Publications of NIPGR Scientists

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    Unearthing the secrets of drought-driven root system architecture: Nutrient acquisition and rhizosphere microbe interplay
    (Elsevier B.V., 2026) Nayak, Jagatjeet; Chattopadhyay, Debasis; Giri, Mrunmay Kumar; Singh, Nidhi
    Drought, a climatic occurrence that cyclically affects all climatic regions, is more prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. This phenomenon inflicts physiological harm upon plants within ecosystems and agroecosystems. Apart from the direct scarcity of water, which severely impairs plant development and productivity, there can be consequential issues related to mineral nutrition. These secondary effects can arise and further impact plant development. Amidst drought conditions, roots play a critical role in shaping the growth and development of plants. During these circumstances, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing critical responses and interactions between plant roots and their surrounding rhizosphere is less comprehensive in comparison to other studies with well-characterized model species like Arabidopsis. This article examines the molecular mechanisms governing the adaptability of root system architecture (RSA) to drought stress in plants. It also explores how soil nutrients and microorganisms are regulated in response to these adaptive processes. We first give a general description of how plant hormones control RSA under water-scarce conditions. Additionally, we explore how nutrients, particularly phosphorus and nitrogen, affect the developmental responses of RSA to low water status. Additionally, this article delves into the existing understanding of the interactions between RSA and soil microbial niches under drought. Based on these understandings, our conclusion emphasizes that to achieve a more comprehensive grasp of the mechanisms underlying drought adaptation in plant roots, future research should adopt a holistic network perspective.
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    Nutrient use efficiency promoted hormonal crosstalk and stomatal dynamics in wheat under the co-impact of arsenic and drought
    (Elsevier B.V., 2025) Khatoon, Narjis Saba; Khan, Asna; Bhatia, Priyanka; Vadassery, Jyothilakshmi; Gupta, Meetu
    This study presents the interlink of Nutrient use efficiency (NUE) influenced hormone and stomatal dynamics, in enhancing photosynthesis under the co-impact of drought (D) and arsenic (As) in wheat. We analyzed how nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) supplementation under D+As modulates these interactions with jasmonic acid (JA) and sucrose, as central regulators. Enhanced JA by NP-enrichment reduced abscisic-acid (ABA) and salicylic-acid (SA) production to promote stomatal opening via sugar-transporter-proteins; TaSTP12, TaSTP51, and TaKAT-like1. Computational docking confirms strong interaction between JA, TaMYB84 and TaSTP’s (TaSTP12, TaSTP51) suggesting a functional complex that facilitates sucrose osmoregulation. This influences stomatal opening which promotes gas-exchange for better photosynthesis. Additionally, we highlight the correlation between stomatal dynamics and NP-use efficiency. The NP-promoted photosynthesis, phosphorus-use efficiency (PnPUE), and TaPHT1. 10 ensures Pi availability for Krebs-cycle. This improves non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), for ATP production, boosting CO2 assimilation. Moreover, the increased photosynthetic-nitrogen-use efficiency (PnNUE), along with TaNRT2.1, and TaAMT1.1 augmented rubisco activity, thereby increasing photosynthesis. NP-supplementation also boosts ASC-GSH cycle, which safeguards the rubisco enzyme and light-harvesting-complex. These processes optimize photosynthesis to maintain starch reserves and sustain wheat productivity under D+As. Our findings provide valuable insights into NP-mediated photosynthetic regulation and underscore the crucial role of NUE in optimizing this process.
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    Navigating towards dry root rot resistance in mungbean: impacts, mechanisms, and management strategies
    (Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2024) Sadhana, Nithyananth Hemanth; Geethanjali, Subramaniam; Mirchandani, Rishabh; Natesan, Senthil; Senthil-Kumar, Muthappa
    Vigna radiata L., commonly referred to as mungbean or green gram, holds significant importance as a pulse crop in India. However, its productivity is severely impacted by the combined incidence of dry root rot disease and drought stress. Dry root rot, caused by Macrophomina phaseolina, manifests as reduced yield and compromised produce quality. M. phaseolina is a necrotrophic fungus with a broad host range. Screening studies in several crops’ germplasms have shown a skewness towards susceptibility. Further, the fungus has augmented virulence and survivability in soil under low moisture and high heat. Thus, concurrent drought and dry root rot leads to significantly higher yield losses. This review highlights the status of the disease in mungbean and its future implications owing to the changing climate scenario. We also highlight the molecular and genomic studies conducted in mungbean and several other crops to elucidate the mechanisms involved in M. phaseolina resistance. The review also suggests management practices which can alleviate yield losses in dry root rot affected fields. Understanding the physiological and molecular mechanisms of dry root rot, drought, and their interaction on disease proliferation can help mitigate the challenges associated with dry root rot management and aid future research.
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    Identification of a stable drought-tolerant high-yielding line for chickpea crop improvement
    (Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2025) Gupta, Santosh Kumar; Dwivedi, Vikas; Kute, Nandakumar Surendra; Francis, Philip; Parida, Swarup K.; Chattopadhyay, Debasis
    Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is grown in marginal land with low input and is, therefore, drought-prone. In order to develop a drought-tolerant line, a bi-parental recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population was generated by inter-crossing between two varieties JGK3 (ICCV 95334) and Himchana1 (ICCX-810800) having contrasting root traits. Ninety-two genetically diverse RILs of F8 generation were selected based on their total root length to root dry weight ratio (RL/DW). The leaf relative water content of these RILs under low soil moisture did not show any strong correlation with the RL/DW. Twenty RILs having high RL/DW were evaluated for seed yield in a field under rainfed condition without any supplementary irrigation. The best performing RIL, which performed better than the check varieties, was reevaluated for a further year under rainfed condition. The genotypic constitution of this superior low soil moisture tolerant individual RIL was determined by constructing its recombination map using genome-wide SNPs obtained through genotyping-by-sequencing. The RIL possesses the superior alleles of the genomic QTL region known to govern drought tolerance in chickpea. The phenotypic and genotypic characterization of RILs in our study identified a chickpea pre-breeding line that can be used as a genetic donor for developing drought-tolerant high-yielding chickpea varieties and our results provide an evidence that total root length to root dry weight ratio can be used as a quantitative trait for assessing drought tolerance.
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    Deciphering the role of MIR169d:NF-YA2 module under individual as well as combined drought and heat stress in Arabidopsis
    (Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2024) Gupta, Apoorva; Ghosh, Debasish; Rao, Sombir; Mathur, Saloni
    Plants are often subjected to a combination of abiotic stresses under natural environmental conditions. The response of plants to combined stresses can be very diferent from that to the individual stress. Several regulatory mechanisms work in harmony to maintain plant’s homeostasis during stress conditions. Among them the roles of microRNAs (miRNAs) in combined stresses are beginning to be unravelled. In this study, we evaluated the MIR169d: NF-YA2 target module in individual as well as combined drought and heat stress (HS) in Arabidopsis. We found that MIR169d is highly HS inducible, however, contrary to the reported downregulation of MIR169a/c forms in drought stress in literature, MIR169d is upregulated in drought. Moreover, while MIR169d expression is upregulated during combined stress, the response is less than individual stresses. Further, Arabidopsis plants overexpressing MIR169d or target nf-ya2 knockout mutant plants are more tolerant to both individual as well as combined heat and drought stress as indicated by the higher expression of stress responsive genes and less Trypan blue staining, while plants overexpressing NF-YA2 or those in which miR169defg isoform is sponged up (MIM169defg) are more prone to individual as well as combined heat and drought stress. The MIR169d promoter harbours both heat and drought stress-responsive cis-elements. Assessment of GUS expression in MIR169d-promoter:GUS and NF-YA2-promoter:GUS transgenic lines shows increased and reduced reporter expression in all the three stress conditions as compared to control, respectively. This suggests a stress-induced transcriptional regulation of the MIR169d:NF-YA2 pair. Thus, the MIR169d:NF-YA2 module can be potentially exploited to engineer crops for resistance to multiple abiotic stresses.
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    Abiotic stress impact on the interaction between Macrophomina phaseolina and crop plants
    (Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2024) Ranjan, Shubhashish; Mirchandani, Rishabh; Senthil-Kumar, Muthappa
    Macrophomina phaseolina (Tassi.) Goid is an emerging pathogen that causes diseases like dry root rot and charcoal rot in more than 100 plant families. Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and heat exacerbate this fungal effect and predispose crops to pathogen attacks. Importantly, these combined stresses lead to significant crop yield losses under field conditions. In this, we review the interaction between the devastating pathogen M. phaseolina and several abiotic stresses that are more likely to occur in scenarios of climate change. Drought, heat, and salinity are the major stresses that interact with M. phaseolina in the field. We discuss several field studies, unique physiological and molecular responses, and their mechanisms of control in response to combined stress. The net effect of these interactions depends on a multitude of factors; thus, these interactions modify the impact of biotic stresses on plants by altering their susceptibility. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of what is currently known about M. phaseolina and abiotic stress interactions, as well as several other edaphic factors that interact with plants. We briefly discuss the role of drought, salinity, heat stress, and edaphic factors (such as pH, N, P, K, etc.) that influence pathogen infection in plants. Furthermore, we discuss possible management strategies to combat crop loss due to combined stress. Thus, we suggest the future aspect of combined stress breeding, along with the use of multi-omics techniques and genome editing approaches, to develop cultivars that exhibit stability in a combined stress environment.
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    Updating the impact of drought on root exudation: A strigolactones perspective
    (Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2023) Singh, Nidhi; Chattopadhyay, Debasis; Gupta, Santosh Kumar
    With the changing global climate, drought is considered one of the most devastating abiotic factors. Drought not only limits plant productivity by changing growth and development but also alters the microbiome in the rhizosphere. In addition to influencing the root microbes, drought modifies the root exudate's composition and profile in the rhizosphere. Plant health, root exudation, and abundance of soil microbes in the rhizosphere are inter-connected. The composition of root exudate is altered in terms of the abundance of primary metabolites such as sugar, amino acids, and organic acids and secondary metabolites like flavonoids, strigolactones, and terpenoids. Here, we discuss how a plethora of soil microbes may be involved in a feedback mechanism by utilizing root exudate constituents to promote drought tolerance in plants. Furthermore, plant drought tolerance is positively associated with strigolactones (SLs) exudation via coordination with ABA hormone signaling. Lastly, while the collection, sampling, and analysis of root exudates are all promising, we attempted to present advanced methodology and the development of novel processes in the review, which benefited greatly.
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    Dry root rot disease: Current status and future implications for chickpea production
    (Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2023) Mirchandani, Rishabh; Irulappan, Vadivelmurugan; Chilakala, Aswin Reddy; Senthil-Kumar, Muthappa
    Chickpea is one of the most important food legumes in the world. Several abiotic and biotic factors limit chickpea yields, notably, heat, drought, and dry root rot (DRR) disease. The occurrence and severity of DRR are further magnified by abiotic stresses. This review highlights the current impact of DRR on chickpea production in India, the deepening of the economic losses caused by DRR owing to drought, and integrated management practices to curb DRR. Management strategies and research targeting this aspect are critical because the long-term consequences of this rapidly emerging disease could be severe owing to climate change.
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    Metabolomics and molecular physiology perspective for drought and salinity stress tolerance
    (Taylor & Francis Group, 2022) Jadhav, Sagar Sudam; Kumari, Renu; Mahtha, Sanjeet Kumar; Purama, Ravi Kiran; Lamba, Vinita; Yadav, Gitanjali
    Among abiotic stresses, drought and salinity are mainly affecting crop production. Reactive oxygen species are produced during most of abiotic stresses and can damage cellular components. Therefore, plants produce specific antioxidants (e.g. carotenoids, xanthophylls), metabolites (e.g. flavonoids, phenols), osmoregulatory solutes (e.g. proline, sucrose) and thylakoid stabilizing isoprenes. Plant metabolic networks are complex, and excessive demand for these stress-responsive metabolites during abiotic stress is met only by reconfiguring the metabolic network. This chapter mainly discusses drought and salt stress-specific plant metabolomic and molecular responses and gives insights into signaling network involved thereof. Metabolomics combined with conventional breeding approaches (using introgression lines) has proven to be able to map abiotic stress-responsive loci and key candidates. The role of kinases and argonautes and the prospecting of stress-responsive metabolic quantitative trait loci and alleles are also discussed. The importance of amino acid and hormone metabolism and its connection with epigenetics is reviewed.
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    Spatiotemporal responses of rice root architecture and anatomy to drought
    (Springer Nature Publishing AG, 2022) Fonta, Jenna E.; Giri, Jitender; Vejchasarn, Phanchita; Lynch, Jonathan P.; Brown, Kathleen M.
    Aims Growth reductions and yield losses from drought could be mitigated by developing rice genotypes with more efficient root systems. We examined spatiotemporal responses to drought in order to determine whether roots developing in upper vs. deeper soil layers respond differently to drought stress. Methods Root anatomical and architectural phenotypes of two rice genotypes, Azucena (drought tolerant) and IR64 (drought susceptible), were measured weekly in well-watered and vegetative-stage drought stress treatments in solid medium with stratified moisture availability. Basal and apical segments were collected from older, deeper nodal roots and apical segments from younger, shallow roots for assessment of anatomy and lateral rooting phenotypes. The relationship between root anatomy and root respiration rates was tested in solution culture and solid medium. Results Compared to IR64, Azucena had deeper root systems and larger diameter roots in both treatments but reduced its living tissue area in response to drought, while IR64 roots exhibited less plasticity in root diameter. Root respiration rates were positively correlated with root diameter and living tissue area, providing evidence that root anatomy affects the metabolic cost of tissues. In response to drought, Azucena showed reduced theoretical axial hydraulic conductance in shallow roots and at the base of deep roots but slightly greater conductance at the tip of deep roots, while IR64 displayed low plasticity in metaxylem phenotypes. Conclusion We propose that the plasticity of root phenotypes in Azucena contributes to its drought tolerance by reducing the metabolic cost of soil exploration and improving the efficiency of water transport.