Amit Kumar Singh
Assistant Professor
Education and Research Experience:
M.Sc. (Biotechnology) at Madurai Kamaraj University (2007-2009)
PhD at Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) (2009-2015)
Post doctoral fellow at Tel Aviv University and Ben-Gurion University, Israel (2016-2020)
Post doctoral fellow at IBMP-CNRS, University of Strasbourg, France (2020-2022)
E-mail: aksingh@pmb.du.ac.in
Research interests: Plant Epigenetics, Abiotic Stress and Reproduction
Plants being sessile in nature are exposed to various environmental stresses (heat, cold, drought, UV, flood, salt etc.) which decrease their productivity and yield. Every 1ºC rise in global temperature can decrease major crop production by 0.6 ~ 8.9%. In the male reproductive organ, climate change can lead to male sterility which causes an adverse effect on food yield and crop production. To cope with these environmental stresses, plants employ various gene regulatory mechanisms, including epigenetic changes. Although extreme environmental stress decreases crop yield, a few studies report priming with moderate stress can result in higher crop yield. Plants can memorize the stress conditions with the help of epigenetic modification to adapt better and these memories can be passed to next generation. Thus, we aspire to elucidate molecular mechanism by which plant response and remember environmental stress.
Histone methylation and other histone modifications play crucial roles in epigenetic regulation of stressed plants. Histone H3K4 tri-methylation and H3K36 tri-methylation corresponds to active transcription of gene throughout the genome. They are also associated with various biotic and abiotic stresses. However, their role during plant reproduction is not well known. CSN5, a subunit of eight protein COP9 signalosome complex (CSN) plays significant role in the repair of recombination-induced DSB during Drosophila oogenesis. It is required for resetting transcriptional stress memory after recurrent heat stress. Further, in Drosophila it is essential for meiotic progression. However, its role during meiosis in plant is not explored much. Thus, we wish to understand the role of epigenetics and COP9 Signalosome in plant reproduction and adaptation during abiotic stress.
Awards:
Scholarship from India-Japan Cooperative Science Programme (IJCSP) in 2010
Selected publications:
Research Articles and Reviews-
- Bhushan, S., A.K. Singh, Y. Thakur, and R. Baskar (2023). Persistence of parental age effect on somatic mutation rates across generations in Arabidopsis. BMC Plant Biology, 23, 152. doi: 10.1186/s12870-023-04150-w. (IF 2021: 5.26)
- Singh, A.K.*, S. Dhanapal, A. Finkelshtein and D.A. Chamovitz (2021). CSN5A subunit of COP9 signalosome is required for resetting transcriptional stress memory after recurrent heat stress in Arabidopsis. Biomolecules, 11, 668. doi: 10.3390/biom11050668. *Corresponding author. (IF 2021: 6.064)
- Jogawat, A, B. Yadav, N.A. Chhaya, N. Lakra, P. Kumari, A.K. Singh, and O.P. Narayan (2021). Crosstalk between phytohormones and secondary metabolites in the drought stress tolerance of crop plants. Physiologia Plantarum, 172, 1106-1132. doi: 10.1111/ppl.13328. (IF 2021: 5.081)
- Saini, R, A.K. Singh, G. Hyde, and R Baskar (2020). Levels of heterochiasmy during Arabidopsis development as reported by Fluorescent Tagged Lines. G3: Genes Genomes Genetics, 10, 2103-2110. (IF 2021: 3.542)
- Singh, A.K., S. Dhanapal, and B.S. Yadav (2020). The dynamic responses of plant physiology and metabolism during environmental stress progression. Molecular Biology Reports, 47, 1459–1470. doi: 10.1007/s11033-019-05198-4. (IF 2021: 2.742)
- Singh, A.K., B.S. Yadav, S. Dhanapal, M. Berliner, A. Finkelshtein, and D.A. Chamovitz (2019). CSN5A subunit of COP9 signalosome temporally buffers response to heat in Arabidopsis. Biomolecules, 9, 805. doi: 10.3390/biom9120805. (IF 2021: 6.064)
- Singh, A.K.* and D.A. Chamovitz (2019). Role of Cop9 signalosome subunits in the environmental and hormonal balance of plant. Biomolecules, 9, 224. doi: 10.3390/biom9060224. *Corresponding author. (IF 2021: 6.064)
- Saini, R*, A.K. Singh*, S. Dhanapal, T.H. Saeed, G.J. Hyde, and R. Baskar (2017). Brief temperature stress during reproductive stage alters meiotic recombination and somatic mutation rates in the progeny of Arabidopsis. BMC Plant Biology, 17, 103. doi: 10.1186/s12870-017-1051-1. *Joint first authors. (IF 2021: 5.26)
- Shah, J. M., A.M. Ramakrishnan, A.K. Singh, S. Ramachandran, U. Unnikrishnan, A. Jayshankar, N. Balasundaram, S. Dhanapal, G. Hyde, and R. Baskar (2015). Suppression of different classes of somatic mutations in Arabidopsis by vir gene-expressing Agrobacterium strains. BMC Plant Biology, 15, 210. doi: 10.1186/s12870-015-0595-1. (IF 2021: 5.26)
- Singh, A.K., T. Bashir, C. Sailor, V. Gurumoorthy, A.M. Ramakrishnan, S. Dhanapal, U. Grossniklaus, and R. Baskar (2015). Parental age affects somatic mutation rates in the progeny of flowering plants. Plant Physiology, 168, 247-257. (IF 2021: 8.005)
- Singh, A.K. (2017). Discovery and role of molecular markers involved in gene mapping, molecular breeding, and genetic diversity. In Plant Bioinformatics (pp. 303-328). Springer, Cham.
- Yadav, B.S., A.K. Singh and Kushwaha, S.K. (2017) Systems-based approach to the analyses of plant functions: conceptual understanding, implementation, and analysis. In Plant Bioinformatics (pp. 107-133). Springer, Cham.