Senior Research Fellow
GENETICS & PLANT BREEDING
Unit 1: General Genetics and Plant Breeding
Mendelian inheritance. Cell structure and division, Linkage, its detection and
estimation. Epistasis. Gene concept, allelism and fine structure of gene. Extra
chromosomal inheritance. DNA – structure, function, replication and repair.
Genetic code. Gene-enzyme relationship. Replication, Transcription and
Translation. Gene regulation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Nuclear and cytoplasmic
genome organization. Spontaneous and induced mutations and their molecular
mechanisms. Crop domestication, evolution of crops and centres of diversity.
Emergence of scientific plant breeding. Objectives and accomplishments in plant
breeding and the role of National and International institutes. Gametogenesis
and fertilization. Modes of sexual and asexual reproduction and its relation to
plant breeding methodology. Apomixes, incompatibility and male sterility
systems and their use in plant breeding.
Unit 2: Economics Botany and Plant Breeding Methods
Origin, distribution, classification, description and botany of cereals (wheat,
rice, maize, sorghum, pearl millet, minor millets); pulses (pigeonpea,
chickpea, black gram, green gram, cowpea, soyabean, pea, lentil, horse gram,
lab-lab, rice bean, winged bean, lathyrus, Lima bean; oilseeds (groundnuts,
sesamum, castor, rapeseed mustard, sunflower, Niger, linseed); fibers and sugar
crops, fodder and green manures; Breeding methods for self-pollinated, cross-pollinated
and clonally propagated crops. Component, recombinational and transgressive
breeding. Single seed descent. Populations, their improvement methods and
maintenance, Hybrid breeding and genetic basis of heterosis. Ideotype breeding.
Mutation breeding.
Unit 3: Genome organization and Cytogenetics of Crop Plants
Chromosome structure, function and replication. Recombination and crossing
over. Karyotype analysis. Banding techniques. In situ hybridization.
Special types of chromosomes. Chromosomal interchanges, inversions,
duplications and deletions. Polyploids, haploids, aneuploids and their utility.
Wide hybridization and chromosomal manipulations for alien gene transfer.
Pre-and post- fertilization barriers in wide hybridization. Genome organization
and cytogenetics of important crop species - wheat, maize, rice, Brassica,
cotton, Vigna, potato and sugarcane. Principles and procedures of genome
analysis. Cytogenetic techniques for gene location and gene transfer,
Construction and use of molecular marker based chromosome maps. Comparative
mapping and genome analysis.
Unit 4: Quantitative and Biometrical Genetics
Quantitative characters. Multiple factors inheritance. Genetic control of
polygenic characters. Genetic advance and types of selection and correlated
response. Hardy Weinberg law. Linkage disequilibrium. Genetic load.
Polymorphism. Breeding value, heritability. Response to selection, correlated
response. Estimates of variance components and covariance among relatives.
Mating designs with random and inbred parents. Estimation of gene effects and
combing ability. Effects of linkage and epistasis on estimation of genetic
parameters. Maternal effects. Genotype-environment interactions and stability
of performance. Heterosis and its basis. Mating system and mating design-
diallel, line X tester, NC-1, NC-II and NC-III designs, approaches to estimate
and exploit combining ability and specific and cross pollinated crops. Genotype
X environment interaction and stability analysis.
Unit 5: Genetic Engineering and Biotechnological Tools in Plant
Breeding
Somatic hybridization, micropropagation, somachonal variation in vitro
mutagenesis. Artificial synthesis of gene. Genetic and molecular markers,
generations of molecular markers and their application in genetic analyses and
breeding. Molecular markers in genetic diversity analysis and breeding for
complex characters. Gene tagging, QTL mapping and marker aided selection.
Genome projects and utilization of sequence formation. Vectors. DNA libraries,
DNA fingerprinting, DNA sequencing. Nuclei acid hybridization and
immunochemical detection. Chromosome walking, Recombinant DNA technology, Gene
cloning strategies. Genetic transformation and transgenics. Antisense RNA, RNAi
and micro RNA techniques in crop improvement.
Unit 6: Plant Breeding for Stress Resistance and Nutritional Quality
Genetic basis and breeding for resistance to diseases and insect-pests.
Breeding for vertical and horizontal resistance to diseases. Genetic and
physiological basis of abiotic stress tolerance. Breeding for resistance to
heat, frost, flood, drought and soil stresses. Important quality parameters in
various crops, their genetic basis and breeding for these traits. Role of
molecular markers in stress resistance breeding: MAS, MARS and MABB.
Unit 7: Plant Genetic Resources and their Regulatory System;
Varietal Release and Seed Production
Plant exploration, germplasm introduction, exchange, conservation, evaluation
and utilization of plant genetic resources. Convention on Biological Diversity
and International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
Intellectual Property Rights. Biodiversity Act. Plant Variety Protection and
Farmers’ Rights Act. System of variety release and notification. Types of seeds
and seed chain. Seed production and certification.
Unit 8: Statistical Methods and Field Plot Techniques
Frequency distribution. Measures of central tendency, probability theory and
its applications in genetics. Probability distribution and tests of
significance. Correlation, linear, partial and multiple regression. Genetic
divergence. Multivariate analysis. Design of experiments - basic principles,
completely randomized design, randomized block design and split plot design.
Complete and incomplete block designs. Augmented design, Grid and honeycomb
design. Hill plots, unreplicated evaluation. Data collection and
interpretation.
ECONOMIC BOTANY & PLANT
GENETIC RESOURCES
Unit 1: Plant Taxonomy and Biosystematics
Nomenclature, purpose, principles and systems of classification; Taxonomy of
higher plants, floras, manuals, monographs, index, catalogues and dictionaries,
herbaria; Concepts of biosystematics, evolution and differentiation of species;
Biosystematic and taxonomic tools; Origin, evolution and biosystematics of
selected crops (rice, wheat, rape seed & mustard, cotton).
Unit 2: Economically important plants –I
Origin, history, domestication, botany, genetic resource activities,
cultivation, production and use of:
Cereals: Wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, pearl millet and minor
millets.
Pulses: Pigeon pea, chickpea, black gram, green gram, cowpea,
soyabean, pea, lentil, horsegram, lab-lab bean, ricebean, winged bean, French
bean, lima bean, sword bean.
Oilseeds: Groundnut, sesame, castor, rape seed, mustard,
sunflower, safflower, niger, oil palm, coconut and linseed.
Unit 3: Economically important plants –II
Origin, distribution, cultivation, production and utilization of economic
plants of the following groups such as
Fibres: Cotton, silk cotton, jute, sunnhemp, agave, flax and
mesta (kenoff);
Sugars: Sugarcane, sugarbeet, sugarpalm and sweet sorghum;
Fodders and green manure crops:
Plantation crops: Coconut, cocoa, tea;
Root and tuber crops: Potato, sweet potato, tapioca, aroids
etc.
Unit 4: Economically important plants –III
Origin, distribution, classification, production and utilization of
Fruits: Mango, banana, citrus, guava, grapes and other
indigenous fruits; apple, plum, pear, peach, cashewnut and walnut;
Vegetables: Tomato, brinjal, okra, cucumber, cole crops,
gourds etc.;
Fumigatories and masticatories: Tobacco, betelvine, arecanut;
Medicinal and aromatic plants: Sarpagandha, belladonna,
cinchona, nux-vomica, vinca, mentha and glychirhiza, plantago etc.;
Narcotics: Cannabis, datura, gloriosa, erythranum and opium;
Dye-, tannin-, gum- and resin- yielding plants;
Plant of agro-forestory importance: Multipurpose trees/shrubs,
subabool, Acacia nilotica, poplar, sesbania, neem etc.;
Non-traditional economic plants: Jojoba, guayule, jatropha,
carcus etc.
Unit 5: Biodiversity and Plant Genetic Resources (PGR)
Biosphere and biodiversity; plant species richness and endemism; concept and
importance of plant genetic resources and its increasing erosion; Centres of origin
and diversity of crop plants, domestication, evaluation, bioprospecting;
National and International organizations associated with PGR; Convention on
Biological Diversity (CBD), recent issues related to access and ownership of
PGR, IPRs, PBRs, farmers rights, sui-generis system etc.
Unit 6: Germplasm Augmentation
History and importance of germplasm collection, ecogeographical distribution of
diversity, logistics of exploration and collection, use of flora and herbaria,
random and selective sampling, genepool sampling in self and cross pollinated
species; Concept, importance and ecogeographical considerations of introduction
and exchange of plant germplasm; prerequisites conventions and ethics of PGR
exchange.
Unit 7: Germplasm Conservation
Principles and methods of conservation, in situ and ex situ
methods, on-farm conservation; Gene banks: short-medium- and long-term
conservation strategies; seed physiology and seed technology in conservation;
seed storage behaviour (orthodox, recalcitrant), field genebanks, clonal
repositories. Gene bank management, gene bank standard for various crops, ISTA,
AOSA, IPGRI guidelines, documentation of information in gene bank.
Unit 8: Biotechnology in PGR
Plant conservation biotechnology, biotechnology in plant germplasm acquisition;
plant tissue culture in disease elimination, in vitro conservation and
exchange; cryopreservation, transgenics – exchange and biosafety issues;
biochemical and molecular approaches to assessing plant diversity.
Unit 9: Plant Quarantine
Principles, objectives and relevance of plant quarantine; Regulations and plant
quarantine set up in India; economic significance of seed borne pests,
pathogens and weeds; detection and post entry quarantine operations, salvaging
of infested/infected germplasm, domestic quarantine.
Unit 10: Germplasm characterization, evaluation, maintenance and
regeneration
Principles and strategies of PGR evaluation, approaches in germplasm
characterization and diversity analysis, concept of core collection,
descriptors and descriptor states for data scoring; maintenance of working and
active collections of self-cross-pollinated and vegetatively propagated crops,
perennials and wild relatives; principles and practices of regeneration in
relation to mode of reproduction, concept of genetic integrity, genetic shift,
genetic drift and optimum environment; post-harvest handling of germplasm; PGR
data base management.
SEED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Unit 1: Seed Biology
Floral biology, mode of reproduction, sporogenesis, pollination, fertilization,
embryogenesis, fruit and seed development. Apomixis, parthenocarpy,
polyembryony and somatic embryos and synthetic seeds. Seed structure of monocot
and dicot. Seed maturation and longevity in orthodox and recalcitrant seed. Chemical
composition of seed. Seed dormancy – types, causes and mechanisms of induction
and release, factors affecting, methods to overcome dormancy and its
significance in agriculture. Seed germination – requirements, imbibition
pattern, physiological and biochemical changes, and role of hormones.
Unit 2: Seed Production
Introduction to crop breeding methods. Variety testing, release and
notification. Genetic purity concept and factors responsible for deterioration
of varieties. Maintenance breeding. General system of seed multiplication. Seed
production agencies. Identification of seed production areas and factors
affecting it. Compact approach in seed production. Seed production planning,
equipment, input and manpower requirement. Factors affecting pollination and
seed set viz., temperature, humidity, wind velocity, insect pollinators, and
supplementary pollination. Male sterility, self-incompatibility and their role
in hybrid seed production. Principles and methods of seed production of
varieties and hybrids of cereals like wheat, paddy, sorghum, pearl millet and
maize; pulses like chickpea, pigeon pea, green gram, black gram, soybean and
cowpea; oilseeds like groundnut, brassica, sesame, sunflower and castor; fibre
crops like cotton and jute; vegetables crops like tomato, brinjal, okra,
chilli; important cole and cucurbitaceous crops; important forage legumes and
grasses and seed crop management, time of harvesting and threshing/extraction
methods. Seed production technology of plantation crops like coffee, tea,
rubber, cocoa, cardamom and pepper. Disease free clonal propagation of crops
like potato, sugarcane, sweet potato, tapioca, colocasia, betel vine, fruit
crops like mango, citrus, banana, guava, sapota, pineapple, grape, apple, pear,
plum, peach, apricot and seed production and clonal propagation of annual and
perennial flowers like rose, gladiolus, chrysanthemum, marigold, dahlia, phlox
and petunia. Clonal standards and degenerations. Micro propagation.
Unit 3: Seed Processing
Principles of seed processing. Seed drying principles and methods. Precleaning,
grading, treatment, pelleting and packaging. Seed invigoration and enhancement
treatment and their applications. Seed processing machines like cleaner cum
grader, specific gravity separator, indented cylinder, seed treater, weighing
and bagging machines, their operation and maintenance. Seed quality maintenance
during processing.
Unit 4: Seed Quality Control
Seed legislation – Seeds Act 1966, Seed Rules 1969 and New Seed Bill 2004, Seed
Law Enforcement. Seed certification – history, concept, organization, phases
and minimum certification standards. Field inspection principles and methods.
Inspection at harvesting, threshing and processing. Pre- and post quality
testing or genetic purity. Seed Certification Schemes, concepts and procedures.
Seed Testing concepts and objectives, its role in seed quality control. Seed
sampling, seed moisture testing, purity analysis, germination testing,
tolerance tests and equipment. Seed testing procedures for principal agri
horticultural crops. Quick viability tests. Seed vigour, its significance and
testing methods. Testing for genuineness of varieties – principles and methods
based on seed, seedling and plant characters, biochemical techniques namely
electrophoresis of proteins and isoenzymes and DNA fingerprinting.
International Seed Testing Association (ISTA), its role in development of seed
testing procedures, rules and seed quality assurance for international seed
trade.
Unit 5: Seed Storage
Requirements and types of seed storage.
Factors affecting seed storage and role of moisture, temperature, RH and
moisture equilibrium. Viability monographs. Seed deterioration causes and
methods of control. Physiological, biochemical and molecular changes in seed
ageing. Seed drying and Packaging needs. Storage structures. Methods of
stacking and their impact. Short and medium term storage. Controlled storage.
Germplasm storage. Cryo preservation. Design features of short, medium and
long-term seed storage buildings. Operation and management of seed stores
Unit 6: Seed Health
Significance of seed health. Mode and
mechanism of transmission of microorganisms - fungi, bacteria and viruses.
Procedures for seed health test and rules. Externally and internally seed-borne
pathogens, mode of infection, development and spread, methods of detection of
seed borne diseases. Important seed-borne diseases of cereals, oilseeds,
pulses, fibre crops, vegetables and their control measures. Quarantine and
International procedures of phytosanitary certificates. Important storage
pests, their identification, monitoring and detection. ET value, nature and
extent of damage, natural enemies and management. Use of pesticides,
botanicals, mycotoxins for seed treatments. Carry over infestation, principles
of fumigation and safe use of fumigants.
Unit 7: Seed Industry Development and
Marketing
Trends in National and International seed
industry development. International Seed Trade Federation (ISF) and Indian seed
associations. Economics of seed production. Market survey, demand forecasting,
pricing policies, marketing channels, planning and sales promotion. Buyer
behavior and role of Government, semi Government, cooperative and private
sectors in seed trade. Responsibilities of seed companies and dealers in Seed
Act. Seed import and export.
Unit 8: Protection of Plant Varieties
Plant Variety Protection (PVP) and its
significance. Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Right Act, 2001, its
essential features. International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of
Plants (UPOV) and its role in development of Plant breeders Rights and Seed
Industry Development. Impact of PVP on seed supply system. DUS testing
principles and application. Biodiversity Act. Criteria for protection of
Essentially Derived Varieties (EDVs) and Genetically modified (GM) varieties.
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