| “Phycolab”
is the window of
Laboratory of Phycology headed by Dr.M.Baluswami who joined the
Department of
Botany, Madras Christian College (Autonomous) in February 1988. Though
several
people have taught algae in this department no research was undertaken
until Dr.
Baluswami was appointed by the strong determination of the then
Professor Dr.
Crispin Devadoss. Dr. Devadoss who was a Professor with clear vision
whole
heartedly supported the setting up of the laboratory of phycology. Under his headship the lab
acquired a wooden
culture rack with illuminated shelves, chemicals to prepare culture
media and glassware.
It is during his term field trips to coastal areas of southern
districts were
initiated resulting in collection of a lot of marine algae and
freshwater algae
that have got built up in the lab to be used by U.G., P.G. students and
research
scholars who registered for their M.Phil. Degree. Initially the lab was
functioning in the ‘faculty room’ of the new botany
building and was shifted to ‘microtome’
room in 1996-1997 when
Dr.P.Dayanandan took over as the Head of the Department. Since then the
laboratory
of phycology is functioning in this room. However
the request for an algal culture room remained
unheard for a long time. The
strong wish
for an ‘algal culture chamber’ was fulfilled only
recently (in 2010) during the
headship of Prof. H. K.P. Devadoss with a grant the college received as
part of
the “Star
college program”. Culturing
algae has been initiated and in a short period of time several
freshwater algae
have been brought to the phycolab and are at different levels of
isolation.
With this the students will be trained in the area of algal
biotechnology. Dr.
Baluswami has authored a monograph on “Phaeophyceae
of India and Neighbourhood volume 1
Ectocarpales, Sphacelariales, Dictyotales, Chordariales and
Scytosiphonales,
jointly with Prof. V.Krishnamurthy subsequently published in 2010 by
Krishnamurthy Institute of Algology, Chennai. Published
22 papers in reputed journals and 3
in proceedings of National Seminars covering the systematic of both
freshwater
and marine algae; Intensive collections made by the researchers of
phycolab
resulted in collection and subsequently description of a new species Draparnaldiopsis krishnamurthyii, Batrachospermum umamaheswararaoi and Sirodotia iyengarii. Several freshwater
algae have turned to be new reports to Tamil Nadu and a few to India
also. With
the Photomicrographic facility that was available with the department
was
utilized to develop a photographic document of freshwater and marine
algae.
Freshwater algae from Thirunelveli and Kanyakumari districts,
Thiruvannamalai
district and Villupuram district were documented as part of M.Phil.
projects. A
collection of marine algae from Andaman Islands have formed part of an
M.Sc.
thesis. M.Phil.
thesis on Freshwater red algae
of Tamil Nadu and Members of Euglenaceae from Thiruvanamalai have
immensely
contributed to the understanding on the diversity of these members in
Tamil
Nadu for the first time. This website has been created to post
original
photographs of freshwater and marine algae of India in general and
Tamil
Nadu in
particular. |
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