DEPARTMENT OF BIOSCIENCES

(UGC CENTRE OF ADVANCED STUDY - Phase-1:2013-2018)

Year of Establishment: 1969

Highlights of the Department

• Formar Pofessor of the Department Prof. Sumitra V. Chanda is included in the recently published Subject-wise ranking of top 2% scientist from India by Stanford University. Rank 1476 in Medicinal & Biomedical Chemistry.
• UGC-Center of Advanced Study (CAS : Phase-1, 2013-2018)
• Projects: UGC, DST, SERB, DBT, CSIR, GSBTM, MoES, DRDO, Gujarat Govt.
• Multi-Institutional & Net Working Projects
• National/International Collaborations
• DST-FIST, Women Scientist Projects, International Travel Grants
• Post-Doctoral/PhD Fellowships: UGC, DST, DBT, CSIR, GSBTM, MoES, Gujarat Govt.
• Research Publications and Patents
• International Post-Graduate and Post-Doctoral Fellows

Recent  Publications

1. Rupal Joshi, Vikram Raval, Hitarth Bhatt and S. P. Singh, 2022 “PHENOTYPIC CHARACTERISTICS, PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ALKALINE PROTEASES OF MARINE BACTERIA Geomicrobium halophilum, Oceanobacillus oncorhynchi, and Oceanobacillus khimchii”, BIOLOGIA (IF 1.34), Accepted 05 April 2022

2. Vikram Raval, Dalip Singh Rathore and S. P. Singh, 2022 “COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO ALKALINE PROTEASES FROM Haloalkaliphilic bacterium D-15-9 AND Oceanobacillus onchorynchii Mi-10-54”, APPLIED BIOCHEMISTRY AND MICROBIOLOGY (IF 0.95) (Springer)Accepted April 2022

3. Patale, V.V., Tank, J.G. Evaluation of the edaphic and water properties of Diu coast (Saurashtra, Gujarat, India) in relation to the population density of Avicennia marina. Appl Water Sci 12, 78 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-022-01602-w (IF: 3.874)

4. Bhatt, H.B and Singh, S.P. 2022. Diversity of cultivable bacteria in a saline desert of Little Rann of Kutch, India: a phylogenetic perspective , Frontiers in Marine Science (IF 4.90), Accepted and In Press

5. Savan Donga and Sumitra Chanda (2022). Caesalpinia crista seeds mediated green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles for antibacterial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities. BioNanoScience; https://doi.org/10.1007/s12668-022-00952-8. (IF-2.3)

6. Gajera N, Vakani B and Kundu R (2022) Radular Morphology and Relationship Between Shell Size and Radula Size of Few Dominating Intertidal Gastropod Mollusks of Veraval Coast, Gujarat. Front. Mar. Sci. 9:657124. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2022.657124

7. Savan Donga and Sumitra Chanda (2021). Facile green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Mangifera indica seed aqueous extract and its antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic potential (3-in-1 system). Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology; 49(1): 292-302. (IF-5.6)

8. Raja J, Pathak S and Kundu R (2021).  GC-MS and FT-IR analysis of methanolic extract of a marine cnidarians Zoanthus sansibaricus in search of bioactive compounds. Int J Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research 2021; 12(3): 1593-1598. doi: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.12(3).1593-98.

9. Hitisha Baroliya & Rahul Kundu (2021). A Garden of Feather Stars (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) In The Intertidal Area of South Saurashtra Coastline of Gujarat state, India. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 47 (4) : 339-344.

10. Patale, V. and Tank, J.G., 2021. Ecological assessment of heavy metals accumulation in sediments and leaves of Avicennia marina along the Diu coast of the northeast Arabian Sea. Oceanologia.in press

11. Hiteshkumar Parmar, Yogesh Khandla, Varsha M.Trivedi (2021) Habitat Preference and Distribution of Herpetofauna in the City of Rajkot and Vicinities, Gujarat. Environment and Ecology39 (2) : 494—505

12. Vakani, Bhavik & Rahul Kundu (2021): Diversity and distribution of Siphonariid limpets along the coastline of mainland India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 118. doi: 10.17087/jbnhs/2021/v118/143634

13. Dwivedi, Purna, Sharma, A. K. and Singh, S.P. 2021. Biochemical properties and repression studies of an alkaline serine protease from a haloalkaliphilic actinomycete, Nocarpdiopsis dassonvillei subsp. albirubida OK-14. Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology, 35:1-7 (Elsevier; IF: 0.90), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcab.2021.102059

14. Arun Y. Patil, Akash Naik, Bhavik Vakani, Rahul Kundu, N.R.Banapurmath, M.Roseline, Lekha Krishnapillai, Shridhar N.Mathad. (2021). Next Generation Material for Denture Teeth and Denture Base Material: Limpet Teeth (LT) as an Alternative Reinforcementin Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). JOURNAL OF NANO-AND ELECTRONIC PHYSICS (ЖУРНАЛ НАНО-ТА ЕЛЕКТРОННОЇ ФІЗИКИ),Vol.13 No 2, 02033(6pp). DOI: 10.21272/jnep.13(2).02033.

15. Kikani, B.A. and Singh, S.P. 2021. Amylases from thermophilic bacteria: Structure and Function Relationship. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, DOI: 10.1080/07388551.2021.1940089 (Taylor & Francis; IF: 8.102)

16. Rathore, D. R., Sheikh, M., Gohel G.D, and Singh, S.P. 2021. Genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity of the Nocardiopsis alba strains of sea water. Current Microbiology, 78: 1377-1387 (Springer; IF: 1.75), DOI: 10.1007/s00284-021-02420-0

17. Vijay J. Lagariya and Mital J. Kaneria (2021). Ethnobotanical Profiling and Floristic Diversity of the Miyawaki Plantation in Saurashtra University Campus, Rajkot. Journal of Drug Delivery & Therapeutics 11(2):87-99. http://jddtonline.info/index.php/jddt/article/view/460

18. Chauhan, J.V., Mathukiya, R. Singh, S.P. and Gohel, S.D. 2021. Two steps purification, biochemical characterization, thermodynamics and structure elucidation of thermostable alkaline serine protease from Nocardiopsis alba strain OM-5. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (IJBIOMAC), 169: 39-50 (Elsevier; IF: 5.16), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.12.061 , Available On-Line 12 Dec 2020.

19. Rathore, D R and Singh, S.P. 2021. Kinetics of growth and co-production of amylase and protease in novel marine actinomycete, Streptomyces lopnurensis KaM5. Folia Microbiologica (Springer; IF: 1.70), https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-020-00843-

20. List of Book Chapters-2021

21. Thumar, J.T. and Singh, S. P. 2022. “Antimicrobial Potential and Metabolite Profiling of Marine Actinobacteria”, P. 241-264. In: ‘Actinobacteria-Microbiology to Synthetic Biology’, Karthik L. (eds). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5835-8_12, Print ISBN978-981-16-5834-1, Online ISBN 978-981-16-5835-8

22. Rathore, D.S., Sharma, A.K., Dobariya, A., Ramavat, H. and Singh, S. P. 2022. “Cultivation and Diversity of Marine Actinomycetes: Molecular Approaches and Bioinformatics Tools”, P. 215-240. In: ‘Actinobacteria-Microbiology to Synthetic Biology’, Karthik L. (eds). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5835-8_12, Print ISBN978-981-16-5834-1, Online ISBN 978-981-16-5835-8

23. Chowdhary, V., Alooparampil, S., Pandya, R.V. and Tank, J.G., 2021. Physiological Function of Phenolic Compounds in Plant Defense System. In Phenolic Compounds-Chemistry, Synthesis, Diversity, Non-Conventional Industrial, Pharmaceutical and Therapeutic Applications. IntechOpen.

24. Tank, J.G. and Pandya, R.V., 2021. A Comparative Account on Biodiesel Production from Forest Seeds. In Biofuel from Microbes and Plants (pp. 129-164). CRC Press.

25. Rathore, D.S., Sharma, A.K., Dobariya, A., Ramavat, H. and Singh, S. P. 2021. “Cultivation and Diversity of Marine Actinomycetes: Molecular Approaches and Bioinformatics Tools”, In, Actinobacteria-Microbiology to Synthetic Biology, Springer Nature, In Press

26. Thumar, J.T. and Singh, S. P. 2021. “Antimicrobial Potential and Metabolite Profiling of Marine Actinobacteria”, In, Actinobacteria-Microbiology to Synthetic Biology, Springer Nature, In Press

27. Rakholiya, K.D., Kaneria, M.K., Jadhav, P.R. and Singh, S. P. 2021. “Plant growth promoting and biocontrol potency of rhizospheric bacteria associated to halophytes”, In ‘Trends of applied microbiology for a sustainable economy’ Ed. Ravindra Soni, Deep Chandra Suyal, Ajar Nath Yadav and Reeta Goel, Publisher Elsevier, In Press

28. Bhatt, H.B., Baria, D.M., Raval, V.H. and Singh, S. P. 2021. “Multifunctional properties of polysaccharides produced by halophilic bacteria and their new applications in biotechnology”, Microbial Syntrophy-Mediated Eco-Enterprising, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-99900-7.00014-6, In Press

29. Rathore, D.S. Sheikh, M. and Singh, S. P. 2021. “Marine Actinobacteria: New Horizons in Bioremediation”, P.425-449, in “Recent Developments in Microbial Technologies. Environmental and Microbial Biotechnology, Edited by: Prasad R., Kumar V., Singh J., Upadhyaya C.P. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4439-2_20, Print ISBN978-981-15-4438-5. Online ISBN978-981-15-4439-2

Proceedings of the National Conference on Innovations in Biological Sciences (NCIBS) 2020 : Link

UGC-CAS DEPARTMENT OF BIOSCIENCES : A JOURNEY TO RECOGNITION AND EXCELLENCE

Established by Eminent Ecologist Prof. S.C. Pandeya

Timeline :

• UGC - MAB Project : 1977-1980 : Coordinator - Prof. S.C. Pandeya
• UGC-SAP DRS : 1981-1983 : Coordinator - Prof. S.C. Pandeya
• UGC-SAP DSA Phase-I : 1983-1988 : Coordinator - Prof. S.C. Pandeya
• UGC-SAP DSA Phase - II: 1992-1997 : Coordinator - Prof. Y.D. Singh & Prof. S.M. Pandya
• UGC-SAP DSA Phase - III: 2001 -2006 : Coordinator - Prof. P.P. Sood & Prof. S.P. Singh
• UGC COSIST Programme : 2001 - 2006 : Coordinator - Prof. P.P. Sood & Prof. S.P. Singh
• DST FIST Phase-I : 2006 : Coordinator - Prof. P.P. Sood & Prof. S.P. Singh
• UGC-SAP CAS Phase - I : 2013 - 2018 : Coordinator - Prof. S.P. Singh
• UGC-SAP CAS Phase - II : Applied (2020)

About the Department

• The Department of Biosciences was established in 1969 by Prof. S.C. Pandeya. On the recommendation of the University Grants Commission (UGC), an integrated Post Graduate Course in Biology (M. Sc. Experimental Biology, 1969-1993), first of its kind in the country, was started in this Department. The Department started with its base in Environmental Sciences and in few years it took leadership in the field of ecology under the stewardship of its founder head, late Prof S. C. Pandeya. Gradually, other areas of research such as Plant Physiology, Animal Physiology & Toxicology, Neurobiology, Ornithology, Wildlife Biology and Fisheries were also integrated into the thrust areas. Later on, keeping Integrated Biology as the theme for the first year of the course, the second year was specialized into Plant Sciences (Botany), Animal Sciences (Zoology) and Microbiology (1994-2007). With the advancement of Biology and looking at the need of its teaching for Human Resource Development, M.Sc. Programme in Biotechnology was initiated from the year 2004. Today the department is progressing with the major theme of Integrated Biology in diversified research areas. Department of Biosciences is offering degrees in Botany, Zoology, Microbiology and Biotechnology (2007 onwards). Thus, this program aimed to be a platform for Human Resource Development, in the various fields of biological sciences.

Department  Profile

• Faculty Members: 16
• Non-Teaching-19
• Facilities in the Department: Research Laboratories: 11; Teaching Laboratories: 07; Botanical Garden: 01; Seminar Hall: 01, Meeting Room: 01, Library: 01; General Store: 01; Animal House (CPCSEA approved): 01 (Link); Museum & Herbarium : 01   Details about Departmental Facilities: Link
• UGC-CAS-Thrust Area for Research : Ecology (Arid Zone Biology, Biodiversity & Ecology, Desertification – in different phases)
• Over all Research Areas: Extremophiles & Metagenomics, Bioremediation, Microbial Enzymes & Recombinant Enzymes, Plant Physiology, Plant Molecular Biology, Ecology, Herbal Technology, Marine Biology, Eco-Toxicology, Physiology, Food and Agriculture Microbiology, Avian Biology, Arachnology, Entomology

Academic Programmes :

• M.Sc. Programmes :  Botany, Zoology, Microbiology and Biotechnology (CBCS)
• M. Phil Programme :  Botany, Zoology and Microbiology
• Ph.D. Programmes  :  Botany, Zoology, Microbiology and Biotechnology
• Faculty Members - 16 (Regular - 09, Contractual - 07)
• Post-Doctoral Scientists- 05 (2015-2020)
• Technical & Non-Teaching Staff - 19
• Ph.D. Scholars- 43 (currently working), Details : Link
• M. Phil. Scholars - 11 (2019-2020), Details : Link
• M. Sc. Students- 168 (2019-2020) in all four streams

Post-Doctoral Scientists (2015-2020):

1. Dr. Vikram Raval ( DST Young Scientist, Mentor- Prof. S P Singh)
2. Dr. Aparna Singh ( DST Women Scientist, Mentor- Prof. S P Singh)
3. Dr. Kalpna Rakholiya (DST-National Post Doctoral Fellow, Mentor- Prof. S P Singh)
4. Dr. Ravindra Pal Singh (UGC- Dr. D S Kothari Fellow, Mentor- Prof. R K Kothari)
5. Dr. Kiran Liversage (Univ. of Tartu, Estonia, Europe: 2019-2020. Fellow of Malacological Society of London, UK. Mentor- Prof. Rahul Kundu)

Projects & Financial Support

• UGC: Centre of Advanced Study (CAS)- Phase-I (2013-18)
• UGC: SAP- DSA-Phase-I, II and III (1984-2006)
• UGC: Major Projects
• DST: FIST-Level I ( Completed)
• DST: Women Scientist Projects
• IQAC, Saurashtra University- R&D Projects and Start Up Grants
• DBT: R&D Projects
• DBT: Multi-Institutional project (Saurashtra Uni., IIT Delhi and Delhi University,2007-2012)
• Govt. of Gujarat: Multi-Institutional project
• GSBTM, Govt. of Gujarat: R& D projects
• MoES (Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India): 2014-2017
• NMEICT: Ministry of HRD, New Delhi, 2012-2014
• DRDE: Ministry of Defense, New Delhi, 2015-17
• IQAC-Saurashtra University, Rajkot, 2016-2018
• ePG Pathshala: UGC, New Delhi, 2012-2014
• UGC: Starup-project, 2015-2017
• DBT-BIRAC-SRISTI Projects, 2017-2018
• DBT: Foldscope Project, 2018-2019
• UGC-BSR Mid-Career Award - 2019
• UGC-BSR Faculty Fellowship Award - 2020

Financial Assistance Received (2015-2020) : 105.96 L

• Central Govt. Funded : Rs. 91.96 Lacs
• State Govt. Funded : Rs. 12 Lacs
• Industries Funded : Rs. 2 Lacs

Interdisciplinary/Multi-Institutional Collabortion

• IIT-Delhi
• DRDE (DRDO), Gwalior
• Delhi University
• Rutgers University, USA
• Anand Agricultural University, Anand
• Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh
• University of Tartu, Estonia, Europe
• University of Plymouth, UK
• Kyoto University, Japan
• Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad

Details of Collaboration : Link

Range of h-Index, Citations and Impact Factors (Google Scholar)

Senior Faculty Members

• h-Index : 8- 30
• Citations : 220-3500
• Impact Factors: 0.1-7

Cumulative Impact Factor of all faculties combined, Total IF of 5 year: 140 Avg. 26/year

Ph.D/M.Phil Students/Projects (2015-2020)

• Ph.D : 57
• M. Phil : 85
• Major Research Projects : 18
• Minor Research Projects : 03

Publications (2015-2020)

• Refereed Journals : 237
• Books : 09
• Book Chapters : 56
• Whole Genome sequences : 10
• Data Base Development : 08
• Sequence Submission: : Above 1000 nucleotide sequences in database (NCBI, BOLD, GenBank)

Fellowships (JRF / SRF / RA : 2019-2020) :

UGC/CSIR/DST/DBT/GSBTM/MoES : Total 15, Total Fellowship amount : Rs. 54.55 Lacs

Details : Link

Patents, Copyrights, IPR

Patents-3

1. Rohan Pandya & Prof. Dr. Vrinda S. Thaker: Indian patent 295737, November 23, 2009
2. Madhvi Joshi & Prof. Dr. V. S. Thaker: 144/MUM/2011, 17th Jan 2011
3. Prof. S.P. Singh, Dr. Kalpana Rakholia & Dr. Mital Kaneria, Dept. of Biosciences: E-101/11310/2019-MUM, 8 Aug 2019.

Copyright - 03

MoU

1. Saurashtra University and DRDE (DRDO), Gwalior (2017).  Sharing a common desire to explore, extend and strengthen the functional relationship between the Universities and National laboratories with well established R &D set up(s) in Biological and Chemical science in order to share the facilities and expertise available with each of them.            For Details: Link

2. Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University and Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh (2016). To establish a long-term institutional partnership in the areas of Agricultural Sciences viz. Plant Physiology, Plant Genetics, Soil microbiology and Soil chemistry; Veterinary Sciences, Fisheries Sciences, Microbiology, Biotechnology (Genomic analysis, Metagenomics and Proteomics, Analytical Instrumentation, Bioinformatics, Environmental microbiology, Animal Biotechnology and Nanotechnology); training of students and faculties, Seminar, workshops, etc. with the primary objective of promoting contact and collaboration between faculty, staff and students, explore joint research programmes and exchange experiences in education and research; and the partnership also aims at enhancing the technological, social and cultural ralations.            For Details: Link

3. Saurashtra University Rajkot and Vimal Research Society for Agro-Biotech and Cosmic Powers (VIRASCO) (2019). Rajkot. The MoU is mainly focused on research areas like agriculture modelling, Kirlian Photography, Plant Biotechnology and Plant Tissue Culture.        For Details : Link

Major ongoing areas where linkages with industries have been established

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for Industries like Reliance, Essar, GHCL, Ambuja Cement etc.
• Ecological studies for Industries like Reliance, Essar, GHCL, Ambuja Cement etc
• Water Quality Monitoring for Industries like ESSAR, Dyeing & Printing Industries
• Toxicity Bioassay & Toxicity Testing for Pharma Industries

Consultancy Projects

Various Consultancy Projects from Reliance Petroleum Limited, Jamnagar; ESSAR Oil Limited, Jamnagar; GHCL, Sutrapada; Ambuja Cement, Sikka; Dhanvantri Botanicals, Bangalore; Jetpur Dyeing & Printing Association, Jetpur; Vimal Research Society of Agrobiotech and Cosmic Powers, Rajkot; Agriland Biotech, Baroda.carried out since 1997.

Key Achievements of the Department

❖ UGC-Center of Advanced Study (CAS)
❖ Research outputs: Publications (Books, Book Chapters and Research Papers)
❖ Multi-Institutional projects
❖ Research Projects: 18 Projects with Rs. About 7 Crores
❖ DST-FIST, DST-Women Scientist Project, DST- International Travel Grants
❖ Fellowships: UGC, DST, DBT, CSIR, GSBTM, MoES, Gujarat Govt.
❖ Research Papers: by M.Sc. Students
❖ CSIR- SRF & Research Associate ship (Direct)
❖ NET/SLET/GATE/ICAR-NET Clearance by the students
❖ Acceptance of our students by various sectors for the employment

Future Plans

• Greater applications of audio-visual technologies and online teaching resources.
• The teaching learning processes to be more research oriented at the PG level.
• Research areas to be expanded in: Coastal marine diversity and community ecology, exploration of the interactive associations among different communities of life
• Ecotoxicology & Microplastic Pollution at Coasts 
• Exploration of Medicinal plants & Tissue culture, Plant Molecular Biology
• Microbial diversity of the haloalkanophilic bacteria and actimomycetes
• Metagenomics and Community microbial population dynamics
• Xenobiotic degradation & Bioremediation
• Molecular phylogenetics and evolution
• Exploration of Marine Bioresources

Old Webpage of the Department : https://sites.google.com/sauuni.ernet.in/subioscience