Plant Biotechnology and Nanodiagnostics Lab
The main focus of our lab is on plant biotechnology, with emphasis on the conservation and restoration of
endangered plants (UN-SDG 15) using both in vitro and in vivo tissue culture techniques.
The established tissue culture methods enable us to isolate secondary metabolites, which can be employed for
various medicinal purposes.
We also work on genetic engineering aspects, wherein we isolate and characterize promoters and genes from medicinal
plants for different applications. We have recently isolated three promoters and characterized them in model plants.
Another major focus of our lab is in nanodiagnostics for plant pathology.
We have successfully demonstrated the use of functionalized gold nanoparticles for the development of visual detection
methods for:
- Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) – One patent awarded
- Begomoviruses infecting chilli and tomato – One patent filed
We are further developing these diagnostic methods for various begomoviruses, as they are a large class
of plant viruses causing significant losses in agriculture due to their ability to infect a wide variety of crops.
