Research Projects

Flavonoids are accumulated in different banana cultivars, with many accumulating the least amount in the edible part of the fruit. Flavonoid synthesis has been extensively studied in many plant species, but the epigenetic regulatory mechanism of flavonoid biosynthesis has not been explored well. In the highly cold and drought-prone banana Cavendish cultivar (AAA), the regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis might be an important aspect in terms of stress resilience. The researchers aim to identify the key epigenetic players that regulate flavonoid synthesis in different tissues and cultivars of banana. These players include DNA methylation, chromatic remodeling, histone modifications, and RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM). AGO (Argonaute) directs DNA methylation, interacts with sGs and DRM, and produces small interfering RNA (siRNA) in a DNA-methylation dependent manner. JMJ (Jumonji) removes methyl groups from H3 and sET domain proteins add methyl to H3, possibly regulating MYB genes. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) is another important candidate, and H3K4 and H3K9 methylase are essential for epigenetic and si-RNA mediated gene silencing based negative regulation of flavonoids synthesis. Focusing on flavonol metabolite could be helpful for CRIsPR-based genome editing of flavonol-enriched banana by mutating the repressors of flavonol synthesis.