Sanjay Kapoor

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E-mail: kapoors@genomeindia.org

Specialization: Molecular Analysis of flower development; Functional Genomics

Research Interests

The research work in our laboratory is aimed at understanding regulatory components that control development and differentiation of floral organs after the fate of the respective organ primodia have been decided by the interplay of meristem- and organ-identity genes. To identify genes coding for these components we are employing high throughput differential gene expression analysis techniques like microarray and Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) and are using rice (Oryza sativa) as model system.

We are also using another model laboratory plant Arabidopsis thaliana, for the functional characterization of some selected transcription factors and synthetic promoter sequences.

Awards/distinction

Fellowship of the Science and Technology Agency Japan (1997-1999)

JSPS (Japan society for the Promotion of Science) long-term Post-doctoral fellowship (1995-1997).

Japanese Government (“Monbusho”—Ministry of Education and Culture) Fellowship (1992-94).

Select Publications

1. Kapoor S. and Takatsuji H. 2006.Silencing of an anther-specific zinc-finger gene, MEZ1, causes aberrant meiosis and pollen abortion in petunia. Plant Mol. Biol. (In Press).

2. Kapoor S., Kobayashi T. and Takatsuji H. 2002. Silencing of Tapetum-specific Zinc-finger Gene, TAZ1, Causes Premature Degeneration of Tapetum and Pollen Abortion in Petunia. Plant Cell 14:2353-2376.

3. Kapoor S. and Sugiura M. 1999. Identification of Two Essential Sequence Elements in the Nonconsensus Type II PatpB-290 Plastid Promoter by Using Plastid Transcription Extracts from Cultured Tobacco BY-2 Cells. Plant Cell. 11: 1799–1810.

4. Miyagi T., Kapoor S., Sugita M. and Sugiura M. 1998. Transcript analysis of tobacco plastid rps2/atpI/H/F/A operon reveals the existence of a non-consensus type II (NCII) promoter upstream to atpI coding sequence. Mol. Gen. Genet. 257:299-307.

5. Kapoor S., Suzuki J.Y. and Sugiura M. 1997. Identification and functional significance of a new class of non-consensus type plastid promoters. Plant J. 11:327-337.

6. Kapoor S. and Sugiura M. (1996) Expression and regulation of plastid genes. In Photosynthesis: A Comprehensive Treatise; Raghavendra A.S. ed. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge UK. pp. 72-86.

7. Kapoor S., Wakasugi T., Deno H. and Sugiura M. 1994. An atpE-specific promoter within the coding region of atpB gene in tobacco chloroplast DNA. Curr. Genet. 26: 263-268.

8. Kapoor S., Maheshwari S.C. and Tyagi A.K. 1994. Developmental and light-dependent cues interact to establish steady-state levels of transcripts for photosynthesis-related genes (psbA, psbD, psaA and rbcL) in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Curr. Genet. 25: 362-366.

9. Kapoor S., Maheshwari S.C. and Tyagi A.K. 1993. Organ-specific expression of rice plastid genes. Plant Cell Physiol. 34: 943-947.

Patents
	1.	'Method for lowering pollen fertility by using tapetal layer-specific zinc finger transcription factor gene’
			Inventor; Hiroshi Takatsuji, Sanjay Kapoor, Akira Kobayashi. Australlia patent, No. 779285, 2005.1.13, Korea Patent No.455620, 2004.10.26., China Patent, No. CH0261275P, 2005.9.9.
	2.	‘Method of making sterile petunia plants by transformation with a nucleic acid encoding a zinc finger transcription factor’
			Inventor; Hiroshi Takatsuji, Sanjay Kapoor, Akira Kobayashi. Australlia patent, No. 779284, 2005.1.13, Korea Patent No.455621, 2004.10.26., US Patent, No.6,989,473, 2006.1.24.

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