Research Projects

The study aims to understand the regulation of PI4K-7 mediated plant signaling mechanism post-geminivirus infection and the dynamics of host-virus interaction. The research focuses on the role of PI4K-7 in geminivirus pathogenesis and the potential interacting partners of PI4K-7 in the host plant or virus during plant-virus interactions. The hypothesis is that the geminivirus genome utilizes tomato PI4K-7 machines for its own benefits, and that host and virus genes act as interacting partners to NbPI4K-7 to recruit enzymes for virus pathogenesis. Identification of interacting partners will help clarify the concept of hijacking the host machinery by viruses, which is crucial for developing new strategies for virus control. Uncovering the involvement of other cascades involved in cell PI4K-7-mediated cell signaling and post-translational modifications during virus stress responses will help understand the complex mechanism of host-virus interaction. Methodology will include virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) and transgenic RNAi-based approaches for silencing tomato PI4K-7 to assess plant susceptibility to geminivirus infection. RNA Seq analysis will be used to identify probable changes due to over-expression and down-regulation of the NbPI4K-7 gene. Promising differentially expressed genes will be cloned, and interacting partners from both host and virus will be confirmed. VIGS will be employed to identify the role of newly identified host factors. Promoter assays will be conducted to identify genetic and epigenetic regulation of signaling mechanisms, and biochemical assays will be conducted to characterize the biological functions of this novel kinase, PI4K-7.