Currently, I am serving as an Associate Professor & Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) in Bangladesh with 12 years of teaching and research experiences in the field of plant biochemistry, plant molecular biology, abiotic stress physiology, quantitative genetics, molecular breeding, plant molecular nutrition, and crop functional genomics. At present, I am engaged in research on genetic and molecular mechanisms of nutrient transport and abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants. Enhancement of crops in nutrient and water use efficiency underlying root growth and development is my main research targets.
I am well experienced with research methods and teaching strategies of plant molecular biology. Besides this, I do have experience in high-throughput phenotyping, quantitative genetics and genome analysis in modern plant breeding. I have developed a unique skill set that encompasses genome-wide association studies (GWAS), statistical analysis of phenotypic data, modern molecular tools, transcriptomics, nutrient uptake and transport assays and biochemical analyses.
As a faculty member at university level, I am actively engaged in both teaching and research. In my current role, I have demonstrated genetic and genomic skills through investigation of mechanisms related to abiotic stress tolerance and nitrate transport in crop plants. I also provide mentoring to both my postgraduate students, lab members and to colleagues. Being an active researcher, I supervise several postgraduate students as part of their dissertations. At the same, I teach different aspects of Plant Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at undergraduate and graduate levels. I have presented research findings in many international conferences/symposia in USA, Germany, Japan, and Pakistan.
I also enjoy participating and serving as the guest editor and reviewer in several highly reputed journals. I do have more than 1320 citations in Google Scholar with 20 h-index and +120 impact factor as of today. My future aim of work is to incorporate cutting-edge molecular breeding and biotechnological tools such GWAS, TWAS, gene editing, transgenic, and cloning techniques to get insights into the nutrient uptake/transport and abiotic stress tolerance more precisely.
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A nitrate transceptor homolog NPF2.12 underpin root growth and nitrogen use efficiency in wheat and barley
M. N. Siddiqui 1,2 * , J. Léon 1 , A. Ballvora 1
Understanding the genetic and molecular function of nitrate sensing and acquisition across crop species will accelerate breeding of cultivars with improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Here, we performed a genome-wide scan using wheat and barley accessions characterized under low and high N inputs that uncovered the NPF2.12 gene, encoding a homolog of the Arabidopsis nitrate transceptor NRT1.6 and other low-affinity nitrate transporters that belong to the MAJOR FACILITATOR SUPERFAMILY. Next, it is shown that variations in the NPF2.12 promoter correlated with altered NPF2.12 transcript levels where decreased gene expression was measured under low nitrate availability. Multiple field trials revealed a significantly enhanced N content in leaves and grains and NUE in the presence of the elite allele TaNPF2.12 TT grown under low N conditions. Further, the nitrate reductase encoding gene NIA1 was upregulated in npf2.12 mutant upon low nitrate concentrations, thereby resulting in elevated levels of nitric oxide (NO) production. This increase in NO correlated with the higher root growth, nitrate uptake and N translocation observed in the mutant when compared to wild-type. The presented data indicate that the elite haplotype alleles of NPF2.12 are convergently selected in wheat and barley that by inactivation indirectly contribute to root growth and NUE by activating NO signaling under low nitrate conditions .
1 Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES)-Plant Breeding, University of Bonn, Katzenburgweg 5, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh
* Correspondence: nuralambmb@bsmrau.edu.bd