Biology subjects

Vikram, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Vikram, P..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Computational predictions and evolutionary analysis of LrK10 kinase-related putative PSTOL1 gene homeologs in wheat and orthologs of its wild relatives.

Phosphorus Starvation Tolerance 1 in rice (OsPSTOL1, known as Phosphorus uptake 1, Pup1) is a receptor-like cytoplasmic protein kinase that confers tolerance to phosphorus deficiency. The OsPSTOL1 gene possesses a Ser/Thr kinase and shows high amino-acid sequence similarity with the leaf rust receptor-like kinase (OsLrK10). We hypothesize that the putative wheat TaPSTOL1 and TaLrK10 have a common ancestral origin and that putative TaPSTOL1 diverged recently acquiring new structural modifications and biological functions in the process. In this study, we identified all putative TaPSTOL1 homeologs and examine the evolutionary relationship between TaPSTOL1 and TaLrK10 in Triticum species. Our results indicate that the putative TaPSTOL1 diverged recently without possessing the amino-terminal domain, which is a typical characteristic of TaLrK10. We observed numerous conversions tracts between these two genes and the substitution pattern of randomly selected amino acids indicates that dynamic selection pressures acted on both genes. The putative TaPSTOL1 shows high nucleotide diversity compared to TaLrK10 within Triticum species. Further, a multiple-sequence analysis reveals that the third exon of TaLrK10 appears to have been duplicated and diverged as a putative single-exon based TaPSTOL1 in bread wheat. Overall, our comparative analysis indicates that both TaPSTOL1 and TaLrK10 appears to have diverged from a common ancestor, acquiring distinct structural organizations and biological functions.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2023

Factors influencing Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation efficiency in wheat.

Assessment of the efficiency of Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation in four bread wheat varieties was focused and upon optimization of experiments done to obtain tangible results. The four varieties namely Fielder, Navojoa, Baj and Kachu/saul were transformed with optimized protocols, subsequently randomly selected from selection medium amalgamated with phosphinothricin (Glufosinate). Initially the variety Fielder was proceeded with 36 different concentrations of synthetic auxins 2,4-D and Picloram as 36 treatments. The treatment 30 (48 g of 2,4-D and 64 g of Picloram) has shown higher efficiency and is comparable in terms of the three traits studied. Additionally, antioxidants and growth regulators were adjusted to obtain better result towards reasonable transformation frequency. Based on the optimization for the variety Fielder, additional varieties were also tested and selected against the selectable marker PPT. Selected genotypes were subjected for gusA or Bar gene PCR amplification. The result revealed the frequency of transgenesis with the range of 60-70% with the varieties studied, however the whole experiment needs further repetitions for confirmatory result. Transgenic genotypes of the Fielder variety showed moderate to strong GUS expression in leaves, anthers, seeds, seed coats, roots compare to non-transgenic control plant tissues. PPT leaf painting assay showed the lack of necrosis on painted area of leaves in transgenic genotypes compared to the non-transgenic ones.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Allele mining, evolutionary genetic analysis of TaHKT1;5 gene and evaluation of salinity stress in selected lines of wheat.

This study reports the novel allelic diversity in HKT 1;5 gene (High Affinity Potassium Transporter) in bread wheat and its phylogenetic relationship among the paralogs/orthologs of in Triticum aestivum and its wild relatives. HKT 1;5 gene is a known and pivotal gene associated with the salinity tolerance in plants upon the discrimination of K+ over Na+ in leaves without change in Na+ concentration in root. This gene was sequenced in a diverse collection of bread wheat, durum wheat, wild relatives, and ditelosomic lines. Sequence analysis in bread wheat led to the identification of four alleles, which could be distinguished by number of SNPs. Sequence comparison between monocot bread wheat and dicot Arabidopsis thaliana revealed that the HKT1;5 gene is conserved at level of exonic regions; however, the presence of transposable elements especially in intronic regions is further intriguing towards evolutionary relatedness. Two paralogous or major alleles observed in Triticum monoccum and Aegilops tauschii were further categorized as sub-alleles based on their SNPs comparison. This gene was absent in T. urartu in accordance with existing evidence, while it was found in A. speltoides (an allelic variant) with a few base pairs insertion in the exon1 region causing a frameshift mutation with an altered amino acids and genomic database mining unveiled additional alleles in this species. Ditelosomic lines with 4DL and 4DS chromosomes revealed a higher similarity with bread and durum wheat respectively. Phylogenetic studies of HKT1;5 orthologs from different Poaceae species revealed the occurrence of five different ortholog groups with taxonomic consistency. Phenotyping based salinity stress experiment distinguished the unknown lines for salinity tolerance and sensitiveness in comparison with known reference lines and possible allelic comparison was made. The salinity stress analysis further revealed that some known drought/heat tolerance lines showed slightly better salinity tolerance with mean values and variability of traits than known saline tolerant wheat line at controlled ambient.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2022

Gene editing for accelerated breeding in wheat

Diseases adversely affect grain yield of crop plants. Leaf rust is a major disease of wheat. As race-specific resistance breaks down, introduction of newer sources of resistance often from older accessions is necessary. Linkage drag from the donor accessions adversely impacts grain yield. As a result, CIMMYT breeding effort has shifted to using durable resistance, also referred to as race non-specific host resistance, which allows slow rusting but maintains grain yield. One of the key genes for durable resistance is Lr67 and the resistant form of this gene is absent in CIMMYT elite lines. Hence, we have initiated efforts to convert the susceptible copy of Lr67 into its resistant form directly in these elite lines using gene editing. This would eliminate backcrossing and thus save time as well as eliminate linkage drag that would accompany the resistant copy of the gene if it were to be introgressed from an older accession. As first steps, we have isolated and sequenced the genomic copies from each of the A, B, and D genome of the Lr67 gene from three elite lines and an experimental line. Identification of more than 50 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the open reading frames (ORF) among these lines would be useful in designing the guide RNA molecules with precision. Further, we have streamlined genetic transformation of these elite lines, a prerequisite step for gene editing.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Efficient curation of genebanks using next-generation sequencing reveals substantial duplication of germplasm accessions

Genebanks are valuable resources for crop improvement through the acquisition, ex-situ conservation and sharing of unique germplasm among plant breeders and geneticists. With over seven million existing accessions and increasing storage demands and costs, genebanks need efficient characterization and curation to make them more accessible and usable and to reduce operating costs, so that the crop improvement community can most effectively leverage this vast resource of untapped novel genetic diversity. However, the sharing and inconsistent documentation of germplasm often results in unintentionally duplicated collections with poor characterization and many identical accessions that can be hard or impossible to identify without passport information and unmatched accession identifiers. Here we demonstrate the use of genotypic information from these accessions using a cost-effective next generation sequencing platform to find and remove duplications. We identify and characterize over 50% duplicated accessions both within and across genebank collections of Aegilops tauschii, an important wild relative of wheat and source of genetic diversity for wheat improvement. We present a pipeline to identify and remove identical accessions within and among genebanks and curate globally unique accessions. We also show how this approach can also be applied to future collection efforts to avoid the accumulation of identical material. When coordinated across global genebanks, this approach will ultimately allow for cost effective and efficient management of germplasm and better stewarding of these valuable resources.

genomics↗