Amity institute of biotechnology hosts conference

The Amity Institute of Biotechnology is hosting a three-day international conference on 'Perspectives in Phyllosphere Biology'. Inaugurated on Wednesday by Dr. Karl. R. Matthews, Professor, Department of Food Science, Rutgers University, USA, the conference includes lectures by several renowned professors and researchers. The aim of the conference is to discuss the important phyllosphere biology researches, and the importance and scope of the field Dr. Matthews presented his study on human pathogens ability to colonize plants: induction of plant responses at molecular level. He stated that pathogens from human sources can easily get transferred to plant bodies, in turn infecting them. Various forms of pathogens, especially bacteria are found in humans, which gets transferred to plant surfaces and grow on them, making them unhealthy to consume in raw form, he added. He emphatically revealed that there have been over 82 outbreaks of microbes recorded in green leafy vegetables especially spinach, lettuce, tomatoes all over the world from 1996- 2008, thereby increasing the cases of food borne illnesses which accounts for over 21.9 percent of all illnesses. The incidences of various microbes, especially pseudomonas, bacillus and streptococcus detected in vegetables grown in Delhi/ NCR is increasing due to increase in the consumption of imported foods and fruits and vegetables. Dr. Mathews advised consumers to pick up fruits and vegetables without spots, which otherwise could lead to food poisoning Dr. Ashok .K. Chauhan, Founder President of the Amity Group, expressed his desire to increase the research works being carried out in the area of phyllosphere biology so that path breaking results could be achieved. He also announced the formation of two new societies in Amity - The Society for Phyllosphere Biology and the Society for Microbial Ecology. Among the other experts participating in the conference are Dr. Krishnendu Acharya, Dr. Gayathri Subbiah, Dr. P.D. Sharma, Dr. Sapna Sharma, Dr. P. Malathi, Dr. P.K.Paul and Dr. V. Bhuvaneshwari.