Plant adaptation is an evolutionary process that increases survival and reproduction in  newly encountered climatic conditions. Understanding the molecular mechanistic knowledge of adaptation to environmental stress has important implications in evolutionary ecology. The adaptation process underlies transcriptional, translational, metabolic and epigenetic control during the developmental process. Research in our lab focusing on comprehensive mapping of transcriptome, proteome, metabolome and epigenome of medicinal plants that will be helpful for understanding the multilayered control of adaptation process.  

Associate Professor in the Faculty of Biological Sciences (AcSIR) from January 2024

Attained EMBO Lab Leadership Course 2024

Appreciation for the best scientific contribution in CSIR-IHBT for the year 2022-2023

Life member of Proteomic Society of India

SERB Early Carrier research Award 2018

Assistant Professor of Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) (2016)

Awarded D.S Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship (2014-2017) and DBT-RA (2014-2019; Not availed).

Received DBT-JRF (2008-2013) and DBT fellowship (2006-2008) during M.Sc.

Qualified NET-LS(2008), GATE(Percentile: 98.93%; Dec. 2007) and JNU CEEB (2006).

Best Poster Award of my research group

1. By Manglesh Kumari in conference entitled “NEXT GENERATION PROTEOME MINING AND NANO-BIO INTERACTION FRO BETTER PLANT HEALTH” held on 27-29^th December 2021 at Department of botany, University of Delhi, Delhi

2. By Ashwani Punia in conference entitled “International Symposium on Plant Biology and Functional Genomics” held on March 13-15, 2024 at School of Life Science, University of Hyderabad

3. By Monika Chouhan in conference entitled “International Symposium on Plant Biology and Functional Genomics” held on March 13-15, 2024 at School of Life Science, University of Hyderabad

Editorial/Reviewer roles:-

Review Editor, Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences, Frontiers in Plant Genomics, and Frontiers in Molecular Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Reviewer of National and International Journals like PLOS Genetics, Physiologia Plantarum, Journal of Proteomics, Scientific report, Plant physiology and Biochemistry, Journal of Biosciences, Journal of Protein and Proteomics

Transcriptional landscape illustrates the diversified adaptation of medicinal plants to multifactorial stress combinations linked with high-altitude, Manglesh Kumari, Prakash kumar, Vishal Saini, Rohit Joshi, Ravi Shankar^*, Rajiv Kumar^*, Planta, 2025, 261;111 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-025-04686-1, IF. 3.6

Bringing bioactive peptides into srug discovery: Challanges and opportunities for medicinal plants, Shweta Thakur, Ashwani Punia, Satyakam, Vishal Acharya, Brijesh Kumar, Amit Prasad, Sudesh Kumar Yadav, Rajiv Kumar*, Industrial crops and products, 2024, 222, 119855 IF. 5.6, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2024.119855

Taenia solium Cysticerci's Extracellular Vesicles Tame the AKT/mTORC1 Pathway for Alleviating DSS-Induced Colitis in Murine Model, Suraj Rawat Anand Keshari Nauna Arora Rimanpreet Kaur Amit Mishra Rajiv Kumar Amit Prasad, Journal of extracellular vesicles, 2024 (Accepted) IF. 16

Proteomic and metabolomic insights into seed germination of Ferula assa-foetida, Ashwani Punia, Manglesh Kumari, Monika Chouhan, Vishal Saini, Robin Joshi, Ashok Kumar, Rajiv Kumar*, Journal of Proteomics, 2024, 105176, IF 3.3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jprot.2024.105176.

Functional trait correlation network and proteomic analysis reveal multi-factorial adaptation mechanisms to a climatic gradient associated with high-altitude in the Himalayan region, Manglesh Kumari, Rajiv Kumar*, Plant Cell and Environment, 2024;47(5):1556-1574. doi: 10.1111/pce.14830., IF 7.94

Taenia solium excretory secretory proteins (ESPs) suppresses TLR4/AKT mediated ROS formation in human macrophages via hsa-miR-125, Naina Arora,Anand K. Keshri,Rimanpreet Kaur,Suraj S. Rawat, Rajiv Kumar, Amit Mishra, Amit Prasad , PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES, 2023. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0011858 IF 3.8

Recognition of immune reactive proteins as a potential multiepitope vaccine candidate of Taenia solium cysticerci through proteomic approach. Kaur R, Arora N, Rawat SS, Keshri AK, Singh G, Kumar R, J Cell Biochem. 2023 S. doi: 10.1002/jcb.30467. IF 4.8

Unique Metabolic Shift Reveals Potential Mechanism of Cold and Freezing Acclimatization, Rajiv Kumar*, Journal of Plant Growth Regulations, 2023, 42(1):1-17. DOI: 10.1007/s00344-023-10961-w IF 4.169

Cold adaptation strategies in plants-An emerging role of epigenetics and antifreeze proteins to engineer cold resilient plant, Satyakam, Gaurav Zinta, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Rajiv Kumar*, Front Genet. 2022 Aug 25;13:909007. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.909007. IF 4.2

Insights from proteomics in kidney disease diagnosis and various in vitro and in vivo experimental models.Vikram Patial*, Garima Dadhich, Rajiv Kumar*, Sustainable Agriculture Reviews book series, 57, 2022 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-07496-7_2

Identification and quantification of eight alkaloids in Aconitum heterophyllum using UHPLC-DAD-QTOF-IMS: A valuable tool for quality control, Ashwani Punia, Robin Joshi^* Rajiv Kumar^*, Phytochemical Analysis.2022;1–14, DOI:10.1002/pca.3164. IF 3.02

Nutritional quality evaluation and proteome profile of forage species of Western Himalaya, Rajiv Kumar^*,Robin Joshi, Raman Kumar, Vidyashankar Srivatsan, Satyakam, Amit Chawla, Vikram Patial, Sanjay Kumar, Grassland Science, 2021, DOI: 10.1111/grs.12357. IF 1.6

Protein-Cloaked Nanoparticles for Enhanced Cellular Association and Controlled Pathophysiology via Immunosurveillance Escape, Aqib Iqbal Dar, Syed M. S. Abidi, Shiwani Randhawa, Robin Joshi, Rajiv Kumar, and Amitabha Acharya*, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2021, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c20719. IF 9.2

In-depth assembly of organ and development dissected Picrorhiza kurroa proteome map using mass spectrometry, Manglesh Kumari, Upendra Kumar Pradhan, Robin Joshi, Ashwani Punia, Ravi Shankar & Rajiv Kumar*, BMC Plant Biology 21: 604, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-021-03394-8. IF 4.21

Evaluating Peptides of Picrorhiza kurroa and Their Inhibitory Potential against ACE, DPP-IV, and Oxidative Stress. Shweta Thakur, Jyoti Chhimwal, Robin Joshi, Manglesh Kumari, Yogendra Padwad*, and Rajiv Kumar* Journal of Proteome Research, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00081. IF 4.46

Systemic acquired resistance specific proteome of Arabidopsis thaliana. Rajiv Kumar, Pragya Barua, Niranjana Chakraborty & Ashis Kumar Nandi. Plant cell report. 2020, doi: 10.1007/s00299-020-02583-3. IF 4.57

Metabolic signatures provide novel insights to Picrorhiza kurroa adaptation along the altitude in Himalayan region. Manglesh Kumari, Robin Joshi & Rajiv Kumar*. Metabolomics. 2020; 16:77, doi: 10.1007/s11306-020-01698-8. IF 4.20

Elevated CO2 and temperature influence key proteins and metabolites associated with photosynthesis, antioxidant and carbon metabolism in Picrorhiza kurroa. Rajiv Kumar*, Robin Joshi, Manglesh Kumari, Reema Thakur, Dinesh Kumar*, Sanjay Kumar*. Journal of proteomics. 2020; 219:103755, doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2020.103755. IF 4.04

Unveiling Taenia solium kinome profile and its potential for new therapeutic targets. Naina Arora, Anand Raj, Farhan Anjum, Rimanpreet kaur, Suraj Singh Rawat, Rajiv Kumar, Shweta Triphati, Gagandeep Singh & Amit Prasad. Expert review of proteomics. 2020; 17:85-91, doi: 10.1080/14789450.2020.1719835. IF 3.94

Regulation of color transition in purple tea (Camellia sinensis). Manglesh Kumari, Shweta Thakur, Ajay Kumar, Robin Joshi, Prakash Kumar, Ravi Shankar, Rajiv Kumar*. Planta. 2020; 251:35, doi: 10.1007/s00425-019-03328-7. IF 4.11

Neglected Agent Eminent Disease: Linking Human Helminthic Infection, Inflammation, and Malignancy. Naina Arora, Rimanpreet Kaur, Farhan Anjum, Shweta Tripathi, Amit Mishra, Rajiv Kumar and Amit Prasad. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. 2019, https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2019.00402. IF 4.83

Usnic acid modifies MRSA drug resistance through down-regulation of proteins involved in peptidoglycan and fatty acid biosynthesis. Sneha Sinha, Vivek Kumar Gupta, Parmanand Kumar1, Rajiv Kumar, Robin Joshi, Anirban Pal and Mahendra P. Darokar FEBS Open Bio. 2019; 9:2025–2040, doi: 10.1002/2211-5463.12650. IF 2.69

Adaptive mechanisms of medicinal plants along altitude gradient: contribution of proteomics. Kumar, R*. & Kumari, M. Biologia Plantarum 2018; 62(4):630-640, DOI: 10.1007/s10535-018-0817-0. IF 1.74

Nuclear phosphoproteome of developing chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and Protein-Kinase interaction network. Kumar R, Kumar A, Subba P, Gayali S, Barua P, Chakraborty S, Chakraborty N. J Proteomics. 2014 13; 105:58-73, doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2014.04.002. IF 4.04

Comparative proteomics of dehydration response in the rice nucleus: new insights into the molecular basis of genotype-specific adaptation. Jaiswal DK, Ray D, Choudhary MK, Subba P, Kumar A, Verma J, Kumar R, Datta A, Chakraborty S, Chakraborty N. Proteomics. 2013;13(23-24):3478-97, doi: 10.1002/pmic.201300284. IF 4.0

Characterization of the nuclear proteome of a dehydration-sensitive cultivar of chickpea and comparative proteomic analysis with a tolerant cultivar. Subba P, Kumar R, Gayali S, Shekhar S, Parveen S, Pandey A, Datta A, Chakraborty S, Chakraborty N. Proteomics. 2013,12-13,1973-92, doi: 10.1002/pmic.201200380. IF 4.0

Phosphoproteomic Dynamics of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Reveals Shared and Distinct Components of Dehydration Response. Subba P, Barua P, Kumar R, Datta A, Soni KK, Chakraborty S, Chakraborty N. J Proteome Res. 2013;12(11):5025-47, doi: 10.1021/pr400628j. IF 4.46

Analysis of the grass pea proteome and identification of stress-responsive proteins upon exposure to high salinity, low temperature, and abscisic acid treatment. Chattopadhyay A, Subba P, Pandey A, Bhushan D, Kumar R, Datta A, Chakraborty S, Chakraborty N. Photochemistry. 2011,72,1293-307, doi: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2011.01.024. IF 4.07

                 Citation: http://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=wmI_PAYAAAAJ&hl=en

NIL

PhD scholars

Mr. Ashwani (CSIR SRF)

Mr. Vishal Saini (CSIR JRF)

Ms. Monika Chouhan (CSIR JRF)

Ms. Suparna Mandal  (CSIR-JRF)

Mr. Amit Chauhan (CSIR-JRF)

Post-doctoral fellow

Dr. Paramdeep Kumar (Project Research Scientist)

PhD Alumni

Dr. Manglesh kumari (August 2017- May 2023)

Thesis title: Exploring the molecular mechanism of Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex                            Benth. adaptation along an altitude gradient in the Himalayan region

Total Publication:  09 (Plant cell & Environment, Journal of Proteome Research,                                               Planta, Journal of Proteomics, BMC Plant Biology)

Best Poster Award: 01

2. Dr. Shweta Thakur (August 2019- February 2024)

Thesis title: Identification of bioactive peptides from Picrorhiza kurroa and                                  therapeutic evaluation in experimental models

3. Dr. Satyakam (August 2019- March 2025)

Thesis title: Elucidating Cold and Freezing Responses in Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex                      Benth.

B.Sc/B.Tech/M.Sc student supervision (Name and year)

1. Mr. Vikram (Adhiyamaan College of Engineering; Dec 2017 - January 2018)

2. Ms. Anamika kumari (Govt. P.G College, Chandigarh; June 2018)

3. Ms. Niharika Rai (Govt. P.G College Chandigarh; June 2018)

4. Ms Aditi Sharma (JUIT Solan; June 2018)

5 Mr. Shubham Bhardwaj (Dr. A.P.G.A.K ACSIR; July - August 2018)

6. Ms. Mahima Kapil (DY Patil University; December 2018 - May 2019)

7 Ms. Laveena Kaushal (PU Chandigarh; June 2019)

8. Ms. Sandeep Kaur (MAU Kalujhanda; June - Agust 2019)

9. Ms. Devangna (March 2020)

10. Ms. Neha (VIT Vellor; December 2019 - June 2020)

11 Ms. Mansi Rana (MAU Kalujhanda; March - May 2022)

12 Ms. Nagma (Banasthali University; june - Dec 2022)

13. Ms. Mahima Vishal (Banasthali University; January - June 2023)

14 Ms. Mauli Bhushan (Gujrat University; May - July 2023)

15 Ms. Ritika (11SER Tirupati; May - July 2024)

16 Ms. Riya Joshi (Graphic Era; February- July 2024)

17 Mr. Faizan Bariwala (University of Mumbai; October 2024- January 2025)