Sourindra Mohan Sircar | |
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| Born | March 1, 1908 |
| Died | February 21, 1978 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | University of Calcutta, Imperial College of Science and Technology, London |
| Occupation | Botanist |
Sourindra Mohan Sircar (1908-1978) was one of the greatest botanists of India, [1] [2] specializing in plant physiology and anatomy. [3] [4]
Sourindra Mohan Sircar was born in a Bengali Mahishya family of Nadia on March 1, 1908. His father was Gourkrishna Sircar and mother Kusumkamini Debi. Sourindra was the youngest of seven siblings. He studied in Krishnagar CMS School and Alamdanga High School. Then He obtained a bachelor of science in Botany from Presidency College and a masters in Botany from Calcutta University. He moved to UK to do his doctoral study. [4]
Sircar worked with Professor F. G. Gregory at the Imperial College of Science and Technology (London), on the relationship between respiration and nitrogen metabolism in potato tuber. He returned to India and was professor of department of Botany at Calcutta University between 1937-45 and 1947-49. He then took over as Acting Head of the Department of Biology at Dacca University (1945-47) before a brief stay at the Central College of Agriculture at IARI, 1949-51 (then affiliated to Delhi University). [5]
Sircar again returned to Calcutta in 1951 and later became the Head of the Botany Department of Calcutta University, 1960-65. Toward the later part of his career, he became the Director of the Bose Institute, 1967-75.
He founded the school of Plant Physiology, which has made significant contributions to plant science research and teaching in India.
Sircar was elected as a fellow of German Academy of Natural Scientists in 1974. [4]
He was appointed the General President of Indian Science Congress Association from 1977 to 78, [6] which is a professional body under the Ministry of Science and Technology. Before that he had been the general secretary of ISCA between 1973 to 1976.
He was one of the pioneers of plant physiological research in India. [7] His work was centered around the indica cultivars f rice plants. [8] [9] The discoveries of germination and growth inhibitors, as also isolation of new gibberellins were remarkable contributions. His contributions on nutrition, lodging and the relationship between translocation, photosynthesis and yield of rice paved the way for understanding the lower yield potential of rice varieties. Double cropping of rice was his important contribution, which has found practical applications. [10] The integration of physiological phenomena characterized his research activities.
Sircar and his students and assisted by his son P. K. Sircar, were among the first to embark on isolation and identification of plant growth substances (gibberellins and cytokinins) from plants growing in and around Calcutta, including mangrove plants. They managed to extract a novel gibberellin type from a mangrove plant, of the Sonneratia apetala species. His team investigated the basic and applied problems related to rice such as anatomical changes in the growing point accompanying a transition from the vegetative to the reproductive state, germination and viability of rice varieties, and their mineral nutrition, photoperiodism and vernalization. [5]
His other interests included biochemical changes in rice and mungbean seed germination and their control mechanism.
In 1971, he published his book 'Plant Hormone Research in India', ICAR, New Delhi. [5]
Gibberellins (GAs) are plant hormones that regulate various developmental processes, including stem elongation, germination, dormancy, flowering, flower development, and leaf and fruit senescence. GAs are one of the longest-known classes of plant hormone. It is thought that the selective breeding of crop strains that were deficient in GA synthesis was one of the key drivers of the "green revolution" in the 1960s, a revolution that is credited to have saved over a billion lives worldwide.
Aleurone is a protein found in protein granules of maturing seeds and tubers. The term also describes one of the two major cell types of the endosperm, the aleurone layer. The aleurone layer is the outermost layer of the endosperm, followed by the inner starchy endosperm. This layer of cells is sometimes referred to as the peripheral endosperm. It lies between the pericarp and the hyaline layer of the endosperm. Unlike the cells of the starchy endosperm, aleurone cells remain alive at maturity. The ploidy of the aleurone is (3n) [as a result of double fertilization].
Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Kolkata and it meets annually in the first week of January. It has a membership of more than 30,000 scientists.
Gibberellic acid (also called gibberellin A3 or GA3) is a hormone found in plants and fungi. Its chemical formula is C19H22O6. When purified, it is a white to pale-yellow solid.
Mahendralal Sarkar CIE was a Bengali medical doctor (MD), the second MD graduated from the Calcutta Medical College, social reformer, and propagator of scientific studies in nineteenth-century India. He was the founder of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.
Daphne J. Osborne was a British botanist. Her research in the field of plant physiology spanned five decades and resulted in over two hundred papers, twenty of which were published in Nature. Her obituary in The Times described her scientific achievements as "legendary"; that from the Botanical Society of America attributed her success to "her wonderful intellectual style, combined with her proclivity for remarkable and perceptive experimental findings".
Debendra Mohan Bose was an Indian physicist who made contributions in the field of cosmic rays, artificial radioactivity and neutron physics. He was the longest serving Director (1938–1967) of Bose Institute. Bose was the nephew of the famous physicist Jagadish Chandra Bose, who laid the foundations of modern science in India.
Prana Krushna Parija OBE was an Indian botanist. His research work comprised mainly fundamental and applied aspects of plant physiology, experimental plant morphology, and ecological studies of plant environment. He studied water hyacinth and other aquatic weeds, respiration in leaves and apples, transpiration and heat resistance in plants, rice and algae and storage of apples.
P. Ananda Kumar is an Indian plant molecular biologist and biotechnologist.
Sir Nilratan Sircar M.A. M.D. D.Sc. was an Indian medical doctor, educationist, philanthropist and swadeshi entrepreneur. He was awarded honorary DCL by University of Oxford & LL.D by University of Edinburgh. He was a renowned figure in promoting Science and Technology education in contemporary India.
Narayana Panicker Kochupillai, popularly known as N. P. Kochupillai, is an Indian clinical endocrinologist, Professor Emeritus of the National Academy of Medical Sciences and a former head of the department of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, known to have contributed to the understanding of endemically prevalent endocrine and metabolic disorders. A winner of 2002 Dr. B. C. Roy Award, he was honoured by the Government of India in 2003 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Aditya Narayan Purohit is an Indian scientist and professor who has mainly worked on ecophysiology of tree species and physiology of high altitude medicinal plants. He was born in village Kimni, Dist. Chamoli. He has served as the Vice-Chancellor of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University and as director of the university's High Altitude Plant Physiology Research Center. He was also the Director of Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development from 1990 to 1995. Purohit was awarded Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of India, by the President of India in 1997 for his valuable scientific contribution in Indian mountains.
Sudhir Kumar Sopory is an Indian educationist, plant physiologist, scientist and former vice chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is known to be the first to purify a protein kinase C activity from plants and is credited with the identification of topoisomerase as a substrate of protein kinase C. He is an elected Fellow of several major Indian science academies and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and is a recipient of many honours, including the 1987 Shanti Swarup Bhatangar Prize, the highest Indian award in the science and technology categories. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honour of the Padma Shri, in 2007, for his contributions to science and technology.
Toppur Seethapathy Sadasivan was an Indian plant pathologist, academic and the director of the Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany of the University of Madras. He was the founder of the School of Physiological Plant Pathology at Madras University and was a recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, the highest Indian award in the science category. He was an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and Indian Botanical Society and an elected member of the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1974, for his contributions to science.
Swapan Kumar Datta is a (Professor) of rice biotechnology who focuses on genetic engineering of Indica rice. Datta has demonstrated the development of genetically engineered Indica rice from protoplast derived from haploid embryogenic cell suspension culture. Golden Indica Rice with enriched Provitamin A and Ferritin rice with high iron content were developed by his group with a vision to meet the challenges of malnutrition in developing countries. Datta has been named as one among the top 25 Indian scientists from all fields of science by India Today.
Birendra Bijoy Biswas is an Indian molecular biologist, geneticist and a former director of Bose Institute, Calcutta. He is known for his contributions to the metabolism of nucleic acid and the regulation of protein synthesis in plant cells. He is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1972, for his contributions to biological sciences.
Satish Chandra Maheshwari (1933-2019) was an Indian botanist and a former professor at the University of Delhi. He is known for his contributions to the fields of plant physiology and plant molecular biology. Maheshwari is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy and the National Academy of Sciences, India. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1972, for his contributions to biological sciences. He died from lung cancer on June 12, 2019.
Usha Ranjan Ghatak (1931–2005) was an Indian synthetic organic chemist, stereochemist and the director of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS). He was known for his contributions in developing novel protocols of stereoselective synthesis of diterpenoids. He was an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1974, for his contributions to chemical sciences.
The University College of Science, Technology and Agriculture are two of five main campuses of the University of Calcutta (CU). The college served as the cradle of Indian Sciences by winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 and many fellowships of the Royal Society London.
Ashwani Pareek is Executive Director of NABI a prominent plant biologist and educator noted chiefly for his contribution in plant molecular biology and biotechnology. He is currently working as Professor of plant molecular biology and biotechnology at the School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia. He is a recipient of several honors including the Visitors award for Technology Development from the President of India for developing Stress Tolerant Rice of the Next Generation (STRONG) that has the potential to enhance the income of rice farmers. The award ceremony was held at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 2 May 2018. Recently on 26 February 2020, he has been awarded "Tata Innovation Award 2020" by Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India. He has interest in understanding the physiological and molecular adaptations in xero-halophytic plants and development of transgenic rice plants with enhanced tolerance towards multiple abiotic stresses.
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