Resources for Plant Biology Research - Links to Plant Physiology Journals and Plant Pathology Journals
Work at IIAR
I work as a research scientist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. However, since March, 2007, I have temporarily moved my base to a remote Indian village of Koba in Gujarat. Here, there is a modern biological research institute, which appears rather out of place in the idyllic surroundings. The Indian Institute of Advanced Research, was founded in 2006 by an NRI*-owned foundation to promote biotech development in India. The campus is located about 15 km south of the city of Gandhinagar, the capital city of Gujarat, and sits on the Sabarmati River. This waterfront location provides the flora and fauna rich in diversity. Monkeys, deer, peacocks, parrots, owls, and butterflies are regularly seen on the campus.*NRI stands for Non-Resident Indian. Indian citizens emigrated to other countries, or persons of Indian origin residing overseas are usually called NRIs.
My Projects
CAX Transporters
My first duty at the institute was to initiate new projects in plant science that are both forefront science and relevant to local needs. Since 1999, I have been working on a group of plant transporters called CAX. What it does in the plant cell is that it moves cations into the vacuole. The vacuole can act as a garbage bag in the plant cell, and when the heavy metals are sequestered in it, the cell function is protected from the toxic effects of the metals. This concept works perfectly here as a practical project because if appropriate plants are engineered by genetic transformation with CAX genes to enhance the metal accumulation in the vacuole, they can be used as biological “sponge” to remove contaminations from soil (phytoremediation). To identify CAX genes with unique substrate specificity, we initiated the search for new CAXs from local plants.
DNA Barcoding
The second project I initiated was the DNA barcoding of local plants. DNA Barcoding has been successfully used for animals and fungi for some time using the COI (the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 mitochondrial region). However, this region has unacceptably low variability as a species identification tool and the research community is looking for alternative regions. Here, we are using several candidate DNA markers that have been proposed by international consortia and studying the diversity of local acacia species. Acacias are beautiful trees very well adapted in the dry and hot Indian climate, and provide medicines, fodder, and construction materials to locals. The IIAR campus is full of acacia trees, mainly Acacia tortilis and Acacia nilotica. In the long term, we also plan to barcode other economically important plants, such as medicinal and aromatic herbs. Around IIAR Campus
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Although rich in natural beauty, modern amenities are rare around the campus. To buy vegetables and fruits, we have to walk about half and hour to the nearby Raisan village, or one hour to Koba village, which is a little bigger than Raisan. For other necessities, we have to travel to Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.
Gandhinagar is the capital city of Gujarat, and one of the few planned cities in India. Gandhinagar is probably the greenest city of all Indian cities I have ever visited. There is a unique dinosaur park (Indroda Nature Park) in the city. The park boasts its life-size dinosaur statues and real dinosaur egg fossils. Ahmedabad is one of the seven biggest cities in India, and offers a wide range of shopping and entertainment opportunities.
Changing India
My first visit to India was a 3-day transit stay in Mumbai in 1981. My image of Mumbai at that time was a crowded, dusty, and polluted city. Now, Mumbai is a shining city, like many other Indian cities. Gujarat is particularly a progressive state, and this rural Gujarat village is also seeing lots of developments. Nearby, several new research institutes are under construction, and this area is expected to look like a major research and educational hub within a few years.