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Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur

The history of agricultural education in Kerala can be traced back to the year 1896 when a scheme was evolved in the erstwhile Travancore State to train a few young men in scientific agriculture at the Demonstration Farm, Karamana, Thiruvananthapuram, presently, the Cropping Systems Research Centre under Kerala Agricultural University. Agriculture was introduced as an optional subject in the middle school classes in the State in 1922 when an Agricultural Middle School was started at Aluva, Ernakulam District. The popularity and usefulness of this school led to the starting of similar institutions at Kottarakkara and Konni in 1928 and 1931 respectively. Agriculture was later introduced as an optional subject for Intermediate Course in 1953. In 1955, the erstwhile Government of Travancore-Cochin started the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Mannuthy, Thrissur for imparting higher education in agricultural and veterinary sciences, respectively. These institutions were brought under the direct administrative control of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Animal Husbandry, respectively. With the formation of Kerala State in 1956, these two colleges were affiliated to the University of Kerala. The post-graduate programmes leading to M.Sc. (Ag), M.V.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees were started in 1961, 1962 and 1965 respectively. On the recommendation of the Second National Education Commission (1964-66) headed by Dr. D.S. Kothari, the then Chairman of the University Grants Commission, one Agricultural University in each State was established. The State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) were established in India as an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System to give the much needed impetus to Agriculture Education and Research in the Country. As a result the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) was established on 24th February 1971 by virtue of the Act 33 of 1971 and started functioning on 1st February 1972. The Kerala Agricultural University is the 15th in the series of the SAUs. In accordance with the provisions of KAU Act of 1971, the Agricultural College and Research Institute at Vellayani, and the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, were brought under the Kerala Agricultural University. In addition, twenty one agricultural and animal husbandry research stations were also transferred to the KAU for taking up research and extension programmes on various crops, animals, birds, etc. During 2011, Kerala Agricultural University was trifurcated into Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) and Kerala Agricultural University (KAU). Now the University has seven colleges (four Agriculture, one Agricultural Engineering, one Forestry, one Co-operation Banking & Management), six RARSs, seven KVKs, 15 Research Stations and 16 Research and Extension Units under the faculties of Agriculture, Agricultural Engineering and Forestry. In addition, one Academy on Climate Change Adaptation and one Institute of Agricultural Technology offering M.Sc. (Integrated) Climate Change Adaptation and Diploma in Agricultural Sciences respectively are also functioning in Kerala Agricultural University.

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20191
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Subject: Plant Pathology × Author: Alan, C Antony × Start date: 2013 × Type: Thesis × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Development of recombinant coat protien for immunodetection of cucumber mosaic virus infecting banana
    (Department of Plant Pathology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, 2019) Alan, C Antony; KAU; Vimi Louis
    Banana (Musa spp.) is infected by four well characterised plant viruses viz., Banana bunchy top virus, Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Banana bract mosaic virus and Banana streak virus. Among these, CMV causes devastating effect on tissue culture banana plants. The study entitled “Development of recombinant coat protein for immunodetection of Cucumber mosaic virus infecting banana” was carried out using existing facilities of Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Division of Plant Pathology, Banana Research Station, Kannara and Department of Plant Pathology, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, Thrissur during 2018- 2019. The present study was carried out to produce recombinant coat protein, which can be utilised later for producing high quality antiserum for the detection of CMV infecting banana. Cucumber mosaic virus infected samples were collected based on various characteristic symptoms and screened by direct antigen coating immunosorbent assay using commercially available CMV polyclonal antiserum. Isolate namely, KANC- 4, KANC- 2 and NDRNS- 4 showed maximum absorbance at 405 nm and hence selected for molecular detection using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction with CMV- CP specific primer. The PCR product was purified and CMV- CP amplicon of NDRNS- 4 isolate was ligated to pGEM- T linear plasmid vector, which was later transformed into E. coli DH5α cells. Positive clones were selected according to blue-white screening. Cloning i.e., E.coli DH5α/pGEM- T/CMV- CP was confirmed through colony PCR using coat protein specific primer, restriction digestion of recombinant plasmids using EcoR1 enzyme followed by sequencing. The vectors viz. pRSET- C and pET28a were selected for the expression of CMV- CP gene in E. coli. Coat protein specific forward (5’GGG GCT AGC ATG GAC AAA TCT GAA TCA ACC3’) and reverse primers(5’CCC GGA TCC TTA CTC TCC ATG GCG TTT AG 3’) were designed along with recognition sites of restriction enzymes BamH1 and Nhe1.The annealing temperature of designed primer was standardised as 55°C using gradient PCR. The coat protein gene of CMV was amplified at 750 bp using designed primers and high fidelity Pfu DNA polymerase enzyme. Expression vectors as well as amplicon were subjected to ligation and the recombination in expression plasmids (pRSET- C/ CMV- CP and pET28a/CMV- CP) were confirmed through PCR and sequencing. The plasmid with maximum homology i.e., pRSET-C/CMV- CP was selected for further studies. The recombinant plasmid was transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3)pLysS cells for the expression of CMV- CP gene and the expression of 25 kDa recombinant CMV coat protein was confirmed in 12 per cent sodium dodecyl sulphate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS- PAGE). Tris- NaCl buffer of pH 8.0 was selected for solubilising the recombinant protein using ExPASy - protein translation tool. The recombinant protein was further purified through Nitrilotriacetic acid column purification, in which the 6X histidine tagged recombinant protein was bound with agarose coated nickel beads. Buffers containing imidazole were used for the elution of histidine tagged recombinant protein, since imidazole competes with histidine for the binding site in nickel beads. Each fraction viz., cell pellet, supernatant, flow through, wash and elution were collected and later detected for protein using SDS- PAGE. Absence of 25 kDa protein in cell pellet indicated that the recombinant coat protein completely soluble in Tris- NaCl buffer (pH 8.0). Confirmation of recombinant coat protein was carried out through DAC- ELISA and western blotting using commercially available polyclonal CMV antiserum (1: 2000; NRCB, Trichy). The recombinant coat protein developed through this study could be utilised for large scale production of antiserum for immunodetection of CMV.