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Dr. Monika Dalal

Dr. Monika Dalal
Principal Scientist
Monika[dot]Dalal[at]icar[dot]gov[dot]in
Phone :
7838866740

Discipline: Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

Education:

Ph. D. (2000): Life science, Devi Ahilya University, Indore

PostDoc: Univ. of Arizona, USA and IISc. Bangalore

Research Interest

  • Roots play an important role in drought avoidance in plants. Hence my research interest is to study the molecular-genetic mechanism involved in root growth and development under drought stress in wheat. The work involves identification and functional characterization of genes in model plants including Arabidopsis, tobacco and rice. To understand the genetics of drought tolerance and its component traits, we are also mapping QTLs for drought tolerance in wheat.

Awards & Honors

  • DBT nominee in IBSC of Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, UP
  • Member IBSC of ICAR-IIMR, Ludhiana

Research Articles:

  • Dalal M, Mansi, Mayandi K. (2023) Zoom-in to molecular mechanisms underlying root growth and function under heterogeneous soil environment and abiotic stresses. Planta 258(6), 108.
  • Barman D, Kumar MN, Dalal M, Khan FN, Yadav J, Nagar S, Kumar VS, Singh MP, Sathee L, Krishnan SG, Chinnusamy V. (2023) Identification of rice melatonin receptor OsPMTR and its comparative in silico analysis with arabidopsis AtCAND2 receptor. South African Journal of Botany. 162:813-29.
  • Tiwari S, Muthusamy SK, Roy P, Dalal M. (2023) Genome wide analysis of BREVIS RADIX gene family from wheat (Triticum aestivum): A conserved gene family differentially regulated by hormones and abiotic stresses. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. 232:123081.
  • Azameti MK, Ranjan A, Singh PK, Gaikwad K, Singh AK, Dalal M, Arora A, Rai V, Padaria JC. (2022) Transcriptome profiling reveals the genes and pathways involved in thermo-tolerance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotype Raj 3765. Scientific Reports. 12(1):14831.
  • Maibam A, Nigombam S, Vishwakarma H, Lone SA, Gaikwad K, Mithra SA, Singh MP, Singh SP, Dalal M, Padaria JC (2022) Transcriptome analysis of two contrasting genotypes of pearl millet to gain insight into heat stress responses. Frontiers in Genetics 13:884106. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.884106
  • Azameti MK, SinghPK, Gaikwad K, Dalal M, Arora A, Rai V, Padaria JC. (2022) Isolation and characterization of novel gene tassrp  differentially expressed in Wheat (Triticum aestivumL.) genotypes under heat stress. Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding 82(2): 224-226
  • Choudhury S, Muthusamy SK, Padaria JC, Dalal M (2021) Genome-wide identification of Ran GTPase family genes from wheat (T. aestivum) and their expression profile during developmental stages and abiotic stress conditions. Functional & Integrative Genomics. 21(2):239-50.
  • Singh BK, Ramkumar MK, Dalal M, Singh A, Solanke AU, Singh NK, Sevanthi AM (2021) Allele mining for a drought responsive gene DRO1 determining root growth angle in donors of drought tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants. 27(3):523-34
  • Kumar RR, Dubey K, Arora K, Dalal M, Rai GK, Mishra D, Chaturvedi KK, Rai A, Kumar SN, Singh B, Chinnusamy V (2021) Characterizing the putative mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and their protective role in oxidative stress tolerance and carbon assimilation in wheat under terminal heat stress. Biotechnology Reports. 1;29:e00597.
  • Awakale P, Tiwari S, Vinod, Dalal M (2020) Osmotic stress induced root growth and regulation of root development related genes in progenitors of wheat. Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding, 80(3) 334-338.
  • Elangovan A, Dalal M, Krishna GK, Devika S, Kumar RR, Sathee L, Chinnusamy V (2020) Characterization of atypical protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) genes and their role in abiotic stress response in rice. Plants. 9(5):664.
  • Mahmoud D, Pandey R, Sathee L, Dalal M, Singh MP, Chinnusamy V (2020) Regulation of expression of genes associated with nitrate response by osmotic stress and combined osmotic and nitrogen deficiency stress in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Plant Physiology Reports. 25(2):200-15.
  • Das M, Dalal M, Chinnusamy V (2020) Kinetic properties of recombinant phosphomimic mutant of Zea mays phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (ZmPEPCS15D). Plant Physiology Reports. 25(1):1-8.
  • Smita S, Katiyar A, Lenka SK, Dalal M, Kumar A, Mahtha SK, Yadav G, Chinnusamy V, Pandey DM, Bansal KC (2020) Gene network modules associated with abiotic stress response in tolerant rice genotypes identified by transcriptome meta-analysis. Functional & Integrative Genomics. 20(1):29-49.
  • Rani M, Mahato AK, Sinha SK, Dalal M, Singh NK, Mandal PK (2019) Homeologue specific gene expression analysis of two vital carbon metabolizing enzymes citrate synthase and NADP-isocitrate dehydrogenase from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under nitrogen stress. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. 188(3):569-84.
  • Dalal M, Sahu S, Tiwari S, Rao AR, Gaikwad K (2018) Transcriptome analysis reveals interplay between hormones, ROS metabolism and cell wall biosynthesis for drought-induced root growth in wheat. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 1;130:482-92.
  • Sharma L, Dalal M, Verma RK, Kumar SV, Yadav SK, Pushkar S, Kushwaha SR, Bhowmik A, Chinnusamy V (2018) Auxin protects spikelet fertility and grain yield under drought and heat stresses in rice. Environmental and Experimental Botany. 1;150:9-24.
  • Muthusamy SK, Dalal M, Chinnusamy V, Bansal KC (2017) Genome-wide identification and analysis of biotic and abiotic stress regulation of small heat shock protein (HSP20) family genes in bread wheat. Journal of Plant Physiology. 1;211:100-13.
  • Muthusamy SK, Dalal M, Chinnusamy V, Bansal KC (2016) Differential regulation of genes coding for organelle and cytosolic ClpATPases under biotic and abiotic stresses in wheat. Frontiers in Plant Science. 28;7:929.
  • RK Gupta, M Dalal, G Thomas, PR Choudhury, PK Mandal (2016) Relationship Between HMW Glutenin Subunit and Bread Making Quality of Wheat in Indian Cultivars. Advances in Life Sciences 5, 3008-3015.
  • Rakshit S, Swapna M, Dalal M, Sushma G, Ganapathy KN, Dhandapani A, Karthikeyan M, Talwar HS (2016) Post-flowering drought stress response of post-rainy sorghum genotypes. Indian Journal of Plant Physiology. 21(1):8-14.
  • Dalal M, Inupakutika M (2014) Transcriptional regulation of ABA core signaling component genes in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench). Molecular Breeding. 34(3)::1517–1525
  • Gorthy S, Mayandi K., Faldu D, Dalal M (2013) Molecular characterization of allelic variation in spontaneous brown midrib mutants of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L Moench). Molecular Breeding. 31(4):795–803
  • Dalal M, Sandeep Kumar G, Mayandi K (2013) Identification and expression analysis of group 3 LEA family genes in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor L. Moench]. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum. 35(3):979–984
  • Shrivastava D,  Dalal M, Nain V, Sharma PC, Ananda Kumar P (2011) Targeted integration of Bacillus thuringiensis d-endotoxin cry1Fa1 in brinjal (Solanum melongena L.). Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy, 5 (2) 1149-1156
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  • Dalal M, Chinnusamy V, Bansal KC (2013) Abiotic stress response of transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing Brassica napus group 1 LEA genes. Proc Indian natn Sci Acad 79: 57-64
  • Dalal M, Chinnusamy V, Bansal KC (2010) Isolation and functional characterization of Lycopene β-cyclase (CYC-B) promoter from Solanum habrochaites. BMC Plant Biol 10(1):1-5.
  • Dalal M, Dani RG, Kumar PA (2006) Current trends in the genetic engineering of vegetable crops. Scientia Horticulturae. 6;107(3):215-25.
  • Dalal M, Tayal D, Chinnusamy V, Bansal KC (2009) Abiotic stress and ABA-inducible Group 4 LEA from Brassica napus plays a key role in salt and drought tolerance. J Biotechnol 139: 137-45
  • Nain V, Jaiswal R, Dalal M, Ramesh B, Kumar PA (2005) Polymerase chain reaction analysis of transgenic plants contaminated by Agrobacterium. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter. 23(1): 59-65.
  • Bhalla R, Dalal M, Panguluri SK, Jagadish B, Mandaokar AD, Singh AK, Kumar PA (2005) Isolation, characterization and expression of a novel vegetative insecticidal protein gene of Bacillus thuringiensis. FEMS microbiology letters. 1;243(2): 467-472
  • Khanna-Chopra R, Moinuddin, Dalal M, Bhatia S, Patil RV, Sinha SK. (2004). Grass-dwarf genetic system for generating variability in plant height and other traits in wheat. Journal of Plant Biology 31: 125-130.
  • Manjunatha UH*, Dalal M*, Chatterji M, Radha DR, Visweswariah SS, Nagaraja V. (2002). Functional characterization of mycobacterial DNA gyrase: an efficient decatenase. Nucleic Acids Research 15;30(10): 2144-53 * Joint first authors
  • Dalal M, Khanna-Chopra R (2001) Differential response of antioxidant enzymes in leaves of necrotic wheat hybrids and their parents. Physiologia Plantarum. 111(3): 297-304
  • Dalal M, Vijayalakshmi KVS, Khanna-Chopra R, Bharti S (1999) Ear culture as a technique to overcome hybrid necrosis in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Plant Cell, Tissue & Organ Culture 59: 151-154
  • Dalal M, Khanna-Chopra R (1999) Lipid peroxidation is an early event in necrosis of wheat hybrid. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications.19;262(1): 109-112
  • Khanna-Chopra R, Dalal M, Pradeep Kumar G, Laloraya M (1998) A genetic system involving superoxide causes F1 necrosis in wheat (T. aestivum L.). Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 30;248(3): 712-715

Book Chapter

  • Dalal, M., Sharma, T. R. (2017). Biotechnological Applications for Improvement of Drought Tolerance. In Abiotic Stress Management for Resilient Agriculture(pp. 299-312). Springer, Singapore.
  • Dalal M. (2016). Sorghum: Transformation and regeneration. In Compendium of Plant Genomes: Sorghum. (Rakshit S, Campbell B & Godwin I, eds.), Ch.5, Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
  • Dalal M, Chinnusamy V. (2015) ABA Receptors: Prospects for enhancing biotic and abiotic stress. In: Elucidation of Abiotic Stress Signaling in Plants. A Functional Genomic Perspective (Pandey GK, eds), Ch.10, Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
  • Dalal M, Chinnusamy V (2014) Molecular genetic approaches for improvement of drought tolerance in rice. In Abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants. Ed by Dr.M.Prakash and Dr. K.Balakrishnan.). Satish Serial Publishing house, Delhi. p.1-22.ISBN. 978-93-81226-92-6.
  • Chinnusamy V, Dalal M, Zhu J-K (2013) Epigenetic regulation of abiotic stress responses in plants. Chapter 8 In Plant Abiotic Stress, Second Edition. Edited by Matthew A. Jenks and Paul M. Hasegawa. John Wiley & Sons, Inc
  • Dalal M, Mayandi K., Chinnusamy V (2012) Sorghum: Improvement of Abiotic Stress Tolerance. In Improving crop resistance to abiotic stress,. .Ed. Tuteja N., Gill S. S., Tiburcio A. F., and Tuteja R. by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KgaA
  • Dalal M, Ananda Kumar P (2006) Chapter 5. Transgenic vegetables for pharmaceutical and industrial applications. In: Plant Biotechnology: Perspectives and Prospects: Ed. Trivedi PC, Pointer Publishers, Jaipur, India, ISBN 81-7132-446-0, pp: 110-123
  • Dalal M, Kumar PA (2005) Biotechnology of vegetable crops: Current Trends. Proceedings of AP Akademi of Sciences 9: 219-228
Name Designation Education Mobile Number Profile Picture
R Hari Chandana MSc student BSc (Agricultural Sciences)
Samrita Garnaik PhD student MSc (Molecular Biology & Biotechnology)
Kanishk Diwekar PhD student MSc (Molecular Biology & Biotechnology)
Anuj Kumar PhD student MSc (Molecular Biology & Biotechnology)
Muhammed Shamnas v PhD student MSc (Molecular Biology & Biotechnology)
Kanchan BM Singh SRF PhD
Name Designation
Priyanka Kumari MSc
Muhammed Shamnas v MSc
Akash Paul MSc
Amresh Kumar JRF/SRF