Life Sciences & Biotechnology
Title : | Unravelling the Macrofungal diversity of Neelganga valley and Ali-Bedni trek, Uttarakhand with Morpho-taxonomy, Molecular systematics and Ethnomycology |
Area of research : | Life Sciences & Biotechnology |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Priyanka Uniyal, Govt. P. G. College Gopeshwar Chamoli, Gopeshwar, Uttarakhand |
Timeline Start Year : | 2022 |
Timeline End Year : | 2025 |
Contact info : | uniyalpriyanka24@gmail.com |
Equipments : | DSLR camera
Trinocular Microscope
Trinocular research microscope with camera and software
Printer
GPS device |
Details
Executive Summary : | Studies on the diversity of fungi coupled with the taxonomic studies have a long history and many taxonomists have worked on the identification of the macromycetes/macrofungi worldwide including India. But these studies have largely been based on the morpho-anatomical observations and ecological associations of these fungi. More recently, the fungal taxonomy have gone through major revisions due to incorporation of molecular phylogeny as a taxonomic tool. Fungi are mysterious either in their appearances or their interactions in any ecosystem. Identification based only on morpho-anatomical and ecological observations can be misleading sometimes as many macrofungi produce sporocarps with similar appearance due to which cryptic species remained undiscovered up to the introduction of phylogeny in fungal taxonomy. Moreover, many species have been misidentified as their look alikes of the different geographical origin which is deceptive as intercontinental conspecificity is very rare in fungi. The proposed work will assess the macrofungal diversity in the Neelganga Valley and the Ali-Bedni trek, Uttarakhand by using phylogenetic analysis for the accurate identification of the taxa. The region selected for the present study is completely unexplored in terms of its macrofungal diversity and the floral components of the region reflect the presence of many potential hosts for the variety of macrofungi. The macrofungal diversity needs the attention in unexplored regions like this as macrofungi form various types of ecological associations with the forest trees and have essential role in the dynamics of the forest ecosystems. To conserve the ecosystem of any region, the different components of the ecosystem must be explored. The proposed work will give a data on the diversity of the macromycetes in a remote and unexplored region. Diversity will be calculated with different diversity indices and the individual macromycetes will be identified with the macro- and micro-morphological studies coupled with phylogenetic analysis. |
Co-PI: | Prof. Yash Pal Sharma, Jammu University, Jammu & Kashmir-180006 |
Total Budget (INR): | 29,01,250 |
Organizations involved