Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF)

The MYB (Myeloblastosis) superfamily is one of the most abundant transcription factors (TFs) families in plants. Among four classes of MYB TFs, R2R3-MYB class TFs are extensively amplified in plants. The R2R3-MYB TFs have diverse functions such as abiotic stress response, secondary metabolism, cell fate and identity and developmental processes. The role of one such R2R3-MYB TF, AtMYB96, has been reported in enhancing drought stress tolerance and increase in seed oil content. Brassica, one of the important oilseed crops in India, are constantly facing reduction in their potential yield due to drought stress. It limits the crop life and eventually has a direct effect on the total oil production. To address this problem, I am working on to identify and characterize selected R2R3-MYB TFs involved in drought tolerance and seed oil production in model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica which will assist in the understanding of the complex transcriptional regulatory networks controlled by R2R3-MYB TFs. The proposed study is important because of need of drought tolerant crops in coming years owing to the increasing trend of earth temperature.