Population Structure of Denison’s barb, Puntius denisonii (Pisces: Cyprinidae): A Species Complex Endemic to the Western Ghats of India

Genetic and morphologic variation, haplotype relationships, and structuring of populations within Puntius denisonii and its close related species Puntius chalakkudiensis have been tested using molecular and biometric data, to infer phylogeographic patterns. Sequences of mitochondrial DNA ATPase 8 and 6 genes, and morphometric data, were used to find population structuring. Specimens were collected from 7 locations in the southern region of Western Ghats, a global biodiversity hotspot in India. Biometric analysis revealed apparent heterogeneity in the morphology and color pattern between the species at juvenile and adult stages, and among different geographically separated populations of these species. High values for mean pair wise distances and a high proportion of the total variance attributed to differences between the geographically isolated populations with AMOVA, indicated clear population structuring within these species. Extremely high values for Pair wise FST and significantly lower Nm values observed among the populations studied, suggested little or no effective gene flow among them. Constructed phylogenies further confirmed a high degree of population structuring within the species, showing local endemism with population specific haplotypes forming a species complex. The present study thus estimates the validity of subpopulations within P. denisonii and P. chalakkudiensis; clarifies the relationships of populations of P. denisonii with that of P. chalakkudiensis, and also indicates the presence of four different independent evolutionary lineages forming cryptic species within P. denisonii. The study further emphasizes the need for a conservation policy to be developed for each population of both species, separately based on MUs (Management Units)

Clinical applications of Fast Field‐Cycling techniques

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Field-Cycling Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Techniques and Applications of Field-Cycling MRI

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Techniques and Bio-Medical Applications of Field-Cycling Magnetic Resonance

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Training Manual In the frame work of the project: DBT sponsored Three Months National Training in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology for Fisheries Professionals 2015-18

This is a limited edition of the CMFRI Training Manual provided to participants of the “DBT sponsored Three Months National Training in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology for Fisheries Professionals” organized by the Marine Biotechnology Division of Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), from 2nd February 2015 - 31st March 2018

Species of a whale and an unknown fish sample identified using molecular taxonomy

Molecular genetics provides a powerful tool for conservation of species protected by international regulations or threatened by overexploitation. The present communication is the first report from India on the application of molecular tools for the accurate identification of a stranded whale in putrefied condition as it was impossible to identify the species status using conventional taxonomy and the carcass of an unknown animal devoid of its head and tail, collected from a fish market. Partial sequences of mtDNA control region and cytochrome b gene of the whale were generated and tested with BLAST search and DNA surveillance for molecular identification. It was identified as Bryde's whale (Balaenoptera edeni). Partial sequence of mtDNA cytochrome b gene of the unknown fish from the market was generated, tested with BLAST search and was identified as sword fish Xiphias gladius

A Fast Field-Cycling MRI system for clinical applications

Peer reviewe

Identification of microsatellite loci, gene ontology and functional gene annotations in Indian salmon (Eleutheronema tetradactylum) through nextgeneration sequencing technology using illumina platform

Whole genome sequencing was performed on three samples of four finger threadfin Eleutheronema tetradactylum (KET25, KET29 and KET30) using illumina NextSeq500 platform using 2×150 bp chemistry. 8,390,317, 7,085,775 and 8,461,589 high quality reads were obtained after trimming low quality reads and adapter sequence. These high quality reads obtained were used for de novo assembly and obtained a number of scaffolds. From these scaffolds of vast sequenced data, we were able to identify 60246, 46107 and 60907 Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR) markers in KET25, KET29 and KET30 respectively, which will be useful in population genetic analysis and other diversity studies in Indian salmon. The gene prediction on assembled scaffolds predicted 31,943 genes for KET25; 26,487 genes for KET29 and 31,654 genes for KET30 with average gene size of 458bp, 424bp and 459bp respectively. A total of 30,209, 25,107 and 29,943 genes were annotated against the NCBI Nr database for the samples respectively. E. tetradactylum is a commercially important fish species for many countries. This is the first report on the identification of genomic SSR markers in E. tetradactylum using NGS technology. This study provides an insight of baseline knowledge of the genome sequence of Indian salmon for future studies

DNA barcoding and molecular taxonomy of marine organisms In: Winter School on Vistas in Marine Biotechnology 5th to 26th October 2010

Taxonomical awareness on species, the intraspecific and interspecific relations etc, are the necessary pre requisites in different fields of applied biology, such as in biological resources management and conservation, in mariculture ventures, in pest/pathogen control and identification, etc. Generally, there are two contexts in which significant problems arise in species identification, where the molecular approaches are applicable. The first concerns the very fundamentals of taxonomy, in identifying the species, the phylogenetic status and the identification at subspecies and hybrids level. The second concerns to ecologists are the issue of identifying the species sex, or identity of individuals under circumstances where simple morphology cannot be relied upon. Biodiversity studies require species level analyses to assess the community structures. In conventional taxonomic practice, organisms were classified based on their fine morphological characters, comparative osteology, etc., which are more time consuming, laborious and expensive. Moreover, in some situations, morphological variation arises due to the environmental factors rather than genetic causes and is therefore not heritable. In this context, classification of organisms based on the molecular variations using the modern molecular tools has got a wide acceptance globally