Dr. Rahul Kumar
Assistant Professor
Dr. Rahul Kumar completed his bachelor’s degree in Botany (Hons.) from Botany Department, Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi. After completing his masters degree from the Department of Botany, University of Delhi in 2005, he joined the group of Prof. Akhilesh K. Tyagi and Dr. Arun K. Sharma, in the Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Delhi South Campus, to pursue his doctoral research. During his Ph.D, he contributed towards the completion of the sequencing of a part of chromosome 5 of tomato and genetic manipulation of tomato for altered fruit ripening. From 2014-16, he worked as a BELSPO postdoctoral Research Scientist in the group of Prof. Jenny Jussinova, PSB/VIB, UGent, Belgium. During his postdoctoral research, his work focused on probing the molecular mechanisms controlling AP2-mediated BRI1 internalization in Arabidopsis. He is a recipient of many prestigious national and international awards and recognition, including NASI Platinum Jubilee Young Scientist Award (2015), FWO (Flanders Research Foundation, Belgium) Travel award (2015), CSIR Travel Award (2013), BELSPO (Belgian) postdoctoral fellowship (2013), DST INSPIRE Young Faculty Award (2013), ENEA International Fellowship, Italy (2012), DST International Travel Support (2011), DBT Research Associate (2012-2013), Delhi University Merit Scholarship (2001-2003) and Dr. Harjinder Grover Memorial ZHDC Merit Scholarship (2003). Currently, he is a faculty of Plant Sciences at the University of Hyderabad.
Rajat Srivastava
Ph.D. student (2017- onwards)
Rajat joined the PTRL in 2017. His main research interests include understanding the mechanisms of phosphorus (P) starvation in crops and engineer plants for improved Pi acquisition.
Akash
Ph.D Student (2017- onwards)
Akash joined the PTRL in 2017 as a Ph.D. student. His main research interest is to explore the interrelationships between apoplastic ROS generating enzymes and altered RSA under P deficiency.
Ph.D. Students
Stuti Kujur
Ph.D. student (2018- onwards)
Naorem Ronald Reagan Singh
Ph.D. student (2018- onwards)
Stuti joined PTRL on August 7, 2018. She is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the concerted action of multiple plant hormones during fruit ripening. She is using a CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing toolkit to create a mutant library for selected genes in tomato.
Ronald joined PTRL on August 9, 2018. He is interested in enhancing the agronomic use efficiency of conventional phosphatidic fertilizers with the help of nanotechnology.
Simultaneously, he is characterizing PSI genes for elucidating their role in tomato PSR.
Ph.D. student (2020- onwards)
Abhishek Roychowdhury
Ph.D. student (2022- onwards)
Mukesh Kumar
Abhishek joined the lab in 2019 as a project assistant. In November 2020, he registered himself as a Ph.D. scholar. His main research interests include understanding sugar metabolism and signaling during Pi stress in plants. He is also interested in deciphering the genetic basis of varying PUE in tomato germplasm.
CRISPR-Cas9 editing of candidate PSI genes controlling PSR and AM colonization in tomato