Patents/ Varieties/ / Genetic Stocks/ Copyright

·      Patent: Method and apparatus for side view imaging for field phenotyping of crop biomass and growth

·      Released wheat varieties: HD3086, HD3118, HS562, HD3237, HD3086, HD3271 (as collaborator)

·      Genome edited variety (under advance trial): Rice cv. MTU1010 (DST gene) with improved yield and abiotic stress tolerance (lead developer)

·   Genetic Stocks: Black gram: IC530491, IC519933 - Waterlogging tolerance (lead developer); Wheat: IC128335 - Drought tolerance (as collaborator); Wild bean: IC259504 - High protein content (as collaborator); Rice: NERICA L-44 - Heat tolerance (as collaborator)

·      Copyright: CRISP-PTG-ASSEMBLER, VER.1.0; Drought Predictor

Significant Research Achievements

Abiotic Stress Physiology and Climate Change

·         An ideotype of wheat for rainfed conditions was proposed, characterized by long ears with more spikelets, extended peduncle, broad horizontal leaves, deep roots, and grain filling synchronized with ~25°C mean maximum temperature for at least five weeks.

·         Climate change research using Open Top Chambers and Free Air CO₂ Enrichment in wheat, rice, pulses, and mustard showed that elevated CO₂ enhanced photosynthesis, biomass, and yield, but these benefits were negated at higher temperatures.  

• Phenotyping of 6,200 genotypes including wheat, rice, mung bean, lentil, sesame and Brassica for traits related to drought, heat, salinity, nutrient use efficiency under controlled/field conditions led to identification of trait-specific donors.
• Potential candidate genes/QTLs were identified for stress tolerance and nutrient use efficiency using marker-trait association studies.
• Ear-waxiness and long awns in wheat improves thermo-tolerance by dissipating excess heat and lowering canopy temperature.
• Seed setting at high night temperature in tolerant wheat cultivar is attributed to the homeostatic control of reactive oxygen species and hormonal re-adjustment in pistils.
• Increased thermostability, higher activity, and catalytic efficiency of Soluble Starch Synthase confers higher heat tolerance in developing maize grains compared to wheat.

Photosynthesis and Source Sink relations

·         Under moderate heat stress, decrease in photosynthesis in wheat was primarily due to reduced activation of Rubisco enzyme by Rubisco activase.

·         Diploid wheat exhibited higher photosynthesis than tetraploid and hexaploid, which declined post-anthesis due to low sink demand, indicating sink regulation of photosynthesis.

·         Mung bean showed a strong response to elevated CO₂ owing to its unlimited sink capacity and absence of end-product inhibition from leaf starch accumulation.

·         Cultivated Brassica species (B. oleracea, B. campestris, B. carinata, and B. juncea) exhibited significantly lower photosynthetic rates than their wild relatives, and reciprocal crosses revealed maternal (cytoplasmic) inheritance of this trait.

·         Photosynthesis of fruiting structures (ear, pod, bract, silique) in wheat, chickpea, sunflower and Brassica contributes significantly to seed development under restricted soil moisture.

Crop Physiology

·           The base temperature for grain filling in wheat was identified as 7.5^oC, providing a critical input in crop modelling for estimating grain yields in India.

·           All Brassica species can be induced to flower synchronously within 23–28 days under controlled conditions (16 h photoperiod, 27/17°C day/night), a finding highly relevant for speed breeding/rapid generation advancement.

·           Leaf architecture influences productivity—wheat varieties with smaller leaves showed higher photosynthetic rates and reduced canopy shading, resulting in improved yield.

·           An ideotype for higher productivity in Brassica was proposed, characterized by a plant height of 1.0–1.25 m, a main stem with 7–10 small thick leaves, 5–6 primary branches in the upper region, a main raceme with ~40 pods, lower and upper branches bearing ~15 and 20 pods respectively, and pods with ~20 seeds.

·           New wheat plant type with longer ears bearing more spikelets per ear, rather than more grains per spikelet, was proposed to enhance productivity.

Postharvest Physiology

• Postharvest treatment with 1-methyl cyclopropene @ 0.3µL L^-1 for 4 h can delay tomato fruit ripening by 18 to 24 days (18-20°C) or 4 to 14 days (25-28°C).
• Size of stem scar region of tomato fruits serves as a simple and quantifiable morphological selection criterion for screening/breeding for slow-ripening types. Small scar region is positively associated with late ripening.
• Development of reflectance-based models for non-destructive assessment of quality and nutritional parameters (colour, ripeness, maturity, lycopene, firmness, carotenoids) of tomato fruits. 

Mineral Nutrition

• Selection of cultivar with high nitrate reductase activity in flag leaves and split dose of nitrogen fertilization is recommended in wheat to improve the nitrogen use efficiency.
• Root exudation index, a physiological marker developed for efficient phosphorus acquisition in soybean.
• A rapid method using Bromocresol purple developed to quantify rhizospheric acidification for screening genotypes for low phosphorus stress tolerance.  
• Shoot labelling with ¹⁴CO₂, a technique developed to quantify total root carbon exudation under phosphorus stress.
• ‘PusaRicH’ hydroponics media optimized for raising rice seedlings by modifying the nutrient concentration, pH and ratio of NH₄⁺ to NO₃^– nitrogen.
• Single foliar application of humic acid with iron at anthesis or grain-filling stage improves grain Fe content in wheat.
• Elevated CO₂-induced production of nitric oxide differentially modulates nitrate assimilation and root growth of wheat seedlings in a nitrate dose-dependent manner.

Biostimulants/Bioregulators

• Bioregulators based formulations “BATANNIN” and “NATU” were developed for enhancing the yield of chickpea.
• Protocols for enhancing seed vigour through magnetopriming were developed across crops, and the signaling role of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in vigor enhancement was elucidated.

Molecular Physiology/Genome Editing

• Transgenic tomato developed by overexpressing ethylene receptor gene, GgERS1, reduced ethylene production across plant tissues and delayed ripening under Ethrel treatment.
• Overexpression of several genes in rice showed regulation of various physiological processes: OsMMP1 – reduced biomass and increased drought and salinity sensitivity; OsPMTR – stunted growth; OsFTA – ABA hypersensitivity and early flowering under stress; OsPP10 – improved seedling osmotic and salinity tolerance; OsSTOMAGEN – improved water-use efficiency.
• Development of Pusa DST Rice1 through genome editing of DST gene in mega rice cv. MTU1010 with a yield advantage of 10-30% under saline and alkaline conditions.
• The Division is leading ICAR-EFC Mega project on Genome editing across diverse crops. Currently 24 institutes targeting 178 genes in 24 crops and 4 insect species.