Write up about PhD work carried out

Title: A study on biochemical composition of Seaweeds and in vitro anti-tumoral activities on

human cervical cancer (Hela) cell lines.

Objective: With aim to study the biochemical composition of seaweeds from Surathkal Beach,
Karnataka state, usage of seaweeds in agricultural land as a manure to understand growth parameters
and also as an approach towards promotion of marine drugs for minimal side effects and cost
effective, this study is being carried out with Hela cell lines.

The usage of seaweeds in agricultural land as a manure is very antique and common practice in
several countries. Seeds of Allium cepa (onion), Solanum melongena (brinjal),
Eleusinecoracana(ragi), Oryza sativa (paddy), Solanum lycopersicum(tomato) were treated with 3
different seaweed liquid fertilizers. Use of seaweeds as a fertilizer in the production of crop has an
extended practice in coastal areas throughout the world. The seaweeds are known to possess several
trace elements and growth hormones which are necessary for growth of plants. Seaweed manure was
reported to comprise of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Marine algae have been used as food
since ancient times and consumed as regular part of diet in Asian countries, a large number of
epidemiological researches showing the health benefits linked to seaweed consumption is studied.
Studies on the chemical composition of seaweeds investigated that these are good sources of minerals,
trace elements, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. In this study, effect of three common seaweeds viz.
Gracilaria corticata, Chaetomorpha antenna and Ulva fasciataas liquid fertilizer was established on
crop plants.While food has long been used to improve health, seaweeds are known for their richness
in polysaccharides, antioxidants, minerals and certain vitamins. Seaweeds also contain bioactive
substances bstances like polysaccharides, proteins, lipids and polyphenols and certain enzymes.

Summary:
Various parameters such as number of leaves, height of the shoot, length of the root, number of
lateral roots were measured which were treated with different concentration of liquid fertilizers. Red
Seaweed has tended to show high growth also cytotoxic activity against HeLa cell line, their
morphological assessment as proved that they undergo apoptosis thus caspase-8 is active. They are
rich source of Carbohydrates and Proteins. They can play vital role as natural antioxidant also can be
used as a novel anticancer drug with minimal side effects which not only derived but also cost
effective.