Research Areas

We work on the biochemistry and molecular biology of plant ClpB/Hsp100 proteins particularly in reference to the possible roles these proteins perform in governing the adaptation of plants to heat stress. We use rice as crop system and Arabidopsis as test system. Our current areas of work are shown in the model below.

What is immediate next:

We have interest in the following areas of rice Hsp100 biology:-

• Biochemical and molecular details of rice Clps.
• Assays of chaperoning activities of rice Clps.
• Analysis of the efficacy of rice Clps vis-a-vis similar proteins from other organisms in governing heat tolerance phenotype.
• Interactome details of rice Clps with other Hsps, particularly with Hsp20, Hsp40 and Hsp70 proteins.
• Transcriptional regulation of rice Clps synthesis (including analysis of the cis-acting HSE sequences as well as the trans-acting Hsfs).
• Translational regulation of rice Clps synthesis.

Where we want to reach?

• We believe that for the ClpB-C to perform the important role in survival under heat stress regimes, it is important that this protein is expressed in an optimal titer under stress-regulated conditions and mechanisms thereof need to be worked out.
• It is likely the case that there are partner proteins which modulate the cellular activities of ClpB-C/Hsp100 protein. We wish to identify such partners.
• We wish to regulate the expression of ClpB-C/Hsp100 by suitably altering its transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational and post-translational machinery.
• We wish to identify the extent of natural variations in ClpB-C/Hsp100 proteins. We wish to ask can such variants be generated?