Research Projects

Majority of 120 million people of Bihar are dependent on ground water for their drinking, irrigation and their other livelihood purposes. In recent times, toxic forms of arsenic have become a serious threat for Indo-Gangetic plain of Eastern India (22.8962° N, 85.9800° E) . Arsenic also enters into food chain through vegetables, cereals, pulses and nuts. In recent studies, Arsenic is reported in human blood by “Mahaveer Cancer Sansthan, Patna” and isa serious cause of cancer. Large number of plants and microbes has been worked out independently since long for their role in remediation of Arsenic toxicity through transformation.My laboratory has contributed significantly by utilizing the Raphanussativus and Amaranthusviridisin reducing metal toxicity. We have also isolated many As resistant bacteria like Bacillus licheniformis DAS 1, Bacillus licheniformis DAS 2 and Bacillus stratosphericus MKS and their role in reducing As toxicity by oxidation, reduction and transformation has been published. Raphanussativus and Amaranthusviridisarethe two edible plants which are consumed as vegetables by local people. Often, these crops are grown in arsenic contaminated soils and hence likely to accumulate arsenic in the edible parts of the plant. During this project, our prime focus is to study bacterial diversity in the arsenic contaminated soils where Raphanussativus and Amaranthusviridis are grown.In this study, we plan to estimate arsenic content and bacterial diversity of soil and different parts of the plant and to assess their role in reducing arsenic toxicity in the two vegetable crops. The arsenic resistant bacterial isolates will be isolated and identified using 16srRNA technique, and the genes responsible for arsenic resistance will be analyzed by PCR amplification.Assessment of secondary metabolites and anti-oxidant enzymes in the parts of edible plants and bacteria under natural and arsenic stressed condition will be done to monitor toxicity remediation. This study will help in elucidating the role of endophytic and soil bacteria in reducing arsenic toxicity to the edible plants and the relationship with their life support systems (N,P,K &C) to understand plant survival strategies grown under arsenic contaminated soils..