Institutional Publications

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Chromatin-based transcriptional reprogramming in plants under abiotic stresses
(MDPI AG, 2022) Halder, Koushik; Chaudhuri, Abira; Abdin, Malik Z.; Majee, Manoj; Datta, Asis
Plants’ stress response machinery is characterized by an intricate network of signaling cascades that receive and transmit environmental cues and ultimately trigger transcriptional reprogramming. The family of epigenetic regulators that are the key players in the stress-induced signaling cascade comprise of chromatin remodelers, histone modifiers, DNA modifiers and regulatory noncoding RNAs. Changes in the histone modification and DNA methylation lead to major alterations in the expression level and pattern of stress-responsive genes to adjust with abiotic stress conditions namely heat, cold, drought and salinity. The spotlight of this review falls primarily on the chromatin restructuring under severe abiotic stresses, crosstalk between epigenetic regulators along with a brief discussion on stress priming in plants.
Evaluation of the parameters affecting agrobacterium-mediated transformation process to produce cold stress-tolerant tomato by targeting Solanum lycopersicumC-repeat binding factor 2 gene
(Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2026) Halder, Koushik; Chaudhuri, Abira; Abdin, Malik Z.; Datta, Asis
C-repeat binding factors (CBFs) are a part of the AP2/ERF superfamily of transcription factors, which are known to regulate gene expression under different abiotic stress conditions, especially cold. In this study, when tomato cultivar Pusa Ruby (PR) was subjected to cold stress at 4 °C for 24 h, SlCBF2, along with SlCBF1, was found to be simultaneously induced at the early hours (3rd to 24th) of cold exposure. Similar simultaneous induction observed in another tomato variety, Arka Rakshak (AR), at the 3rd hour post-cold exposure. This brief yet strong simultaneous induction of both SlCBF1 and SlCBF2 provides a new insight into the initial induction of CBFs in cold-stressed tomato, which was not previously reported in PR or AR. To elucidate the SlCBF2-mediated cold response in tomato, we have developed stable overexpression lines that showed better cold tolerance than the wild-type PR. We have also evaluated and optimized two important parameters in the Agrobacterium-mediated transformation process and reported an improved transformation efficiency of 28.33% using 1 mg/L zeatin alone and 25% using a combination of 2 mg/L BAP and 0.1 mg/L IAA. Considering the varying degree of transformation efficiency in PR, this optimization will surely be of interest to future researchers to generate stable tomato transgenic lines. However, further works such as generating stable mutant lines targeting SlCBF2 and studying how it reacts to cold-stress, whether SlCBF2 directly regulates SlCBF1 or other downstream cold-responsive genes would provide a more definitive framework for establishing SlCBF2 as an important cold-stress-related transcription factor in tomato.
RNA interference for improving disease resistance in plants and its relevance in this clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-dominated era in terms of dsRNA-based biopesticides
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2022) Halder, Koushik; Chaudhuri, Abira; Abdin, Malik Z.; Majee, Manoj; Datta, Asis
RNA interference (RNAi) has been exploited by scientists worldwide to make a significant contribution in the arena of sustainable agriculture and integrated pest management. These strategies are of an imperative need to guarantee food security for the teeming millions globally. The already established deleterious effects of chemical pesticides on human and livestock health have led researchers to exploit RNAi as a potential agri-biotechnology tool to solve the burning issue of agricultural wastage caused by pests and pathogens. On the other hand, CRISPR/Cas9, the latest genome-editing tool, also has a notable potential in this domain of biotic stress resistance, and a constant endeavor by various laboratories is in progress for making pathogen-resistant plants using this technique. Considerable outcry regarding the ill effects of genetically modified (GM) crops on the environment paved the way for the research of RNAi-induced double-stranded RNAs (dsRNA) and their application to biotic stresses. Here, we mainly focus on the application of RNAi technology to improve disease resistance in plants and its relevance in today’s CRISPR-dominated world in terms of exogenous application of dsRNAs. We also focused on the ongoing research, public awareness, and subsequent commercialization of dsRNA-based biocontrol products.