| 
                
                    |  | 
                            
                                |  |  
                                |  |  
                                |  |  |  |  
        | 
                
                    |  | 
                            |  |  |  |  
                                |  |  | Dr. Manoj Majee Staff Scientist VI
 PhD: Bose Institute/Jadavpur University, INDIA
 Postdoctoral Fellow: University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA
 Email: manojmajee@nipgr.ac.in, majeem@yahoo.co.uk
 Telephone: 91-11-26735193, Fax: 91-11-26741658
 |  |  |  |  |  |  
                            
                              |  Honors : |  
                              | 
									
									|  | Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc), Bangalore, India (2022) |  |  | Fellow of The  National Academy of Sciences , India   (FNASc) (2019) |  |  | Fellow of West Bengal Academy of Science &  Technology (WAST)  (2019) |  
                                      |  | Visiting  Scientist–at Department  of Plant Breeding and Genetics  of  Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding  Research, Cologne, Germany  through  INSA  bilateral exchange program  (2014) |  |  
                              |  Awards : |  
                              | 
                                
                                  |  | S  Ramachandran  National Bioscience Award  for Career Development , DBT, Govt. of India (2017-18) |  
                                  |  | INSA (Indian  National Science Academy)  Young  Scientist  Award (2011) |  
                                  |  | NASI (The  National Academy of Sciences, India) Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award  (2011) |  |  |  Research Area: |  | Plant Stress and Seed Biology/ Plant Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. |  |  Group Members: |  |  Research Interest: |  | Uncovering the molecular and biochemical  mechanisms and intricacies of seed longevity, germination vigor and adaptation  to environmental stresses |  
                              | Seed occupies the crucial  position in the life cycle of plants and has acquired several spectacular characteristic  features, besides their overwhelming importance of human’s life.  For example, seed can sense external  environment and can decide whether to germinate or not. In addition, seed has  the unique ability to survive in the dry state for prolonged periods of  times.  The  lifespan of orthodox seeds can sometimes be astonishingly long from decades to  centuries and even millennium (Nelumbo  nucifera: nearly 1,300 years; Phoenix  dactylifera: >2,000 years). Seeds are resistant to environmental  stresses. Studies suggest that seed has evolved with complex systems (protection, detoxification and repair)  to achieve the optimized seed life span.   However, the underlying molecular intricacies and mechanisms of  maintaining germination vigor and viability of seeds for prolonged periods of  time are still obscured. 
                                  Research  in my laboratory centers around studying molecular intricacies, mechanisms and  events that govern seed germination, viability, longevity and seedling  emergence.  
                                  We  employ molecular genetics and biochemical approaches with modern tools and  techniques to address our research questions. Currently, we study how Protein Repairing Enzymes [Protein L ISO-ASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE  (PIMT), Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase (MSR)]; 26S Proteasome  Pathway [E3 Ligase, F box proteins] and Protective Metabolites [Inositols and RFOs] contribute in  achieving high germination vigor, viability and longevity, and also in  successful seedling establishment/plant stress adaptation in wide environmental  conditions. |  | Socio-economic  application of our research |  | Seed  longevity is a vital trait for the germplasm conservation of endangered and  cultivated species. Maintenance of seed vigor and longevity during storage is  also one of the important concerns in Agriculture, since under sub tropical  climate, seeds of most crop species show rapid deterioration and exhibit  reduced seed longevity, which significantly affects  country’s agricultural economy. We exploit this  knowledge generated to improve seed vigor, seed storage life and seedling  performance of crop plants. |  
                              |  Selected Publications & Patents |  
                              | As  a Corresponding Author (PI) and First Author |  
                              | Research  paper |  
                              | 
									
									
                                      |  | Hazra  A, Varshney V, Verma P,  Kamble NU, Ghosh  S,  Acharay RK, Goutma S and Majee M (2022) “Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase B5 plays a key  role in preserving seed vigor and longevity in rice (Oryza sativa). New Phytologist (accepted) |  
                                      |  | Kamble NU and Majee M (2022) ABI transcription factors and PROTEIN  L-ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE module mediates seed desiccation tolerance and  longevity in Oryza sativa.  Development  149. doi:10.1242/dev.200600 |  
                                      |  | Ghosh  S, Kamble NU, Verma P, Salvi P, Petla BP, Roy S, Roy V, Hazra A, Varshney V  Kaur H, and Majee M (2020) Arabidopsis PROTEIN L ISOASPARTYL  METHYLTRANSFERASE repairs isoaspartyl damage to antioxidant enzymes and  increases heat and oxidative stress tolerance. Journal of Biological Chemistry 295: 783-799 |  
                                      |  | Rao V, Petla B P, Verma P, Salvi P, Kamble NU , Ghosh S, Kaur H, Saxena  SC and Majee M (2018) Arabidopsis SKP1-like protein 13 (ASK13) positively  regulates seed germination and seedling growth under abiotic stresses. Journal of Experimental Botany 69: 3899-3915 |  
                                      |  | Majee M, Goodin M ,  Dirk L,   Lloyd T,  Zhu L,  Chappell J,   Hunt A, Vierstra R   Huq E  and  Downie AB (2018) A KELCH F-BOX Protein Positively Influences Arabidopsis Seed Germination by  Targeting PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR1:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 115: E4120-E4129 |  
                                      |  | Petla  BP, Kamble NU, Kumar M, Verma P,  Ghosh  S, Singh A, Rao V, Salvi P, Kaur H, Saxena SC and Majee  M (2016) Rice PROTEIN L-ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE  isoforms differentially accumulate during seed maturation to restrict  deleterious isoAsp and ROS accumulation and are implicated in seed vigor and  longevity. New  Phytologist 211: 627-645 |  
                                      |  | Saxena SC, Salvi P, Kaur H, Verma P, Petla BP, Rao  V, Kamble N  and Majee M (2013) Differentially expressed myo-inositol  monophosphatase gene (CaIMP) in  chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) encodes  a lithium sensitive phosphatase enzyme with broad substrate specificity and  improves seed germination and seedling growth under abiotic stresses Journal of Experimental   Botany 64:5623-5639. |  
                                      |  | Verma  P, Kaur H,  Petla BP, Rao V, Saxena SC  and Majee M (2013) PROTEIN L- ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE2 gene is differentially expressed in chickpea and enhances seed vigor and  longevity by reducing abnormal isoaspartyl accumulation predominantly in seed  nuclear proteins. Plant Physiology 161:1141-1157. |  
                                      |  | Kaur H, Shukla RK, Yadav G, Chattopadhyay D. and Majee M ( 2008) Two divergent genes encoding L-myo-inositol 1 -phosphate synthase1  (CaMIPS1)   and 2 (CaMIPS2) are  differentially expressed in chickpea. Plant,  Cell and Environment 31:1701-1716. |  |  |  | Patent filed |  |  | Patent # 370543 (23/DEL/2012) “SEED VIGOR ASSOCIATED  POLYNUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCES   FROM CHICKPEA  AND USES THEREOF” (Inventor: Manoj Majee & Pooja Verma, NIPGR, New Delhi, India) |  |  |  | Review Articles |  
                                      |  | Vishal Varshney   and Majee M (2021) JA  shakes hand with ABA to delay seed germination : Trends in Plant Science 26: 8 |  |  | Kamble  NU and Majee M (2020) PROTEIN L ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE in  plants: regulations and functions: Biochemical Journal   477: 4453-4471 |  |  |  |  
							  |  Complete list of Publications & Patents 					      (Click Here...) |  
                              | 
                                
									
									
									  | Publications &  Patents  from NIPGR |  
									  | As  a Corresponding Author /PI or First Author |  
                              | Research  papers |  
                                      |  | Hazra  A, Varshney V, Verma P,  Kamble NU, Ghosh  S,  Acharay RK, Goutma S and Majee M (2022) “Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase B5 plays a key  role in preserving seed vigor and longevity in rice (Oryza sativa). New Phytologist (accepted) |  
                                      |  | Kamble NU and Majee M (2022) ABI transcription factors and PROTEIN  L-ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE module mediates seed desiccation tolerance and  longevity in Oryza sativa.  Development 149. doi:10.1242/dev.200600 |  
                                      |  | Kamble NU, Petla BP, Ghosh S, Achary RK and Majee M (2022) Oryza coarctata PROTEIN  L-ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE (PIMT)  repairs isoaspartyl modification to antioxidative enzymes and is implicated in seed traits in rice. Environmental and Experimental Botany  (accepted) |  
                                      |  | Kamble NU, Ghosh S Achary RK and Majee M (2022) Arabidopsis ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE4 targets  PROTEIN L-2 ISOASPARTYL  METHYLTRANSFERASE1 in seed. Planta (accepted). |  
                                      |  | Salvi P, Kumar B, Kamble NU, Hazra A and Majee M (2021) A  Conserved NAG motif is critical to the catalytic activity of galactinol  synthase, a key regulatory enzyme of RFO biosynthesis. Biochemical Journal  478:3939:3955. |  
                                      |  | Ghosh  S, Kamble NU, Verma P, Salvi P, Petla BP, Roy S, Roy V, Hazra A, Varshney V  Kaur H, and Majee M (2020) Arabidopsis PROTEIN L ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE repairs isoaspartyl  damage to antioxidant enzymes and increases heat and oxidative stress  tolerance. Journal  of Biological Chemistry 295: 783-799. |  
                                      |  | Ghosh  S, Kamble NU and Majee M (2020) A protein repairing enzyme PROTEIN L ISOASPARTYL  METHYLTRANSFERASE is involved in salinity stress tolerance by increasing  efficiency of ROS scavenging enzymes.  Environmental and Experimental Botany 180 :104266. |  
                                      |  | Salvi P, Kamble NU, and Majee M (2020) Ectopic over-expression of ABA-responsive  Chickpea galactinol synthase (CaGolS) gene results in improved tolerance  to dehydration stress by modulating ROS scavenging. Environmental  and Experimental Botany 171  :103957. |  
                                      |  | Rao V, Petla B P, Verma P, Salvi P, Kamble NU , Ghosh S, Kaur H, Saxena  SC and Majee M (2018) Arabidopsis SKP1-like protein 13 (ASK13) positively regulates seed  germination and seedling growth under abiotic stresses. Journal of Experimental Botany 69: 3899-3915. |  
                                      |  | Majee M, Goodin M ,  Dirk L,   Lloyd T,  Zhu L,  Chappell J,   Hunt A, Vierstra R   Huq E  and  Downie AB (2018) A KELCH F-BOX Protein Positively Influences Arabidopsis  Seed Germination by Targeting PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR1:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 115: E4120-E4129. |  
                                      |  | Salvi P, Kamble NU, and Majee M (2018) Stress Inducible Galactinol Synthase of Chickpea  (CaGolS) Implicates in Heat and Oxidative Stress Tolerance through Reducing  Stress Induced Excessive Reactive Oxygen Species Accumulation. Plant Cell and Physiology 59:  155–166 |  
                                      |  | Salvi P, Saxena SC, Petla BP, Kamble NU, Kaur H,  Verma P, Rao V, Ghosh S and Majee M (2016) Differentially  expressed galactinol synthase(s) in chickpea are implicated in seed vigor and  longevity by limiting the age induced ROS accumulation. Scientific Reports 6:35088 |  
                                      |  | Petla  BP, Kamble NU, Kumar M, Verma P,  Ghosh  S, Singh A, Rao V, Salvi P, Kaur H, Saxena SC and Majee M (2016) Rice PROTEIN  L-ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE isoforms differentially accumulate during seed  maturation to restrict deleterious isoAsp and ROS accumulation and are  implicated in seed vigor and longevity. New Phytologist 211: 627-645. |  
                                      |  | Kaur  H, Petla BP, Kamble NU,Singh A, Rao V, Salvi P, Ghosh S and Majee M (2015) Differentially   expressed seed  aging responsive heat shock protein OsHSP18.2 implicates in seed vigor,  longevity and improves germination and  seedling establishment under abiotic stress. Frontiers  in Plant Science. 6:713. |  |  | Saxena  SC, Salvi P, Kaur H, Verma P, Petla BP, Rao V, Kamble N  and Majee  M (2013) Differentially expressed myo-inositol  monophosphatase gene (CaIMP) in  chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) encodes  a lithium sensitive phosphatase enzyme with broad substrate specificity and  improves seed germination and seedling growth under abiotic stresses Journal of  Experimental  Botany 64: 5623-5639. |  |  | Verma  P, Kaur H,  Petla BP, Rao V, Saxena SC  and Majee M (2013) PROTEIN L- ISOASPARTYL  METHYLTRANSFERASE2 gene is differentially expressed in  chickpea and enhances seed vigor and longevity by reducing abnormal isoaspartyl  accumulation predominantly in seed nuclear proteins. Plant  Physiology 161:1141-1157. |  |  | Kaur  H, Verma P,  Petla BP, Rao V, Saxena SC  and Majee M (2013) Ectopic  expression of the ABA inducible dehydration responsive chickpea L-myo-inositol  1 -phosphate synthase 2 (CaMIPS2) in  Arabidopsis enhances tolerance to salinity and dehydration stress. Planta 237: 321-335. |  |  | Verma  P and Majee M (2013) Seed Germination and Viability Test in Tetrazolium (TZ) Assay. bio-protocol .org (invited) |  |  | Verma P, Singh A, Kaur H and Majee  M (2010) PROTEIN L- ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE1  (CaPIMT1) from chickpea mitigates oxidative stress induced growth inhibition of Escherichia coli. Planta 231: 329-336. |  |  | Kaur  H, Shukla RK, Yadav G, Chattopadhyay D. and Majee M ( 2008) Two divergent genes encoding L-myo-inositol 1 -phosphate synthase1 (CaMIPS1)   and 2 (CaMIPS2) are differentially expressed  in chickpea. Plant, Cell and Environment 31:1701-1716. |  |  |  
                                      | Patent |  |  | Patent # 370543 (23/DEL/2012) “SEED VIGOR ASSOCIATED  POLYNUCLEOTIDE SEQUENCES   FROM CHICKPEA  AND USES THEREOF” (Inventor: Manoj Majee & Pooja Verma, NIPGR, New Delhi, India) |  
                                    |  |  
                                    | Review Articles |  
								    |  | Vishal Varshney  and Majee M (2022)    Emerging roles of the ubiquitin-proteasome  pathway  in enhancing crop yield by  optimizing seed agronomic trait. Plant Cell Reports (accepted) |  
								    |  | Vishal Varshney   and Majee  M (2021) JA shakes hand with ABA to delay seed  germination : Trends  in Plant Science 26: 8 |  |  | Kamble  NU and Majee M (2020) PROTEIN L ISOASPARTYL METHYLTRANSFERASE in  plants: regulations and functions: Biochemical Journal   477: 4453-4471 |  |  |  | Book Chapters |  
                                      |  | Kaur H, Petla BP and Majee  M  (2016) Small Heat Shock Proteins: Roles in Development, Desiccation Tolerance  and Seed Longevity. In Heat Shock  Proteins, Alexzander A. A. Asea et al. (Eds): Heat Shock Proteins and Plants,  978-3-319-46339-1, 429871_1_En, |  |  | Saxena S C, Kaur H, Verma P, Petla B P, Rao V,  Majee  M (2012) Osmoprotectants: Potential for Crop Improvement under Adverse  Conditions. In Plant Acclimation to  Environmental Stress, ed by Tuteja & Gill. Springer Science + Business  Media, LLC 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA. |  |  | Majee M and Kaur H (2011) L- myo-inositol  1-phosphate synthase (MIPS) in chickpea: gene duplication and functional  divergence. In Gene Duplication ed.  by Felix Fredburg: Intech (ISBN 978-953-307-387-3). |  |  |  | As a CoPI /Collaborator at NIPGR |  
                                      |  | Halder K, Chaudhuri A, Abdin MZ, Majee M &  Datta A (2022) RNA Interference for Improving Disease Resistance in Plants and Its Relevance in This Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats-Dominated Era in Terms of dsRNA-Based Biopesticides. Front. in Pl. Sci. 13:885128 |  
                                      |  | Halder K, Chaudhuri A, Abdin MZ , Majee M &  Datta A (2022) Chromatin-Based   Transcriptional Reprogramming in Plants under Abiotic Stresses. Plants 11, 1449 |  
                                      |  | Sarkar Das S, Majee  M  and Nandi AK & Karmakar P (2020) Sequestering miR165/166 enhances seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana under normal condition and ABA treatment. Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology 29 (4), 838-841 |  
                                      |  | Yadav PK, Salvi P,  Kamble N U, Petla BP, Majee M and  Saxena SC (2019) Deciphering the structural  basis of the broad substrate specificity ofmyo-inositol monophosphatase (IMP)  from Cicer arietinum. International  Journal of Biological Macromolecules 15;151:967-975 |  
                                      |  | Sarkar Das SS, Yadav S, Singh A, Gautam V, Sarkar  AK, Nandi AK, Karmakar P,  Majee  M, and Mishra NS (2017)  Expression dynamics of miRNAs and their  targets in seed germination conditions reveals miRNA-ta-siRNA crosstalk as  regulator of seed germination. Scientific Reports 8:1233 |  
                                      |  | Negi B, Salvi P, Bhatt D,  Majee M  and Arora S (2017) Molecular cloning, in-silico characterization and functional validation  of monodehydroascorbate reductase gene in Eleusine coracana. Plos One 12 (11): e0187793 |  
                                      |  | Meenu, Augustine R, Majee M, Pradhan AK and Bisht NC (2015) Genomic origin, expression  differentiation and regulation of multiple genes encoding CYP83A1, a key enzyme  for core glucosinolate biosynthesis, from the allotetraploid Brassica juncea. Planta 241(3):651-65. |  
                                      |  | Barik S, Das SS, Singh A, Gautam V, Kumar P, Majee  M and Sarkar AK (2014) Phylogenetic analysis reveals conservation and  diversification of miR166 genes among diverse plant species. Genomics 103:114-21 |  |  | Garg R, Verma M, Agrawal S, Shankar R, Majee M and Jain M (2013) Deep  transcriptome sequencing of wild halophyte rice, Porteresia coarctata, provides  novel insights into the salinity and submergence tolerance Factors. DNA Research 21;69-84. |  |  | Augustine R, Majee M,    Gershenzon J and     Bisht N  (2013)  Four genes encoding MYB28, a  major transcriptional regulator of aliphatic glucosinolate pathway, are  differentially expressed in allopolyploid Brassica  juncea. Journal of Experimental  Botany 64:4907-4921. |  |  | Bhatt D, Saxena SC, Jain S, Dobriyal A K, Majee M  and Arora S (2013) Cloning, expression and  functional validation of drought inducible ascorbate peroxidase (Ec-apx1) from Eleusine coracana. Molecular Biology  Reports 40:1155-1165. |  |  | Lata C, Bhutty S, Bahadur RP, Majee M and Manoj Prasad (2011)   Association of SNP in a novel DREB2-like gene SiDREB2 with stress     tolerance in foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.). Journal of Experimental Botany 62: 4731-4748. |  |  |  
                                      | Previous Publications  & Patents |  |  | Shen  H, Zhu L, Castillon L, Majee M, Downie B and Huq E. (2008) Light-induced  phosphorylation and degradation of the negative regulator PIF1 depends upon its  direct physical interactions with photoactivated phytochromes. The  Plant Cell: 20:1586-1602. |  |  | Salatia  L, Kar RK, Majee M and Downie B.  (2005) Identification and       characterization of mutants capable of  rapid seed germination at 10ºC from activation tagged lines of Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Experimental Botany 56:  2059-2069. |  |  | Majee  M, Patra B , Mundree S and Majumder AL. (2005)  Molecular cloning, bacterial expression and characterization of L myo inositol 1 phosphate synthase from a  monocotyledonous resurrection plant   Xerophyta Viscosa Baker. Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology 14:  95-99. |  |  | Majee M, Maitra S, Dastidar KG,  Pattanaik S, Chatterjee A, Hait N, Das KP and       Majumder AL. (2004) A  novel salt-tolerant L-myo-inositol 1- phosphate synthase from  Porteresia  coarctata Tateoka , a  halophytic wild rice: Molecular cloning, bacterial overexpression,  characterization  and functional introgression  into tobacco conferring salt-tolerance  phenotype. Journal  of Biological Chemistry 279: 28539-28552. |  |  | Chatterjee  A, Majee M, Ghosh S and Majumder  AL.(2004)  sll1722, an unassigned  ORF  of Synechocystis PCC 6803,  codes for L-myo-Inositol 1-phosphate synthase.  Planta 218: 989-998. |  |  | Bhattacharya J, Dastidar KG, Chatterjee A, Majee M, Majumder AL. (2004) Synechocystis  Fe superoxide dismutase gene confers oxidative stress tolerance   to Escherichia coli. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communication 316:540-544. |  |  | Majumder AL, Chatterjee A, Dastidar KG and Majee M. (2003) Diversification and evolution of L -myo inositol 1- phosphate synthase. FEBS Letters 553: 3-10. |  
                                      |  |  |  Book Chapter: |  | 
                                    
                                    |  | Majumder AL, Hait NC, Deb I, Majee M, Chatterjee A, Dastidar KG, Bhattacharyya S, Ghosh S, Chatterjee A, Maitra S and Pattanaik S (2003) L-myo Inositol 1-Phosphate Synthase: an ancient protein with  diverse function. In    Molecular Insight in Plant Biology.  P. Nath, A.K. Mattoo, S.A. Ranade and J.H. Weil (Editors), Publishers:   Oxford & IBH Publishing Co.Pvt. Ltd; New Delhi, India. Chapter 5, pp67- 76. |  |  
                                  |  |  |  Patent: |  | 
                                    
                                    |  | Patent application # PAT/4.1.4/02019/2003 dated March 17th, 2003.  United States Patent 20060148059  Kind Code: A1 "A salt Tolerant L-myo-Inositol 1 Phosphate Synthase and a process of obtaining the same". (Inventors: A. Lahiri Majumder and M. Majee, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India |  |  
                              |  |  
                              |  News: |  
                              |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  
        |  |  
        |  |  
        |  |  |  |  |