Ghoshal Lab : Molecular Plant Virology Laboratory
We use multidisciplinary approaches and cutting-edge tools to get a holistic view of viruses to develop novel crop treatments and diagnostic methods. Our research interests fall into the following four interlinked areas:
I. Explore Metavirome of Blueberries, Cherries, and Grapevines
Viruses (especially RNA viruses) mutate rapidly due to their error-prone replication machinery, which is critical for their multiplication and spread. Understanding the genetic diversity of a virus and its variants has enormous implications for diagnostics, prevention, and management of viral diseases. Recent advancements in next-generation sequencing technologies have revolutionized the study of viral genetic diversity and virus evolution. The power of massively sequencing a large number of viral genomes in a non-biased manner has simplified and expedited the study of the viromes of different ecosystems and organisms. Our lab is interested in generating an atlas(s) of viromes of small fruit crops, fruit trees, and grapevines.
II. Understand plant-virus-virus-environment Interactions
The outcome of an interaction of a virus depends on several factors, such as host genotype and phenotype and environmental factors. A virus must interact with the plant cell for its multiplication and spread. Our lab is interested in three kinds of interactions to identify targets that can be used for crop improvement and for managing viral threats :
a) Plant-virus interaction: Viruses rely on their host to multiply and spread and have evolved several molecular strategies to hijack the host cellular machinery and evade host defense responses. Virus-infected cells show reprogramming at different layers of gene regulation. We are interested in exploring (epi)genetic and (epi)transcriptomics reprogramming to identify targets that can be used to develop virus-tolerant/resistant plants.
b) Virus-Virus interaction: Large-scale metagenomic analyses have provided ample evidence that plants harbor multiple viruses in most cases. We are interested in examining how multiple virus infections influence the outcome of plant-virus interaction to develop better biocontrol agents.
c) Plant-virus interaction in the era of climate change: Plant-virus interaction outcomes largely depend on environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and light. We are interested in (i) identifying the molecular links between the environment and plant-virus interaction outcomes and (ii) using this knowledge to develop climate-resilient and virus-tolerant/resistant crops.
Possible outcomes of plant-virus interaction (left) and the effect of change in temperature on one such possible outcome (right).
III. Develop novel Crop treatments approaches
The current treatment for virus-infected trees is to monitor them and, in extreme cases, cut and remove them. Currently, no antiviral treatments are available for treating virus-infected fruit trees, small fruit crops, and grapevines in the field. Our long-term goal is to develop crop treatment methods that can be directly applied to crops in the field. Currently, we are exploring using RNA-based therapies (RNAi and CRISPR) as antivirals against economically important viruses. In addition, we are also interested in developing eco-friendly methods for delivering these crop treatment tools to crops. We also explore using genome and epigenome editing tools for virus-tolerant/resistant crops as a preventive measure.
IV. Develop diagnostics tools for viruses
Proper virus monitoring and detection require highly sensitive, specific, user-friendly, high-throughput tools. We are involved in projects aimed at developing diagnostic tools using high-throughput sequencing methods and other cutting-edge tools.
