Browsing by Author "Shekhawat, Pooja Kanwar"

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Genome editing for nutritional improvement of crops
(John Wiley & Sons, 2024) Shekhawat, Pooja Kanwar; Ram, Hasthi; Soni, Praveen
Genome editing techniques have offered excellent opportunities to develop new crop varieties with enhanced growth, productivity, stress tolerance, and quality. Targeted alterations in nutrition-related traits can provide a big solution for mitigating hidden hunger and ensuring nutritional security. Compared to traditional breeding methods, these novel techniques have provided scientists the ability to manipulate desirable traits precisely and quickly. The advancements and breakthroughs in these techniques are making them more efficient and cost effective. In this chapter, we have discussed the application of these approaches in the improvement of key agronomic traits attributed to nutritional quality of staple food crops, oilseed crops, and horticulture plants.
Meta-analysis of transcriptomics studies identifies novel attributes and set of genes involved in iron homeostasis in rice
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2023) Shekhawat, Pooja Kanwar; Sardar, Shaswati; Yadav, Banita; Salvi, Prafull; Soni, Praveen; Ram, Hasthi
Iron (Fe) is an important micronutrient for humans as well as for plant growth and development. Rice employs multiple mechanisms to counteract the negative effects of Fe deficiency and Fe toxicity. Previously, many transcriptomics studies have identified hundreds of genes affected by Fe deficiency and/or Fe toxicity. These studies are highly valuable to identify novel genes involved in Fe homeostasis. However, in the absence of their systematic integration, they remain underutilized. A systematic meta-analysis of transcriptomics data from such ten previous studies was performed here to identify various common attributes. From this meta-analysis, it is revealed that under Fe deficiency conditions, root transcriptome is more sensitive and exhibits greater similarity across multiple studies than the shoot transcriptome. Furthermore, under Fe toxicity conditions, upregulated genes are more reliable and consistent than downregulated genes in susceptible cultivars. The integration of data from Fe deficiency and Fe toxicity conditions helped to identify key marker genes for Fe stress. As a proof-of-concept of the analysis, among the genes consistently regulated in opposite directions under Fe deficiency and toxicity conditions, two genes were selected: a proton-dependent oligopeptide transporter (POT) family protein and Vacuolar Iron Transporter (VIT)-Like (VTL) gene, and validated their expression and sub-cellular localization. Since VIT genes are known to play an important role in Fe homeostasis in plants, the entire OsVTL gene family in rice was characterized. This meta-analysis has identified many novel candidate genes that exhibit consistent expression patterns across multiple tissues, conditions, and studies. This makes them potential targets for future research aimed at developing Fe-biofortified rice varieties, as well as varieties tolerant to sub-optimal Fe levels in soil.
Rice lipases: a conundrum in rice bran stabilization: a review on their impact and biotechnological interventions
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2023) Bansal, Sakshi; Sundararajan, Sathish; Shekhawat, Pooja Kanwar; Singh, Shivangi; Soni, Praveen; Tripathy, Manas K.; Ram, Hasthi
Rice is a primary food and is one of the most important constituents of diets all around the world. Rice bran is a valuable component of rice, containing many oil-soluble vitamins, minerals, and oil. It is known for its ability to improve the economic value of rice. Further, it contains substantial quantities of minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and antioxidants like tocopherols, tocotrienols, and γ-oryzanol, indicating that rice bran can be utilized efectively against several life-threatening disorders. It is difcult to fully utilize the necessary nutrients due to the presence of lipases in rice bran. These lipases break down lipids, specifcally Triacylglycerol, into free fatty acids and glycerol. This review discusses physicochemical properties, mechanism of action, distribution, and activity of lipases in various components of rice seeds. The phylogenetic and gene expression analysis helped to understand the diferential expression pattern of lipase genes at diferent growth phases of rice plant. Further, this review discusses various genetic and biotechnological approaches to decrease lipase activity in rice and other plants, which could potentially prevent the degradation of bran oil. The goal is to establish whether lipases are a major contributor to this issue and to develop rice varieties with improved bran stability. This information sets the stage for upcoming molecular research in this area.
Role of Serendipita indica in enhancing drought tolerance in crops
(Elsevier B.V., 2021) Jangir, Pooja; Shekhawat, Pooja Kanwar; Bishnoi, Alka; Ram, Hasthi; Soni, Praveen
The root endophytic fungus Serendipita indica (S. indica) acts as a bio-fertilizer, immuno-modulator, stress-buster and enhances plant growth, and protects the host plant from various biotic and abiotic stresses. Recent high-throughput omics approaches have helped in understanding the role of S. indica in host plants under stress conditions. The present review focuses on the mechanism of S. indica mediated drought-tolerance in crops by analyzing morphological, physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes. Interactions of S. indica with other plant growth-promoting microorganisms have been discussed. The knowledge gap and future prospects have been pointed out.
Serendipita indica: Harnessing its versatile potential for food and nutritional security
(Elsevier B.V., 2021) Shekhawat, Pooja Kanwar; Jangir, Pooja; Bishnoi, Alka; Roy, Shweta; Ram, Hasthi; Soni, Praveen
Quantity as well as quality of food is a major concern for increasing human population. Serendipita indica, a root endophytic fungus, has multifarious applications in agriculture. It increases nutrient and water uptake, carbon assimilation efficiency and stress-resistance which in turn enhances the growth and yield of plants. Moreover, it improves contents of minerals, fatty acids and essential oil, composition of oil, and fruit firmness in different plants. It also enhances the production of secondary metabolites having medicinal properties. This review highlights the role of Serendipita indica in increasing crop production and improving food quality. The underlying mechanism has also been illustrated.
Silicon supplementation as a promising approach to induce thermotolerance in plants: current understanding and future perspectives
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2023) Bishnoi, Alka; Jangir, Pooja; Shekhawat, Pooja Kanwar; Ram, Hasthi; Soni, Praveen
In the current situation of climate change, heat is the foremost abiotic stress that is fueling food insecurity by reducing crop production, especially in arid regions around the globe. Therefore, ecofriendly and sustainable solutions are needed to address this challenge. Recent findings have established silicon (Si) as an important stress reliever element in plants which tremendously improves their health under different environmental constraints. Exogenous application of Si via fertigation, foliar spray, or seed priming acts as a booster for the already existing defense machinery of plants to cope with the drastic effects of heat. Si fertigation also improves soil properties including its water holding capacity which indirectly aids to improve plant health. Rhizospheric microorganisms also contribute by increasing the bioavailability of Si in soil. Thus, versatile interactions of Si with soil, plant, and microbes modulate the micro-environment of plants exposed to heat stress which help in mitigating the heat-induced damage to plant growth and fertility. In this review, we focus on the elucidation of the role of Si in heat tolerance at the molecular level. Silicon-derived improvements in various morpho-agronomic, physiological, biochemical, anatomical, and molecular parameters have been discussed in detail. Si-uptake and transport mechanism has been addressed. We have also discussed the knowledge gaps and scope of Si as a biostimulant for future-oriented sustainable agriculture.