Establishment Central Instrumentation facility with the cost of 6.03 crore to take up multidisciplinary research project at AC&RI,Madurai. The analytical platform includes UP-HPLC for amino acid analysis, XRF for micronutrient analysis and GC-MS for metabolic profiling. The imaging facilities like upright, inverted and Florence microscope established for imaging pathogen & Insects. The molecular biology lab with real time PCR will help for the gene expression studies.

1. Centre of Innovation
Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Dr.N.Senthil,Ph.D
Project Director,
Centre of Innovation
senthil_natesan@tnau.ac.in

2. GC-MS

3. Amino Acid Analyzer –UHPLC-Nexera

4. X- Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analyser
-X supreme 8000

5. Microscope – Stereo zoom with camera
(ZEISS Stemi 508)

6. Microscope - Upright with high resolution digital
image processor (Axio Lab.A1)

7. Microscope - Inverted - Phase contrast and
fluorescence

8. Spectrophotometer – UV-VIS-NIR

9. ELISA – Multimode micro plate reader

10. Molecular Biology facility

11. De novo and comparative transcriptome of barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentacea) provides insights into
drought adaptation and micronutrient accumulation
Barnyard millet (Echinochloa frumentaceae) is an underutilized cereal crop rich in micronutrients
particularly Fe and Zn, and widely cultivated in India. However, the lack of genetic and genomic
resources hampers the research progress of E. frumentaceae. Here, we report the leaf transcriptome
of E. frumentaceae using Illumina sequencing technology.
A total of 97,065 high quality transcripts were de novo assembled, comprising 65,276 protein coding
and 31,789 putative long noncoding RNA (lncRNAs) transcripts. Annotation of protein coding
transcripts showed 92.9%, 93.2% and 93.7% of significant match to proteins in foxtail millet, rice and
sorghum respectively. Comparative transcriptome between Indian barnyard millet and wild
Echinochloa species E. crus-galli revealed that 4,159 protein coding and 2,258 long noncoding
transcripts were differentially expressed and about 5% of barnyard millet specific coding and lncRNA
transcripts were found. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis for those differentially expressed
and barnyard millet specific transcripts revealed the crucial function of photosynthesis in barnyard
millet to drought adaptation. We further unveiled the nine candidate genes involved in higher Fe and
Zn content and substantiated by gene expression analysis using quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qRT-
PCR). In addition, a total of 10,881 EST-SSRs were identified and primer pairs were designed for 300
loci. Of these, 20 primer pairs were successfully synthesized and screened in 30 diverse E.
frumentaceae accessions; six were identified as polymorphic. To our knowledge, this is the first
transcriptomic study of E. frumentaceae and offers a valuable sequence resource for novel gene
discovery and analysis of the regulatory noncoding RNAs and genetic diversity in Echinochloa species.
Real Time PCR

12. Grain scanner – Rice Quality
Grain count
Width
Length

13. High Tech Green House facility
Rs.19,28,000

14. Growth Chamber – Percival (E75L1)

15. Water purification system- Millipore
 Elix® 20 Tap water first enters the
Progard® pretreatment cartridge which
efficiently removes particles & colloids,
free chlorine and hardness before reverse
osmosis (RO) purification.
 Elix® systems benefit from intelligent RO
technology. Superior and consistent Type
2 water quality
 Milli-Q® Reference delivers Type 1 water
customized to fit a broad range of
research areas and makes ultrapure
water conveniently available in any
laboratory. It is designed to be fed from a
pretreated water source.
 Made only for Milli-Q® systems, Jetpore®
virgin ion-exchange resin is used in all
Milli-Q® purification cartridges. Quantum®
purification cartridges to reach a
resistivity of 18.2 MΩ.cm (at 25°C) and a
TOC value below 5 ppb.

19. S. No. Name of the workshop Date
Number of
persons trained
1 Principles and Applications of PCR in Genomics Era 20-06-2016 91
2 Scientific writing & Publishing 26-07-2016 45
3
Elemental analysis made simple for Agriculture Scientists; X-ray fluorescence
spectrometer (XRF) 27-10-2016 151
4 Applications and Innovations in Nucleic Acids and Protein Research
21-12-2016 to
22-12-2017 52
5
Functional molecules Identification in Agriculture and Food Industries: High
Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC/UPLC) 11-01-2017 89
6
GC-MS Analytical Platforms for Metabolomics: A way to understand complex
biological pathway 14-02-2017 100
7
Effect of Cereal Grain Primary Processing and Quality in Agriculture and Food
Industry 28-03-2017 80
8 Optical Microscopy: Comfortable Workflow for Image Acquisition and Processing 07-06-2017 94
9 Application of Proteomics: Current Status and Future Prospects 29-08-2017 120
10 Innovations in qPCR for gene expression and molecular diagnostics 21-11-2017 62
Workshops Organized

20. Elemental Analysis: X-Ray Fluorescence
Spectrometer (XRF) – 27th October 2016
Dr. D. Sudhakar, Professor & Head, Department of Plant
Biotechnology, TNAU, Coimbatore has given the lecture on “Genetic
Enhancement of Iron and Zinc in Rice”.
Lecture on “Basic principle and applications of X- ray fluorescence
spectrometer for elemental analysis in agricultural use” was given by
Mr. Monson Varghese, Volga Instruments Ltd, India. XRF is used to
detect certain types of mineral nutrients in various materials.
It is non-destructive and reliable, requires no, or very little, sample
preparation and is suitable for solid, liquid and powdered samples. It
works on fundamental principle of interactions between electron
beams and x-rays with samples.
The main advantages of the XRF technique over other methods of
elemental analysis are its multi-elemental capacity, simple or well
established sample preparation methods and good detection limits of
elements. XRF is one of the fast and better methods to characterize a
variety of materials and very useful for Agricultural scientists.
Totally 150 participants include Research scholars, Teaching
Assistants and Assistant Professors from various discipline from
different universities and research institutes were attended and
benefited from this workshop

21. Applications and Innovations in Nucleic Acids
and Protein Research – 7-8th December 2016
Dr. N. Ragupathi, Dean (i/c), AC & RI, Madurai inaugurated
the workshop. Our Centre, Director Dr. N. Senthil explained
the details of the workshop and emphasized the basics of
DNA, RNA & protein separation and application
Dr.Vanniyarajan , Professor & Head, Department of Plant
Breeding and Genetics & Dr.G.Karthikeyan, Professor
&Head, Department of Plant Pathology,AC&RI, Madurai
felicitated the gathering”.
A lecture on Enzyme assay made simple by Dr.P.Govindaraj,
Professor of Biochemistry, ADC& RI, Trichy.
A total of 60 participants including Post Graduate students,
Research scholars and Assistant Professors of various
disciplines from TNAU attended the workshop.

22. Functional molecule Identification: High
Performance Liquid Chromatography
(HPLC/UPLC – 11th January 2017
•Dr.M.Anusuyadevi, Head of Biochemistry department,
Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli deliberated on the
“Importance of amino acids in agricultural research”. She also
stressed on the production and consumption of safe and nutritious
agricultural food products for providing good health and longevity.
•Talk on “Identification of host-plant volatiles and characterization
as a response to insect damage” was given by Dr. M. Murugan,
Professor and Head, Department of Differently Abled Studies,
Home Science College& Research Institute, Madurai.
•Dr. A. Bhuvanasundar, Application Specialist, M/S. Spinco Biotech
Ltd, Chennai elaborated on the topic “Principles of pre-column
derivetization and compound identification” with special emphasis
on amino acid separation and identification using UPLC.
•The advantage of using UHPLC over conventional separation
techniques is that it gives better resolution with high sensitivity and
very fast separation. The scope and application of UPLC in
agricultural research is of prime importance in separation and
identification of functional molecules in plants and food products.
Processing of biological samples and compound identification
using UPLC was demonstrated to the participants.
•
•A total of 85 participants including Post Graduate students,
Research scholars and Assistant Professors of various disciplines
from TNAU attended the workshop.

23. GC-MS Analytical Platforms for Metabolomics –
14th February 2017
•Dr.V.Paranidharan, Professor of Plant Pathology, Centre for
Plant Protection, Coimbatore briefed on “Metabolomics: A
cutting edge tool for biological research”.
•A lecture on principle and application of GC-MS was
delivered by Mr. Sanket Chiplunkar, Senior application
chemist and another talk on recent trends in metabolomics
analysis was presented by Dr.Ajit Datar, Advisor from
Shimadzu Analytical (I) Ltd., Mumbai.
•Hands on training on different methods adopted for
separation of volatile molecules by GC-MS and data analysis
were given to the participants.
•A total of 180 participants including Post Graduate students,
Research scholars and Assistant Professors of various
disciplines from TNAU attended the workshop.

24. • The resource person Dr.K.Jeganathan, Professor,
School of Physics & Co-ordinator, Center for
Nano Science and Nano Technology, Bharathidasan
University, Trichy elaborately delivered the lecture
on ‘Principles of Microscopy and Choosing the Right
Microscopy Technique’.
• Dr. C. R. Chinnamuthu, Professor, Department of
Agronomy, A. C. & R. I., Madurai focussed on
the Applications of Electron Microscopy in Biological
Sciences.
• The practical session on ‘Comfortable workflow for
a cell observation, cell sampling and handling,
image capture, and fluorescence’ and ‘Basics of
light detection and selection of suitable detector for
specific applications in fluorescence microscopy’
was effectively handled and demonstrated by
Mr.M.Anand, Assistant Manager, Customer support,
DSS Image Tech Chennai.
• 94 Participants shared their Feed back and they all
appreciated that the workshop was a fruitful one
and they assured to utilize the Optical Microscopic
facilities for their future endeavours.
Optical Microscopy:
Comfortable work flow for image acquisition and
processing – 7th June 2017

25. PROTEOMICS-CURRENT STATUS AND
FUTURE PROSPECTS – 29th August 2017
 Dr.K.Dharmalingam, Director of Research, Aravind Medical
Research Foundation, Madurai, gave a guest lecture on “Proteomics
and Health care” and he emphasized on the importance of recent
developments of Proteomics Research in ophthalmology.
 Dr. Avid Hussain, Manager in Agilent technologies, USA explained
about DNA-RNA protein chips: Analysis and its Applications.
 Dr.M.Raveendran, Professor, Department of Plant Biotechnology,
CPMB& B, TNAU delivered a detailed lecture on “Identification of
candidate genes & Application of Proteomics in Agricultural
Research”.
 Dr.Arulkumar Nagappan, PDF from College of Korean Medicine,
Pusan National University, Yangsan Campus,Yangsan,Svouth Korea
presents a video Conference lecture on “Mass Spectrometry
Platforms of Large scale proteomics in Korean Traditional Medicine
Research”.
 Dr. Srinivasan Reddy , Application specialist, GE Health care, USA
gave a talk on “Introduction to 2-Dimensional gel electrophoresis and
2DDifference gel electrophoresis (DIGE) and their applications in
comparative Proteomics”
 Practical session on “Protein Isolation and Separation by SDS-
PAGE” by Dr.E.Kokiladevi and Mrs.A.Kavitha Pushpam.
 Another practical session on “Bioinformatics tools for Proteomics
Research”was given by Dr.A.Karthikeyan,PDF (DST-SERB), AC &
RI, Madurai.
 Students and faculty of 120 participants including Post Graduate
students, Research scholars and Assistant Professors of various
disciplines from TNAU attended the workshop.

26. INNOVATIONS IN qPCR FOR GENE EXPRESSION AND
MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS – 21st November 2017
• Dr. R. Gnanam, Director (i/c), C. P. M. B. & B., TNAU, Coimbatore gave
a inaugural address. In her speech, she was stressing the importance of
human power development through workshops/trainings. She stressed
upon the entrepreneurship development among the students so that
they will be as job providers and not job seekers.
• Dr. M. Pandian, Dean (i/c), A. C. & R. I., Eachangottai in his special
address, told the students& scholars to do new innovative works during
their research period.
• Dr. P. Gopal, Assistant Professor (Biotechnology), Department of Plant
Biotechnology, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj
University gave a guest lecture on “DNA Methylation Suppression by the
Bhendi Yellow Vein Mosaic Virus” he emphasized on the importance of
recent developments of c4 protein in Gemini viral particles in virus
movement & infection.
• Dr. L. Arul, Professor (Biotechnology),Department of Plant Breeding and
Genetics, A. D. A. C. & R. I., Tiruchirappalli delivered a detailed lecture
on “Candidate Gene Analysis Using qRT-PCR: Select examples”.
• Dr. N. Karunakara Boopathy , Application specialist,, M/s. Roche
Diagnostics India, Pvt. Ltd. Chennai gave a talk on “ Fundamentals and
Applications of qPCR”.
• Practical session on “RNA isolation, RNA Quality check, &cDNA
synthesis” by Dr.A.Karthikeyan, PDF (DST-SERB), AC & RI, Madurai.
Another practical session on “qPCR assay optimization for gene
expression studies” was given by Dr.E.Kokiladevi and Dr.P.
Meenakshisundaram.
• Students and faculty of 62 participants including Post Graduate
students, Research scholars and Assistant Professors of various
disciplines from TNAU

27. Hon. Ministers of Tamil Nadu visit to NADP
facilities 21st July 2017
Thiru. K.A. Sengottaiyan ,
Minister of School Education, TN
Thiru R. Doraikkannu, Minister of Agriculture, TN
Thiru Sellur K. Raju, Minister of Co-operation, TN
Thiru Dindigul C. Sreenivasan, Minister of Forests, TN
Thiru R.B. Udhayakumar, Minister of Revenue, TN

28. • Mr.K Shanmugam, IAS , Additional Chief Secretary to
Government of Tamil Nadu
• Mr.Gagandeep Singh Bedi, IAS (Agricultural Production
Commissioner and Principal Secretary to Government )
• Dr.R.Anandakumar, IAS, Chairman & MD,TAWDEA,TN
• Mrs.Archana Patnaik, IAS, Director of Horticulture,
Government of Tamil Nadu
• Dr.K.Ramasamy, Vice chancellor, TNAU
Finance Secretary visit to NADP facilities 30th
July,2017

29. Centre of Innovation:
NADP workshops