Plant Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, and Biostatistics

 Title of the Course : Plant Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, and Biostatistics

Nature of course : Major/ core-XIV 

Code : BOT-C-14  Total Credits : 04 

Distribution of Marks : 100 [End: 60 (Theory: 45, Pract: 15), In: 40]

Course outcome 

1. Understand the basic concepts and principles of plant biotechnology. 

2. Comprehend the structure and function of genes, genomes, and genetic engineering techniques 3. Develop skills in plant tissue culture techniques, including micropropagation, callus culture,  and somatic embryogenesis. 

4. Apply tissue culture methods for plant breeding and conservation 

5. Learn about biological databases, sequence alignment, and molecular evolution 6. Understand the basic concepts and principles of biostatistics. 

7. Learn about probability, statistical distributions, and hypothesis testing

Learning outcomes: 

1. Explain the basic concept of biotechnology 

2. Demonstrate the tissue culture technique 

3. Discuss the basic concepts of biostatistics 

Unit 1 : Plant Tissue Culture: (10 lectures)

Historical perspective; Composition of media; Nutrient and hormone requirements (role of vitamins  and hormones); Totipotency; Organogenesis; Embryogenesis (somatic and zygotic); Protoplast  isolation, culture and fusion; Tissue culture applications (micropropagation, androgenesis, virus  elimination, secondary metabolite production, haploids, triploids and hybrids; Cryopreservation;  Germplasm Conservation). 

Unit 2 : Recombinant DNA technology and application of biotechnology: (12 lectures)

Steps involved in genetic engineering, restriction enzymes and cloning vectors, Methods of gene  transfer, construction of genomic and cDNA libraries, 

Application of biotechnology: Pest resistant (Bt-cotton); herbicide resistant plants (RoundUp Ready  soybean); Transgenic crops with improved quality traits (Flavr Savr tomato, Golden rice); Improved  horticultural varieties (Moondust carnations); Role of transgenics in bioremediation (Superbug); edible  vaccines; Industrial enzymes (Aspergillase, Protease, Lipase); Gentically Engineered Products– Human  Growth Hormone; Humulin; Biosafety concerns. 

Unit 3: Introduction to Bioinformatics: (12 lectures)

Introduction to bioinformatics, Biological Databases, Classification format of Biological Databases,  Biological Database Retrieval System. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI),  Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST), Concept of Alignment, Multiple Sequence  Alignment, Phylogenetic Analyses 

Unit-4: Biostatistics: (11 lectures)

Frequency Distributions and Statistical Measures: mean, mode, median, variance, standard  deviation, coefficient of variation, measures of skewness and kurtosis 

Probability: Theory of Probability, Conditional Probability, Bayesian Rules, Random variable,  Distributions of random variables, Binomial, Poisson Fundamental concepts in applied  probability 

Exploratory data analysis and statistical inference, Chi-square test for independence, P-value  and z-score of the statistic, statistical software and their use for data analysis 

Lab activities 

1. Preparation of MS medium.

2. Demonstration of in vitro sterilization and inoculation methods using leaf and nodal explants  of tobacco, Datura, Brassica etc. 

3. Study of anther, embryo and endosperm culture, micropropagation, somatic embryogenesis &  artificial seeds through photographs. 

4. Construction of restriction map of circular and linear DNA from the data provided. 5. Study of methods of gene transfer through photographs: Agrobacterium-mediated, direct gene  transfer by electroporation, microinjection, microprojectile bombardment. 

6. Study of steps of genetic engineering for production of Bt cotton, Golden rice, Flavr Savr  tomato through photographs. 

7. Isolation of plasmid DNA. 

8. Nucleic acid and protein databases. 

9. Sequence retrieval from databases. 

10. Sequence alignment. 

11. Sequence homology and Gene annotation. 

12. Construction of phylogenetic tree