Academic Background
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MSc (Environmental Science), Cochin University of Science & Technology, Kerala
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PhD (Plant molecular biology), CCMB, Hyderabad
Professional Experience
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Post-Doctoral Associate, Department of Plant Biology, CIS (Stanford University), Stanford, CA
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Post-Doctoral Associate, BTI, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
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Visiting Scientist, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Research Interests
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Plant-Environment Interaction
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Developmental Biology
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Stress Physiology
Research Group
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Pratyay Seth
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Afsana Parvin
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Dhruba Som
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Dharmesh Kumar Mohanty
About me
Plant developmental biologist interested in how
plants, especially root system communicates with their environment. How they
perceive changes and how these are addressed so that survival and growth are
minimally impacted even under adverse conditions. Answers to these
questions can aid in improving our agriculture systems.
Similarly, some plants are efficient in
acclimatizing/tolerating environmental changes, may it be availability of
water, or elevated temperature. If we can decipher the molecular mechanisms
enabling this “tolerance”, that can be then used to engineer such attributes in
crop varieties.
Biography
Jose Sebastian obtained his PhD (Plant Molecular Biology), in 2009 from CCMB, Hyderabad. He was a postdoctoral fellow at BTI (Cornell University) and Carnegie Institution (Stanford University) before joining IISER Berhampur in 2018.
Research Projects
ü
Plant-Environment
Interaction
ü
Developmental
Biology
ü
Stress
Physiology
A significant portion of plant’s
adaptive adjustments with the environment occur in the root system- the hidden
half of the plants. These may be at the cellular, organ, and organismal levels
and are key to plants survival under a constantly changing environment. Among
the multitude of environmental factors influencing plant growth, water is of
paramount significance. However, how exactly the presence or absence of water
modulates the root system architecture is still poorly understood, especially
in the agronomically important monocot (cereal crops) plants. Similarly, the
adverse impacts of heat stress on root system traits under a water-limited
environment is under explored. To explore these and related questions, we are
using the recently developed monocot model system Setaria viridis (green millet) together with the eudicot model Arabidopsis thaliana. We employ various
classic and next-generation developmental- genetic- cytological tools to
investigate the questions of interest. We believe, utilizing the strengths and
benefits of these unique genetic model systems could aid in unravelling the
multifaceted interactions between plants and their environment.
Key Publications
ü Seth P, Sebastian J. Plants and global warming: challenges and
strategies for a warming world. Plant Cell Rep. 2024 Jan
2;43(1):27. doi: 10.1007/s00299-023-03083-w. PMID: 38163826
ü Sebastian
J*, Yee M*, Viana W, Álvarez R, Feldman M, Priest H, Trontin C, Lee T, Jiang H,
Baxter I, Mockler T, Hochholdinger H, Brutnell T and Dinneny J (2016). Grasses
suppress shoot-borne roots to conserve water during drought. PNAS, (doi:10.1073/pans. 1604021113)
(*joint authors, Highlighted in BBC
(http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36769901), Recommended F1000
Prime).
ü Sebastian
J, Ryu KH, Zhou J, Tarkowská D, Tarkowski P, Cho YH, Yoo SD, Kim ES, Lee JY
(2015). PHABULOSA controls the quiescent center-independent root meristem
activities in Arabidopsis thaliana. PLoS
Genetics Mar 2;11(3):e1004973. (Featured on the cover page, Recommended
F1000 Prime)
ü Eun-Sol
Kim*, Goh Choe*, Sebastian J*, Kook Hui Ryu, Linyong Mao, Zhangjun Fei, Lee JY
(2016). HAWAIIAN SKIRT regulates the quiescent center-independent root meristem
activity in Arabidopsis. Physiol Plant.157
(2):221-33. (*joint first author)
ü Rellán-Álvarez
R, Lobet G, Lindner H*, Pradier P*, Sebastian J*, Yee MC, Geng Y, Trontin C,
LaRue T, Schrager-Lavelle A, Haney CH, Nieu R, Maloof J, Vogel JP, Dinneny JR
(2015). GLO-Roots: an imaging platform enabling multidimensional
characterization of soil-grown root systems. eLife;10.7554/eLife.07597 (*joint authors)
ü Carlsbecker,
A., Lee, J.Y., Roberts, C.J., et al., (2010). Cell signaling by microRNA 165/6
directs gene dose-dependent root cell fate. Nature 465, 316-321. (Recommended F1000 Prime)
ü
Kaur, J., Sebastian, J., and Siddiqi, I. (2006). The Arabidopsis-mei2-like genes
play a role in meiosis and vegetative growth in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 18, 545-559. (Recommended F1000 Prime)
Contact Details
Full Name
Jose Sebastian
jose@iiserbpr.ac.in
Contact
+91 680 2227 765
Address
IISER Berhampur