Profile
Dr. Ramesh Sonti obtained his B.Sc. degree (Botany, Zoology and Chemistry) from Andhra University in 1980. He has obtained his M.Sc.and M.Phil degrees in Plant Sciences from the University of Hyderabad and a Ph.D. in bacterial genetics from the University of Utah, USA. He did post-doctoral research on plant genetics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. In 1993, he joined the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad. In November 2017, he joined the National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, and served as its Director until May 2020. Subsequently, he served as Professor and Chairperson of the Biology Department as well as Dean of faculty at IISER-Tirupati. Since January 2023, he has been Director of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi. His research interests are in the area of plant-microbe interactions and in the application of marker-assisted selection for crop improvement.
Current Focus Areas
Understanding the biology of bacterial effectors and the manner in which they suppress plant immune responses. Development of new crop varieties.
Selected Publications
1. Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae XopQ protein suppresses rice immune responses through interaction with two 14‐3‐3 proteins but its phospho‐null mutant induces rice immune responses and interacts with another 14‐3‐3 protein. 2019. Sohini Deb, Mahesh K. Gupta, Hitendra K. Patel and Ramesh V. Sonti. Molecular Plant Pathology. 20: 976-989.
Dual Activities of Receptor-like Kinase OsWAKL21.2 Induce Immune Responses. 2020. Plant Physiology. Kamal Kumar Malukani, Ashish Ranjan, Hota Shiva Jyothi, Hitendra K. Patel, Ramesh V. Sonti. Plant Physiology. 183:1345-1363
Interaction of the Xanthomonas effectors XopQ and XopX results in induction of rice immune responses. 2020. Sohini Deb, Palash Ghosh, Hitendra K. Patel, Ramesh V. Sonti. The Plant Journal. 104: 332-350
Role of the FnIII domain associated with a cell wall-degrading enzyme cellobiosidase of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. 2022. Rajkanwar Nathawat,Roshan V. Maku,Hitendra K. Patel,Rajan Sankaranarayanan, Ramesh V. Sonti. Molecular Plant Pathology. 23: 1011–1021
Multiomics-assisted characterization of rice-Yellow Stem Borer interaction provides genomic and mechanistic insights into stem borer resistance in rice. 2024. Gokulan C. G., Umakanth Bangale, Vishalakshi Balija, Suneel Ballichatla, Gopi Potupureddi, Deepti Rao, Prashanth Varma, Nakul Magar, Karteek J, Sravan M, Padmakumari A. P., Gouri S Laha, Subba Rao LV, Kalyani M. Barbadikar, Meenakshi Sundaram Raman, Hitendra K. Patel, M Sheshu Madhav, Ramesh V. Sonti. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. In press.