Research Projects

Geminiviruses are a group of plant viruses that affect horticultural crops in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide. They belong to the Geminiviridae family, which consists of small, circular, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses with geminate icosahedral shapes. The largest genera are Begomovirus, with Tomato leaf curl Gujarat virus (ToLCGV) being the predominant begomovirus species in India, causing up to 100% crop losses. ToLCGV management is challenging due to vector populations reaching high numbers and developing pesticide resistance. Geminiviruses rely on host factors for viral replication, protein translation, and viral movement. Translation initiation is a highly-regulated step of protein synthesis, accomplished by eukaryotic translational initiation factors (eIFs). Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) has been shown to function in both translation initiation and elongation, transcription, mRNA turnover, intracellular transport of RNA or protein, and proline rich sequence translation. eIF5A in plants alters growth and development by altering flowering time, aerial and root architecture, and modulating hormonal pathways. It also helps plants alleviate high glucose, salt, and elevated ABA stress. Previous studies have reported different expression of eIF5A transcripts and other translational machinery transcripts upon geminivirus infection, suggesting their possible involvement in disease development. To develop novel viral disease resistance in crops, the long-term goal of this project is to focus on functional characterization of eIF5A during viral infection and explore their working mechanisms to determine the host factors responsible for ToLCNDV infection.