Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.), the ‘King of Spices’ is one of the oldest and most widely used spices in the world. Non-availability of healthy planting materials and crop loss due to various stresses are the major reasons for low productivity in this spice crop. To circumvent the above crisis, modern methods of plant propagation and gene transfer are very much useful. There is growing public concern about the extent to which transgenic crops differ from their traditionally bred counterparts. Studies on the isolation and characterization native genes and regulatory elements, and its reintroduction into plants without the need to use selectable markers have great significance. This would minimize the public concern about the consumption of foods derived from transgenic plants. Precise control of transgene expression is crucial to the engineering of plants with increased disease resistance. Analysis of native genetic elements is a prerequisite for better improvement of the crop. We have a plethora of candidate genes for improving disease resistance but now we need a series of tightly-controlled promoters to achieve the desired temporal and spatial regulation of the transgene. The aim of the current study is to isolate and characterize native promoters from black pepper which can be further utilized for better improvement in this spice. Work is on progress for isolation and characterization of different tissue specific and inducible promoters from black pepper using PCR based Genome Walking approach. The native promoters were characterized in silico using various bioinformatic tools and validated its expression in different plant systems. Once characterized, the native promoters can be used for the precise, tissue-specific or inducible expression of genes in black pepper and in a wide range of plant species.

Plant growth is greatly affected by environmental stimuli, in the form of abiotic and biotic stresses. The identification, isolation and cloning of new genes controlling specific stress responses will facilitate the development of a more stable, diversified germplasm with improved resistance to diseases, pests and stress tolerance. Calcium dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) may function as a potential sensor-responder that decodes and translates the elevation of calcium concentration into enhanced protein kinase activity and subsequent downstream signaling events during stress conditions.
So we are concentrating towards the elucidation of role of CDPK genes involved with abiotic stress. So we are concentrating to study CDPK genes involved with abiotic stress.

Plant Type III polyketide synthase (PKS), a key regulatory enzyme in the biosynthesis of phenyl propanoids, is a suitable candidate gene to unravel the secondary metabolite pathway leading to nutaceuticals. Type III PKS has multiple substrates binding affinity and hence the normal biosynthetic pathway may diverge at this point to result in wide range of natural products. In the present study our idea is to clone and characterize type III PKS gene from important medicinal plants and to study its multiple substrate binding capacities towards the production of unnatural compounds.

Polyketide synthases, also known as PKSs, are a family of enzyme complexes that produce a large class of secondary metabolites known as polyketides which possess pharmacologically important properties including antibiotic, antifungal, antitumor and immunosuppressive activities. PKS are of different types: type I, II, and III. Among this type III polyketide synthases are large multienzyme protein complexes responsible for the synthesis of polyketides such as chalcone and stilbene. The work focuses on data mining, computational analysis, structural interpretation and development of database on type III PKSs which will be an efficient platform that support insilico analysis of the Type III PKS.

The world of plants, and indeed all-natural sources, represents a virtually unexploited reservoir of novel drugs against new diseases, awaiting imaginative and progressive organizations. Coupled with continuing threat to biodiversity through the destruction of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and proven record of natural products in drug discovery, there is a compelling disagreement for expanding the exploration of nature as source of novel active agents. Keeping in view the importance of valuable products from mangrove region, the present study will be undertaken with the main aim-search for bioactive compounds from mangrove plants, especially on low molecular weight substances with antimicrobial activity and surface-active properties.