The Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu will organise a two-day national workshop on 'Plant-Biotechnology - RAPD-PCR techniques' from August 18 to 20, 2011 which will be sponsored by Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research(CSIR).

The workshop, conducted by the department of botany of Annamalai University, will help to provide researchers a hands-on training in molecular marker techniques and to highlight the importance of marker assisted techniques in the plant biotechnology research.

The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a technique that permits geometric and enzymatic amplification of specific sequences of DNA. The PCR is now widely used in research laboratories and doctor's offices, relies on the ability of DNA-coping enzymes to remain stable at high temperatures.

Dr M Ramanathan, vice-chancellor, Annamalai University, Dr A N Kannappan, dean, Faculty of Science and president, Annamalai University, Dr R Selvaraj, professor, Dept. of Botany, Annamalai University, Dr AL A Chidambaram, associate professor, Dept. of Botany, Annamalai University will be present at the event to impart knowledge about the PCR techniques.

As the problem for Thermus aquaticus is over, the sultry bacterium from yellow stone which now helps scientists to produce million of copies of a single DNA segment in matter of hours. In nature, most organisms copy their DNA in the same way. The PCR mimics this process, only in test tubes. When any cell divides, enzymes called polymerase made a copy of the entire DNA in each chromosome.

Besides these, PCR has been modified in a number of ways to suit specific application situation, several molecular markers (RFLP, AFLP, ISSR, SSR, SNP and RAPD) also available for analysing genetic variations at molecular level. Among these, RAPD is an inexpensive and a rapid method not requiring much information regarding the genome and has been widely used to document the genetic diversity in plants and animals. Marker-based genome analyses have become increasingly important for various fields of plant science research.

The workshop of RAPD-PCR technique will cover guest lectures and hands-on experience on various aspects of biotechnology on laboratory safety, chemicals preparation for DNA isolation and purification, DNA quantification, agarose-gel electrophoresis and PCR reactions, how the DNA extraction can be handled, isolation and purification of genomic DNA (plant sample) and amplification in PCR thermal cycler.