Browsing by Author "Padhy, Asish Kumar"

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Analysis of genomic-transcriptomic dynamics delineates key molecular signatures modulating seed size and weight in lentil
(John Wiley & Sons, 2026) Padhy, Asish Kumar; Singh, Sangeeta; Tripathi, Kuldeep; Parida, Swarup K.; Bhatia, Sabhyata
Delineating key genetic determinants associated with seed size/weight is crucial for increasing productivity. In this study, the advantages of an integrated approach combining QTL mapping, GWAS and transcriptomics to identify robust candidates governing seed size and weight were demonstrated in lentil, an important grain legume. QTL mapping identified three stable QTLs harbouring 5113 genes. GWAS identified 42 MTAs (5 consistent) containing 192 underlying genes. Comparative transcriptome analysis identified 1202 differentially expressed transcripts. Integrated analysis of the results obtained from QTL mapping and GWAS revealed nine SNPs located in the three robust QTLs harbouring 32 candidate genes. Upon integration with transcriptome data, only one (LcWDL1) was identified as the most promising candidate. LcWDL1 (a member of TPX2 family involved in microtubule organisation and cell expansion) and its predicted interacting partners that is, LcGLIPs are known to function as regulators of seed size. Candidate gene-based association analysis identified a SNP on second exon of LcWDL1 to be significantly associated with seed size and weight of lentil. The genomic loci/candidate gene identified in the study will serve to expedite the molecular breeding and gene editing programs for enhancing seed size and seed weight in lentils.
Bread wheat with enhanced grain carotenoid content: a novel option for wheat biofortification
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2022) Padhy, Asish Kumar; Sharma, Achla; Sharma, Himanshu; Rajput, Ruchika; Pandey, Ashutosh; Srivastava, Puja; Kaur, Satinder; Kaur, Harinderjit; Singh, Satinder; Kashyap, Lenika; Mavi, Gurvinder Singh; Kaur, Jaspal; Sohu, Virinder Singh; Chhuneja, Parveen; Bains, Navtej Singh
Colored wheat has piqued the interest of breeders and consumers alike. The chromosomal segment from 7E of Thinopyrum ponticum, which carries a leaf rust resistant gene, Lr19, has been rarely employed in wheat breeding operations due to its association with the Y gene, which gives a yellow tint to the flour. By prioritizing nutritional content over color preferences, consumer acceptance has undergone a paradigm change. Through marker-assisted backcross breeding, we introduced an alien segment harboring the Y (PsyE1) gene into a high yielding commercial bread wheat (HD 2967) background to generate rust resistant carotenoid biofortified bread wheat. Agro-morphological characterization was also performed on a subset of developed 70 lines having enhanced grain carotene content. In the introgression lines, carotenoid profiling using HPLC analysis demonstrated a considerable increase in β-carotene levels (up to 12 ppm). Thus, the developed germplasm caters the threat to nutritional security and can be utilized to produce carotenoid fortified wheat.
Emerging roles of melatonin in mitigating salinity stress of legumes
(Elsevier B.V., 2023) Chaurasia, Shiksha; Sapna, Sapna; Padhy, Asish Kumar; Bhatia, Sabhyata
Melatonin (N-acetyl-5‑methoxy tryptamine) is a multi-functional molecule that is distributed in all living organisms and it performs essential roles in environmental stress tolerance. Salt stress enhances the rapid accumulation of melatonin in plants. Melatonin provides resistance to salt stress by manipulating various regulatory mechanisms at the biochemical and molecular levels throughout different plant developmental stages. Conventionally, legumes are consumed along with cereal-based staples to ensure wholesome nutritional intake. After confirming their nutritional and health-promoting effects, recently their demand is constantly increasing. This has guided the researchers to focus on developing legumes to cope with the changing climate scenario. In legumes, melatonin concentration varies from crop to crop under salt stress. This review emphasizes melatonin biosynthesis in plants with a special focus on legumes and their responses to endogenous and exogenous melatonin application. This manuscript also throws light on the physiological, biochemical, and molecular basis of melatonin-mediated salinity stress tolerance in legumes. The future directions for enhancing the salt stress tolerance in legumes are also discussed. As, Melatonin promotes germination potential, seedling biomass, photosynthesis rate, pod number, and yield of legumes under the influence of salinity stress, this review can provide insights for using melatonin to develop salt stress tolerant legumes for sustainable food production.
In silico characterization of Thinopyrum elongatum-derived PsyE1 gene and validation in 7D/7E bread wheat introgression lines open avenues for carotenoid biofortification in wheat
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2023) Padhy, Asish Kumar; Kaur, Parampreet; Singh, Baljinder; Kaur, Ravinder; Bhatia, Sabhyata; Shamshad, M.; Sharma, Himanshu; Kaur, Satinder; Srivastava, Puja; Sharma, Achla
Current global scenario demands agricultural productivity of food grains to be kept at abreast with burgeoning population. Cereals constitute major food stuff for millennia and biofortification of new cereal varieties provides an opportunity to tackle global-scale malnutrition deficiencies without doing major shifts in the diets. Carotenoid biofortification in wheat grains has recently caught the attention of breeders owing to a myriad of health benefits offered by this micronutrient. Thinopyrum elongatum-derived PsyE1 gene encoding for Phytoene Synthase encoding Y gene, is a jackpot to enhance the carotenoid content in wheat. The present study is the first report deciphering detailed in silico characterization of Thinopyrum elongatum-derived PsyE1 gene and its protein. Promoter analysis of chloroplast localized PsyE1 gene provides clues about its possible role in stress resistance along with enhancing the carotenoid content in both durum and bread wheat. Homology, phylogeny and protein modelling studies of PsyE1 revealed its closer evolutionary relationship with barley and wheat, as well as provided a preliminary insight into catalytic and secondary structure of the protein. PCR validation of PsyE1 in 7D/7E bread wheat introgression lines further facilitated development of functional marker that could be used to track its introgression in elite bread wheat varieties. Overall, these detailed insilico insights into structure, function and validation of PsyE1 open doors for its deployment in to produce carotene biofortified hexaploid wheat through facilitating development of functional markers and MAS, as well as to elucidate its mechanism of action and regulation in response to external stimuli.
Innovations in industrial and functional food applications of lentil in the era of biofortification
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2025) Padhy, Asish Kumar; Chaurasia, Shiksha; Manivannan, Abinaya; Tripathi, Kuldeep; Sapna, Sapna; Bhatia, Sabhyata
Lentil can serve as a prebiotic and therapeutic healthy food due to the presence of essential micronutrients, functional proteins, minerals, and carbohydrates, as well as phytochemicals that have shown to be promising in the prevention of several chronic diseases. Nutraceutical properties derived from the phytochemicals present in lentil has expanded its scope of usage to a broader perspective. In this regard, a lot of innovations have been carried out to use lentil in the form of crisps, chips, bakery products, yogurt, pasta, including in the brewing industries. Eforts are being carried out to develop meat analogs out of lentil four. However, niche area specifc consumer preferences have limited its explorations in other innovative areas. This will also necessitate developing genetic resources and varieties aligning to the needs of producers and consumers with acceptable sensory properties. Hence, demand driven development of breeding materials for biofortifcation and crop improvement programs needs considerable amount of investment in research and development of the crop. This review is a campedium of innovations in development of industrial, functional food products from lentil along with their nutritional properties and sensory acceptability serve a foundation for the researchers to invent more to popularize lentil among the consumers to ensure nutritional security.
Key determinants of seed size for enhancing genetic gain in legumes
(John Wiley & Sons, 2026) Padhy, Asish Kumar; Singh, Ananya; Chaurasia, Shiksha; Parida, Swarup Kumar; Tripathi, Kuldeep; Bhatia, Sabhyata
Legumes play a pivotal role in human nutrition due to their high nutritional value, especially protein content. Therefore, enhancing the productivity of grain legumes is desirable for ensuring food and nutritional security. Seed size and seed weight are key factors influencing productivity. This article consolidates the substantial amount of research conducted to uncover the molecular signatures associated with seed size into a structured format, providing a one-stop platform of available resources for enhancing genetic gains in legumes. The advent of NGS technologies enabled the decryption of genomes and transcriptomes of important grain legumes. Moreover, molecular signatures such as SSRs, SNPs, transcription factors, methylation patterns and so forth scanned from phenotypically and genotypically well-characterized natural and mapping populations helped identify the QTLs, MTAs and candidate genes associated with seed size. Many of these QTLs and candidate genes have been utilized in marker-assisted breeding for achieving larger seeds and enhanced yield in legumes. Besides, the characterization of legume orthologs of candidate genes from other crops using different omics approaches helped in understanding the regulatory pathways involved in seed size determination in legumes. This review provides a direction for the effective utilization of available resources to enhance legume productivity.
Understanding abiotic stress responses in lentil under changing climate regimes
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2023) Singh, Baljinder; Padhy, Asish Kumar; Ambreen, Heena; Yadav, Manisha; Bhardwaj, Shubham; Singh, Gourav; Pandey, Vimal; Chakraborty, Anirban; Bhatia, Sabhyata
Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is a cool-season grain legume crop that is mainly cultivated across the semi-arid regions of Australia, South Asia, Africa, and North America. The crop is highly valued for its nutritional attributes such as dietary proteins (22–35%), carbohydrates, minerals, and fiber that play a significant role in alleviating malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies across populations in developing countries. The last five decades have seen an upward trend in global production of lentils from 0.85 to 5.73 Mt. suggesting its increasing demand and utilization. However, various abiotic stresses such as drought, heat, cold, salinity, and nutrient deficiency impose severe threats to the global lentil yield and productivity. The current book chapter is an attempt to comprehend the morpho-physiological and biochemical changes occurring during these stresses and the developmental plasticity shown by the plant to counteract them. Furthermore, the current status of research focusing on the development of novel molecular and functional markers/tags, identification of candidate genes/QTLs responsible for abiotic stress tolerance, the intervention of high throughput genotyping and phenotyping platforms, development of populations and linkage maps, and omics studies have been discussed. Some tolerant germplasm and varieties developed through conventional and next-generation breeding approaches are also enlisted making the book chapter a concise platform for reports of abiotic stress tolerance in lentils.