Om Parkash (Dhankher)

Assistant Professor
Department of Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences
French Hall 202
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
Tel. (413) 545-0062
parkash@psis.umass.edu

Education

Ph. D. , Plant Molecular Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Durham University, Durham, England (U.K.) 1998.
M. Phil. , Biochemistry and Genetics, Department of Botany, Kurukshetra University ( India) 1988.
M. S. , Botany (Plant Physiology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Ecology) Kurukshetra University ( India) 1987.
B. S. (Medical), Majors: Botany, Zoology, and Chemistry; Maharishi Dayanand University ( India) 1985.

Research & Teaching Experience

Assistant Professor - November 2004- present. Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Assistant Research Scientist (at par with Assistant Research Professor) - January 2003 – Nov. 2004. Dept. of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens.

Senior Postdoctoral Research Associate (July 1998 - December 2002), Dept. of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens.

Postdoctoral research Associate (January 1998 - June 1998), Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens. Commonwealth Research Fellow (October 1994 - December 1997), Department of Biological Sciences, Durham University, Durham, England ( U.K.).

Teaching Assistant , Department of Biological Sciences, Durham University, Durham (U.K). January 1995 to June. 1997.

Assistant Professor , Department of Botany, A.I.J.H.M College, Maharishi Dayanand University, India.

Junior Research Fellow (July1987- December 1988), Department of Botany, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India

Research Interests

My research program is focused on the phytoremediation of toxic pollutants with the purpose of environmental clean up of contaminated soil, water and air. Phytoremediation- a plant-based technology is a new and exciting field of plant biology and it demonstrates the great potential of plant biotechnology to be used for environmental restoration. My research approach involves a multidisciplinary application of methodologies from molecular biology, genomics (cloning of genes conferring detoxification or tolerance, ion transport and sequestration), physiology and biochemistry to decipher the underlying molecular mechanism of metal tolerance. My recent research has been focused mainly on the detoxification and remediation of toxic metalloids and metals such as As and Cd, using genetically engineered plants. I am extending my research on other toxic metals such as Pb and Cr.

Research Publications

Bibin Paulose and Om Parkash Dhankher. Heavy Metal Transporters in Plants. In: Plant Membrane Transporters. Eds: Jaiwal, Singh and Dhankher, CABI Publishers, Oxford UK (In Press) (2007).

Om Parkash Dhankher , Barry P. Rosen, Richard B. Meagher. Enhanced arsenic uptake in Arabidopsis plants by suppressing endogenous arsenate reductase AtACR2 gene. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), 103(14): 5413-5418 (2006).

Yujing Li, Om Parkash Dhankher, Laura Carreira, Aaron P. Smith, and Richard B. Meagher. The shoot-specific expression of g -glutamylcysteine synthetase directs the long-distance transport of thiol-peptides to roots conferring tolerance to mercury and arsenic. Plant Physiology, 141(1): 288-298 (2006).

Om Parkash Dhankher. Arsenic metabolism in plants: and Inside story. New Phytologist, 68:3-5 (2005)

Om Parkash Dhankher , Yujing Li, Andrew C.P. Heaton and Richard B. Meagher. Strategies for phytoremediation of mercury and arsenic. In: Subsurface Contamination Remediation: Accomplishments of the Environmental Management Science Program ; Berkey, E., Zachry, T., Eds.; American Chemical Society Symposium Series 904; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, pp 96-116 (2005).

Tehrung Kim, Rebecca Balish, Andrew Heaton, Elizabeth Mckinney, Om Parkash Dhankher, and Richard B. Meagher. Engineering a root-specific, repressor-operator gene complex. Plant Biotechnology, 3 (6):571-582 (2005).

Anne Marie, Om Parkash Dhankher, Bonnie McCaig and Richard B. Meagher. Ancient classes of plant metallothioneins bind nutrient and toxic metals differentially. Plant Molecular Biology 58(6):839-55 (2005)

Yujing Li, Om Parkash Dhankher, Laura Carreira, Rebecca S. Balish and Richard B. Meagher. Arsenic and mercury resistance and cadmium sensitivity in Arabidopsis plants expressing bacterial g -glutamylcysteine synthetase. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 24: 1376-1386 (2005).

Om Parkash Dhankher and J.A. Gatehouse. Tissue-specific and developmental regulation of stress-induced Pisum sativum HSP70 promoter in transgenic tobacco. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants10(1): 49-58 (2004) (with cover page).

Yujing Li, Om Parkash Dhankher, Laura Carreira, David Lee, Julian Schroeder, Rebecca Balish, and Richard B. Meagher. Overexpression of phytochelatin synthase in Arabidopsis leads to enhanced tolerance to arsenic and cadmium sensitivity. Plant Cell Physiology 45(12): 1787-1797 (2004).

Om Parkash Dhankher , Barry P. Rosen, Mark Fuhrmann and Richard B. Meagher. Increased cadmium tolerance and accumulation by plants expressing bacterial arsenate reductase. New Phytologist 159(2): 431-441 (2003).

Om Parkash Dhankher and J.A. Gatehouse. Non-systemic induction of polyphenol oxidase in pea and chickpea after wounding. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants9: 125-129 (2003).

Om Parkash Dhankher and Richard B. Meagher. Strategies for phytoremediation of mercury and arsenic. 225th American Chemical Society’s Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP)symposium proceedings. pp 1077-1082 (2003).

Om Parkash Dhankher , Yujing Li, Barry P. Rosen, Jin Shi, David Salt, Julie F. Senecoff, Nupur A. Sashtiand Richard B. Meagher. Engineered tolerance and hyperaccumulation of arsenic in plants by combining arsenate reductase and g -glutamylcysteine synthetase expression. Nature Biotechnology 20(11): 1140-1145 (2002).

Om Parkash Dhankher , Jason L. Tucker, Valentine A. Nzengung, and N. Lee Wolfe. Isolation, purification and partial characterization of plant dehalogenase-like activity from waterweed (Elodea canadensis). In: Phytoremediation and innovative strategies for specialized remedial applications. eds: Leesan and Alleman, vol. 6, pp 145-150 (1999).

Om Parkash Dhankher ,J.E. Drew and J.A. Gatehouse: Characterization of a pea hsp70 gene which is both developmentally and stress regulated. Plant Molecular Biology 34: 345-352 (1997).

Om Parkash Dhankher and N.K. Matta: Effect of salinity on storage proteins of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seeds. J. Plant Science Research 8: 74-76 (1992).

Om Parkash Dhankher , Krishna Kumari and N.K. Matta: Qualitative and quantitative studies on seed protein fractions of Vigna unguiculata L.Walp. J. Plant Science Research 6:75-79 (1990).

Books Edited

Title: Plant Membrane Transporters. Eds: Jaiwal, P.K., Singh, R.P. and Dhankher, O.P. CABI Publishers, Oxford UK (In Printing) (2008).

Patents

U.S. PCT/US01/48105 “Metal Resistant Plants and Phytoremediation of Environmental Contamination.” Richard B. Meagher, Om Parkash Dhankher and Yujing Li.

Conferences & Invited Presentations

Om Parkash Dhankher. Engineering Pathways for Arsenic Hyperaccumulation in Plants. US National Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Sciences joint Meeting. Irvine CA, October 23-26, 2006.

Om Parkash Dhankher. Arabidopsis arsenate reductase: a single enzyme with multiple functions. Plant Biology 2006 (American Society for Plant Biologist) Boston, MA ( USA) August 5-9, 2006.

Om Parkash Dhankher . Engineering Plants for Phytoremediation of toxic metals. University of Massachusetts, Boston Campus. March 24, 2006.

Om Parkash Dhankher . Phytoremediation of Arsenic: A new Hope for the Old Problem. Worcester Polytechnic Institute, March 20, 2005

Om Parkash Dhankher .Engineering plants for phytoremediation of arsenic, Plant Biology Colloquium, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, February 26 th, 2005.

Om ParkashDhankher. Strategies for Phytoremediation of Arsenic. New England Regional Arabidopsis meeting, Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, MA. February 2 nd, 2005.

Om Parkash Dhankher and Richard B. Meagher. Arsenic hyperaccumulation in transgenicArabidopsis by suppressing an endogenous arsenate reductase (AtACR2). Plant Biology 2004 (American Society for Plant Biologist) Orlando, Florida ( USA) July 25-30, 2004.

Om Parkash Dhankher and Richard B. Meagher. Phytoremediation of Arsenic- A Biotechnological Approach. University of Georgia Plant Center Symposium, Amicalola Falls, Georgia, October 29-30, 2003.

Om Parkash Dhankher . Developing Strategies for Arsenic Phytoremediation. Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India, September 7, 2003.

Om Parkash Dhankher . Phytoremediation of Arsenic- A Biotechnological Approach. Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India, September 11, 2003.

Om Parkash Dhankher and Richard. B. Meagher. Engineered Phytoremediation of Arsenic: Enhancing arsenic uptake in plants by controlling endogenous arsenate reductase. Plant Biology 2003 (American Society for Plant Biologist) Honolulu, Hawaii ( USA) July 25-30, 2003.

Om Parkash Dhankher and Richard B. Meagher. Strategies for phytoremediation of mercury and arsenic. 225th American Chemical Society (ACS) annual meeting, New Orleans, LA ( USA) March 22-27, 2003.

Om Parkash Dhankher and J.A. Gatehouse: A study of the kinetics and tissue-specificity of stress-induced gene expression using reporter gene constructs in transgenic plants. Society for Experimental Biology (SEB) Annual Meeting; April 7-11, 1997; University of Kent, Canterbury ( U.K.).

Om Parkash Dhankher : Heat Shock Proteins and Abiotic Stresses. Plant Molecular Biology Forum Mini Symposium. November 24, 1995; Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee, Scotland ( U.K.).

For more information about Dr. Parkash, please visit his website at:

http://www.bio.umass.edu/plantbio/faculty/parkash.html