Dr. Suphla B Gupta

Dr. Suphla B Gupta

Senior Principal Scientist

Plant Sciences and Agrotechnology Division (PSA)

CSIR – Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine,Canal Road, Jammu – 180001
Email: sgupta[at]iiim[dot]res[dot]in

Profile

Bio Sketch

My core Research areas include Plant Molecular Biology, DNA Fingerprinting and Barcoding, Tissue Culture, and Plant Proteomics. These are the approaches being utilized in my Lab to understand secondary metabolite biosynthesis of medicinal plants, the development of tissue culture protocols for rare and endangered plants, and plant barcoding and fingerprinting for Intellectual property rights protection.

Currently, my Lab is engaged in understanding the regulation and transportation of secondary metabolites biosynthesis in Glycyrrhiza glabra plant employing an in-vitro system, quantitative expression, and functional validation in a heterologous system.  Our quest is to get an insight into the regulatory mechanism functioning inside the plant for the synthesis of an anticancer terpenoid, glycyrrhizin, its translocation, and the role of UDP glycosyltransferase in stress biology. Additionally, I have been engaged in a project to understand the role of endophytes in the secondary metabolism of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. The medicinal value of the plant coupled with high trading-import status has limited the availability of their bioactive metabolites. One of my projects relates to understanding stress-related genes in Rhodiola imbricata, a high-altitude plant of medicinal importance. Also, my Lab is researching to comprehend the role of bioactive secondary metabolite in plant primary functioning, mostly medicinal plants including Dioscorea, Cannabis, Plumbago, Fritillaria. My Lab has also chemically and genetically characterized and catalogued more than 250 Ginger germplasm from the Northwestern Himalayas and DNA-barcoded medicinal plants collected from Cold desert areas of Leh and Ladakh region of India.

I have completed eleven projects and am currently involved in three projects including the CSIR Aroma Mission where I am the nodal Scientist. I have published more than 80 peer-reviewed research papers, delivered twenty-one invited Lectures, and attended over sixty International & National Conferences. 

 I am also an Editorial Board Member and reviewer of several International Journal of repute like Plant Journal, BMC Plant Biology, Plant Cell Reports, Scientific Reports etc, and  a recognized supervisor of several  National Universities.

Currently, I have six NET/UGC-qualified students and one DBT-RA in my Lab. Six alumni of my Lab are continuing their scientific pursuits. The research outcomes are the result of excellent work done by current students and alumni of the Lab. Our Lab gets satisfaction in igniting the scientific temperament for rediscovering Nature and its inherent mechanism.

Education

Degree Subjects University Qualifying Year
Ph D Botany CSIR-CIMAP 2000
Masters Biotechnology M.S. University, Baroda 1993
GATE General sciences 98.62 percentile 1993
CSIR-NET Life Sciences CSIR 1992
Bachelors Botany, Zoology, Chemistry C.S. University Kanpur 1991
Inventors/Contributors Tilte Description Year
Dr. Palak Arora, Ms. Rubeena Tabssum, Dr. Ajai P Gupta, Ms. Priya Wazir, Dr. Suphla Gupta, Dr. Zabeer Ahmed Process for Preparation of Diosgenin by Endophytic Fungus 0104NF2023 2023

Position Held

Position Held

Position Held Period Organization
Senior Principal Scientist 2021- till date CSIR-IIIM-Jammu
Principal Scientist  2017-2021 CSIR-IIIM-Jammu
Senior scientist 2017-2013 CSIR-IIIM-Jammu
Scientist-C 2013-2009 CSIR-IIIM Jammu
Scientist-B 2009-2006 CSIR-IIIM-Jammu
CSIR-RA 2006-2004 CSIR-IHBT, Palampur

Area of Expertise

Area of Expertise

Tissue Culture Studies

 

Transient Expression Studies

 

Stable Expression Studies

 Understanding Regulatory Network

Role of Transcription Factor(s)

In-silico mining of  ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes  to understand ABC-mediated transportation in Glycyrrhiza glabra

Understanding the role of endophytes in secondary metabolism of Glycyrrhiza glabra L

Project Involved / Ongoing Projects

Projects

  • A multiOmics approach to decipher the stress signaling network in Rhodiola imbricata  (SERB sponsored GAP3139).
  • Nodal Scientist for  CSIR- AROMA Mission Phase-III.
  • Co-Nodal CSIR Floriculture Mission-II 
  • Transcriptome-wide mining of ABC gene family members and their role in stress biology of Glycyrrhiza glabra. RC approved project (MLP3012).
  • Understanding the role of endophytes from Glycyrrhiza glabra in secondary metabolism (MLP0048).
  • Elucidation of molecular basis of regulation of Cannabinoid biosynthesis: Towards biotechnological interventions in Cannabis: (FBR/NCP).

 

 

Publications and Patents

Publications

Sl. No Authors Title of the Article Name of Journal Impact Factor Year Vol No. Issue, Pages DOI
1 Ritu Devi; Pooja Goyal; Bhawna Verma Shahnawaz Hussain; Fariha Chowdhary; Palak Arora; Suphla Gupta A transcriptome-wide identification of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters revealed participation of ABCB subfamily in abiotic stress management of Glycyrrhiza glabra L.  BMC genomics
4.7
2024
315
Link
2 Pooja Goyal; Ritu Devi; Bhawna Verma; Shahnawaz Hussain; Palak Arora; Rubeena Tabassum; Suphla Gupta WRKY transcription factors: evolution, regulation, and functional diversity in plants Protoplasma 3.186 2023
260, pages331–348
Link
3 Kajal katoch; Suphla Gupta; Ajai Parkash Gupta;Pooja Goyal; Ritu Devi; Abhijit Dey; Devendre kumar Pandey Biotic elicitation for enhanced production of plumbagin in regenerated shoot cultures of Plumbago zeylanica using response surface methodology. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC) 3.0 2022 151(3), 605-615 Link
4 Pooja Goyal; Malik Muzafar Manzoor; Ajai Parkash; Pankaj Pandotra;Suphla Gupta Molecular dissection of genes and promoters involved in glycyrrhizin biosynthesis revealed phytohormone induced modulation in Glycyrrhiza glabra L.  Gene 3.5 2022 836, 146682 Link
5 Nazir R, Gupta S, Dey A, Kumar V, Yousuf M, Hussain S, Dwivedi P, Pandey DK In vitro propagation and assessment of genetic fidelity in Dioscorea deltoidea, a potent diosgenin yielding endangered plant South African Journal of Botany. 2.315 2021 140; 349-355 Link
6 Manzoor MM, Goyal P, Pandotra P, Dar MS, Dar MJ, Misra P, Gupta AP, Vishwakarma RA, Ahuja A, Dhar MK Transcriptome-wide identification of squalene epoxidase genes from Glycyrrhiza glabra L.: expression analysis and heterologous expression of GgSQE1 suggest important role in terpenoid biosynthesis. Protoplasma 3.356. 2021 258, 991–1007. Link
7 Nazir R, Gupta S, Vijay Kumar, Ajay Prakash Gupta, …… & D K pandey. Biotechnological strategies for the sustainable production of diosgenin from Dioscorea spp. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 4.813. 2021 Jan;105(2):569-585.

 

 Link
8 Romaan Nazir, Suphla Gupta,  Abhijit Dey,
Vijay Kumar, Ajai Prakash Gupta,  Mahipal S. Shekhawat, Pooja Goyal,Devendra Kumar Pandey		 In vitro tuberization, genetic and phytochemical fidelity assessment in the Dioscorea deltoidea, an important medicinal crop of pharmaceutical significance Inustrial Crop and Products

Published online

 5.6 2022 ·         175,

·         2022,

·         114174,

 

 Link
9 Katoch, K., Gupta, S., Nazir, R.  V. Kumar, R.Sanyal,  A. Dey Establishment of adventitious root culture from leaf explants of Plumbago zeylanica: an endangered medicinal plant. vegetos NAAS 5.6 2021 Link

Patents

Inventors/Contributors Title Description Year
Dr. Palak Arora, Ms. Rubeena Tabssum, Dr. Ajai P Gupta, Ms. Priya Wazir, Dr. Suphla Gupta, Dr. Zabeer Ahmed Process for Preparation of Diosgenin by Endophytic Fungus 0104NF2023 2023

Awards / Honours

Awards and Honours

  • NET-1992
  • GATE 1993 (98.62 Percentile)
  • All India JNU Entrance for M. Sc. Biotechnology
  • Appreciation award for research paper “P. D. Shetti award”
  • Third best Paper Awards for the year 2009-10
  • Best Poster award in National Seminar on Recent Advances in Plant Biotechnology
  • Best Oral Presentation award in Advances and Innovations in Biotechnology and Biological SciencesSBBS-2017
  • Best Poster award in the 3rd International Conference on Recent Trends and Advancements in Engineering and Technology (ICRTAET)
  • Best  Student Oral Presentation in International Conference Virtual Conference on Plant Specialized Metabolism and Metabolic Engineering, 2020 at CSIR-CIMAP

Group

Students

Photo Name Student Detail  Position
Mr Shahnawaz He has joined my Lab in August 2019. 

Topic of Research Functional characterization and substrate Promiscuity of Uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferase (UGT72L11, UGT72Y6 & UGT72Z7) genes from Glycyrrhiza glabra L

 CSIR-SRF

31/021(0203)/2019-EMR-I.
Ms Ritu Devi She has joined my Lab in January 2020

Topic of Research Understanding the Organization and Function of  Selected ABC Transporter Genes from Glycyrrhiza glabra L. under the Influence of Abiotic Elicitors

 CSIR-SRF

16/06/2019(i)EU-V.
Ms. Rubeena Tabassum She has joined my Lab in January 2020.

Topic of Research Understanding the dynamic Inter-relationship between Dioscorea sp. and host endophytes with respect to plant growth promotion and secondary metabolites.

 CSIR-SRF

17/12/2017(II) EU-V
Ms. Bhawna Verma She has joined my Lab in August 2020. Topic of Research. Transcriptome-wide analysis and functional characterization of selected differential uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferases (UGTs) engaged in abiotic and biotic stress  from Glycyrrhiza glabra L. UGC-SRF

191620257971
Ms. Fariha Chowdhary
She has joined my Lab in January 2023. She will be focusing on WRKY Transcription Factor gene family from Glycyrrhiza glabra.
UGC-JRF

211610221492
Mr. Vikram Singh He has joined my Lab in January 2024 UGC-JRF

231610010067894
Dr. Palak Arora Dr. Arora was in my Lab as Senior Project Associate working on project entitled “Understanding the role of endophytes in secondary metabolism of Glycyrrhiza glabra L.” Currently, working as DBT-RA in University of Jammu, J&K.
Dr Kashif Husain Dr. Husain was in my Lab as Post doctoral Fellow working on “Molecular Characterization of Traditional Ginger Cultivar from Different Agro-Climatic Region of North-Western Himalayas”  Dr Kashif Husain is currently Research Officer-Scientist(Botany), In-Charge Survey of Medicinal Plants Unit, National Research Institute of Unani Medicine for Skin Disorders (NRIUMSD), Hyderabad.
Dr Pankaj Pandotra He completed his PhD on Molecular and Chemical characterization of Zingiber officinale collected from North Western Himalayan region’ currently working as Senior Technical Staff in  Sher-e-Agricultural University of Science and Technology, Jammu (SKUAST-J).
Dr Sandeep S Pagoch Dr Pagoch worked on Cloning and Characterization of Methylerythritol 4-Phosphate (MEP) Pathway Genes Involved in the Biosynthesis of Forskolin in Coleus forskohlii (Willd.) Briq. currently Research Scientist under National Health Mission
Dr Sajad A Lone Dr Sajad worked on Molecular, phytochemical & cytological characterization of  Epimedium elatum (Morr & Decne)-a rare high altitude medicinal plant of Northwestern Himalayas in India Associate Professor Central University , Kashmir
Malik Muzafar Manzoor joined my Lab as Project Assistant in October 2014 to work on a SERB sponsored Project Functional genomics approach to understand Glycyrrhizin Biosynthesis.  Awarded 2022. Currently  DBT-RA
Ms Pooja Goyal joined my Lab in Jan 2016. She is working on WRKY Transcription Factor gene family from Glycyrrhiza glabra. 

 

 Awarded 2024