National Institute of Plant Genome Research
 
    Dr. Sabhyata Bhatia
    Staff Scientist IV
    Tel: 91-11-26741612,14,17 Ext. - 159
    Direct - 26735159
    E-mail: sabhyata_bhatia@nipgr.res.in, sabhyatab@yahoo.com
 Research Interest
Molecular Mapping and Genomics of Chickpea and Catharanthus roseus
One of the most significant recent developments in molecular biology is the detection and exploitation of naturally occurring DNA sequence polymorphisms. In this context, molecular markers are the ideal tools for assaying the genetic variation. Over the years there has been an unprecedented increase in the type of molecular markers available that cater to different needs of the researcher. Eventually, innumerable numbers of molecular techniques have been developed which differ with respect to their abundance, level of polymorphism, specificity and reproducibility. Molecular markers are efficient and powerful tools for construction of genetic linkage maps that are useful for gene identification, tagging of important traits and marker assisted selection. Additionally, DNA markers also provide new insights into genome analysis and plant systematics, help in germplasm characterization, phylogenetic analysis, evolutionary studies and genetic diagnostics. Today, innumerable marker systems including the classical RFLP and RAPD, robust AFLP and STMS and technically advanced SNPs are available. However, among the different molecular markers, the emphasis in our laboratory has been primarily on development of microsatellite markers both from genomic and coding regions in two important crops namely Cicer arietinum, commonly known as chickpea/chana which is the third most important grain legume crop, and Catharanthus roseus a medicinal plant known for its anticancerous properties.
The focus in our laboratory has been on molecular mapping using DNA based molecular markers, hence novel STMS (Sequence Tagged Microsatellite Sites) markers and the EST based SSR (Simple Sequence Repeats), SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism), PIP (Potential Intron Polymorphism) markers etc. are developed through construction of conventional, enriched and cDNA libraries. The implication of these markers (STMS and ESTs) and their potential for genetic diversity studies at intra and inter specific levels in the above mentioned crops are studied. At the molecular level, the pattern of microsatellite evolution is unraveled and novel phylogenetic relationships elucidated. Synteny studies among the related genera are performed in order to establish the usefulness of the above markers for comparative genomics. Construction of the microsatellite based genetic linkage maps using intra and interspecific mapping populations are under progress for saturation of linkage map and tagging of agronomically important traits. More recently, genomics work focusing on large scale generation of ESTs from chickpea has been undertaken from specific tissues such as seed and nodules for development of functional markers and construction of a transcript map in chickpea.
 Selected Publications
Choudhary S, Sethy NK, Shokeen B and Bhatia S (2009) Development of chickpea EST-SSR markers and analysis of allelic variation across related species. Theor. Appl. Genet. 118: 591-608.
Shokeen B, Sethy NK, Kumar S and Bhatia S (2007) Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for analysis of molecular variation in the medicinal plant Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don.). Plant Science 172: 441-451.
Sethy NK, Shokeen B, Edwards KJ and Bhatia S (2006) Development of microsatellite markers and analysis of intra-specific genetic variability in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Theor. Appl. Genet. 112: 1416-1428.
Sethy NK, Choudhary S, Shokeen B and Bhatia S (2006) Identification of microsatellite markers from Cicer reticulatum: Molecular variation and phylogenetic analysis. Theor. Appl. Genet. 112: 347-357
Choudhary S, Sethy NK, Shokeen B and Bhatia S (2006) Development of sequence-tagged microsatellite site markers for chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Molecular Ecology Notes 6(1): 93-95.
Shokeen B, Sethy NK, Choudhary S and Bhatia S (2005) Development of STMS markers from the medicinal plant Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don.). Mol. Ecol. Notes 5: 818-820.
Sethy N. K, Shokeen B and Bhatia S (2003) Isolation and characterization of sequence-tagged microsatellite sites markers in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Mol. Ecol. Notes 3: 428-430.
Rajagopal J, Bashyam L, Bhatia S, Khurana DK, Srivastava PS and Lakshmikumaran M (2000) Evaluation of genetic diversity in the Himalayan Poplar using RAPD markers. Silvae Genetica 49(2): 60-66
Singh A, Negi MS, Rajagopal J, Bhatia S, Tomar UK, Srivastava PS and Lakshmikumaran M (1999) Assessment of genetic diversity in Azadirachta indica using AFLP markers. Theor Appl Genet. 99(1/2): 272-279
Das S, Rajagopal J, Bhatia S, Srivastava PS and Lakshmikumaran M (1999). Assessment of genetic variation within Brassica campestris cultivars using AFLP and RAPD markers. J. of Biosciences 24(4): 433-440
Bhatia S, Negi MS and Lakshmikumaran M (1996) Structural Analysis of the rDNA Intergenic Spacer of Brassica nigra: Evolutionary Divergence of the Spacers of the Three Diploid Brassica Species. Journal of Molecular Evolution 43(5): 460-468.
Bhatia S, Das S, Jain A and Lakshmikumaran M (1995) DNA fingerprinting of Brassica juncea cultivars using microsatellite probes. Electrophoresis 16: 1750-1754.
Jain A, Bhatia S, Banga SS, Prakash S and Lakshmikumaran M (1994) Potential use of the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) to study the genetic diversity in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) and its relationship to heterosis. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 88: 116-122.
Singh K, Bhatia S and Lakshmikumaran M (1994) Novel variants of the 5S rRNA genes in Eruca sativa. Genome 37: 121-128.
Bhatia S, Singh K, Jagannathan V and Lakshmikumaran M (1993) Organization and analysis of the 5S rRNA genes in B. campestris. Plant Science 92: 47-55.
 Book Chapter
Varshney RK, Hoisington DA, Upadhyaya HD, Gaur PM, Nigam SN, Saxena K, Vadez V, Sethy NK, Bhatia S, Aruna R, Gowda MVC, Singh NK (2007) Molecular genetics and breeding of grain legume crops for the semi-arid tropics. In Springer publication: Genomic Assisted Crop Improvement: Vol 2: Genomics Applications in Crops; R. Varshney and R. Tuberosa (eds.) pp. 207-241.
Lakshmikumaran M, Das S, Rajagopal J, Goswami J, Negi MS, Bhatia S (1998) Repeated DNA sequences in plants: Organization, Evolution and Applications. In Genetics and Biotechnology in Crop Improvement pp. 63-93. Rastogi Publications, Meerut, India; Editors: PK Gupta, SP Singh, HS Balyan, PC Sharma and B Ramesh
 Book
Lakshmikumaran M, and Bhatia S. 1996. DNA fingerprinting of medicinal plants : A means to preserve valuable genetic resources. RGICS Project No. 11. Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies. Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, New Delhi.