Research Groups

Plant Biology: Plant Molecular Biology

Research Interests and Description

Research Interests

Abiotic and Biotic stress, gene expression, helicases, translation, calcium and G-proteins, signalling, crop improvement, transgenics, gene pyramiding, Piriformospora indica, protein structure and RNAi.

Description of Research

A new helicase (SUV3) transgenic rice are salt tolerant (unpublished data).

Research is undertaken in the development of abiotic stress (high salinity/drought/cold) tolerant crops including rice by transgenic approach, isolation of new abiotic stress-induced genes, identification of novel function of unidentified genes in abiotic stress tolerance and their functional revalidation in plant and bacterial systems, molecular mechanisms of stress tolerance in plant and pyramiding approach for further enhancement of stress tolerance in plants. The Group works on cloning, characterization and modulation of expression of stress-induced genes of following pathways: calcium signaling (CBL-CIPK, calnexin, Ca-ATPase, forisomes, EF-hand protein), G-protein/GPCR signaling, translation initiation (eIF4A, E etc), protein kinases (lectin-RLK, MAPK), SOD, and DNA/RNA metabolism (DNA replicative helicases [MCM proteins], nucleolin, p68 RNA helicase, BAT1, SUV, and splicing factor). Interacting partners of stress-regulated proteins and promoter regions of stress-regulated genes are studied.
Major contributions in the field of plant DNA replication and abiotic stress tolerance include the isolation and characterization of 8 DNA helicases from plant cells (of 11 reported), including 3 stress-regulated helicases and identification of the novel functions of plant translation initiation factor-4A and nucleolin as DNA helicases.
A detailed picture of comprehensive genome-wide analysis of all the helicase gene family, including those stress-induced from rice and Arabidopsis, has been presented; microRNA access to the target helicases from rice has been reported; the architecture of the unique domains associated with the DEAD-box helicase motif has been reported. The mechanism of stress tolerance by PDH45 and development of salinity/drought tolerant groundnut and onion are in progress.
Recent findings include the first direct evidence for novel functions of pea DNA helicase (PDH45) in salinity stress tolerance, PDH47 in cold and salinity stress, pea heterotrimeric G-proteins in salinity and heat stress tolerance, MAPK and phospholipase-C as an effector for Gα subunit of G proteins, a novel function of plant MCM6 single subunit in DNA unwinding, the role of MCM6 DNA helicase in salinity stress tolerance and calnexin in cold stress tolerance. CBL-CIPK signalling components from pea have been expressed in stresses and novel substrate (pea CBL) for pea CIPK has been found.
New high salinity stress tolerant genes (e.g. Lectin receptor-like kinase, Chlorophyll a/b binding protein, Ribosomal L30E, SOD, forisomes, Ca-ATPase) have been isolated from Pisum sativum and functionally validated in bacteria and plant. Salinity tolerant tobacco and rice plants have been developed, without affecting the overall yield. This research uncovers new pathways to plant abiotic stress tolerance and indicates the potential for improving crop production at sub-optimal conditions.
Phosphate transporter and salinity stress-induced genes from Piriformospora indica
P. indica is an endophytic arbuscular mycorrhiza basidiomycetes fungus that lives in reciprocally beneficial relationships with plant roots and providies them with stress tolerance including salinity. In collaboration with JNU, antioxidant enzyme activities in maize plants colonized with P. indica have been studied. A phosphate transporter (PiPt) from P. indica has been isolated and shown to play a role in phosphate transport to host plant. An electroporation-mediated transformation system for P. indica has been developed. Recently, >30 high salinity stress tolerant genes from P. indica have been isolated by over-expression in E. coli under salt stress. The in-silico analysis of all the above genes and detailed structural and function analysis of cyclophilin and EF-hand proteins are in progress.

Recent Publications

Bhardwaj, D., Sheikh, A.H., Sinha, A.K., Tuteja, N. 2011. Stress induced beta subunit of heterotrimeric G-proteins from Pisum sativum interacts with mitogen activated protein kinase. Plant Signal Behav, 6, 287-292 PubMed link

Dang, H.Q., Tran, N,Q., Gill, S.S., Tuteja, R., Tuteja, N. 2011. A single subunit MCM6 from pea promotes salinity stress tolerance without affecting yield. Plant Mol Biol 76, 19-34 PubMed link

Joshi, A., Vaid, N., Dang, H.Q., Tuteja, N. 2010. Pea lectin receptor-like kinase promotes high salinity stress tolerance in bacteria and expresses in response to stress in planta. Glycoconj J 27, 133-150 PubMed link

Tuteja, N., Umate, P., van Bel, A. J.E. 2010. Forisomes: calcium-powered protein complexes with potential as 'smart' biomaterials. Trends Biotechnol 28, 102-110 PubMed link

Umate, P., Tuteja, R., Tuteja, N. 2010. Architectures of the unique domains associated with the DEAD-box helicase motif. Cell Cycle 9, 4228-4235 PubMed link

Yadav, V., Kumar, M., Deep, D. K., Kumar, H., Sharma, R., Tripathi, T., Tuteja, N., Saxena, A. K., Johri, A. K. 2010. A phosphate transporter from the root endophytic fungus Piriformospora indica plays a role in the phosphate transport to the host plant. J Biol Chem 285, 26532-26544 PubMed link