CBD First National Report - India - National Biodiversity Authority

Germplasm Facilitiesthe need for sophisticated facilities for research and development and providingservices, the following additional germplasm facilities have been set up:The National Facility for Microbial Type Culture Collection at the Institute of MicrobialTechnology, Chandigarh, with over 1,600 cultures in its stock.The National Facility on Blue Green Algal Collection at the Indian Agriculture ResearchInstitute, with over 500 strains and several pure cultures as well as soil-based cultures, whichhave been supplied to farmers for production of biofertilisers.The National Facility for Marine Cyanobacteria at the Bharatidasan University,which is co-ordinating extensive surveys on the southern coast.iv)v)vi)The National Facility for Plant Tissue Culture Repository at NBPGR, New Delhi, which hasundertaken in vitro conservation of germplasm (seed, pollen in vitro culture) over the mediumand long term, particularly for those species for which conventional methods are inadequate. Ithas 650 accessions of crop species and employs molecular methods ofandclassification.The National Facility for Laboratory Animals at the Central Drug Research Institute,and the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad have made available quality animals forbiomedical research and industry in the country.The National Facility for Animal Tissue and Cell Culture, an autonomous institution underDepartment of Biotechnology (DBT) has 1127 stock cultures comprising 594 different cellstrains. The facility has supplied 401 culture consignments to 84 institutions throughout thecountry. It also has 50 vectors, and genomic libraries.Three National Gene Banks for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants at the Central Institute ofMedicinal and Aromatic Plants, and the NBPGR, New Delhi, both for the northernregion; and the Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Trivandrum, for peninsularIndia have been established. These banks will conserve important species of proven medicinalvalue, which areas endangered, threatened or rare, are used extensively intraditional systems of medicine, are difficult to propagate, have significance for R&D for thefuture, and are of commercial value. India is the regional co-ordinator for Asia and also theoverall co-ordinator for the establishment of Gene Banks of Medicinal and Aromatic Plantsamong G 15 countries.viii)The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology has been undertaking the development andmaintenance of DNA profiles.23