ANNUAL REPORT - Department of Biotechnology

yield of hydrogen in the first stage was about 3.31
-1
mol H 2 (mol glucose) and that of the second stage
-1
was about 1.5-1.72 mol H 2 (mol acetic acid) . The
overall yield of hydrogen in two-stage hybrid process
considering glucose as preliminary substrate was
found to be higher compared to a single stage
process. Further, light conversion efficiency of
hydrogen was found to be inversely proportional to
the incident light intensity.
Feasibility of E. cloacae IIT-BT 08 for biohydrogen
production from sludge has been studied. In the
process two potential hydrogen producers, Bacillus
coagulans IIT-BT S1 and Citrobacter freundii IIT-BT
L139 were also isolated. Heat-treated sludge was
found to be better substrate for the enhancement of
the production of hydrogen. 1% (w/v)
supplementation of dextrose for 15% (v/v) heat
treated sludge was recorded to give maximum
hydrogen yield of 121.38 mol H 2/g
COD after 32 hrs.
of fermentation. The process has been scaled-up
successfully to 20 L with significant improvement in
H 2 yield.
TERI, New Delhi has collected samples from Indian
oil reservoir for microbial diversity of hyper
thermophilic sulphate reducing bacteria. The DNA of
the purified strains was sequenced by Microseq
sequencing kit. Total culture independent studies
based on 16S rDNA and DGGE (Denaturing
Gradient Gel Electrophoresis) analysis indicted
diversity of the Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB)
population in the various oil wells of Oil India Ltd,
Assam. Out of 31 biocides tested, two (Navdeecide
AM 5015, and Navdeecide 91) were found to be
effective against sulphate reducing bacteria. These
o O
biocides were tested at 37 C and 55 C. This study
:
resulted in two important findings
(i) Sulphate reducing bacteria are indegenous to the
oil reservoirs, and
(ii) Fermentative bacteria also lead to the production
of sulphide, in addition to the sulphate reducing
bacteria.
DBT Annual Report 2006-07
128
Biosensors/Biomarkers
Industrial Toxicology Research Centre, Lucknow
aims to detect the functional genes and study their
expression levels in natural environments in a high
throughput format such as a DNA microarray. They
have developed 50-mer based oligonucleotide
microarray based on most of 2,402 known genes
involved in biodegradation and metal resistance. The
oligos arrayed were specific to genes involved in
biodegration of synthetic compounds like
polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), monocylic
aromatic compounds like BTEX, textile dyes, metal
and nitro aromatic compounds and pesticides. This
specific gene-chip is being validated with few
organisms having genes for well-characterized
degradative pathways.
Biodiversity conservation
Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun and CCMB,
Hyderabad have attempted to standardize the
protocol for isolation of DNA from tissue samples and
toe tips. Four new species of anurans belonging to
the genus Rhacophorus, Polypedates, Philautus
and Bufo are diagnosed by morphological and
molecular characters and also compared with all
related congenerics and their distinctiveness has
been demonstrated. The study has proved that
allopatric speciation and convergence has played an
important role as well as usefulness of
biotechnological tools in the evolution of endemism
of amphibians and reptiles in Western Ghats.
Molecular tools such as genome-wide profiling
Single Primer Amplification Reaction (SPAR)
methods, namely, Random Amplified Polymorphic
DNA (RAPD) and Inter Simple Sequence Repeat
PCR (ISSR PCR) are used to resolve Equisetum
taxonomy at NBRI, Lucknow. Two species of
Equisetum which are E. ramosissimum and E.
arvense have been analyzed and then were
classified systematically. Study has clearly shown
the utility and resolution power of the SPAR profiles
for carrying out or inferring inter- species
relationships as well as diversity amongst
accessions of the same species of Equisetum.