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Previous appointments:

Research Associate, Botany Department, Bose Institute, Kolkata

Post Doctoral Scholar, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, USA.

Post Doctoral Scholar, Division of Molecular Medicine, Anesthesiology Department, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA.

Assistant Researcher, Division of Molecular Medicine, Anesthesiology Department, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA.

Research interests:

Unravelling the active gene-regulatory circuit during pathogen stress in plant

Contact:

Address: Biological Sciences
Unified Academic Campus
Bose Institute
EN-80, Sector V
Bidhan Nagar
Kolkata - 700 091, India
E-Mail: pkundu[at]jcbose.ac.in
Phone: +91-33-25693240

Research:

We are investigating the transcriptional and post transcriptional regulatory mechanisms of gene expression cascade activated during biotic stress response in plant. Plants respond to a stress by reprogramming of existing gene expression cascade which provides robustness and specificity to the response. Regulation of initiation of transcription and microRNA (miRNA)-mediated posttranscriptional gene-silencing have crucial roles in this process.

Using tomato plant and various pathogens, and utilizing genomics, molecular biological and plant biotechnological tools our research programmes include Genome-wide analysis of Alternaria stress-responsive microRNAs and their targets Analysis of mechanism of regulation of expression of miRNAs during stress. Studies on molecular signalling associated with disease symptom manifestation. Investigating the signalling cascade leading to the activation of membrane-bound
Using tomato plant and various pathogens, and utilizing genomics, molecular biological and plant biotechnological tools our research programmes include
  1. Genome-wide analysis of Alternaria stress-responsive microRNAs and their targets
  2. Analysis of mechanism of regulation of expression of miRNAs during stress.
  3. Studies on molecular signalling associated with disease symptom manifestation.
  4. Investigating the signalling cascade leading to the activation of membrane-bound 
  5. NAC transcription factors (NAC MTFs)

Publications:

Das, R., Mukherjee, A., Basak, S., & Kundu, P. (2021). Plant miRNA responses under temperature stress. Plant Gene, 28, 100317.

Chowdhury, S., Bhattacharjee, P., Basak, S., Chowdhury, S., & Kundu, P. (2019). Method to Study Dynamics of Membrane-Bound Plant Transcription Factors During Biotic Interactions in Tomato. In Plant Innate Immunity (pp. 61-68). Humana, New York, NY.

Jodder, J., Das, R., Sarkar, D., Bhattacharjee, P., & Kundu, P. (2018). Distinct transcriptional and processing regulations control miR167a level in tomato during stress. RNA biology, 15(1), 130-143.

Jodder, J., Basak, S., Das, R., & Kundu, P. (2017). Coherent regulation of miR167a biogenesis and expression of auxin signaling pathway genes during bacterial stress in tomato. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, 100, 97-105.

Sarkar D, Maji RK, Dey S, Sarkar A, Ghosh Z and Kundu P, Integrated miRNA and mRNA expression profiling reveals the response regulators of a susceptible tomato cultivar to early blight disease, DNA Research, 2017.


Jana J, Mondal S, Bhattacharjee P, Sengupta P, Roychowdhury T, Saha P, Kundu P, Chatterjee S. Chelerythrine down regulates expression of VEGFA, BCL2 and KRAS by arresting G-Quadruplex structures at their promoter regions. Sci Rep. 2017 Jan 19;7:40706. doi: 10.1038/srep40706. PubMed PMID: 28102286; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5244364.

 

 

Bhattacharjee P, Das R, Mandal A, Kundu P. Functional characterization of tomato membrane-bound NAC transcription factors. Plant Mol Biol. 2016 Dec 30.doi: 10.1007/s11103-016-0579-z. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 28039561.

 

 

Mandal A, Sarkar D, Kundu S, Kundu P. Mechanism of regulation of tomato TRN1 gene expression in late infection with tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus(ToLCNDV). Plant Sci. 2015 Dec;241:221-37. doi:10.1016/j.plantsci.2015.10.008.PubMed PMID: 26706073.

 

 

Datta A, Kundu P, Bhunia A. Designing potent antimicrobial peptides by disulphide linked dimerization and N-terminal lipidation to increase antimicrobial activity and membrane perturbation: Structural insights into lipopolysaccharide binding. J Colloid Interface Sci. 2016 Jan 1;461:335-45. doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2015.09.036. PubMed PMID: 26407061.

 

 

Datta A, Ghosh A, Airoldi C, Sperandeo P, Mroue KH, Jiménez-Barbero J, Kundu P, Ramamoorthy A, Bhunia A. Antimicrobial Peptides: Insights into Membrane Permeabilization, Lipopolysaccharide Fragmentation and Application in Plant Disease Control. Sci Rep. 2015 Jul 6;5:11951. doi: 10.1038/srep11951. PubMed PMID: 26144972; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4491704.

 

 

Kundu P, Li M, Lu R, Stefani E, Toro L. Regulation of transcriptional activation function of rat estrogen receptor α (ERα) by novel C-terminal splice inserts. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2015 Feb 5;401:202-12. doi:10.1016/j.mce.2014.11.001. PubMed PMID: 25451981; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4312711.

 

 

Morera FJ, Alioua A, Kundu P, Salazar M, Gonzalez C, Martinez AD, Stefani E,Toro L, Latorre R. The first transmembrane domain (TM1) of β2-subunit binds to the transmembrane domain S1 of α-subunit in BK potassium channels. FEBS Lett.2012 Jul 30;586(16):2287-93. doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2012.05.066. PubMed PMID:22710124; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3568673.

 

 

Danesh SM*, Kundu P*, Lu R, Stefani E, Toro L. Distinct transcriptional regulation of human large conductance voltage- and calcium-activated K+ channel gene (hSlo1) by activated estrogen receptor alpha and c-Src tyrosine kinase. J Biol Chem. 2011 Sep 9;286(36):31064-71. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M111.235457. PubMed PMID: 21757754; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3173123. * Equal Authorship

 

 

Li M, Tanaka Y, Alioua A, Wu Y, Lu R, Kundu P, Sanchez-Pastor E, Marijic J,Stefani E, Toro L. Thromboxane A2 receptor and MaxiK-channel intimate interaction supports channel trans-inhibition independent of G-protein activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Nov 2;107(44):19096-101. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1002685107. PubMed PMID: 20959415; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2973862.

 

 

Kundu P, Ciobotaru A, Foroughi S, Toro L, Stefani E, Eghbali M. Hormonal regulation of cardiac KCNE2 gene expression. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2008 Sep 24;292(1-2):50-62. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2008.06.003. PubMed PMID: 18611433; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2893227.

 

 

Lu R, Alioua A, Kumar Y, Kundu P, Eghbali M, Weisstaub NV, Gingrich JA, Stefani E, Toro L. c-Src tyrosine kinase, a critical component for 5-HT2A receptor-mediated contraction in rat aorta. J Physiol. 2008 Aug 15;586(16):3855-69. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2008.153593. PubMed PMID: 18599541;PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2538937.

 

 

 Alioua A, Lu R, Kumar Y, Eghbali M, Kundu P, Toro L, Stefani E. Slo1 caveolin-binding motif, a mechanism of caveolin-1-Slo1 interaction regulating Slo1 surface expression. J Biol Chem. 2008 Feb 22;283(8):4808-17. PubMed PMID:18079116.

 

 

Kundu P, Alioua A, Stefani E, Toro L. Regulation of mouse Slo gene expression: multiple promoters, transcription start sites, and genomic action of estrogen. J Biol Chem. 2007 Sep 14;282(37):27478-92. PubMed PMID: 17635926.

 

 

Kundu P, Raychaudhuri S, Tsai W, Dasgupta A. Shutoff of RNA polymerase II transcription by poliovirus involves 3C protease-mediated cleavage of the TATA-binding protein at an alternative site: incomplete shutoff of transcription interferes with efficient viral replication. J Virol. 2005 Aug;79(15):9702-13.PubMed PMID: 16014932; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1181600.

 

 

Jhaveri R, Kundu P, Shapiro AM, Venkatesan A, Dasgupta A. Effect of hepatitis C virus core protein on cellular gene expression: specific inhibition of cyclooxygenase 2. J Infect Dis. 2005 May 1;191(9):1498-506. PubMed PMID:15809909.

 

 

Banerjee R, Weidman MK, Echeverri A, Kundu P, Dasgupta A. Regulation of poliovirus 3C protease by the 2C polypeptide. J Virol. 2004 Sep;78(17):9243-56.PubMed PMID: 15308719; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC506913.

 

 

Weidman MK, Sharma R, Raychaudhuri S, Kundu P, Tsai W, Dasgupta A. The interaction of cytoplasmic RNA viruses with the nucleus. Virus Res. 2003 Sep;95(1-2):75-85. Review. Erratum in: Virus Res. 2004 Jan;99(1):101. PubMed PMID: 12921997.

 

 

Mandal S, Kundu P, Roy B, Mandal RK. Precursor of the inactive 2S seed storage protein from the Indian mustard Brassica juncea is a novel trypsin inhibitor. Charaterization, post-translational processing studies, and transgenic expression to develop insect-resistant plants. J Biol Chem. 2002 Oct 4;277(40):37161-8. PubMed PMID: 12147695.



 

 

Invited Reviews

Kundu P. and Mandal R. K., Transgenic approaches  for producing  virus  resistant  plants. 2001, Proceedings of Indian National Science Academy B 67, 53-80.

Dasgupta A., Yalamanchili P., Clark M., Kliewer S., Fradkin L., Rubinstein S., Das S., Shen Y., Weidman K., Banerjee R., Datta U., Igo M., Kundu P., Barat B. and Berk A. J.  Effects of Picornavirus proteinases on host cell transcription. 2002, Molecular Biology of Picornaviruses, pp 321-335, eds. B.L.Semler and E. Wimmer, ASM Press, Washington DC

Alioua, A., Kundu, P., Lu, R., Kumar, Y., Ou, J., Stefani, E., and Toro, L. Structure and Function of Ion Channels: Large Conductance Calcium-activated Potassium Channels. In Squire, L. R., editor. 2007, New Encyclopedia of Neuroscience, Elsevier     Ltd., Oxford, UK. In press.



Kundu P., A. Alioua., R. Lu, Y. Kumar, J. Ou., E. Stefani, and L. Toro. BK Channels: Regulation of Expression and Physiological Impact, In: Structure, Function and Pharmacology of Neuronal Voltage-Gated Ion Channels. 2009, Eds. V. Gribkoff and G. Kaczmarek. Wiley Publishers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Recognition:

    Teaching:


    (i) M.Sc.-Ph.D. students class lectures:

    Plant gene, Plant genome, regulation of transcription, gene targeting in plant, Gene tagging/trapping, methods of analysis of gene expression, NGS techniques, plant transformation, ascent of sap, phytohormones, plant immunity,  photoperiodism etc.

     

        (ii) M.Sc.-Ph.D. students practical courses:

        Plant genomic DNA isolation and RAPD analysis, Southern blotting technique, Plant immune response, Plant cell microscopic analysis.

        (iii)  Ph.D. course work students class lectures:

          Gene silencing, techniques in gene expression analysis, and NGS techniques

        (iv) Course coordinator:

          Plant Molecular Biology Fundamental course for 1st Semester Integrated MSc-PhD students.


    Students:

    Image Name Designation Department Campus Contact number Email
    profile image Ananya Mukherjee Senior Research Fellow Division of Plant Biology Centenary ananya22@jcbose.ac.in
    profile image Atreyee Kundu Visiting Scientist Division of Plant Biology Unified atreyee2104@gmail.com
    profile image Riya Bajani Junior Research Fellow Division of Plant Biology Unified bajaniriya17@gmail.com
    profile image Sushmita Talukdar Senior Research Fellow Division of Plant Biology Centenary piutalukdar27@gmail.com
    profile image Sweta Mukherjee Junior Research Fellow Biological Sciences Unified smukherjeemd11@gmail.com

    Former:


    PhD Scholars

    Ms. Sayani Dey

    Mr. Rohit Das

    Ms. Shreya Chowdhury

    Ms. Shrabani Basak

    Mr. Sayan Mal 

    Mr. Himadri Das

    Ms. Ananya Mukherjee

    Mr. Raghuvir Singh

    Ms. Sushmita Talukdar

    Former Postdoctoral Research Scholars

    Dr. Supriyo Chowdhury

    Dr. Arpita Basu Chowdhury

    Former PhD Scholars

    Dr. Arunava Mandal

    Dr. Deepti Sarkar

    Dr. Jayanti Jodder

    Dr. Payel Bhattacharjee


    Group News:

    Positions Available


    Awards:

    • Shrabani Basak and Pallob Kundu, Death and defense-dynamic regulation during stress and functional analyses of tomato metacaspases, 7th International Conference on ‘Phytopathology in Achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals’ organised by the Indian Phytopathological Society, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India, 2020 (Awarded the Best Oral Presentation prize in the session ‘Host-Pathogen interaction and plant immunity’). 
    • Ananya Mukherjee and Pallob Kundu, Optimization of different promoters for spatio-temporal regulation of transgene expression in tomato, 7th International Conference on ‘Phytopathology in Achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals’ organised by the Indian Phytopathological Society, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India, 2020 (Awarded the Best Oral Presentation prize in the session ‘Transgenics and related approaches for disease management’). 
    • Shreya Chowdhury and Pallob Kundu, miR398: An integrator of biotic and abiotic stress signalling in tomato, 7th International Conference on ‘Phytopathology in Achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals’ organised by the Indian Phytopathological Society, ICAR-IARI, New Delhi, India, 2020 (Awarded the Best Oral Presentation prize in the session ‘Host-Pathogen interaction and plant immunity’).


    • Shrabani Basak and Pallob Kundu, ‘Tomato Metacaspases MC1 and MC5 Are Mediators of Cell Death During Development and Disease’, Plant Biology Worldwide Summit 2020, PB20, organized by the American Society for Plant Biology (ASPB) during July 27-31, 2020 (selected for an oral presentation in the ASPB annual meeting 2020). 
    • Shrabani Basak and Pallob Kundu, ‘Tomato Metacaspases MC1 and MC5 Are Mediators of Cell Death During Development and Disease’, Plant Biology Worldwide Summit 2020, PB20, organized by the American Society for Plant Biology (ASPB) during July 27-31, 2020 (received the ASPB travel grant to Plant Biology, 2020).

     

    • Rohit Das and Pallob Kundu, ‘Mechanistic insights of miR167a regulation during temperature stress in Solanum lycopersicum, Plant Biology Worldwide Summit 2019, organized by the American Society for Plant Biology (ASPB), received the DBT and CCSTDS travel grant to Plant Biology, 2019. 
    • Shrabani Basak and Pallob Kundu, Regulation of tomato metacaspases during development and stress, ‘The 23rd INPEC Meeting: Protein Structure, Function and Engineering’, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India, 2017 (Awarded the Best Poster prize)
    • Payel Bhattacharjee, Rohit Das and Pallob Kundu, Identification and characterization of membrane bound NAC transcription factors in tomato and their regulation during stress, Plant Biology 2016 meeting organised by American Society of Plant Biologists held in Austin, Texas, July 2016, Student Travel Grant from DBT-CTEP, Govt. of India.  

     

    • Arunava Mandal, Deepti Sarkar and Pallob Kundu, Mechanism of a virus stress-induced regulation of a leaf developmental gene expression in tomato: significance in disease symptom manifestation. At the symposium on Environmental Impact on Biodiversity and Plant Development, Department of Biological Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata, February, 2015. (Best Poster Award).

     

    • Jayanti Jodder, Deepti Sarkar, Rohit Das and Pallob Kundu. Understanding the complex regulation of miR167 and its target genes’ expression under patho-physiological changes in tomato. At the symposium on Evolving Plant Biology: From Chromosomes to Genomics, 27th -29th November, 2014, Organized by Bose Institute, Kolkata, University of Kolkata,  West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology and The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture. (Best Poster Award)
    • Deepti Sarkar, Jayanti Jodder, Sayani Dey, Ranjan  Kumar  Maji,  Arijita Sarkar, Zhumur Ghosh, Pallob Kundu. Expression and transcriptional regulation of microRNAs during Alternaria stress in tomato. At the Conference on Informatics & Integrative Biology (CIIB-2014), December 17 - 19, 2014 Organized by Bioinformatics Center, Bose Institute, Kolkata. (Best Poster Award).

     

    • Arunava Mandal and Pallob Kundu, Transcriptional regulation of a cell expansion  gene upon Tomato Leaf Curl virus infection, American Society for Virology (ASV) 32nd Annual Meeting - July 20-24, 2013 Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania, Student Travel grant awarded to AM by ASV and DBT, Govt. of India

    • Arunava Mandal and Pallob Kundu, Transcriptional regulation of a cell expansion gene upon Tomato Leaf Curl virus infection, 100th Indian Science Congress, Kolkata, January, 2012. (Best Poster Award in the plant science category).