Mucormycosis (MM), commonly referred to as ‘Black Fungus’ was a relatively lesser-known fungal in... more Mucormycosis (MM), commonly referred to as ‘Black Fungus’ was a relatively lesser-known fungal infection until the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. However, amidst the global Covid-19 outbreak, it emerged as a widespread fungal infection causing significant morbidity and mortality. In India, the recorded incidence of MM was approximately 80% higher than in the rest of the world due to a higher prevalence of specific pre-disposing factors, causal organisms, clinical manifestations, and intriguing epidemiological trends. This study compared the MM case-control studies conducted in India before the Covid-19 pandemic and during the current pandemic to comprehend the impact of Covid-19 on the surge in MM cases. Our findings demonstrate that MM is a distinct condition which is not solely dependent on Covid-19. Interestingly, the trends of association of MM with comorbidities like diabetes and its greater prevalence in male gender remains consistent in both study periods. The increased occurren...
Biologically active secondary metabolites, essential oils, and volatile compounds derived from me... more Biologically active secondary metabolites, essential oils, and volatile compounds derived from medicinal and aromatic plants play a crucial role in promoting human health. Within the large family Asteraceae, the genus Artemisia consists of approximately 500 species. Artemisia species have a rich history in traditional medicine worldwide, offering remedies for a wide range of ailments, such as malaria, jaundice, toothache, gastrointestinal problems, wounds, inflammatory diseases, diarrhoea, menstrual pains, skin disorders, headache, and intestinal parasites. The therapeutic potential of Artemisia species is derived from a multitude of phytoconstituents, including terpenoids, phenols, flavonoids, coumarins, sesquiterpene lactones, lignans, and alkaloids that serve as active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). The remarkable antimalarial, antimicrobial, anthelmintic, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antispasmodic, antioxidative and insecticidal properties possessed by the spe...
Wheat production losses due to boron (B) toxicity can be reduced by breeding and growing modern w... more Wheat production losses due to boron (B) toxicity can be reduced by breeding and growing modern wheat cultivars with a greater tolerance to high B. However, breeding of tolerant genotypes is possible by identifying B-tolerant wheat genetic resources and understanding their underlying molecular mechanism. Triticum dicoccum, despite being one of the oldest cultivated wheat species, mostly remained neglected and has been less explored for its potential towards abiotic stresses. In this study, for the first time, we report a B-toxicity-tolerant T. dicoccum genotype, PI94655, and its transcriptomic response towards high-B treatment (10 mM B) using RNA sequencing and RT-qPCR. More than 450 genes were significantly differentially expressed in the shoots of PI94655 under high B. A total 3237 novel genes and 12,206 novel transcripts were determined in the study. AP2-EREBP, MYB, and C3H were the families with the highest percentages of differentially expressed transcription factors (TFs) unde...
Crop wild relatives (CWRs), landraces and exotic germplasm are important sources of genetic varia... more Crop wild relatives (CWRs), landraces and exotic germplasm are important sources of genetic variability, alien alleles, and useful crop traits that can help mitigate a plethora of abiotic and biotic stresses and crop yield reduction arising due to global climatic changes. In the pulse crop genus Lens, the cultivated varieties have a narrow genetic base due to recurrent selections, genetic bottleneck and linkage drag. The collection and characterization of wild Lens germplasm resources have offered new avenues for the genetic improvement and development of stress-tolerant, climate-resilient lentil varieties with sustainable yield gains to meet future food and nutritional requirements. Most of the lentil breeding traits such as high-yield, adaptation to abiotic stresses and resistance to diseases are quantitative and require the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for marker assisted selection and breeding. Advances in genetic diversity studies, genome mapping and advance...
Investigated for more than a century now, B chromosomes (Bs) research has come a long way from Bs... more Investigated for more than a century now, B chromosomes (Bs) research has come a long way from Bs being considered parasitic or neutral to becoming unselfish and bringing benefits to their hosts. B chromosomes exist as accessory chromosomes along with the standard A chromosomes (As) across eukaryotic taxa. Represented singly or in multiple copies, B chromosomes are largely heterochromatic but also contain euchromatic and organellar segments. Although B chromosomes are derived entities, they follow their species-specific evolutionary pattern. B chromosomes fail to pair with the standard chromosomes during meiosis and vary in their number, size, composition and structure across taxa and ensure their successful transmission through non-mendelian mechanisms like mitotic, pre-meiotic, meiotic or post-meiotic drives, unique non-disjunction, self-pairing or even imparting benefits to the host when they lack drive. B chromosomes have been associated with cellular processes like sex determin...
CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas (CRISPR-associated) system... more CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas (CRISPR-associated) system was initially discovered as an underlying mechanism for conferring adaptive immunity to bacteria and archaea against viruses. Over the past decade, this has been repurposed as a genome-editing tool. Numerous gene editing-based crop improvement technologies involving CRISPR/Cas platforms individually or in combination with next-generation sequencing methods have been developed that have revolutionized plant genome-editing methodologies. Initially, CRISPR/Cas nucleases replaced the earlier used sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs), such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), to address the problem of associated off-targets. The adaptation of this platform led to the development of concepts such as epigenome editing, base editing, and prime editing. Epigenome editing employed epi-effectors to manipulate chromatin structure, while base ed...
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein evolution during the f... more Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein evolution during the first and second wave of COVID-19 infections in India. Materials & Methods: Detailed mutation analysis was done in 763 samples taken from GISAID for the ten most affected Indian states between March 2020 to August 2021. Results: The study revealed 242 mutations corresponding to 207 sites. Fifty one novel mutations emerged during the assessment period, including many with higher transmissibility and immune evasion functions. Highest number of mutations per spike protein also rose from 5 (first wave) to 13 (second wave). Conclusion: The study identified mutation-rich and no mutation regions in the spike protein. The conserved spike regions can be useful for designing future diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.
Mucormycosis (MM), commonly referred to as ‘Black Fungus’ was a relatively lesser-known fungal in... more Mucormycosis (MM), commonly referred to as ‘Black Fungus’ was a relatively lesser-known fungal infection until the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. However, amidst the global Covid-19 outbreak, it emerged as a widespread fungal infection causing significant morbidity and mortality. In India, the recorded incidence of MM was approximately 80% higher than in the rest of the world due to a higher prevalence of specific pre-disposing factors, causal organisms, clinical manifestations, and intriguing epidemiological trends. This study compared the MM case-control studies conducted in India before the Covid-19 pandemic and during the current pandemic to comprehend the impact of Covid-19 on the surge in MM cases. Our findings demonstrate that MM is a distinct condition which is not solely dependent on Covid-19. Interestingly, the trends of association of MM with comorbidities like diabetes and its greater prevalence in male gender remains consistent in both study periods. The increased occurren...
Biologically active secondary metabolites, essential oils, and volatile compounds derived from me... more Biologically active secondary metabolites, essential oils, and volatile compounds derived from medicinal and aromatic plants play a crucial role in promoting human health. Within the large family Asteraceae, the genus Artemisia consists of approximately 500 species. Artemisia species have a rich history in traditional medicine worldwide, offering remedies for a wide range of ailments, such as malaria, jaundice, toothache, gastrointestinal problems, wounds, inflammatory diseases, diarrhoea, menstrual pains, skin disorders, headache, and intestinal parasites. The therapeutic potential of Artemisia species is derived from a multitude of phytoconstituents, including terpenoids, phenols, flavonoids, coumarins, sesquiterpene lactones, lignans, and alkaloids that serve as active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). The remarkable antimalarial, antimicrobial, anthelmintic, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antispasmodic, antioxidative and insecticidal properties possessed by the spe...
Wheat production losses due to boron (B) toxicity can be reduced by breeding and growing modern w... more Wheat production losses due to boron (B) toxicity can be reduced by breeding and growing modern wheat cultivars with a greater tolerance to high B. However, breeding of tolerant genotypes is possible by identifying B-tolerant wheat genetic resources and understanding their underlying molecular mechanism. Triticum dicoccum, despite being one of the oldest cultivated wheat species, mostly remained neglected and has been less explored for its potential towards abiotic stresses. In this study, for the first time, we report a B-toxicity-tolerant T. dicoccum genotype, PI94655, and its transcriptomic response towards high-B treatment (10 mM B) using RNA sequencing and RT-qPCR. More than 450 genes were significantly differentially expressed in the shoots of PI94655 under high B. A total 3237 novel genes and 12,206 novel transcripts were determined in the study. AP2-EREBP, MYB, and C3H were the families with the highest percentages of differentially expressed transcription factors (TFs) unde...
Crop wild relatives (CWRs), landraces and exotic germplasm are important sources of genetic varia... more Crop wild relatives (CWRs), landraces and exotic germplasm are important sources of genetic variability, alien alleles, and useful crop traits that can help mitigate a plethora of abiotic and biotic stresses and crop yield reduction arising due to global climatic changes. In the pulse crop genus Lens, the cultivated varieties have a narrow genetic base due to recurrent selections, genetic bottleneck and linkage drag. The collection and characterization of wild Lens germplasm resources have offered new avenues for the genetic improvement and development of stress-tolerant, climate-resilient lentil varieties with sustainable yield gains to meet future food and nutritional requirements. Most of the lentil breeding traits such as high-yield, adaptation to abiotic stresses and resistance to diseases are quantitative and require the identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for marker assisted selection and breeding. Advances in genetic diversity studies, genome mapping and advance...
Investigated for more than a century now, B chromosomes (Bs) research has come a long way from Bs... more Investigated for more than a century now, B chromosomes (Bs) research has come a long way from Bs being considered parasitic or neutral to becoming unselfish and bringing benefits to their hosts. B chromosomes exist as accessory chromosomes along with the standard A chromosomes (As) across eukaryotic taxa. Represented singly or in multiple copies, B chromosomes are largely heterochromatic but also contain euchromatic and organellar segments. Although B chromosomes are derived entities, they follow their species-specific evolutionary pattern. B chromosomes fail to pair with the standard chromosomes during meiosis and vary in their number, size, composition and structure across taxa and ensure their successful transmission through non-mendelian mechanisms like mitotic, pre-meiotic, meiotic or post-meiotic drives, unique non-disjunction, self-pairing or even imparting benefits to the host when they lack drive. B chromosomes have been associated with cellular processes like sex determin...
CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas (CRISPR-associated) system... more CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)/Cas (CRISPR-associated) system was initially discovered as an underlying mechanism for conferring adaptive immunity to bacteria and archaea against viruses. Over the past decade, this has been repurposed as a genome-editing tool. Numerous gene editing-based crop improvement technologies involving CRISPR/Cas platforms individually or in combination with next-generation sequencing methods have been developed that have revolutionized plant genome-editing methodologies. Initially, CRISPR/Cas nucleases replaced the earlier used sequence-specific nucleases (SSNs), such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), to address the problem of associated off-targets. The adaptation of this platform led to the development of concepts such as epigenome editing, base editing, and prime editing. Epigenome editing employed epi-effectors to manipulate chromatin structure, while base ed...
Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein evolution during the f... more Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein evolution during the first and second wave of COVID-19 infections in India. Materials & Methods: Detailed mutation analysis was done in 763 samples taken from GISAID for the ten most affected Indian states between March 2020 to August 2021. Results: The study revealed 242 mutations corresponding to 207 sites. Fifty one novel mutations emerged during the assessment period, including many with higher transmissibility and immune evasion functions. Highest number of mutations per spike protein also rose from 5 (first wave) to 13 (second wave). Conclusion: The study identified mutation-rich and no mutation regions in the spike protein. The conserved spike regions can be useful for designing future diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics.
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Papers by Vijay Rajpal