Farewell meeting of the Senegalese Researcher, Dr. Nathalie Diagne, C.V. Raman International Fellow, at the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding,

Coimbatore, India

Farewell meeting of the Senegalese Researcher, Dr. Nathalie Diagne, C.V. Raman International Fellow, at the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding,

Coimbatore, India

A meeting was held on 4th January 2013, to bid farewell to Dr. Nathalie Diagne, a researcher from Senegal, pursuing post doctoral studies at IFGTB, Coimbatore, through the prestigious C. V. Raman International fellowship, funded by the DST and FICCI.

The meeting started with an introduction by Dr. R. Yasodha, Head, Plant Biotechnology Division, followed by a presentation by Dr. Diagne on the findings of the study on "Characterization of sodium transporter genes in Casuarina equisetifolia" carried out with the guidance of Dr. Mathish Nambiar-Veetil, Scientist E, at IFGTB during the fellowship period.

The salient findings of the study included optimization of RNA isolation protocols from the branchlets and roots of C. equisetifolia, partial sequencing of the sodium transporter gene, HKT1, SNP analysis and initiation of differential expression analysis of NHX1 during salt stress in tolerant and susceptible clones of C. equisetifolia using quantitative- real time PCR.

Dr. Diagne expressed her deepest sense of gratitude to the Institute and ICFRE for providing all the facilities, and taking all the care that made her forget her home back at Senegal.

When Dr. Diagne was asked to compare the facilities at India and France, she opined that IFGTB has developed adequate facilities for taking up such a study and added that she learnt a lot during her study. The Director, Dr. N. Krishnakumar, appreciated the sincere and dedicated efforts, and wanted Dr. Nathalie to be IFGTB’s ambassador. He hoped that this experience would pave way for IFGTB to host many more such international fellows and foster more collaborative programmes.

This endeavor strengthens IFGTB's multi institutional collaboration for "Transcriptome analysis of salt tolerance in Casuarina trees" between Laboratoire Commun de Microbiologie (LCM), Senegal, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), France, and the University of New Hampshire (USA), under the Joint Genome Institute's community sequencing programme. Dr. Diagne is from the LCM, Dakar, Senegal, that brings together researchers from the IRD, Montpellier, France, Senegalese Institute of Agronomical Research (ISRA), Senegal, and the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), Dakar, Senegal.

Dr. Diagne expressed that she is looking forward to further the cooperation in the areas of Casuarina salt tolerance and Casuarina-Frankia research between IFGTB, Coimbatore and LCM, Dakar, so as to address the problem of soil salinity afflicting both Senegal as well as India. The meeting ended with the award of certificate by the Director followed by presentation of memento by Shri. T. P. Raghunath, the Group Coordinator (Research).