Goa University: School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology

Vice-Dean (Research)

Sandeep Garg

Senior Professor of Microbiology

Year of Establishment : 2022

Office Phone : +91-8669609246(Biotechnology); -230(Botany); -256(Microbiology); -263(Zoology)

Preamble:

The School of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology (SBSB) was established in May, 2022 by combining four Departments which fit into the school of Biological Sciences. Goa being a coastal state, in proximity to the Western Ghats a biodiversity hot-spot, provides several unique ecosystems for studies including biodiversity hotspot.

The focus of amalgamation of the four departments was to bring fundamental and biological science Departments under one umbrella to provide the students a platform for interdisciplinary research.

Individually in the past, the departments have evolved in step wise manner. The department of Microbiology established in 1974 was a part of the Centre of Post-graduate Instructions and Research (CPIR) of the University of Mumbai in 1985, it became a full-fledged Department of the then newly founded Goa University. The department of Botany and the Department of Zoology, were both established in 1990, became full-fledged Departments of the Goa University providing students with a opening for the master programme in Botany and Zoology. The Department of Biotechnology, one of the pioneer in Marine Biotechnology (1988) teaching and research in the country, became full fledge departments of the Goa University in the year 2003. Subsequently, a new M.Sc. and Ph.D. Programme in Biotechnology were established. Marine Biotechnology programme has been continuously funded by the DBT, Government of India. The four departments have come together to multiply their strengths and carry out effective interdisciplinary teaching and research in biological sciences. Equally important aspect of biological sciences, namely Home Sciences and Wildlife studies have been integrated to further gain the indepth knowledge of the biological sciences.

The focus of the school is to provide quality education and research in biological sciences through an integrated approach with a view to create well trained human resource to handle the upcoming challenges in a sustainable manner and to apply the knowledge to the welfare of the society.

Thrust areas:

Biotechnology: Applied Enzymology; Genetics and Molecular Biology; Actinomycetes and SRB: ecology, diversity, bioactive metabolites; Biotechnological applications (bioinoculants, bioremediation, bioprospecting); Food technology (Probiotics); Bioremediation of environmental pollutants; Microbial physiology; Industrial microbiology; Agricultural microbiology; Microbial and fermentation Biotechnology; Immunology; Environmental Biotechnology and Waste management; Biosensor development; Biomaterials; Nanomaterials for biological applications; Fluorescent protein engineering & Light microscopy; Assessment of micro-plastic in terrestrial and aquatic system environment.

Botany: Biodiversity and taxonomy (Algae, Fungi, Pteridophytes, Angiosperms), Stress physiology, Mycorrhizae, Medicinal plants, Wasteland reclamation, Histochemistry of rice, endemic plants and bioprospecting, Cytogenetics and Plant Breeding, Medicinal Plants, Plant Tissue Culture, Algal Physiology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Phytochemistry, Plant-Microbe Interaction, Agricultural Biotechnology, Plant development and Environmental Stress, Cell Signaling, Climate Change and Crop productivity, Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology.

Marine Biotechnology: Aquaculture Biotechnology; Plankton: ecology, diversity, biotechnological application; Biological oceanographic processes; Bioprospecting for bioactive and biotechnologically significant products from marine-derived bacteria, halophilic archaea, seaweeds, and molluscs; Algal Biotechnology; Biofuels and sustainable development; Marine Immunology; Marine pathogenesis; Genomics of marine bacteria and viruses; Marine Microbiology; Biogeochemical processes in mangroves and salt pans; Hypersaline bacteria; Bioprospecting of halophiles and psychrophiles; Hydrolytic enzymes of potential commercial significance from marine microbes; Endophytic bacteria; Metal interactions in halophilic archaea and eubacteria; Microplastics and nanoplastics in Marine environment.

Entrepreneurs from the M.Sc. Marine Biotechnology program

Distinguished alumni of the M.Sc. Marine Biotechnology program

Scuba Diving photos

Scuba Diving videos: || Video 1 || Video 2 || Video 3 ||

Microbiology: Applied Environmental Microbiology and Marine Microbiology- Ecology of extremophiles with focus on halophilic microorganisms (Archaea, Bacteria, Virus, Fungi, Phytoplanktons), their molecular microbiology and genetic engineering, heavy metal bioremediation and bioprospecting for industrially important enzymes (protease, xylanase, amylase, cellulases, lipases), antimicrobials and PHA; Microbial carbon pump and Climate change impact, Biogeochemistry, Virology, Ectomycorrhizal fungi, Plant-Microbe interactions, Biofertilizers.

Zoology: Tissue culture, Electrophysiology, Animal Physiology, Animal cell culture, Lipid Biochemistry, Human Genetics, Wetland biology, Ecology, Herpetology, Ornithology, Neurophysiology, Toxicology, Genotoxicology, and Nanotoxicology, Nanotechnology, Environmental Biology and Biodiversity, Aquaculture, Nutrigenomics, wild-life Biology, Conservation Biology,.

Academic programmes leading to a Degree / Diploma / Certificate :

Programme		Programme Director	Intake
M.Sc. Biotechnology	Time Table \| Syllabus \| 22-23 Syllabus \| 25-26 Syllabus	Dviti L. Volvoikar	25
M.Sc. Botany	Time Table \| Syllabus \| 22-23 Syllabus \| 25-26 Syllabus	Siddhi Kashinath Jalmi	38
M.Sc. Marine Biotechnology	Time Table \| Syllabus \| 22-23 Syllabus \| 25-26 Syllabus	Sanika Darshan Samant	30
M.Sc. Microbiology	Time Table \| Syllabus \| Revised Syllabus \| 22-23 Syllabus \| 25-26 Syllabus	Milind Mohan Naik	25
M.Sc. Zoology	Time Table \| Syllabus \| Revised Syllabus \| 22-23 Syllabus \| 25-26 Syllabus	Minal Desai Shirodkar	38
Ph.D. Biotechnology		-	-
Ph.D. Botany		-	-
Ph.D. Microbiology		-	-
Ph.D. Zoology		-	-
Post Graduate Diploma in Clinical Genetics and Medical Laboratory Techniques	22-23 Syllabus \| 24-25 Syllabus \| 25-26 Syllabus	Avelyno H. D’Costa	25

Faculty:

Name	Designation	Areas of Interest
Trupti Asolkar	Assistant Professor	Molecular Biology, Biocontrol Agents, Plant-Microbe interactions
Rupali Bhandari	Assistant Professor	Algal Physiology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology
Snesha Bhomkar	Assistant Professor	Ecophysiology of Marine Phytoplankton, phytoplankton diversity, Freshwater Phytoplankton study and their biotechnological applications, bacteria-phytoplankton interactions, marine bioluminescence
Lakshangy Charya	Assistant Professor	General and Environmental Microbiology, Bioremediation, Ectomycorrhizal fungi
Avelyno H. D’Costa	Assistant Professor	Ecotoxicology, Toxicology
Minal Desai Shirodkar	Assistant Professor	Avian Ecology
Shanti N. Dessai	Assistant Professor	Animal Physiology, Animal Cell Culture
Samantha Fernandes D'Mello	Assistant Professor (Contract)	Biotechnology, Aquaculture technology, Marine-derived pharmaceuticals, Marine Immunology & pathogenesis, Cell culture, Probiotics & Nutraceuticals, Nutriproteomics
Sandeep Garg	Senior Professor	Industrial & Medical Microbiology, Microbial Technology, marine Technology, Fungal Fermentation, biofertilizers, Agriculture microbiology, Immunology
Lata Gawade Velip	Assistant Professor	Microbial carbon pump & Climate change impact, Biogeochemistry, Microbial Ecology, Marine microbiology, Science outreach - science for society.
Sanjeev C. Ghadi	Senior Professor	Applied Enzymology, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics
Siddhi Kashinath Jalmi	Assistant Professor	Agricultural Biotechnology, Plant development and Environmental Stress, Plant-Microbe Interaction, Cell Signaling
Rakshita Kaskar	Assistant Professor (Contract)	Environmental Microbiology, Bacterial Pigments, Marine Microbial Bioprospecting
Shravani Narayan Korgaonkar	Assistant Professor (Contract)	Phytohormones, Rice Physiology, Plant Stress Adaptation, Plant Biodiversity, Sustainable Agriculture, Plant-Environment Interactions
S. Krishnan	Senior Professor	Plant Histochemistry, Phytochemistry and bioprospecting, Plant Developmental Biology, Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology
Gandhita V. Kundaikar	Assistant Professor	Aquaculture, Nutrigenomics, Genotoxicology
Milind Mohan Naik	Assistant Professor	Environmental Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Agricultural Microbiology, Marine Microbiology
Aditi V. Naik	Assistant Professor	In-vitro culture studies for biological applications; Medicinal plants & their secondary metabolites; Medical pharmacology; Applied Sciences & Toxicology
Judith Miriam Noronha	Assistant Professor	Aquatic Virology, Cyanophages and microalgal viruses, Microbial ecology of rice field ecosystems
Preeti Antonetta Pereira	Assistant Professor	Marine Biology, Taxonomy, Ecology, Species diversity, Biodiversity Assessment, Biodiversity Monitoring
Meghanath Prabhu	Assistant Professor	General biotechnology, Microbial and Fermentation Biotechnology, Environmental Biotechnology and Waste Management, Algal Biotechnology, Bio-fuels, Sustainable Development
Bernard F. Rodrigues	Senior Professor (Contract)	Cytogenetics and Plant Breeding, Mycorrhizae, Reclamation of mine wastelands. Documentation of Medicinal Plants, Plant Tissue culture.
Bhakti Balkrishna Salgaonkar	Assistant Professor	Halophilic Archaea, Extremophilic Microorganisms and their Bioprospecting
Komal S. Salkar	Assistant Professor (Contract)	Environmental microbiology, medical microbiology, Bioprospecting, Bioremediation
Sanika Darshan Samant	Assistant Professor	Bioremediation of Environmental pollutants, Bioprospecting for bioactive and biotechnologically significant products from marine derived bacteria and halophilic archaea, metal interactions in halophilic archaea and eubacteria.
Nitin S. Sawant	Assistant Professor	Conservation Biology, Wildlife Biology, Herpetology, Biodiversity
Shamshad Bi Shaikh	Assistant Professor	Nanotoxicology, Animal Physiology and Animal Cell Culture
Dhermendra Kumar Tiwari	UGC - Assistant Professor	Biosensor development, Biomaterials, Nanomaterials for biological applications, Fluorescent protein engineering & Light microscopy
Dhillan Mhalgo Velip	Assistant Professor (Contract)	Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, mycology, sustainable agriculture, horticulture, plant ecology, plant conservation, plant biodiversity, plant taxonomy
Dviti L. Volvoikar	Assistant Professor	Microbial Physiology, Immunology, Industrial Microbiology, Agricultural Microbiology
Vikash Kumar Yadav	Assistant Professor	Chromatin Biology, Epigenetics and Single Cell Genomics, Transcription Regulation, Biology of non-coding RNA, Cellular Heterogeneity, Molecular Biology, Marine Genomics and NGS Data Analysis, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

Superannuated Faculty:

Name	Designation	Areas of Interest
Urmila Barros	Professor	Immunology
Malapati K. Janarthanam	Senior Professor	Systematics of Angiosperms, Endemic flora of Western Ghats, Biodiversity
Nandkumar Mukund Kamat	Assistant Professor	Mycology, Biochemistry, Fungal Biotechnology, Environmental Microbiology, Bioinformatics, Environmental impact assessment, Environmental Education, Science popularization & Public Policy research
Savita S. Kerkar	Senior Professor	Marine Microbiology, Biogeochemical processes in mangroves and salt pans. Hypersaline bacteria; Bioprospecting halophiles, psychrophliles and SRB for bioactive metabolites and their biotechnological applications: diversity, bioinoculants, bioremediation
Usha D. Muraleedharan	Professor	Biochemistry (Enzymology); Biological Oceanographic Processes
I. Krishnananda Pai	Senior Professor	Zooplanktology, Biodiversity
Ramaballav Roy	Professor	Environmental Adaptation, Nutritional Biochemistry . Lipid Biochemistry, Lipidomics
Prabhat Kumar Sharma	Senior Professor	Molecular Plant Stress Physiology, Climatic Changes and Crop Productivity, Bioprospecting

Infrastructure/Laboratories:

The School is well equipped with a substantial infrastructure, mostly acquired under sponsored projects adequate for the present on-going research activities. The infrastructure facilities available in the school are available below.

Microbiology Research Facility:
- Horizontal Laminar Air Flow (RUSA)
- Single Gas Detector for H2S (Honey Well)
- CO2 Regulator Dual Stag CO2 Incubator
- Epi Fluorescence Trinocular Microscope (Law& Mayo)
- (Lynx) Binocular Microscopes Model N107T Lacorence& Mayo

Molecular Biology Research Facility:
- RT-PCR Touch Real Time PCR Detection System
- PCR Sure Cycler 8800 96 Well Thermal Cycler
- PCR workstation
- Qubit 2.0 Starter
- Horizontal gel electrophoresis units
- UV transilluminator
- Gel documentation system

Spectrophotometric Analysis:
- FTIR
- Shimadzu UV-Vis Spectrophotometer Model: uv-1800
- Shimadzu UV-Visible Spectrophotometer Model UV-1240
- Automatic Elisa Plate Reader (BioRad)
- Chlorofluorometer

Microspcopic Analysis:
- Compound microscope with Imaging facility
- Stereo Microscopy
- Fluorescence microscopy
- Scanning Electron Microscopy

Protein Purification:
- Vertical Gel Electrophoresis Unit
- Mini, Vertical units Electrophoresis
- Midi Dual Vertical Gel Electrophoresis Unit
- Gel Rocker
- Protein Purification System Start AKTA
- Shakers, Incubators and Water Baths
- Orbital Shaking Incubator CIS-24 Plus
- Digital Dry Bath Incubator

Chromatographic Analysis:
- Size Exclusion Chromatography
- HPLC
- GC
- GC-MS

Culture Facility:
- Animal tissue culture facility
- Plant tissue culture facility
- Algal Culture Facility
- Culture Room
- Fungal Culture collection laboratory
- Bacteriological Incubator (BOD) Incubator (Tempo)
- Bench Top Incubator Orbital Shaker (Rivotek)
- Spinix-Vortex Shaker
- Wavemax Classic Orbital Shaker
- Borosil Water Bath

Centrifugation:
- Spinwin MC-00-Micro Centrifuge
- Compact Cooling Centrifuge CM-12 Plus with angle Head (Remi)
- Micro Centrifuge MC 03(1040) (Tarsons)
- Spin win MC-00 Micro Centrifuge and Rotar 8x200
- Servall Lynx 4000 Superspeed Centrifuge (UGC)
- Eppendorf Centrifuge Model 5864R

General Lab Facilities:
- pH Meter Eutech PH 700
- Precision Balance Model AroA
- Analytical Weighing Balanc
- Analytical Weighing Balance Shimadzu
- Digital Weighing Balance (Wenser)
- Shimadzu-Aux Series Analytical
- Vortex Mixer (2 No) (BioEra)
- Magnetic Stirrer with Hot Plate
- Fluko Superfine Homogenizer
- Digital Ultra Sonic Cleaner
- Distillation Unit Model Frill
- Distillation Unit Borosil
- Rotary Vacuum Evaporator
- Freeze Dryer System CS1104
- Hot Air Oven Make InLab Co
- Microwave Oven Panasonic Solo
- Vertical Autoclave Square
- Chilled Water Circulator Rotavac
- Ultra-Water Purification System
- Millipore Unit
- Peristaltic Pump Model RH-P120L (2Nos)
- Ice Flake Machine Model: MF/30
- Electric Spin Dryer
- Standard Pentrometer Hand Operating
- Vaccum Pump Rocker 300C

Other Facilities:
- Animal House
- Polyhouse
- Glass house
- Herbarium
- Botanical garden
- Bioinformatics laboratory
- Computer laboratory with printing and scanning facilities, computerized laboratories and class roomswith Wi-Fi facility for each programme offered.