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Profile
Numerous plant specialized metabolites hold significant human interest due to their health advantages. Some, like flavonoids, are considered nutraceuticals. Thus, enhancing the content of these compounds in crops via genetic engineering is desirable. My research focuses on understanding the molecular basis of plant specialized metabolism and applying this knowledge to enhance health-beneficial metabolites in plants. Targeting major crops like banana and chickpea, which are staples for large populations, especially in India, is particularly attractive. The availability of genome sequences for these crops facilitates understanding specialized metabolism at a molecular level. The primary goal is to identify regulatory proteins controlling the biosynthesis of flavonoids like flavonol, anthocyanin, and proanthocyanidins. These findings will aid in developing value-added bananas and chickpeas with enhanced health-beneficial flavonoids. Employing molecular biology, bioinformatics, and phytochemistry tools, my lab endeavors to produce crops enriched with health-promoting specialized metabolites.
Current Focus Areas
Understanding regulation of plant specialized metabolism and metabolic engineering of crop plants
Development of Value-added biomolecules through transformation of abundant plant biomass
National Certification System for Tissue Culture Plants (NCS-TCP)
Selected Publications
Naik, J., Tyagi, S., Rajput, R., Kumar, P., Pucker, B., Bisht, N.C., Misra, P., Stracke, R., Pandey, A*. (2024) Flavonols affect the interrelated glucosinolate and camalexin biosynthetic pathways in Arabidopsis thaliana. Journal of Experimental Botany 75, 219-240 (*Corresponding Author)
Saxena, S., Pal, L., Naik, J., Singh, Y., Verma, P.K., Chattopadhyay, D., Pandey, A.* (2023) The R2R3-MYB-SG7 transcription factor CaMYB39 orchestrates surface phenylpropanoid metabolism and pathogen resistance in chickpea New Phytologist 238:798-816 (*Corresponding Author)
Rajput R, Naik J, Stracke R, Pandey A.* (2022) Interplay between R2R3 MYB-type activators and repressors regulates proanthocyanidin biosynthesis in banana (Musa acuminata) New Phytologist 236:1108–1127. (*Corresponding Author)
Singh, S.K., Verma, S., Singh, K., Shree, A., Singh, R., Srivastava, V., Kumar, K., Pandey, A., Verma, P.K. (2023) The nuclear effector ArPEC25 from the necrotrophic fungus Ascochyta rabiei targets the chickpea transcription factor CaβLIM1a and negatively modulates lignin biosynthesis for host susceptibility The Plant Cell 35, 1134–1159.
Pandey, A., Misra, P., Khan, M.P., Swarnker, G., Tewari, M.C., Bhambhani, S., Trivedi, R., Chattopadhyay, N. Trivedi, P.K. (2014) Coexpression of Arabidopsis transcription factor, AtMYB12, and soybean isoflavone synthase, GmIFS1, genes in tobacco leads to enhanced biosynthesis of isoflavones and flavonols resulting in osteoprotective activity. Plant Biotechnology Journal 12, 69-80.