Bio product and bioprocess development, with emphasis on animal nutrition, Biomass to energy conversion processes, Anaerobic/Aerobic digestion processes and Waste management. Currently I am working with worlds lead scientists in nutrition and functional genomics like Dr. Tim McAllister, Karen Beauchemin (Lethbridge research center) and Adrian Tsang (Concordia University). Various omic techniques like metatranscriptome, metagenomics, glycomics and proteomics are being used to make better understanding of rumen fiber digestion. I am particularly interested in identification of rate limiting enzymes activities for efficient fiber utilization within rumen, identification of recalcitrant components of forage cell wall towards rumen digestion, screening various recombinant enzymes acting in synergy with rumen enzymes for improved fiber digestion (I developed microassay for this purpose which enables us to study the synergistic interactions of microgram quantities of exogenous enzymes with rumen microbial enzymes to be assessed in a reaction volume as small as 200 microliters), formulation of enzyme cocktails using statistical design of experiments, Validation of microassay results with batch culture and animal trials.

Genozymes for bioproducts and bioprocesses development project. Major objectives are to identify novel rumen hydrolases for effective and efficient deconstruction of lignocellulose material, with potential for biofuel industry. Proficient in biotechnology, systems engineering, as well as high throughput technologies. Very strong background in sustainable energy solutions, with emphasis on the conversion of cellulosic biomass into renewable fuels and chemicals. Wide variety of experimental skills, including development and application of high throughput (HT) biological assays; enzyme activity; pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification; determination of biomass composition; aerobic/anaerobic fermentation.Apart from this my previous research efforts were focused on Screening of natural ecosystems for isolation of novel microbial strains for studying their production capabilities (Cellulases and hemicellulases) using classical as well as statistical process optimization technique like design of experiment in combination of response surface methodology (Bioresource Technology, 98,504-510). Multiplicity of plant cell wall degrading enzymes and their functional diversity (Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 35: 460-466; Bioresources. 1, 18-33). Role of iso-oligosaccharides as transglycosylation/hydrolysis product in regulation of differential expression of multiple xylanases (Current microbiology. 54, 405-40). Purification and characterization of cellulases and hemicellulases from thermophilic fungi, Some of the purified xylanase showed ability to synthesize transglycosylation products that can be of immense importance in devising novel neo-glycoproteins as well as functional foods ( Journal of Biotechnology, 109: 227-237; Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, 10(2); World journal of microbiology and biotechnology. 24(7), 973-981; World journal of microbiology biotechnology. 24(5), 599-605; Bioresource Technology, 98, 74-81).

Flax and hemp fibre development. Our lab use microarrays and proteomics to identify genes associated with secondary wall deposition in the fibres of these plants. I am mostly interested in AGPs and beta-galactosidases. We have some transgenic plants, with over/under expression of these and currently I am analyzing these RNAi line to figure out the importance of activity of these genes in flax fiber development. I am routinely using different analytical techniques like FTIR, Immunohistochemistry, Electron microscopy, Confocal microscopy, Gycomics, GC/MS etc to characterize cell wall mutants (Plant Physiology, 156, 1351-1363)Another area of research I am exploring currently is small RNA pathways at a genome-wide level and investigating the miRNA involved in cell wall development in flax and host-plant response to pathogen in B.napus and carinata. Various molecular biology techniques have been applied towards achieving this objective like construction of small RNA library, Deep sequencing of small RNA, Differential expression profiling of microRNA using Microarray and their validation with qRT-PCR ect.

Research Interest: Identification of gene involved in O-acetylating of plant polysaccharide.Acetyl side groups from hemicelluloses biomass polymers released during current pretreatment steps often are toxic and inhibit the microbial activity that converts sugars to ethanol. Thus developing biomass crop varieties with significantly reduced polysaccharide acetylation is desired to improve the fermentation process. For achieving these objectives various biochemical and molecular approaches like membrane protein biochemistry, radiochemical assays, enzyme kinetics, protein purification and characterization, proteomic analysis, various analytical techniques like TLC, HPLC, GC/MS, LC/MS, MOLDI-TOF, fluorescent labeling of oligosaccharides, expression of recombinant protein and purification etc., were adopted. Major objectives of the research project were:Develop robust biochemical enzymatic assay as well as identify genes involved in the O-acetylation and O-methylation of plant cell wall polysaccharides: Purify O-acetyltranserase and O-methyltransferase using biochemical apparoch. Partially purified protein, digested with trypsin. Peptides thus obtained sequenced using HPLC-ESI-MS-MS, Peptide sequences profile against plant genomes to identify the candidate geneUsing the sequences of the purified enzyme together with bioinformatics to identify genes encoding the O-acetylation and O-methyltransferase involved in modification of pectin and hemicellulose.