Unravelling the plant cell wall biosynthesis and architecture for bioenergy applications

Plant cell wall is an outermost layer of cell which has complex and dynamic structures, with central role in plant growth, development, physiology and defense. Plant cell wall is divided into two cell wall layers: primary and secondary walls which are composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, lignin and structural proteins. These plant cell wall components are synthesized and assembled inside the cell, secreted towards cell surface and cross linked to form plant cell wall matrix. The composition and structure of the plant cell wall matrix varies depending on cell types.

Primary focus of our group is -

• To identify the protein or protein-complexes involved in the plant cell wall biosynthesis
• To elucidate the interactions between plant cell wall components
• To tailor the plant cell wall composition making it amenable for degradation during biofuel production

To achieve these goals, we are using Arabidopsis as a plant model system which has plethora of genetic tools available. We select the genes based on bioinformatics and molecular genomics approach to perform their functional and biochemical characterization. We perturb the gene function using gene editing tools and analyze the plant cell wall phenotype using structural and compositional characterization methods. The desired plant cell wall mutants are further tested to understand the effect on polysaccharide digestibility and fermentation.

The strategies developed in this project are translated to manipulate lignocellulosic biomass from bioenergy and agricultural crops like Poplar, Rice respectively.

• DST INSPIRE faculty fellow (2018)
• DBT-Energy Bioscience Overseas Fellowship (2019)

• Patent no : WO2013137810A1, Genetically modified plants having improved saccharification properties. USA, Europe.

 Current Lab members




• Dharmendra Patel
  (Integrated MSc Trainee)
  

 Previous Lab members



• Arunima Gupta
  
• Aniket Chaudhari
  Present position: Project Associate, CSIR-IHBT, Palampur.
• Raunak Sharma
  Present position: PhD student at BITS Hyderabad.
  
• Apurva Gangal (JRF)
  
• Navdeep Kaur (JRF)
  Present position: PhD student at South Dakota Mines, USA
• Rahul Kumar (JRF)
  Present position: Meril Life Science, Assistant Manager in R&D, Genomics Lab.
• Anant Mohan Sharma (JRF)
  
• Mohmmad Mohsin (Trainee)
  Present position: PhD student at Jamia Hamdard

• Dewangan BP, Gupta A, Sah RK, Das S, Kumar S, Bhattacharjee S, Pawar PM-A (2023). Xylobiose treatment triggers a defence-related response and alters cell wall composition. Special issue on Plant Cell Wall Dynamics in Plant Molecular Biology, 113 (6):383-400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-023-01391-z.
• Dutta H, Shivprasad KM, Aski MS, Mishra MS, Sinha SK, Vijay D, Prasad M, Das S, Pawar PM-A, Mishra DC, Singh AK, Kumar A, Tripathi K, Kumar RR, Gupta S, Kumar S, Dikshit HK. Morpho-biochemical characterization of a RIL population for seed parameters and identification of candidate genes regulating seed size trait in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) (2022). Front Plant Sci 14: 1091432. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1091432.
• Dutta, Haragopal, Gyan P Mishra, Muraleedhar S Aski, Tejas C Bosamia, Dwijesh C Mishra, Jyotika Bhati, Subodh Kumar Sinha, et al. 2022. “Comparative Transcriptome Analysis , Unfolding the Pathways Regulating the Seed-Size Trait in Cultivated Lentil ( Lens Culinaris Medik .)” 1440 (August): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2022.942079.
• Rastogi, Lavi, Aniket Anant, Chaudhari Raunak, Prashant Anupama, and Mohan Pawar. 2022. “Arabidopsis GELP7 Functions as a Plasma Membrane ‑ Localized Acetyl Xylan Esterase , and Its Overexpression Improves Saccharification Efficiency.” Plant Molecular Biology, no. 0123456789.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11103-022-01275-8.
• Rastogi L, Singh D, Sah RK, Chaudhari AA, Pawar PM-A (2021). Enhancement of Biomass for Deconstruction. In: Nidhi Adlakha, Rakesh Bhatnagar, Syed Shams Yazdani (Eds.) Biomass for Bioenergy and Biomaterials (1st ed). CRC Press. doi.org/10.1201/9781003158486.
• Thapliyal, Garima, Ramu S Vemanna, Prashant Mohan Pawar, Santan Barthwal, Rajendra K Meena, Shailesh Pandey, and Maneesh S Bhandari. 2020. First Record of Off-Season Flowering in Populus Deltoides from India: Paradigm of Climate Change Indicator. International Journal of Biometeorology 64 (9) 1629–34.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-01915-y.
• Wang, Zhao, Prashant Mohan Anupama Pawar, Marta Derba-Maceluch, Mattias Hedenström, Sun Li Chong, Maija Tenkanen, Leif J. Jönsson, and Ewa J. Mellerowicz. 2020. “Hybrid Aspen Expressing a Carbohydrate Esterase Family 5 Acetyl Xylan Esterase Under Control of a Wood-Specific Promoter Shows Improved Saccharification.” Frontiers in Plant Science 11 (April): 1–13.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00380.
• Derba-Maceluch, Marta, Fariba Amini, Evgeniy N. Donev, Prashant Mohan Anupama Pawar, Lisa Michaud, Ulf Johansson, Benedicte R. Albrectsen, and Ewa J. Mellerowicz. 2020. “Cell Wall Acetylation in Hybrid Aspen Affects Field Performance, Foliar Phenolic Composition and Resistance to Biological Stress Factors in a Construct-Dependent Fashion.” Frontiers in Plant Science 11 (May): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00651
• Pawar, Prashant Mohan Anupama, Anna Schnürer, Ewa J. Mellerowicz, and Ann Christin Rönnberg-Wästljung. 2018. “QTL Mapping of Wood FT-IR Chemotypes Shows Promise for Improving Biofuel Potential in Short Rotation Coppice Willow (Salix Spp.).” Bioenergy Research 11 (2): 351–63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-018-9901-8.
• Pawar, Prashant Mohan Anupama, Marta Derba-Maceluch, Sun Li Chong, Madhavi Latha Gandla, Shamrat Shafiul Bashar, Tobias Sparrman, Patrik Ahvenainen, et al. 2017. “In Muro Deacetylation of Xylan Affects Lignin Properties and Improves Saccharification of Aspen Wood.” Biotechnology for Biofuels 10 (1): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-017-0782-4.
• Pawar, Prashant Mohan Anupama, Christine Ratke, Vimal K. Balasubramanian, Sun Li Chong, Madhavi Latha Gandla, Mathilda Adriasola, Tobias Sparrman, et al. 2017. “Downregulation of RWA Genes in Hybrid Aspen Affects Xylan Acetylation and Wood Saccharification.” New Phytologist 214 (4): 1491–1505. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.14489.
• Pawar, Prashant Mohan Anupama, Marta Derba-Maceluch, Sun Li Chong, Leonardo D. Gómez, Eva Miedes, Alicja Banasiak, Christine Ratke, et al. 2016. “Expression of Fungal Acetyl Xylan Esterase in Arabidopsis Thaliana Improves Saccharification of Stem Lignocellulose.” Plant Biotechnology Journal 14 (1): 387–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12393.
• Ratke, Christine, Prashant Mohan Anupama Pawar, Vimal K. Balasubramanian, Marcel Naumann, Mathilda Lönnäs Duncranz, Marta Derba-Maceluch, András Gorzsás, Satoshi Endo, Ines Ezcurra, and Ewa J. Mellerowicz. 2015. “Populus GT43 Family Members Group into Distinct Sets Required for Primary and Secondary Wall Xylan Biosynthesis and Include Useful Promoters for Wood Modification.” Plant Biotechnology Journal 13 (1): 26–37.https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.12232.
• Manabe, Y., Y. Verhertbruggen, S. Gille, J. Harholt, S.-L. Chong, P. M.-A. Pawar, E. J. Mellerowicz, et al. 2013. “Reduced Wall Acetylation Proteins Play Vital and Distinct Roles in Cell Wall O-Acetylation in Arabidopsis.” Plant Physiology 163 (3): 1107–17. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.113.225193.
• Pawar, Prashant Mohan-Anupama, Sanna Koutaniemi, Maija Tenkanen, and Ewa J. Mellerowicz. 2013. “Acetylation of Woody Lignocellulose: Significance and Regulation.” Frontiers in Plant Science 4 (May): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2013.00118.