples against five microorganisms including two Gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus), two Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae) and one yeast (Candida albicans by disc-diffusion assay. M. convoluta thallus extract was more or less inhibitory against all of the test bacteria, however did not possess any antifungal property. S. aureus was found to be most sensitive target organism.Item Open Access Antioxidant Potential of Canna: an overview(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Mishra, Tanmayee; Sen, ArnabCanna, the solitary genus of the family Cannaceae and order Zingiberales, comprises of about 51 species of flowering plants. Canna species are native of South America but with the course of time they have been distributed throughout the world. It is an important plant not only from the ornamental point of view but also it is an important plant for starch production as well as its medicinal values. From the primitive time, village people commonly use Canna as herbal medicines in their daily dealings. Different plant parts like rhizome and leaves of Canna have been used for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, fever, hypertension, diabetes, menstrual disorders, malaria etc. Phytochemicals with high antioxidant activities reported from the members of genus Canna. Moreover, isolation and identification of chemical compounds shows the presence of derivatives of polysaccharide, anthocyanin and phenylpropanoid compounds. The present study reflects a comprehensive review on biological activities of Canna species with special reference to some other members of Zingiberales.Item Open Access Antioxidative responses of mandarin plants to water stress(University of North Bengal, 2013-03) Allay, S.; Lama, R.; Chakraborty, U.; Chakraborty, B.N.Citrus reticulata grows in warm climatic conditions. Stresses such as water logging, drought, soil acidity, unbalanced nutrition and pathogenic infestation lead to root injury resulting in citrus tree decline and therefore huge economic losses. In order to determine the effect of flooding and drought on mandarin plants, mandarin plants were subjected to water logging condition in the field and in pots for drought condition. Biochemical and morphological changes induced by water logging and drought conditions were determined. The plants showed slight wilting and leaf dropping by the third day of flooding whereas in drought the leaves curled up, became crisp and later dried out. Marked changes in antioxidative enzymes such as peroxidase, catalase and ascorbate peroxidase was observed during stress in comparison to control plants. Antioxidative activity was seen to be more in the leaves than in the roots. Among the antioxidants carotenoid content showed a significant decrease during the flood stress but increased in drought stress. An increase in ascorbate content was observed during stress in comparison to the control. From this study, we can conclude that water stress causes adjustment of antioxidant balance in mandarin plants.Item Open Access Application of molecular markers in plant genome study(University of North Bengal, 2010-03) Dey, T; Ghosh, PDThe development of molecular techniques for genetic analysis has led to a great increase in our knowledge of plant genetics and our understanding of the structure and behaviour of plant genome. During last three decades, several powerful DNA based marker technologies have been developed for the assessment of genetic diversities and molecular marker assisted breeding technology. In plant systems, the prospects of DNA profiling and fingerprinting is becoming indispensable in the context of establishment of molecular phylogeny, assessment of somaclonal variants, characterization of plant genomics, marker- based gene tags, map-based cloning of agronomically important genes, variability studies, synteny mapping, marker-assisted selection of desirable genotypes etc. In this review article, various molecular markers are reviewed with emphasis on specific areas of their application in higher plants.Item Open Access Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal association in rhizosphere of Hevea brasiliensis(University of North Bengal, 2009-03) Chakraborty, BN; Sunar, KOccurrence of VAM spores in Hevea brasiliensis growing soils and percent colonization in roots of three varieties (RRII 105, RRIM 600 and GT 1) were studied. Spore population varied from 30 to 45/g soil and the root infection of all the three varieties ranged from 70 to I00 % in both mature and young plants. Percent of root infection was found to be more in the drought resistant varieties RRII 105 followed by RRIM 600 and the less drought resistant variety GT-1. Nine different types of glomalean spores were recovered from the soil samples, including five from the genus Glomus, three from Acaulospora, one from Gigaspora and few undefined species of Sclerocystis. The scanning electron microscopic observations of the most commonly occurring spores of Glomus fasciculatum revealed smooth wall character with number of pits.Item Open Access Assessment of genetic diversity in F2 rice seed population of a cross between Tulaipanji and Ranjit using morphological, physicochemical and SSR markers(University of North Bengal, 2013-03) Roy, Subhas Ch.Tulaipanji rice (Oryza sativa L.) variety is a region specific traditional cultivar of North Dinajpur district (West Bengal). It is low yielding (1.8th) cultivar due to their poor harvest index and other genetic factors such as tendency to lodging and susceptibility to foliar diseases such as blast and bacterial blight, tungro virus etc. Tulaipanji Basmati aromatic and people prefer it due to its soft fluffy grain quality with mild fragrance and easy to digest. Hence it has high demand in the market and costs Rs. 80/kg. Demand gap can be fulfilled by developing a new improved variety of Tulipanji combining its grain quality attributes with high yield potential genes/QTLs and resistance to diseases. Hybridization was made (during kharif season 2011) between Tulaipanji and Ranjit (HYV) for the introgression of short stature, high yielding responsible genes/QTLs from Ranjit to Tulaipanji for its improvement. F2 seeds population were collected and analysed based on morphological and physicochemical parameters for their genetic variability and screening. Genetic diversity among the Fl plants and parental lines were analysed using microsatellite based SSR primer in PCR amplification. SSR markers in relation to disease resistance gene/QTL such as Xa21, Pita440 and Pib sub 3-5 were used to screen the breeding lines. Xa21specific amplified band was observed in cultivar Ranjit (HYV) which was located on chromosome 6 (resistance gene/QTL for bacterial blight) and accordingly introgressed into one of the line of F1 plants (Tulaipanji x Ranjit). There was no gene/QTL specific band was amplified for SSR marker of Pi440 and Pib sub 3-5 in the parental or Fl lines for blast resistance. Grain quality QTL specific markers such as Waxy, Sbe 2 and RM225 were employed to screen the F1 and parental lines for apparent amylose content (ACC). Apparent amylose content (ACC) was 22% in Tulaipanji and 25% in Ranjit and F2 seed showed in between 22 and 25% amylose. Breeding lines showing desired traits in relation to disease resistance and quality traits can be used for the development of improved Tulaipanji rice of North Dinajpur through marker assisted selection (MAS) using SSR markersItem Open Access Assessment of genetic diversity of some commonly grown rice genotypes of South Bengal using microsatellite markers associated with the saltol QTL mapped on 1"chromosome(University of North Bengal, 2011-03) Lodha, T; Karmakar, J; Roychoudhuri, R; Dey, NA total of 16 common rice lines and one wild rice relative grown in rarh south Bengal were genotyped using six polymorphic microsatellite markers associated with saltol QTL mapped on rice chromosome. DNA fingerprint profiles identified each of the 17 rice genotypes unequivocally and the pair-wise polymorphism data for the studied genotypes were used to analyze the genetic diversity present within the studied rice lines. The number of alleles per SSLP marker, the size range of the PCR products and the polymorphism information content (PIC) values of each marker were calculated out. A dendrogram was constructed using the average linkage (within group) and similarity coefficient among the studied genotypes which indicated that a considerable amount of genetic diversity is present and classify the studied genotypes into two major clusters and one minor cluster.Item Open Access Assessment of Growth Performance and Histochemical Localisation of Reactive Oxygen Species in Fenugreek under Exogenous Calcium Ion Priming(University of North Bengal, 2022) Gupta, Saran Kumar; Mandal, Palashobjective of present study was to evaluate the response of the fenugreek seeds primed with various elicitors such as calcium chloride (CC) as an exogenous source of calcium ion; a calcium chelator: Ethylene glycol-bis(2-aminoethylether)-N,N,N´,N, tetra acetic acid (EG); and Lanthanum chloride (LC): a calcium channel blocker, under salinity stress. Significant improvement in the growth parameters of fenugreek seedlings was observed comparing with control. The stress tolerance index (STI) and histochemical detection of reactive oxygen species were performed to evaluate the tolerance of the fenugreek against salinity stress. The results exhibited noteworthy inhibitory effect of salinity stress in control set which was significantly mitigated by the exogenous calcium ion application. Furthermore, under the influence of calcium ion antagonists, EG and LC the adverse effect of salinity was more prominent than control set. In conclusion present investigation revealed that exogenous calcium ion is an ideal elicitor for enhancing growth and development of the fenugreek with better salinity stress management.Item Open Access Assessment of Therapeutic Potential and Phytochemical Profiling in Different Solvent Extracts of Centella asiatica(University of North Bengal, 2023) Saran Kumar GuptaCentella asiatica (L.) Urban, commonly known as Indian pennywort, a small perennial herb from the Apiaceae family has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different extraction solvents on the therapeutic and phytochemical profiles of various parts of Centella asiatica. Among the various plant parts assessed, the leaves exhibited the best antioxidant and in vitro antidiabetic activity and the highest amount of phytoconstituents compared to petiole and root. Methanol was identified as the most effective solvent, yielding optimal IC50 values for DPPH (30.65 μg/ml) and ABTS (45.23 μg/ml). Additionally, the methanolic extract of leaves exhibited highest content of phenolics (65.49 mg GAE/g DW) and flavonoids (12.56 mg QE/g DW). The methanolic leaf extract also demonstrated a promising inhibition potential against α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes and possessed elevated levels of alkaloids, glycosides, tannins and terpenoids. This study demonstrated significant variations in the therapeutic potential of Centella asiatica, attributed to differences in the nature of the extraction solvents.Item Open Access Association of AM fungi in the rhizosphere of Thuja orientalis (L)(University of North Bengal, 2013-03) De, U.K.; Das Biswas, R.; Chakraborty, B.N.Thuja orientalis (L) is used as an ornamental plant as well as medicinal plant in India from prehistoric times and instances were found in various manuscripts revealing its medicinal property against abdominal pain, hook worms, arthritis etc. AMF associated with rhizosphere of Thuja were extensively studied in relation to their population in soil, root-length colonization, histopathological study as well as their diversification. Predominant existence of various species of Glomus, Gigaspora were determined and their spore surface texture was examined using stereo microscope, besides, species of Acaulospora, Scutellospora etc. were also documented. Histopathological studies of host roots showed various types of hyphal network and arbuscules, AMF were tried to identify up to species level with the help of standard keys. The result indicated that the various spp. of AMF have established their colonization in host roots and the host plant have a significant role in root tissue colonization.Item Open Access Bacillus megaterium mediated growth promotion and biological control of crown rot disease of Oncidium incited by Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.(University of North Bengal, 2022-03) Basnet, M; Tongden, C; Chakraborty, U; Chakraborty, BNPlant viruses cause severe diseases leading to enormous crop loss. The present day viral researches of economic plants are centered on identification of virus, molecular characterization and management of viral discases. Till date more than thousand viruses have been classified into several families. It is desirable to know about the different virus families along with their type genus and/or important genus. But due to an enormous volume of literature published on this aspect, it becomes difficult to study all of them. Hence the present review has highlighted the salient features of the major plant viruses which have been classified at the family level. Most of the virus families have been discussed with important/type genus of each family. Some viruses which could not be placed in any family have been grouped as 'no family". Importance of molecular data, immunological data and data on protein configuration of coat proteins along with bioinformatics and its predictive power have been highlighted.Item Open Access Bacterial Spot (Xanthomonas cucurbitae) of cucurbits: A review(University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Jarial, Kumud; Jarial, Rajendar Singh; Gupta, Satish KumarThe Cucurbitaceae also known as cucurbits, are a plant family, sometimes called the ground family, consists of around a hundred genera most of which are edible. The Cucurbitaceae family ranks among the highest of plant families for number and percentage of species used as human food. Cucumber, pumpkin, different types of gourds, melons, squash and zucchini are among the important edible plants of the family. The cultivation of these cucurbits is hampered by the attack of many pathogens and insects, out of which Xanthomonas cucurbitae (Bryan) Dowson (Syn.: Xanthomonas campestris pv. cucurbitae) causing bacterial spot is emerging as an important pathogen leading to huge crop losses especially to pumpkin, winter squash and bottle gourd.