01 ACCESS BIOLOGY (CUTN) ACCESST heB quartIerlyO officialL newsOletter oGf DLS-CYUTN 2020:1;1-7. JANUARY 2020 This Issue Hatching of the Fauna Research Highlights Science Cafe Expert Spotlight Extinct Watch Publications Cup fungi (Pezizaceae family) Taken by Seline Dilmec AMSB during a research trip in the Amazon, in the Pacaya-Samiria region Editors Desk Hatching of the Fauna Dear Readers, At a gala event that marked the beginning of the decennial celebrations of the Central University of Tamil Nadu (CUTN), Thiruvarur, the Honorable Happy New Year 2020! Chancellor, Prof. G. Padmanabhan and Prof. A.P. Dash, Honorable Vice Chancellor of CUTN, launched the official biodiversity handbook of the Access Biology, the official university, 'Fauna: A Compendium of the Biodiversity of CUTN Volume I' on newsletter of the 28th December 2019 developed jointly by the Department of Life Sciences, Department of Life Department of Media and Communication and the Internal Quality Assurance Sciences-CUTN, aims to Cell of the university. The Fauna showcases images and descriptions of bring to light the latest hundreds of avian, amphibian, echinoderms, molluscs, reptiles, insects, and updates in biology research, a few mammalian species that are distributed within the beautiful campus, both from the department which holds both academic as well as the residential quarters of the university. as well as developments in diverse areas of the Talking at the launch ceremony, the Chancellor highlighted the importance discipline from across the of preserving the glamour of the campus by providing safer niches for the globe. animal species especially birds, because of the recent announcement at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that several species of aves are at The current issue details on the brink of extinction and a few have already disappeared. During the the launching of the Fauna inaugural speech, Prof. A. P. Dash stated that the stakeholders of the and several other scientific university must focus on education programs that would sensitize teachers, and academic events that students and the public to concertedly protect and conserve the campus occurred in the last 6 biodiversity, the boon of mother nature, and that learning outcomes should always include academic understanding, acquisition of values, increased months at DLS. The issue capacity, skills development, and the adoption of attitude and behavior also hosts student conducive to conservation and sustenance of biodiversity as well as achievements under student protection. He congratulated the entire team from the School of Life corner! Future issues will Sciences for compiling the biodiversity encyclopedia of the campus, and also carry articles from the also said that the floral species of the campus would be showcased as well, DLS student community which he believed should happen in the near future. that we are soliciting now! I believe the introductory issue will keep the campus community abreast of the latest advances and updates in the field, and I hope you will enjoy delving into the science of life. - Editors RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS alumni corner DLS Plant Physiology Researchers Report on UV- Mr. Adarsh K. Mohapatra, an B Priming-Induced Activation of Stress- alumni (2012-17) of DLS-CUTN has been selected as a Marie- Responsive Proteins in Paddy Curie Fellow to pursue a PhD at the Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands on a project titled "Alternative splicing in the regulation of thrombo-inflammation" under the TICARDIO Programme, 2020. The faculty members, students and staff congratulated Mr. Adarsh and wished him all success in his future academic endeavors. alumni corner In one of the seminal findings in plant stress physiology, Dr. Dinakar Challabathula together with his collaborators on a study titled “Effect of UV-B priming on the abiotic The Honorable Vice Chancellor, stress tolerance of stress-sensitive rice seedlings: Priming imprints and cross- the Faculty, Staff and Students tolerance” has shown that UV-B priming of Oryza sativa var. Kanchana seedlings results of the Department of Life in augmented antioxidant potentials and gene expression of stress-response proteins Sciences congratulated under various abiotic stresses, focusing primarily on abiotic stress tolerance in sensitive and tolerant varieties of rice. The research article published in the Plant student alumni members of Physiology and Biochemistry journal reports on the enhancement of abiotic stress DLS, Ms. Aishi S. Satapathy and tolerance in both sensitive and tolerant varieties of rice after UV-B priming. The Ms. Gayathri Vishwanathan for enhancement of abiotic stress tolerance in rice plants after UV-B priming is reported to having selected for pursuing be achieved through effective enhancement of photosynthetic efficiency, antioxidant their PhD research via the machinery activity, and antioxidative enzyme production of sensitive rice seedlings against stresses like NaCl, UV-B and PEG. In yet another research article, the team has Italian International Scholarship demonstrated that UV-B priming of the tolerant rice seeds and seedlings resulted in in Italy. Both the members will increased production of non-enzymatic antioxidants, activity/mRNA-level expressions undergo their PhD training at of enzymatic antioxidants and stress-responsive proteins when exposed to NaCl, UV-B the University of Verona in Italy and PEG stress than by non-primed seedlings. Intriguingly, this is the first ever report on UV-B priming-induced activation of stress-responsive proteins (HSP and LEA) in rice. from 2019 onwards. For details: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1349007918301609? In yet another interview, Mr. via%3Dihub Mohammed Ashiq, another DLS alumni emerged successful to undergo a doctoral program again at the University of Verona, where he is expected to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying certain immunological disorders. scholar corner EXPERT SPOTLIGHT Ms. Madhusmita Panda, one of the doctoral students from Dr. Immunology Feast Enlightens Aspirants at DLS Indranil Chattopadhyay's Cancer Biology Research Group, has The faculty and student members of DLS enjoyed a rich feast of basic immunology at a Crash Course in Basic Immunology "Immunology - received the ICMR Senior Concepts for Beginners" offered by a leading expert in the subject, Research Fellowship Award 2019- Prof. Balachandran Ravindran, Former Director, Institute of Life 20 for one year together with an Sciences, Bhubaneswar, between 16th and 20th September 2019 at the Department of Life Sciences. The sessions were packed with EMBO travel grant to attend an aspirants who threw highly insightful and thoughtful inquisitions in International Congress in Europe. the subject to the resource person who shared his rich treasure of The department congratulates experience with the charismatic audience. Prof. Ravindran also provided clues to several hitherto ambiguous mechanisms in the the scholar and her supervisor for immunobiology of autoimmune disorders and evolutionary concepts bringing laurels to the in developmental immunology. department. 2 RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS CSIR-JRF Winners CUTN Researcher Predicts the Potential Use of The department congratulates Saliva as a Non-Invasive Early Diagnostic Ms. Prangya Paramita Sahoo, Ms. Nur Al-Ain and Ms. Merlin Biomarker of Oral Carcinoma Jeejo for having qualified in the CSIR-JRF National Eligibility Test 2019 and for bringing laurels to the department and the university. students corner Ms. Jarlin Saral, an iMSc Life Sciences final year student and a neurosciences aspirant at DLS, has been declared qualified to undergo a Project Internship Training at the prestigious Nanyang Technological University in Singapore from December In a significant development towards cancer diagnosis, CUTN researchers have identified saliva as a promising non-invasive biomarker for oral cancer. Dr. Indranil 2019. Chattopadhyay from the Cancer Biology Research Group states that "Identification of early diagnostic non-invasive biomarkers is the need of the hour to significantly improve Incidentally, Ms Saral was also a the survival rates of oral cancer patients and also to avoid painful invasive procedures in participant at the NEUROMANIA the diagnosis of oral cancer. Saliva-based genomics, proteomics, metagenomics, and 2019 Congress at the Nicolaus metabolomics derived biomarkers may overcome the above problems" he said on the recent findings that his group published in the Journal of Oral Biosciences. He further Copernicus University in Torun said, ‘‘Omics biomarkers in saliva, such as metabolites, proteins, transcribed genes, in Poland presenting a poster miRNAs, genomic, and epigenomic alterations, as well as the microbiota have been used on neurodegenerative disease for the early diagnosis of primary and recurrent oral squamous cell carcinoma, and a mechanisms. combination of different sensitive and specific biomarkers salivary biomarkers are being applied to screen high-risk oral cancer patients to reduce individual biological variation. Among the omics biomarkers, oral microbiome is an ideal source of biomarkers as compared to other tumor biomarker sources, due to low-inter and intra individual variations. Such biomarkers are required to be validated via a large number of populations’ studies prior to FDA evaluation and approval." For details: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1349007918301609? via%3Dihub SCIENCE CAFE: HIV VACCINE Emory Researcher Hints Lymph Node T Cell