National Symposium on" Algal Bio-diversity and its role in bio-remediation"
VIAT organized a National Level Symposium on Algal Biodiversity and bioremediation in R K M Vivekananda College, from 23rd September to 25th september 2006 as part of Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the college.
Programme started with an inauguration ceremony on 23rd September 2006 at 10.30 A.M.. Swami Satyapriyananda, Secretary, RKM Vidyapith and Chairman, VIAT, gave the benedictory address. Dr V V Subramanian, Principal and Joint- Director, VIAT, welcomed the gathering. Prof V N Raja Rao, President, KIA, gave the presidential address. This was followed by Award ceremony . Prof V Krishnamurthy, Director, KIA, introduced and read the citation on Late Dr R Subrahmanyan who was presented with “Life-time achievement award in Algology” posthumously. A medal was also presented. Swami Satyapriyananda released a book on taxonomy of algae Vol II authored by Dr Vidyavati. The inaugural address was given by Dr Vidyavathi, Former Vice-Chancellor of Kakatiya, University. Prof M Umamaheswara Rao, Rtd. Professor of Botany, Andhra University gave the felicitations.
National Symposium on “Algal Bio-diversity and its role in Bio-remediation”
Session I was chaired by Prof M Umamaheswara Rao and Dr V Sivasubramanian was the rapporteur. A special lecture on utilization of marine cyanobacteria to address pollution problems was deliverd by Dr L Uma, Head of the Department of Microbiology, NFMC, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli. She presented a detailed account on the collection of cyanobacteria from coastal areas from 1987 and establishment of a culture collection. She elaborated on the application of BGA in bio-remediation, bio-fertilizers, hydrogen production, production of antibiotics etc. This was followed by the paper session I.Maya Subramoni presented a paper on study of algal diversity of river of south Kerala in relation to certain water quality parameters. Narendra Mohan presented a paper on diversity of blue-green algae in Allen Forest Lake, Zoological Park, Kanpur, mixing with campus sewage. The session ended with a paper on responses of Scenedesmus bijugatus to metal stress by Poonguzhali.Session II started with a special lecture on Biodiversity of desmids by Prof Vidyavati. She gave an elaborate account on the morphological variation of various desmids in response to various environmental factors. This was followed by paper session. Jose john and M S Francis presented a paper on the algal flora of Thodupuzha Taluk, Kerala. This was followed by an interesting paper on remediation of beverage effluent using cyanobacterium, Arthrospira platensis and aquatic plants Eicchornia crassipes and Salvinia sp by T Paul Gideon and R Rengasamy. According to this paper a continuous flow method with all plants was found to be more effective.Session III (24th September 2006) was chaired by Dr V V Subramanian and the rapporteur was Dr V Sivasubramanian. This session started with a special lecture on Bioremediation of agricultural soils through blue-green algae by B D Kaushik of IARI, New Delhi. He described the conditions of saline soils and sodic soils. He explained the application of cyanobacteria in the reclamation of soils. He concluded his talk by introducing a technology for application of BGA for rejuvenation of sodic and saline soils. The paper session started with a presentation by R Ranjithkumar on micro algal biodiversity in various industrial effluents. Nomita Sen presented a paper on the use of photosynthetic micro algae in phycoremediation. She talked about green house gases and how micro algae like Chlorella and Dunaniella could be effectively employed to mitigate green house gases. J Kamaleswari presented a paper on Screening of freshwater algae for phycoremediation potentialities of industrial effluents and wastewaters. She has analyzed 15 types of effluents and wastewaters.Session IV was chaired by Dr Nomita Sen and Dr S Chandra was the rapporteur.Dr Divya Tiwari delivered a special lecture on toxic algal blooms. She gave a detailed account on the redtides and other types of toxic blooms and factors and effects. She also gave a detailed account on various types of toxins and their health effects on humans and animals. She concluded her talk with emphasis on methods to control toxic blooms through chemical, biological, nutritional and by manual harvesting. Francis MS presented a paper on the effect of five heavy metals at infinite concentrations on the growth of Synechocystis salina. He made an interesting observation on enhancement of growth by mercury, lead, copper and zinc at ppb concentrations. This was followed by a paper on genotoxic effects of algal and vegetable extracts on root tips of Allium sepa by S RevathiSession V was chaired by R. Rengasamy and Ms J Kamaleswari was the rapporteur. Dr C R K Reddy gave a special lecture on Seaweed Bio-diversity- global perspective and prospects for future research. N Thajuddin presented a paper on morphological, molecular and phytogenetic studies of endosymbiotic cyanobionts isolated from different Cycads. D.S Krupanidhi presented a paper on algal bio-diversity in a manmade water body. He was awarded with best paper presentation. M D Vijaya Parathasarathy presented a paper on the occurrence of Cloniophora Tiffany in Indian waters. This was followed by a paper on diversity of phycocolloids in selected members of Rhodomelaceae by N Rajasulochana.Session VI was chaired by Dr M. Baluswami and Dr N. Rajasulochana was the rapporteur. Dr K. Subbaramiah delivered a special lecture on methods for estimating the quantitative seaweed resources of India. He explained various methods of estimating seaweeds. C.M. Joy presented a paper on algal bio-diversity and succession in Periyar river at Aluva, Kerala. He explained the algal biodiversity in premonsoonans Post monsoon periods with excellent digital photographs. R Senthil Kumar presented a paper on phytoplankton diversity in Veeranam, Narai and Ponneri , Tamilnadu. This was followd by an interesting presentation by S. Jayakumar on studies in water pollution using ultrasonic technique.Session VII was chaired by Dr N Jeeji Bai and Dr A B Gore was the rapporteur. Dr V Krishnamurthy delivered a talk on uses of algae – retrospect and prospect. He explained the uses of algae as manure, industrial importance, human food, drugs from algae, sources of industrial chemicals and algae in bio-remediation and energy production. P Hanumantha Rao presented a paper on Sky Gel – its application in micro-algal cultivation and phycoremediation. He explained the advantages of using sky gel in cultivation and maintenance of micro algae and also application of sky gel in effluent treatment. The last paper of the symposium was presented by Christina Poornima on the phycoremediation and quality improvement of ground water. She used Chroococcus sp to improve the quality of ground water collected from Besant nagar area of Chennai.Valedictory function was chaired by Dr V Krishnamurthy who introduced the chief guest Dr K Sakthivel, Chairman, Aquaculture Foundation of India. Dr V Sivasubramanian, Director, VIAT, summed up the entire symposium proceedings. Dr K Sakthivel gave the valedictory address. He spoke elaborately on seaweed cultivation by fisher folk.
