Faculty Member

Profile

Research Area

Plant regulatory biology, high throughput genomics, bioinformatics.

Research Interests

Globally the rate of climate warming has averaged twice over the last 50 years than that of last 100 years. The mean air temperature is predicted to rise by up to 4oC by the end of this century. Higher temperatures negatively impact agriculture directly both in terms of yield and quality. In tomato, increased temperatures have been shown to significantly disturb microsporogenesis and megasporogenesis that result in substantial decrease in fruit set. Our group is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying plant response to harsh environment such as heat stress. In particular, the upstream factors regulating the known heat shock responsive genes is currently not well understood. MicroRNAs form one such class of small regulatory molecules with potential to control these genes. The idea is to identify and characterize heat-responsive miRNAs in tomato and dissect out the regulatory networks that are responsive to heat stress. This would provide clues to better understand stress signaling and heat tolerance. This feat will be achieved by adopting a global approach by comparative analysis of the modulation of miRNA expressions in contrasting tomato cultivars during different stages of plant development with special emphasis on flower and fruit development. The long-term goal of the lab is to elucidate the miRNA networks and identify key genes instrumental in regulating response to heat stress. These key regulators can then be manipulated to engineer for the better survival, yield as well as quality potential of tomato and other related crop plants.