The Department of Botany has created a niche for itself in the college by achieving high repute in academic and co-curricular activities. Enriched by the legacy of some very renowned teachers in the past, the department is proud to have a committed faculty which excels in research, book writing and teaching. With three well- equipped, state-of-the laboratories and a museum. The department inculcates scientific and experimental spirit in the students. Also, the department has its own library that supplements the main college library. The Department pursues a mantra of holistic development of a student, inculcation of a scientific temper by supplementing the conventional classroom and modern teaching with botanical excursions, seminars, guest lectures by eminent scientists, slide shows, documentary films, quiz competitions, scientific debates etc. to help the students metamorphose his personality. Furthermore, the activities of the Botanical Society give opportunities to students to develop and display their talents. Botany being an important component to life Sciences, offers immense opportunities for further studies in Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Plants Molecular Biology, Genomics, Agroforestry, Environmental Science and other related fields. The Department boats of many eminent alumni, who occupy important academic and professional positions in India and abroad.
The Department of Botany maintains a Botanical Garden, where a vast variety of plants are grown, including crop plants, medicinal plants and many wild varieties. It has a well developed Pond with many species of aquatic plants. A compost unit is also present in the Botanical Garden to manage all the organic waste of the college. Department developed a Mushroom Cultivation Unit in the Botanical Garden and has been growing many varieties of edible mushroom.
Teacher In-Charge : Dr. Aparna Nautiyal
Department Coordinator: Dr. Kumar Shantanu
DBT Star Advisory Committee Member: Dr. Roshni Rajamohan Mathur
Seed dormancy in some medicinally/economically important plants: causes and methods to overcome.
Mentors /PIs: Dr. Rajender Kumar and Dr. Anju Chhibbar
Number of students: 7
Project status: Completed
Further study: seeds of some more medicinal plant species collected during July-August, 2020 included in the list. The biochemical mechanisms underlying in the maintenance/removal of seed dormancy in the above seeds is under progress. Further, the seedlings resulted will be grown in medicinal plants section of Botanical garden of the college. However, due to covid-19 restrictions practical work suffered during the last one year and will be resumed soon with a fresh group of students.
Floristic study of Deshbandhu College, with special reference to indigenous plants of medicinal importance.
Mentors /PIs: Dr. Roshni Rajamohan Mathur, Dr. Madhu Rani, Dr. Rubina Chongtham, Ms. Anjana Singh
Number of students: 17
Project status: Ongoing
Progress of the Project
Due to the existing pandemic situation students were called to the campus on rotation basis with all safety measures followed.
2. Seventeen students were actively involved in plant collection and compilation of data for the project this year.
3. New batch of students were given training in the following
a) Surveying the field divided into five zones as per present layout of the campus
b) Quadrat study for sampling plants
c) Collection of plants
d) Identification of plants using various offline and online resources
e) Plant pressing and use use of field press
f) Herbarium mounting, labelling and filing
Outcome of the project:
Documentation of the flora of DBC- 113 species from 31 families.
Students have compiled the data of all these plants with their scientific and common names along with their medicinal and cultural uses and benefits.
Students developed awareness and curiosity to know about unknown plants.
Students could realize the importance of every single plant which is otherwise considered wild.
Students have come to know the multiple uses that a single plant can serve.
Compilation of data base of plants in the form of herbarium.
Students could corelate the importance of flora with enrichment of biodiversity and conservation of nature.
Analysis of rhizosphere from different herbaceous plants for beneficial microbes which can be used as biofertilizers.
Mentors /PIs: Dr. Bela Bhatia, Dr. Aparna Nautiyal, Dr. Anju Chhibbar, Dr. Neha Yadav
Number of students: 4
Project Status: Ongoing
Summary:
A random selection of an area with dense herbaceous vegetation in Deshbandhu college fields was done for screening herbaceous plants to analyse their rhizosphere for symbiotic association with beneficial microbes used as biofertilizers. Initially ten plants were chosen from that area. Five plants namely, Cannabis, Vernonia, Ricinus, Amaranthus and Parthenium were screened. Rhizosphere of all these five plants was observed to have endomycorrhizal association. Both vesicles and arbuscules could be observed in all the plants studied. The experiment is yet to be continued as the desired work could not be completed because of pandemic situation. The screening is yet to be continued with rest of the wild plants of Deshbandhu college.
Role of rhizospheric microbiome in stress tolerance of crop plants.
Mentors /PIs: Dr Rubina Chongtham, Dr Madhu Rani and Dr Dharmendra K Mallick
Number of students: 6
Project Status: Ongoing
Summary:
Students were trained in usage of biological & literature databases and data retrieval.
Data mining was done using carefully selected keywords starting with PubMed of NCBI.
Data on 2371 articles were obtained, out of which more than 60% were published in the last five years, indicating in the rise of relevance of this study. Out of this, 312 articles had information on microbial communities.
Students are in the process of filtering the data to select datasets for further analysis. The data obtained are being categorized according to plant family, species, availability of microbiome sequencing data, role in biotic/abiotic stresses.
For analysis and data filtering, students are being trained in online tools as well as softwares like Microsoft Excel.
Students were made aware of the immense importance of secondary data and their analyses.
Assessment of Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) and Anticipated Performance Index (API) in the avenue trees growing inside the Deshbandhu College Campus
Mentor/PI: Dr. D.K. Mallick, Dr. Aparna Nautiyal & Ms. Anjana Singh
Number of students: 9
Project Status: Ongoing
Summary
The students selected five trees species having replicas that were marked - Alstonia scholaris, Azadirachta indica, Mangifera indica, Morus alba, Polyalthia longifolia in the college campus to measure their Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI). The site for trees and their replicas in the different areas in the college were scientifically marked for identification ease. Sample collection was done by the students and analysis of parameters like – pH, moisture content and chlorophyll estimation was initiated at preliminary level for one of the plant species. The experiments were done by the students during the phase when entry of students was allowed in the campus as per Covid guidelines. The planning was done ahead for other experiments to be done in replicas but couldn’t be executed owing to closure of the campus for the students seeing the increased Covid cases in Delhi. Further analysis will be carried out once college reopens again for the students in future days. The photographs taken during the projects are also being attached for the reference.
To study the physiological roles of some plant growth regulators
Mentor/PI: Dr. Rajender Kumar, Dr. Roshani Rajamohan, Dr. Sorav Singh Deo
No. of Students: 6
Project Status: Ongoing
Summary
Auxin and Rhizogenesis: 7-day old seedlings of Phaseolus vulgaris grown in Botanical garden were subjected to various concentration of auxin (IAA) (control, 0.001, 0.01 and 0.1mM, IAA) and periodically observed for rhizogenesis. Auxin treatment significantly enhanced the emergence of roots from hypocotyle cuttings. Other experiments were standardized but not completed due to be COVID-19 restriction. The experiments will be resumed/continued soon with fresh group of students.
Study of plant responses to various abiotic stresses
Mentor/PI: Dr. Kumar Shantanu, Dr. Rajender Kumar and Ms. Anjana Singh
No. of Students: 6
Project Status: Ongoing
Summary
The seeds of Brassica juncea and Triticum aestivum procured from Division of Genetics, IARI, PUSA, New Delhi were used in the study. The preliminary standardization of experiments and methods were done. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions the experiments were not completed and will be resumed soon.
Mushroom Project
Department of Botany constructed a Mushroom Cultivation facility in the Botanical Garden of the college.
3-Days International Seminar on “Understanding Flora from Aquatic Ecosystems: Towards better conservation & Sustainable Use”.
Convener: Dr. Madhu Rani (Deshbandhu College) & Dr. Sahadev Dharma (University of Malaysia)
Date of the program: March 26 to 28, 2021
No. of participants: More than 200
Invited Speakers:
Dr. Jillian Ooi Lean Sim, Professor in Department of Geography, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Dr. Rupesh K Bhomia, Scientist, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), INDONESIA
Dr Sahadev Sharma, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Dr Krishna Ray, Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, West Bengal State University, INDIA
Dr Nabiul Islam Khan, Professor, Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, BANGLADESH
Dr. Gurmeet Singh, Scientist C, National Centre For Sustainable Coastal Management, (MoEF&CC) Anna University Chennai, TN, INDIA
Description :
Department of Botany, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Delhi, INDIA (under the aegis of IQAC & DBT Star College scheme) organised a 3-days (26th to 28th March, 2021) INTERNATIONAL LIVE WEBINAR SERIES jointly with Universiti Malaya, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA on the topic - 'Understanding Flora from Aquatic Ecosystems: Towards Better Conservation & Sustainable Use' to provide knowledge and insight of research works related to conservation, restoration & sustainable use of flora of aquatic ecosystems.
Six invited speakers from 4 different countries (India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh) delivered informative and interactive talks. This joint webinar was aimed to provide knowledge and insight of research works related to the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of flora of aquatic ecosystems to the students, researchers as well as faculty members. It also aimed to establish better networking among University of Delhi, India, and University of Malaya, Malaysia, towards future research collaborations.
Webinar on “Arbuscular Mycorrhiza: A Promise for Sustainable Cultivation of Crops”.
Convener: Dr. Bela Bhatia
Date of the program: March 3, 2021
No. of participants: 120
Invited Speakers: Prof. Rupam Kapoor, Department of Botany, University of Delhi
Description : A webinar was conducted on March 3, 2021 by Department of Botany, Deshbandhu College, under the aegis of IQAC and DBT Star college scheme. A talk was delivered by Prof. Rupam Kapoor, Department of Botany, University of Delhi on “Arbuscular Mycorrhiza: A Promise for Sustainable Cultivation of Crops”. She enlightened the role of AM fungi in enhancing the commercial value of many medicinal plants like Artemisia , Stevia and Tulsi and reducing the cost of treatment of diseases like Malaria and Diabetes. Their role in reducing the effect of metal stress of higher plants was also well explained. The talk ended with a long list of questions by students and teachers as well. It was a very interesting and informative talk and benefitted the students of B.Sc. (H) Botany II Year and B.Sc. (P) Life Science II year as “Biofertilzers” is one of the SEC papers in their curriculum.
Invited talk on “Plant Diversity: Its importance in conservation”.
Convener: Dr. Madhu Rani
Date of the program: January 29, 2021
No. of participants: 150
Invited Speakers: Prof. S. R. Yadav, Department of Botany, Shivaji University
Description : Botanical Society of Department of Botany, Deshbandhu college, University of Delhi under the aegis of IQAC organised Inaugural talk by Prof S. R. Yadav, Department of Botany, Shivaji University on “Plant Diversity: Its importance in conservation” He emphasized on a clear vision, focused approach & determination towards achieving one’s goals. He delivered a mesmerizing talk and gave an insight of wonderful diversity in plant species and their importance in our life.
Webinar on “IPR: Basic concepts, Its relevance and opportunities”.
Convener: Dr. Anju Chhibbar & Dr. Neha Yadav
Date of the program: January 28, 2021
No. of participants: 150
Invited Speakers: Dr. Arun Kumar Maurya, Assistant Professor, Multani Mal Modi Post Graduate College, CCS University, Modinagar, UP
Description : Department of Botany, Deshbandhu college, University of Delhi under the aegis of IQAC and DBT Star College Scheme organised a student counselling session on the topic “IPR: Basic concepts, Its relevance and opportunities”, on 28th Jan 2021 from 10.30 AM to 12.30 PM via zoom platform. Speaker for the day was Dr. Arun Kumar Maurya, Asst. Professor, Multani Mal Modi Post Graduate College, CCS University, Modinagar. He introduced the concept of Intellectual Property which is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect and the rights associated with it are called Intellectual Property rights. Afterwards he briefed the types of IPR that is Patents, Trade marks, copyrights, trade secrets etc. He gave an insight about the constitutional remedies such as Article 14 that is equal protection of law, Article 300A of the Indian Constitution provides constitutional safeguards against unlawful deprivation of property, Article 253 that plays an important role in the context of Intellectual Property Rights as it mandates the recognition of the international aspect of laws, legislations, and agreements. Schedule 7 of Indian constitution which has given Union Government power to make laws on Intellectual Property etc. He highlighted the importance of Intellectual Property rights with regards to a nation, it's people and the person associated with that property. He also briefly discussed few landmark judgements of Indian Supreme Court, High courts of India and Judicial courts of Countries like USA such as Divyajoti case of Uttarakhand, Anniev tribe etc. The event was a great success and well attended by more than 150 Teachers, Students and research scholars from Various colleges and institutions.
Webinar on “Introduction to GIS & Remote sensing in Natural science”.
Convener: Dr. Roshni Rajamohan Mathur
Date of the program: October 17, 2020
No. of participants: 150
Invited Speakers: Dr. G. Areendran, Director, Indira Gandhi Conservation Monitoring Centre (IGCMC), WWF–India
Description : The Department of Botany, Deshbandhu College under the aegis of IQAC and DBT Star College Scheme is organized a Webinar on October 17, 2020 convened by Dr. Roshni Rajamohan Mathur, Assistant Professor, Deptt. of Botany on the topic- Introduction to GIS & Remote sensing in Natural science. The Invited speaker Dr. G. Areendran (Director of Indira Gandhi Conservation Monitoring Centre (IGCMC) at WWF – India) gave a very lucid lecture on the topic which was appreciated equally by teachers and students. The very informative and useful talk was attended by over 150 people including students who were enlightened about the opportunities in the field of GIS. Dr. Areendran gave a clear picture about the history and components of GIS and Remote Sensing. He explained beautifully the various applications of GIS in different fields of life and the importance of having the knowledge about GIS in today’s world. He highlighted the importance of the technology by discussing various case studies related to different fields of science. Dr. Areendran also enlightened the students about how GIS can be useful in predicting various parameters like rainfall, temperature, species distribution, species tracking and how it can be used in biodiversity conservation and geo-spatial studies. He also explained how GIS combined with AI is revolutionizing the present world. The lecture was followed by an interactive session where the guest patiently answered the queries from inquisitive students.
Invited Talk on “Journey of a Biologist: Exploring the Extremes”.
Convener: Dr. Anju Chhibbar
Date of the program: October 9, 2020
No. of participants: 200
Invited Speakers: Dr. Dinabandhu Sahoo, FNASc, FNAAS, FBRS Department of Botany, University of Delhi Former Director, IBSD in Manipur, Sikkim and Meghalaya & Mizoram
Description: Botanical Society of Department of Botany, Deshbandhu college, University of Delhi organised a invited Dr. Dinabandhu Sahoo to deliver a talk on “Journey of a Biologist: Exploring the Extremes” on the occasion of its Valedictory ceremony. The talk given by Dr. Sahoo was extremely endearing and motivating. Being the first Indian student to put on a foot on Antarctic ice, was a great feat to accomplish with its fair share of difficulties. In 1987, he started the journey to the Antarctic when he was only a Ph.D. student at Delhi University. He recalled that he never imagined traveling outside of the country, let alone an uninhabited continent. His 25-day journey to the Antarctic was alternating between rough seas and nice weather. Dr Sahoo gave an insight of his Journey through his career.
Invited Talk on “The Amazing world of the Winged Jewels”.
Convener: Dr. Dharmendra K. Mallick
Date of the program: September 9, 2020
No. of participants: 150
Invited Speakers: Mr Ishtiyak Ahamad, Education Officer at Conservation Education Centre, Bombay Natural History Society (CEC-BNHS) at Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, Delhi
Description: On the occasion of Big Butterfly Month India 2020 Mr Ishtiyak Ahamad, Education Officer at Conservation Education Centre, Bombay Natural History Society (CEC-BNHS) at Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, Delhi delivered virtual talk on the Amazing world of the "Winged Jewels". About 150 students and faculty members attended the session.
Talk on “Evolution of Science seen from historical perspective”.
Convener: Dr. Aparna Nautiyal
Date of the program: May 12 & 13, 2020
No. of participants: 250
Invited Speakers:
Prof. Arun Kumar Pandey, VC, Mansarovar Global University, Sehore, Madhya Pradesh
Dr. Rajendra Gupta, Former Associate Professor, Department of Botany, University of Delhi
Description : Two days webinar on “Evolution of Science seen from historical perspective" was organized by Department of Botany, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi on 12th & 13th May, 2020 from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm via Google meet by Department of Botany under the convenorship of Dr. Aparna Nautiyal.
First day of webinar was chaired by Principal, Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal who welcomed the speaker, Prof. Arun Kumar Pandey, VC of Mansarovar Global University, Sehore, Madhya Pradesh and former Dean of Colleges & Professor, Department of Botany, Delhi University. Prof. Pandey orated on the topic “The changing paradigm of flowering plants systematics”, enlightening all the audience on the significance of naming plants in sciences, diversity in flowering plants and how molecular systematics plays an important role in study of different groups of plants. The oration was full of beautiful illustrations of different plants like “Brahmakamal”, that flowers once in 12 years. It was very noteworthy and informative talk.
Second day of the webinar started by another interesting and mesmerizing oration by a well-known Science Popularizer, an independent researcher and a public speaker, Dr. Rajendra Gupta, Former Associate Professor, Department of Botany, University of Delhi on the topic “Walking with the ancestors-Naming Plants and Animals in the Ancient World”. Dr. Gupta's oration started from evolution of human beings and gradually he explained the origin of naming of plants & animals with linguistics. His oration was very exemplary and interesting in depicting the DNA of Words covering each aspect of life. He also cited illustrations presenting, how words can be interpreted in mythological scripts by their meanings. The feedback that we have received were very encouraging and almost all the participants have appreciated the topics and delivery of speakers. More than 250 participants were a part of this webinar from the different parts of the country and joined through Google live streaming on different platforms.
Virtual visit to The Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaysia
Convenor: Dr. Madhu Rani (Deshbandhu College) & Dr. Sahadev Dharma (University of Malaysia)
Date of the program: March 27, 2021
No. of participants: 200
Invited Speakers: Dr Mohammed Rizman Bin Idid, Senior Lecturer & Coordinator, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA.
Description :
A virtual visit of Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences was organised by Department of Botany, Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi, Delhi, INDIA (under the aegis of IQAC & DBT Star College scheme) and Universiti Malaya, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA. Dr Mohammed Rizman Bin Idid, Senior Lecturer & Coordinator, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA coordinated the virtual tour. The Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences was established in 2008 in response to the national call for more concerted research in the marine sciences, considering the importance of Malaysia’s abundant marine heritage as well as to coordinate and lead all research activities and consultancies in marine and maritime research at the Universiti Malaya. The Research Station strategically located at Bachok, Kelantan, will serve as a centre for field-testing of our eco-engineering technologies in coastal protection, for developing mariculture systems and for launching our expeditions into the South China Sea to profile the ocean-earth-atmosphere systems in our bid to understand their effects on ocean productivity, the monsoons and global climate including impacts on coastal populations.