Dr. Nasheeman Ashraf

Principal Scientist

Plant Biotechnology Division

CSIR – Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Sanat Nagar Srinagar-190005
Email: nashraf@iiim.res.in

Profile

Bio Sketch

Plants are master chemists and produce a large repertoire of secondary metabolites.These small molecules perform plethora of functions, for example, they act as hormones, defense compounds, pharmaceuticals, insecticides, dyes, flavors, and fragrances. Inspite of their tremendous importance for humans and for the plant itself, plant secondary metabolism remains poorly characterized. Our focus is elucidation of biosynthetic and regulatory pathways of plant secondary metabolism. We use combinatorial OMICS approach for comprehensive investigations and large-scale gene discovery programs in plant secondary metabolism. This data is also used for discovery of novel regulators of these pathways. Together, this knowledge can be used for engineering of these pathways towards increased yields.

Currently our lab is working on Crocus sativus which is a triploid, sterile geophyte and has been cultivated and used as spice and medicinal plant since thousands of years. The desiccated stigma of C. sativus forms saffron and is source of various carotenoids and unique compounds called apocarotenoids which are produced by oxidative tailoring of carotenoids. In fact Crocus is the only plant which produces apocarotenoids like crocin, picrocrocin and safranal in significant amounts.These compounds provide color, flavour and aroma to this crop making it world’s costliest spice. In addition, these compounds have a broad spectrum of pharmacological properties as well. In order to understand apocarotenoid biosynthetic pathway and its regulation, we have developed transcriptome map for Crocus. This transcriptome data was used for identification of genes involved in apocarotenoid biosynthesis and also transcription factors which regulate this process. We characterized many genes involved in Crocus apocarotenoid biosynthetic pathway. We also identified some novel regulators of this pathway.

Our main focus is:

Characterization of pathway genes and their engineering to enhance quality of saffron
Generation of crom rot resistant Crocus
Identification of genes which regulate apocarotenoid pathway and elucidation of their mechanism of action

Education

Degree	Subjects	University	Qualifying Year
Ph.D	Life Sciences	NIPGR (JNU)	2010
M.Sc	Biochemistry	G.B.Pant University of Agriculture and Technology	2003
B.Sc	Agriculture	SKUAST-K	2001

Position Held

Position Held	Period	Organization
Principal Scientist	2020-Present	CSIR-IIIM
Senior Scientist	2015-2020	CSIR-IIIM
Scientist	2012-2015	CSIR-IIIM
Scientist Fellow	2010-2012	CSIR-IIIM

Area of Expertise

Plant metabolomics
Plant genomics and transcriptomics
Plant Molecular biology
Plant stress biology

Project Involved / Ongoing Projects

Projects

Characterization of apocarotenoid biosynthetic pathway and its regulation
Investigating role of Myb genes in regulating apocarotenoid pathway
Investigating role of bHLH gene family in regulating apocarotenoid metabolism
Micropropagation of Crocus

Publications and Patents

Publications

Baba SA and Ashraf N. Functional characterization of flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase, CsF3′H, from Crocus sativus L: Insights into substrate specificity and role in abiotic stress. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics (2019), 667: 70–78

Ashraf N, Basu S, Narula K, Ghosh S, Tayal R, Gangisetty N, Biswas S, Aggarwal RP, Chakraborty N& Chakraborty S. Integrative network analyses of wilt transcriptome in chickpea reveal genotype dependent regulatory hubs in immunity and susceptibility. Scientific Reports (2018), 8 (1): 6528

Mohiuddin T, Baba SA, Ashraf N. Identification, phylogenetic analysis and expression profiling of ABC transporter family of Crocus sativus L: A step towards understanding apocarotenoid transport. Plant Gene (2018) 14:1-6

Wani ZA, Kumar A, Sultan P, Bindu K, Riyaz-Ul-Hassan S & Ashraf N. Mortierella alpina CS10E4, an oleaginous fungal endophyte of Crocus sativus L. enhances apocarotenoid biosynthesis and stress tolerance in the host plant. Scientific Reports (2017), 7: 8598

Baba SA, Vishwakarma RA, Ashraf N. Functional characterization of CsBGlu12, a β-glucosidase from Crocus sativus provides insights into its role in abiotic stress through accumulation of antioxidant flavonols. Journal of biological chemistry (2017), 292 (11): 4700 -4713

Malik AH, Ashraf N. Transcriptome wide identification, phylogenetic analysis and expression profiling of zinc-finger transcription factors from Crocus sativus L. Mol Genet Genomics (2017), 292 (3): 619-633

Baba SA, Jain D, Abbas N, Ashraf N. Overexpression of Crocus carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase, CsCCD4b, in Arabidopsis imparts tolerance to dehydration, salt and oxidative stresses by modulating ROS machinery. Journal of plant physiology (2015), 189: 114-125

Baba SA, Mohiuddin T, Basu S, Swarnkar MK, Malik AH, Wani ZA, Abbas N, Singh AK, Ashraf N. Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of Crocus sativus for discovery and expression of genes involved in apocarotenoid biosynthesis. BMC Genomics (2015), 16:698.

Ashraf N, Jain D, Vishwakarma RA, Identification, cloning and characterization of an ultrapetal transcription factor CsULT1 from Crocus: a novel regulator of apocarotenoid biosynthesis. BMC Plant Biology (2015), 15: 25.

Wani ZA, Ashraf N, Mohiuddin T, Riyaz-Ul-Hassan S. Plant-endophyte symbiosis, an ecological perspective. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol (2015), 99 (7): 2955-65

Peer reviewed publications:

Bhat ZY, Mohiuddin T, Kumar A, López-Jiménez AJ, Ashraf N Crocus transcription factors CstMYB1 and CstMYB1R2 modulate apocarotenoid metabolism by regulating carotenogenic genes. Plant Mol Biol (2021), 107: 49-62

Baba SA and Ashraf N. Functional characterization of flavonoid 3′-hydroxylase, CsF3′H, from Crocus sativus L: Insights into substrate specificity and role in abiotic stress. Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics (2019), 667: 70–78

Ashraf N, Basu S, Narula K, Ghosh S, Tayal R, Gangisetty N, Biswas S, Aggarwal RP, Chakraborty N& Chakraborty S. Integrative network analyses of wilt transcriptome in chickpea reveal genotype dependent regulatory hubs in immunity and susceptibility. Scientific Reports (2018), 8 (1): 6528

Mohiuddin T, Baba SA, Ashraf N. Identification, phylogenetic analysis and expression profiling of ABC transporter family of Crocus sativus L: A step towards understanding apocarotenoid transport. Plant Gene (2018) 14:1-6

Wani ZA, Kumar A, Sultan P, Bindu K, Riyaz-Ul-Hassan S & Ashraf N. Mortierella alpina CS10E4, an oleaginous fungal endophyte of Crocus sativus L. enhances apocarotenoid biosynthesis and stress tolerance in the host plant. Scientific Reports (2017), 7: 8598

Baba SA, Vishwakarma RA, Ashraf N. Functional characterization of CsBGlu12, a βglucosidase from Crocus sativus provides insights into its role in abiotic stress through accumulation of antioxidant flavonols. Journal of biological chemistry (2017), 292 (11): 4700 -4713

Malik AH, Ashraf N Transcriptome wide identification, phylogenetic analysis, and expression profiling of zinc-finger transcription factors from Crocus sativus L. Mol Genet Genomics (2017), 292 (3): 619-633

Baba SA, Jain D, Abbas N, Ashraf N. Overexpression of Crocus carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase, CsCCD4b, in Arabidopsis imparts tolerance to dehydration, salt and oxidative stresses by modulating ROS machinery. Journal of plant physiology (2015), 189: 114-125

Baba SA, Mohiuddin T, Basu S, Swarnkar MK, Malik AH, Wani ZA, Abbas N, Singh AK, Ashraf N. Comprehensive transcriptome analysis of Crocus sativus for discovery and expression of genes involved in apocarotenoid biosynthesis. BMC Genomics (2015), 16:698.

Ashraf N, Jain D, Vishwakarma RA, Identification, cloning and characterization of an ultrapetal transcription factor CsULT1 from Crocus: a novel regulator of apocarotenoid biosynthesis. BMC Plant Biology (2015), 15: 25.

Wani ZA, Ashraf N, Mohiuddin T, Riyaz-Ul-Hassan S. Plant-endophyte symbiosis, an ecological perspective. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol (2015), 99 (7): 2955-65

Bhat WW, Dhar N, Razdan S, Rana S, Mehra R, Nargotra A, Dhar RS, Ashraf N, Vishwakarma R, Lattoo SK. Molecular characterization of UGT94F2 and UGT86C4, two glycosyltransferases from Picrorhiza kurrooa: comparative structural insight and evaluation of substrate recognition. PLoS One (2013), 16; 8 (9): e73804.

Ashraf N, Ghai D, Barman P, Basu S, Gangisetty N, Mandal MK, Chakraborty N, Datta A, Chakraborty S. Comparative analyses of genotype dependent expressed sequence tags and stress-responsive transcriptome of chickpea wilt illustrate predicted and unexpected genes and novel regulators of plant immunity. BMC Genomics (2009), 10:415

Patents

US patents

Chakraborty S, Chakraborty N, Datta A, Ashraf N, Basu S, Nag P and Singh M (2010) Polynucleotides derived from chickpea and uses thereof (US No. 13/393,340). Published by USPTO on 21/06/2012 (Pub. No. US 20120159668 A1).

Indian Patents

Chakraborty S, Datta A, Chakraborty N, Ashraf N, and Basu S, (2009) Functional genomics and stress responsive polynucloetides from chickpea [IPA-1565/DEL/2009].

Awards / Honours

Awards and Honours

Awarded EMBO short term fellowship to work as a visiting scientist at Botanical Institute, University of Castilla La Mancha, Albacete, Spain
Awarded CSIR-Raman research fellowship to work as a visiting scientist in University of Kentucky, USA (2015-16)
Awarded senior research fellowship by council of scientific and industrial research (CSIR) (2005-2008)
Awarded junior research fellowship by council of scientific and industrial research (CSIR) (2003-2005)
Qualified graduate aptitude test for engineering (GATE) in 2003 with 97.19 percentile.