Ashmita Chander

Ashmita earned a BTech in Biotechnology from National Institute of Technology Durgapur (2013-17) and an Mtech in Biological Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (2017-19) Ashmita's undergraduate thesis was to investigate the Genetic variability of Pi9 Resistance gene across different Indica rice varieties. The experimental findings showed that broad-spectrum Pi9 Resistance gene exhibited large variability across landraces, suggesting co-evolution between the plant and the pathogen as a plant’s mechanism of defense against fungus M. oryzae which is responsible for the major rice blast disease in the world. Her master’s thesis work was titled “CGGBP1 phosphorylation and cell cycle checkpoint regulation” wherein she elucidated the role of predicted Casein kinase-1 (CK-1) phosphorylation sites on CGGBP1, a protein involved in cellular homeostasis. The findings majorly attributed to an important post-translational modification, alteration which can affect DNA homeostasis causing an altered cell cycle progression. Her research exposure has propelled her interest in studying molecular functions of proteins in cellular homeostasis, signal transduction, and gene regulation.