Faculty Member

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Research Interests

Abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity hampers crop production and impose the problem of food security. Therefore, to combat the problem, there is need to develop the stress tolerant and high yielding crop varieties. Tolerance or susceptibility to abiotic stresses in plants is conferred by coordinated function of various genes, including those encoding enzymes such as kinases, phosphatases, phospholipases, transcription factors and transporters/channel proteins. Our group is interested in understanding molecular character and functional behavior of these key signaling components through, bioinformatics, molecular, cellular, biochemical and genetic approaches to dissect the signaling networks underlying abiotic stress adaptive mechanism in vital crop plant, rice (Oryza sativa).

Potassium (K⁺) deficiency adversely affects plant growth and development because K⁺ is required as a macronutrient in vital cellular processes such as metabolism, growth, enzyme activation, osmoregulation, and maintenance of membrane potential. Various abnormalities in plant growth and development under low-K⁺ conditions occur due to inhibition of essential biochemical and physiological events such as protein synthesis and photosynthesis. In order to counteract and adapt to K⁺ deficient environment it's inevitable to maintain cellular K⁺ homeostasis through efficient uptake and transport across different membranes. The K⁺ deficiency signaling and responses have been studied in model plant Arabidopsis but the knowledge is miniscule in important food crops. Therefore, our other major focus is to undertake a comprehensive functional study to understand K⁺ deficiency signaling and adaptive responses in crucial legume crop chick pea (Cicer arietinum) .