CSIR-NIO Launches Project to map Genetic Diversity in Indian Ocean.

18 March 2021.

Introduction:

A project for mapping the genetic diversity of organisms and the effect of micronutrients and trace metals on them in the Indian Ocean has been initiated by  The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR-NIO), Goa supported by the CSIR, under one of its flagship projects TraceBioMe.

About TraceBioMe Project;

• This project is supported the CSIR.
• It would also help in mapping the effect of micronutrients apart from tracing the metals deposited on them in the Indian Ocean.
• It will also forecast the extensive sampling of water, planktons, sediments and several organisms in different parts of Indian Ocean.
• This in turn will help in studying the presence of different types of organisms, trace metals and micronutrients found therein.
• The project would be using the modern state-of-the-art molecular techniques and the classical techniques to map the genetic diversity.
• In the first phase of the project, microscopic organisms will be investigated.

How this project would be carried?

• The project would be carried for 90-day.
• The expedition will be done onboard the research vessel RV Sindhu Sadhana.
•  To do the expedition, 30 scientists would take off from the Visakhapatnam and the expedition would be completed in two-legs by the end of May, 2021.
• They will be covering over 9,000 nautical miles from Visakhapatnam to Goa.
• Scientists will identify and characterise the genes and proteins present in the ocean so as to understand the cellular-level operations of organisms in the ocean.
• To carry the study, they will be utilising the emerging biomedical techniques like proteomics and genomics.

Significance of the project

• The data generated through this project would help in achieving the SDG 14 goals.
• The SDG 14 aims to conserve and sustainably use the resources of oceans, seas and marine.

Proteomics

• Proteomics is a large-scale study of proteins which are the key part of the living organisms.
• Proteome is the entire set of proteins which is produced or modified by the organism or system.
• These Proteins act like a catalyst for biogeochemical reaction which the organisms undergo in ocean.
• Thus, through the proteomics, the biogeochemistry of the organisms under varying ocean conditions can be studied which in turn will help in understanding the cellular biochemistry.
•  It will also help in understanding the response of ocean towards the increasing pollution, climate change and nutrient stress.