Research Projects

Sphingolipids are crucial for plants' endurance to biotic and abiotic stress, with most research in this field being done in Arabidopsis. However, there are significant differences in the composition of sphingolipids in monocots and dicots, and less is known about their function in rice. The study aims to investigate the role of sphingolipids in plant pathogen interaction and immunity, specifically focusing on the interaction between rice and its bacterial pathogen, Xanthomonas oryzae pv oryzae (Xoo). The main focus is to determine if sphingolipids play a role in the perception of Xoo, how they interact with downstream regulatory proteins, and regulate hormonal action in rice. The study will investigate the alteration of sphingolipid composition in rice by fungal toxin (FB1) application and the generation of mutants lacking a key sphingolipids synthesis enzyme, Ceramide synthase. The study will also monitor the disease susceptibility, growth, and developmental ability of the mutants, and use hormonal profiling to better understand the connection between sphingolipid signaling and hormonal signaling.