ANNUAL REPORT - Department of Biotechnology

software developed by TCS with support from
academicians (including scientists from CDFD). The
workshop was supported by Ministry of External
Affairs through ASEAN Secretariat, Sun
Microsystems Inc, and Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS).
The National Genomics and Transcriptomics Facility
is operational in its full capacity to provide services in
the areas of DNA sequencing and genotyping, real
time PCR, and microarray analysis.
Research highlights
In the discipline of molecular genetics, three lines of
experiments were undertaken in the Laboratory of
Bacterial Genetics, namely (i) to test the model of
and mechanisms mediating R-loop formation from
nascent untranslated transcripts; (ii) to study the
mechanism of ArgP-mediated transcriptional
regulation of the arginine exporter ArgO; and (iii) to
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investigate an unusual phenomenon of K toxicity in
hns trx double mutant strains.
The molecular genetics laboratory has shown that, in
insects, immune pathway genes are controlled in sex
dependent manner leading to sex biased expression
of antimicrobial protein (AMPs) genes. Expression of
antimicrobial genes before bacterial infection, was
male biased, but, after infection their expression was
stronger in females. Thus it was proposed that
sexually dimorphic immune responses have evolved
to increase reproductive fitness in both the sexes.
The Laboratory of Mammalian genetics is attempting
to develop a novel DNA-methylation based
diagnostic tool for cancer detection, whereas the
Laboratory of Oncology is using genomic
hybridization assays (CGH) for a similar purpose.
Research in the Cell and Molecular Biology theme is
mainly concentrated on studies of the mechanistic
aspects of eukaryotic and prokaryotic transcription
and signal transduction processes. The Laboratory
of Molecular and Cellular Biology has identified and
characterized different subunits of baculovirus RNA
polymerases, which will be important for
understanding the enzymatic properties of the
polymerase. This laboratory has also made
progress in understanding the anti-apoptotic
properties of viral protein P35. Studies in the
Laboratory of Transcription Biology are devoted
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towards understanding the basic mechanism of
transcription termination and antitermination in
prokaryotes. The Laboratory of Immunology has
continued to produce excellent results on the effects
of different synthetic and naturally occurring small
molecules on the signal transduction networks in
human cells.
One of the major thrust areas of CDFD's research is
to understand the basic mechanisms in
pathogenesis of infectious diseases caused by
bacteria, parasites, and viruses. Work involving
cloning and characterization of different ORFs of M.
tuberculosis, and molecular epidemiology of this
pathogen together with H. pylori, have made
significant progress during this period. Evolutionary
genomics of M. tuberculosis revealed a
predominance of ''ancestral' M. tuberculosis in
Indian, which supports the hypothesis that the Indian
subcontinent was an early step of the worldwide
expansion of the M. tuberculosis complex,
subsequent to the emergence of tubercle bacilli in
eastern Africa millions of years ago. Another study
involving H. pylori as a chronic colonization model
investigated co-evolution of 'ancestral' H. pylori (hsp-
Amerind) strains and the more recent Spanish strains
in Peruvian Amerindians, suggesting that human
history significantly impacted shaping of virulence on
an evolutionary time-scale in different continents.
The Virology group has achieved significant
milestones in deciphering the biology of import
mechanisms in viruses. They showed that Vpx
protein in immunodeficiency viruses is imported to
the nucleus by a novel signal mediated process and
that the nuclear import property of Vpx is critical for
the optimal virus replication in nondividing cells such
as macrophages. They also identified the players
such as GNL3L in nucleolar import pathways
The Computational Biology groups are involved in
advanced genome analysis research for
determination of microsatellite distributions and
prediction of operons in different microbial genomes.
They are also using different molecular dynamics
tools for analysis, prediction, and modeling of protein
structures. These theoretical works are well
complemented by the Structural Biology group,
whose work has led to the crystal structures of
several important proteins from M. tuberculosis