About ICAR-CTCRI
The ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (ICAR-CTCRI), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, was established in July 1963 and its Regional Station in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, in September 1976. It also houses the headquarters of the All India Coordinated Research Project on Tuber Crops (AICRPTC), functioning since April 1968, and the Indian Society for Root Crops (ISRC), established in 1971, which publishes the Journal of Root Crops. In addition, ICAR-CTCRI is a center under the AICRP on Post Harvest Technology (PHT). The focus of ICAR-CTCRI is the well- being of the farmers and stakeholders through coordinated research, development and extension activities in tropical tuber crops. During the last 60 years, the major outcomes of the Institute include 71 high-yielding varieties with various quality traits and sustainable production, protection, pre and post-harvest processing, value addition and smart farming technologies. The agri- business incubator and techno-incubation center at the headquarters and regional station are involved in promoting entrepreneurship among the farmers and other stakeholders.
About the Division
The division of crop improvement in ICAR-CTCRI focused on conservation and utilization of tuber crops germplasm for sustaining production, and genetic improvement of tuber crops through conventional breeding and molecular approach. The key research activities involve the collection, evaluation and characterization of tuber crops, development of genetic and genomic resources, DNA fingerprinting, bioprospecting, gene regulation, development of efficient in vitro regeneration protocols, molecular breeding and marker assisted selection, varietal improvement through transgenic and genome editing etc. In the past six decades the division maintained a repository of 5588 germplasms and developed 71 improved varieties in tuber crops, which includes CMD resistant cassava varieties, biofortified yam and sweet potato.
About the Training
The twenty-one days training program is designed with three modules of one week each. The objective of the training programme is to provide expert lectures, hands on training and orientation on developing skills in advanced biotechnological tools and techniques. The training provides a detailed orientation class on how to organize the lab, design experiments, bio-safety measures and also the lab etiquette followed by in vitro culturing practices, and use of molecular markers and basics of cloning technology.
Module I
Good laboratory practices and basics of plant biotechnology (2-8 January 2024)
Good laboratory practices involve a brief overview on chemical hygiene and laboratory safety, handling of instruments and labware, preparation and maintenance of stock solutions, biological hazards and safety measures, biosafety regulations, nucleic acid isolation, quantification, PCR, and gel electrophoresis and documentation, DNA and RNA techniques, data acquisition, analyses, and interpretation.
Module II Plant tissue culture and related techniques (9-15 January 2024)
This module focuses on hands-on training on media preparation, explant selection, inoculation, subculture and decontamination procedures. Furthermore, there will be expert lectures on all aspects of tissue culture, such as in vitro mass multiplication, callus culture, cell and suspension culture, somatic embryogenesis, Agrobacterium mediated transformation, indexing and genetic fidelity analysis and interpretation and manuscript writing and presentation skill
Module III
Molecular biological tools for crop improvement (16-22 January 2024)
This module includes bioprospecting assay, molecular markers for genetic diversity analysis, molecular phylogeny, molecular cloning, genetic
transformation, gene editing etc.
Duration
2-22 January 2024
[Module 1: 2-8 January 2024;
Module II: 9-15 January 2024;
Module III: 16-22 January 2024]
Eligibility
Researchers, academicians and students with basic knowledge of plant biotechnology and molecular biology techniques. Selection will be made on first-cum-first serve basis to a total intake of 20 participants.
Read more: https://www.ctcri.org/focus/1%20Training%20brochure_F%20(1).pdf
Original link: https://www.ctcri.org
