Jitendra
P. Khurana
Professor & Coordinator (UGC-SAP)
E-mail: khuranaj@genomeindia.org
Specialization: Photo-perception and
Signal Transduction Mechanisms
Structural and Functional Genomics in Plants
Research Interests
Our group has contributed
extensively to the area of light perception and signal transduction mechanisms
in plants. Some of the initial
works on Arabidopsis mutants lead to the identification of the blue
light receptor, phototropin1, which in fact remained elusive for over a
century. During a screen for phototropism mutants, we also identified
constitutively photomorphogenic mutants that display
de-repression of gene expression in dark and flower precociously. Some other
novel mutants characterized recently include bls1, cnr1 and prl2,
which are defective in light, hormone and sugar signaling. Fine mapping of
these mutated loci is in progress to eventually clone the corresponding genes
and elucidate their function. The genes encoding blue light receptors, CRY1
and CRY2, have been isolated and sequenced from Brassica napus and rice and their functional validation is in
progress with the view to engineer plants for agronomically
important traits like plant height and flowering time. In addition, the genes
for red/far-red sensing phytochromes (PHYA and PHYC) have been characterized from hexaploid wheat and their
evolutionary relationship examined. In the past nearly five years, the focus in
my lab has gradually shifted towards understanding the molecular mechanisms
involved in regulating growth and development in rice. We have functionally
characterized several rice genes, including a polycomb group gene, OsiEZ1, archaebacterial
homologs of topoisomerase
6, auxin-inducible gene families of AUX/IAA
and GH3 class, and a sub-group of cytokinin
inducible ARR genes.
Jointly with
other colleagues at South Campus, we have actively participated in
accomplishing the task of sequencing long arm of Chr
11 of rice as a part of the International Rice Genome Sequencing Programme
(IRGSP). In a collaborative multi-institutional project, we are also engaged in
sequencing of chromosome 5 of tomato and the genome of Mycobacterium w,
a non-infectious soil bacterium of therapeutic importance.
Awards/distinction
Fellow
of the
Fellow
of the National
Fellow
of the
Past
President of the Indian Photobiology Society (2003-2005)
Member,
Plant Tissue Culture Association of
Fellow
in Residence at the Smithsonian Institution,
Visiting
Research Associate at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Lab,
Awarded
FERRO Fellowship for short-term visits to USDA,
Visiting
Professor at the Waksman Institute,
Select Publications
1. KHURANA, J.P. and POFF, K.L. 1989. Mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana with altered phototropism. Planta 178:
400-406.
2. KHURANA, J.P., REN, Z., STEINITZ,
B., PARKS, B., BEST, T. and POFF,
K.L. 1989. Mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana
with decreased amplitude phototropic response. Plant Physiol. 91: 685-689.
3. GANGWANI, L., TAMOT,
B.K., KHURANA, J.P. and
4. KHURANA, J.P. and CLELAND,
C.F. 1992. Role of salicylic acid and benzoic acid
in flowering of a photoperiod-insensitive strain, Lemna
paucicostata LP6. Plant Physiol. 100: 1541-1546.
5. KHURANA, J.P., KOCHHAR, A. and
TYAGI, A.K. 1998. Photosensory
perception and signal transduction in higher plants: molecular genetic
analysis. Crit.
Rev. Plant Sci. 17: 465-539.
6. Thakur,
J.K., Malik, M.R., Bhatt, V., Reddy, M.K., Sopory, S.K., Tyagi, A.K. and Khurana,
J.P. 2003. A POLYCOMB
group gene of rice (Oryza sativa L. subsp.
indica), OsiEZ1, codes for a nuclear localized protein expressed
preferentially in young seedlings and during reproductive development. Gene 314: 1-13.
7. Jain,
M., Tyagi, S.B., Thakur, J.K., Tyagi, A.K. and Khurana, J.P. 2004. Molecular
characterization of a light responsive gene from rice (Oryza sativa subsp. indica) encoding nuclear localized breast basic conserved (OsiBBC1) ribosomal protein1/L13. Biochim.
Biophys. Acta 1676: 182-192.
8. Laxmi,
A., PAUL, L.K., Peters, J. and Khurana, J.P. 2004. Arabidopsis constitutive photomorphogenic mutant, bls1, displays altered brassinosteroid
response and sugar sensitivity. Plant Mol. Biol. 56: 185-201.
9. Kulshreshtha,
R., Kumar, N., Balyan, H.S., Gupta, P.K., Khurana, P., Tyagi, A.K. and Khurana,
J.P. 2005. Structural
characterization, expression analysis and evolution of the red/far-red sensing
photoreceptor gene, PHYTOCHROME C (PHYC), localized on the B genome of
hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum). Planta (In
press).
10. JAIN, M., KAUR, N.,
TYAGI, A.K. and KHURANA, J.P. 2005.
The auxin-responsive GH3 gene family in rice (Oryza sativa). Functional & Integrative
Genomics (In press).