Dr Rakhi Chaturvedi has contributed immensely to the broad field of Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture. Her research group is involved in large scale propagation of plants of medicinal and commercial value using in vitro techniques. The unique capacity of plant cells called ‘Totipotency’ has found many applications in plant improvement, multiplication and conservation. This has surmount the limitations of vegetative/conventional propagation and hasten the production of clonal plant material at a faster rate, round the year, from a small piece of tissues, irrespective of seasons and regions.
The tree species with long generation cycle are mostly highly heterozygous in nature due to strict cross pollination and are considered to be recalcitrant (difficult to regenerate in vitro). The genetic improvement of these plants and development of homozygous lines (pure) is either very challenging or impossible using the conventional methods, because the cross pollination is a rule. This limitation has completely been overcome by the research group of Dr Chaturvedi while working on two complex tree species, Neem (Azadirachta indica) and Tea (Camellia species).
Prof. Chaturvedi’s laboratory has also involved in developing Plant Cell Culture Technology as an alternative to whole plant extraction for the production of secondary metabolites of medicinal and commercial values. Although these compounds can also be isolated from naturally grown whole plants, continued destruction of plants for the purpose may pose a major threat to species getting extinct. Her research group is able to identify, purify and isolate three main categories of bioactive metabolites: essential oils, coumarins and alkylamides, from in vitro elite cell lines of medicinal plants. Some of these compounds are complex triterpenoids which are difficult to synthesize chemically.
UG/PG courses taught at IIT Guwahati
Name of the Courses |
Essentials of Genetics |
Plant Biotechnology |
Molecular and Cellular Process Engineering |
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory |
Bioseparation Engineering |
Biochemistry |
Modern Biology |
UG courses taught at Hansraj College, University of Delhi, Delhi
Name of the Courses |
Plant Genetics |
Cell Biology |
Cell Biology and Genetics laboratory |
Plant Economic Botany |
Plant Anatomy |
Web-based Course
Web Course developed for NPTEL Lecture Series: Plant Biotechnology [here]
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