Dr. Gopaljee Jha
Staff Scientist VI, Plant Microbe Interactions Lab
PhD: Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad
(Degree awarded by Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
- 91-11-26741612/14/17 Extn. 177,91-11-26735177
- jmsgopal@nipgr.ac.in
Profile
Research
Understanding the mechanisms by which pathogens cause disease and plants defend themselves is an interesting area of research in modern biology. Important practical implications are emerging out from such researches which are helpful in strategizing plant diseases management to ensuring food security. Rice Sheath Blight disease caused by the Basidiomycete fungus┬аRhizoctoniasolani┬аremains a threat to global sustainable agriculture and food security. It has complex biology and highly destructive lifestyle and has been reported occurring world-wide causing necrosis and damping-off on numerous plant species. The exact mechanisms by which this fungus establishes and maintains a necrotrophic interaction with their hosts is completely unknown. We endeavour to use the available genome sequences to identify and study the candidate pathogenicity determinant of the pathogen and explore their role in governing virulence and host specificity.┬а Furthermore, we would focus on understand how this pathogen manipulate rice cellular and molecular process to establish sheath blight disease.
Career
Scientist (Feb 2013-present):National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, India.
Scientist (Aug 2007-Jan 2013):┬аCSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, H.P, India.
Visiting Scientist (July 2010-June 2011):┬аThe Sainsbury Laboratory, John Innes Centre, Norwich, U.K.
Awards & Honors
Year
Honors
2023
Fellow of the National Academy of Science (NASI), Allahabad, India (FNASc.
2021
Member Guha research conference (GRC)
Year
Awards
2025
Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc), Banglore
2021
DBT - S. Ramachandran National Bioscience Award for Career Development (awarded in 2023).
Swarna Jayanti Fellowship, Department of Science and Technology, Govt of Inida
2010
INSA (Indian National Science Academy) medal for Young Scientist
2007
NASI (National Academy of Science, India) Platinum Jubilee Young Scientist Award
2010-11
BOYSCAST Fellowship from Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India
Gold Medal: Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India
Career Opportunity
We are a growing lab and can provide an exciting platform for those interested in studying the molecular intricacies of host pathogen interactions. Interested and motivated people are encouraged to contact the PI for joining the lab.
Current Members
Mr. Rajendra Kumar
Designation: Senior Technical Officer
Research Project: Dissecting plant responses to growth promoting microbes
- jaisalraj100@nipgr.ac.in
Mr. Rahul Kumar
Designation: Research Associate
Research Project: Dissecting plant responses to growth promoting microbes
- rahuls697@nipgr.ac.in
Dr. Mamta Rani
Designation: CSIR-SRA
Research Project: Exploring the role of host susceptibility factors and R. solani effectors in rice sheath blight disease
- mamta.nipgr@gmail.com
Dr. Ravindra Kumar Chandan
Designation: DBT-RA
Research Project: Mechanistic understanding of Bg_9562-mediated disease resistance in rice
- rjha.bhu@nipgr.ac.in
Dr. Amrita Pradhan
Designation: Research Associate
Understanding the molecular secrets of antifungal and antibacterial activity of Burkholderia gladioli strain NGJ1 and utilization thereof for disease control in rice
- amritapradhan989@gmail.com
Dr. Saumashish Mukherjee
Designation: Research Associate
Research Project: Elucidating the role of cell wall-degrading enzymes (CAZymes) in pathogenesis of Rhizoctonia solani
- smukherjee13@nipgr.ac.in
Mr. Debashis Sahoo
Designation: Ph.D. scholar
Research Project: Understanding host genes imparting susceptibility to sheath blight disease in rice
- deb.sahoo@nipgr.ac.in
Ms. Rajni Dahiya
Designation: Ph.D. scholar
Research Project: Identification and characterization of antimicrobial encoding gene clusters in Burkholderia gladioli NGJ1
- rajni1208@nipgr.ac.in
Ms. Mandira Roy
Designation: Ph.D. scholar
Research Project: Modulation of plant defense response by Burkholderia gladioli NGJ1
- mandiraroy@nipgr.ac.in
Mr. Naveen Goel
Designation: Ph.D. scholar
Research Project: Characterization of rice gene(s) modulated during establishment of sheath blight disease
- naveengoel99@gmail.com
Mr. Bukya Rajesh
Designation: Ph.D. scholar
Research Project: Understanding the role of effector proteins of Rhizoctonia solani in disease establishment in plants
- bukyarajesh@nipgr.ac.in
Ms. Surbhi Vashisth
Designation: I3C BRIC-RCB Ph.D. scholar
Research Project: Development of improved sheath blight disease resistance by targeting rice translational processes
- surbhivashisth@nipgr.ac.in
Mr. Sunder Singh Solanki
Designation: Lab Attendant
Mr. Minto Mandal
Designation: Field Attendant
Mr. Surender Kumar
Designation: Field Attendant
Former Members
Dr. Srayan Ghosh:┬аPh.D. scholar
Dr. Isha Tyagi:┬аPh.D. scholar
Dr. Sunil Kumar Yadav:┬аPh.D. scholar
Dr. Kriti Tyagi:┬аPh.D. scholar
Dr. Joyati Das:┬аPh.D. scholar
Dr. Poonam Kanwar:┬аDBT-RA
Dr. Durga Madhab Swain:┬аDBT-RA
Dr. Ravi Kant:┬аSERB-NPDF
Dr. Ankita Magotra:┬аResearch Associate
Dr. Kristi Kabyashree:┬аResearch Associate
Dr. Santosh Kumar Gupta:┬аResearch Associate
Dr. Md. Iqbal Raja Khan:┬аResearch Associate
Dr. Papa Rao Vaikuntapu:┬аResearch Associate
Dr. Pramila Yadav:┬аProject Assistant
Ms. Aiswarya Krishnan:┬аProject Assistant
Mr. Saurabh Singh:┬аProject Assistant
Mr. Chandan Kumar:┬аProject Assistant
Ms. Ganga Devi Sinniah:┬аNAM-ST, RTF-DCS Fellowship awardee
Selected Publications
Sahoo, D., Chandan, R.K., Goel, N.m and Jha, G*. 2026. Alternative NUOR modulates disease susceptibility in rice by interfering with ROS homeostasis and ferroptosis-like cell death. Plant Cell. 10.1093/plcell/koag112 (Accepted)
Rastogi L, Hussain MM, Tyagi S, Kabyashree K, Kharbanda N, Srivastva P, Chaudhary R, Maiti TK, Krishnan V, Jha G, Voxeur A, Shrivastava T, Pawar PA. 2025. Arabidopsis GELP53 overexpression modulates polysaccharide acetylation and defense through oligosaccharide-mediated signaling. Plant Cell. doi: 10.1093/plcell/koaf184.┬аCitation: 1
Pradhan, A., Yadav, S.K., and Jha, G*. 2025. Glycosyltransferase-like toxin of Burkholderia gladioli strain NGJ1 is a potent antifungal protein with potential for control of sheath blight disease in rice. Phytopathology. 115: 485-494. Citation: 1
Tyagi, K., Chandan, R.K., Sahoo, D., Ghosh, S., Gupta, S.K, and Jha, G*. 2024. The host and pathogen myo-inositol-1-phosphate synthases are required for Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA infection in tomato. Molecular Plant Pathology. 25(10):e13470.┬а https://doi.org/10.1111/mpp.13470. Impact Factor: 4.8, Citation: 1
Singh, J., James, D., Das, S., Patel, M.K., Sutar, R. R., Achary, V. M. M., Goel, N., Gupta, K.J., Reddy, M.K, Jha, G., Sonti, R.V., Foyer, C.H., Thakur, J.K., and Tripathy, B. C. 2024. Co-overexpression of SWEET sucrose transporters modulates sucrose synthesis and defence responses to enhance immunity against bacterial blight in rice. Plant, Cell & Environment. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14901. Impact Factor: 6.0; Citation: 18
Das, J., Ghosh, S., Tyagi, K., Sahoo, D., and Jha, G*. 2024. Methionine biosynthetic genes and methionine sulfoxide reductase A are required for Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA to cause sheath blight disease in rice. Microbial Biotechnology. 17(4). E14441. https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14441. Impact Factor: 4.8. Citation: 4
Chandan, R.K., Kumar, R., Kabyashree, K., Yadav, S.K., Roy, M., Swain, D., and Jha, G*. 2023. A prophage tail-like protein facilitates the endophytic growth of Burkholderia gladioli and mounting immunity in tomato. New Phytologist. 240(3). 1202-1218. Doi: 10.1111/nph.19184. Impact Factor: 8.3; Citation: 6
Chandan, R.K., Kumar, R., Kabyashree, K., Yadav, S.K., Roy, M., Swain, D., and┬аJha, G*. 2023. A prophage tail-like protein facilitates the endophytic growth of┬аBurkholderia gladioli┬аand mounting immunity in tomato.┬аNew Phytopathologist┬а(accepted). Doi: 10.1111/nph.19184.
Das, J., Kumar, R., Yadav, SK., and┬аJha, G*. 2023. Nicotinic acid catabolism modulates bacterial mycophagy in┬аBurkholderia gladioli┬аstrain NGJ1.┬аMicrobiology spectrum.┬аe0445722. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.04457-22.
Francis, A., Ghosh, S., Tyagi, K., Prakasam, V., Rani, M., Singh, N.P, Pradhan, A., Sundaram, RM., Priyanka, C., Laha, GS., Kannan, C., Prasad, MS., Chattopadhyay, D., and┬аJha, G*. 2023. Evolution of pathogenicity-associated genes in┬аRhizoctonia solani┬аAG1-IA by genome duplication and transposon-mediated gene function alterations.┬аBMC Biology. 21(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12915-023-01526-0.
Chandan, R.K., Kumar, R., Swain, D., Ghosh, S., Bhagat, P., Patel, S., Bagler, G., Sinha, A., and┬аJha, G*. 2023. RAV1 family members function as transcriptional regulators and play a positive role in plant disease resistance.┬аThe Plant Journal. 114: 39-54. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.16114.
Sahoo, P. K., Kumar, R., Rani, A., Yadav, S. K.,┬аJha, G.*┬аand Jain D. 2022. N-terminal residues play a critical role for stabilizing the filamentous assembly and the anti-fungal activity of Bg_9562.┬аMicrobiology spectrum.┬а10(5):e0160722. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.01607-22.
Sahoo, R. K., Chandan, R. K., Swain, D. M., Tuteja, N., and┬аJha, G*. 2022. Heterologous overexpression of PDH45 gene of pea provides tolerance against sheath blight disease and drought stress in rice.┬аPlant Physiology and Biochemistry.186: 242-251.
Francis A, Ghosh S, Tyagi K, Prakasham V, Rani M, Singh NP, Pradhan A, Sundaram RM, Priyanka C, Laha GS, Kannan C, Prasad MS,┬аChattopadhyay D*, Jha G* (2023) Evolution of pathogenicity-associated genes in Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA by genome duplication and transposon-mediated gene function alterations.┬аBMC Biology┬аdoi:┬аhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-023-01526-0┬а(* co-corresponding author)
Das, J., Kumar, R., Yadav, S. K., and┬аJha, G*. 2022. The alternative sigma factor, rpoN1 and rpoN2 are required for mycophagous activity of┬аBurkholderia gladioli┬аstrain NGJ1.┬аEnvironmental Microbiology. 24: 2781-2796. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.158.
Pal, G., Mehta, D., Singh, S., Magal, K., Gupta, S.,┬аJha, G.,┬аBajaj, A. and Vemanna, R. 2021. Foliar application or seed priming of cholic acid-glycine conjugates can mitigate/prevent the rice bacterial leaf blight disease via activating plant defence genes.┬аFront. Plant Sci.┬а12. 746912. DOI=10.3389/fpls.2021.746912.
Das, J., Kumar, R., Yadav, S. K., and┬аJha, G*.┬а2021. The alternative sigma factor,┬аrpoN1┬аand┬аrpoN2┬аare required for mycophagous activity of Burkholderia gladioli strain NGJ1.┬аEnvironmental microbiology.┬аdoi: 10.1111/1462-2920.158.
Yadav SK, Magotra┬аA, Ghosh S, Krishnan A, Pradhan A, Kumar R, Das J, Sharma┬аM, and┬аJha G*. 2021.┬аImmunity proteins of dual nuclease T6SS effectors function as transcriptional repressors. EMBO reports.┬а22:e51857.┬аhttps://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202051857.
Rani M, and┬аJha G*.┬а2021. Host Gamma Aminobutyric Acid Metabolic Pathway is involved in Resistance against Rhizoctonia solani.┬аPhytopathology. ┬а(Accepted). https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-08-20-0356-R.
Das J, Yadav SK, Ghosh S, Tyagi K, Magotra A, Krishnan A and┬аJha G*.┬а2021. Enzymatic and non-enzymatic functional attributes of plant microbiome.┬аCurrent Opinion in Biotechnology. 69: 162-171.
Pradhan A, Sahoo D, Ghosh S, and┬аJha G*. 2021. Fungal effectors, the double edge sword of phytopathogens.┬аCurrent Genetics. 67: 27-40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00294-020-01118-3.
Ghosh S, Kant Ravi, Pradhan A. and┬аJha G*.┬а2021. RS_CRZ1, a C2H2 type transcription factor is required for pathogenesis of┬аRhizoctonia solani┬аin tomato.┬аMol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 34: 26-38. DOI: 10.1094/MPMI-05-20-0121-R.
Yadav SK, Das J, Kumar R, and┬аJha G*. 2020. Calcium regulates the mycophagous ability of Burkholderia gladioli strain NGJ1 in a type III secretion system-dependent manner.┬аBMC Microbiology. 20: 216. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12866-020-01897-2.
Das J and┬аJha G*. 2020. Bacteriophages: co-evolving with bacteria to provide useful traits.┬аPolymorphism. 4: 72-82. (Invited Review).
Swain DM, Sahoo R, Chandan R, Ghosh S, Kumar R,┬аJha G*,┬аand Tuteja N*. 2019. Concurrent overexpression of rice G-protein ╬▓ and ╬│ subunits provide enhanced tolerance to sheath blight disease and abiotic stress in rice.┬аPlanta. 250: 1505-1520. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-019-03241-z.
Kant R, Tyagi K, Ghosh S and┬аJha G*.┬а2019.┬аRhizoctonia solani┬аexploits host alternative NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase to promote pathogenesis in tomato.┬аPhytopathology. 109: 1741-1750. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-02-19-0055-R.
Saggu SK,┬аJha G┬аand Mishra PC. 2019. Enzymatic degradation of biofilm by metalloprotease from Microbacterium sp. SKS10.┬аFrontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology┬а7: 192. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2019.00192.
Rani M, Tyagi K and┬аJha G*. 2020. Advancement in Plant Disease Control Strategies. Book chapter in┬аAdvancement in Crop Improvement Techniques, to be published by Elsevier Inc .doi. 10.1016/B978-0-12-818581-0.00010-3.
Ghosh S, Malukani KK, Chandan RK, Sonti RV and┬аJha G*.┬а2019. How plants respond to pathogen attackтАЩ, book chapter in Sensory Biology of Plants.┬аSpringer Nature┬аPublishing Group┬аdoi. 10.1007/978-981-13-8922-1_20.
Ghosh, S., Kanwar, P., Mirza, N., Tyagi K. and┬аJha, G*. 2019. Genome analysis provides insight about pathogenesis of Indian strains of┬аRhizoctonia solani┬аin rice.┬аFunctional and Integrative Genomics. 19: 799-810.┬аhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-019-00687-y.
Chandan RK, Singh AK, Patel S, Swain DM, Tuteja N,┬аJha G*. 2019. Silencing of tomato CTR1 provides enhanced tolerance against Tomato leaf curl virus infection.┬аPlant Signal Behav. 19:1-7. doi: 10.1080/15592324.2019.1565595.
Kumar R, Yadav SK, Swain DM┬аand┬аJha G*┬а(2018).┬аBurkholderia gladioli┬аstrain NGJ1 deploys a prophage tail-like protein for mycophagy.┬аMicrobial Cell, 5: 116 – 118; DOI: 10.15698/mic2018.02.617.
Kumar R, Swain DM, Yadav SK, Tyagi I, Kumar R, Das J, Ghosh S and┬аJha G*┬а(2018). Bacteria-fungal Confrontation and Fungal Growth Prevention Assay.┬аBio-protocol┬а8(2): e2694. DOI: 10.21769/BioProtoc.2694.
Ghosh S, Kanwar P,┬аJha G*. Identification of candidate pathogenicity determinants of┬аRhizoctonia solani┬аAG1-IA, which causes sheath blight disease in rice. Curr Genet. 2017. doi: 10.1007/s00294-017-0791-7.
Swain DM, Yadav SK, Tyagi I, Kumar R, Kumar R, Ghosh S, Das J and┬аJha G┬а*. 2017. A prophage tail-like protein is deployed by Burkholderia bacteria to feed on fungi. Nature communications. 8: 404.
Ghosh S, Kanwar P, and┬аJha G* (2017) Alterations in rice chloroplast integrity, photosynthesis and metabolome associated with pathogenesis of┬аRhizoctonia solani“.┬аScientific Reports┬а(Accepted).
Kumar R, Barman A, Phukan T, Kabyashree K, Singh N,┬аJha G,┬а┬аSonti R.V,┬а Genin S and Ray R.K. (2016).┬аRalstonia solanacearum┬аvirulence in tomato seedlings inoculated by leaf clipping.┬аPlant Pathology. DOI: 10.1111/ppa.12628.
Jha G*, Tyagi I, Kumar R, and Ghosh S. (2015).Draft genome sequence of broad spectrum antifungal bacterium Burkholderia gladioli strain NGJ1, isolated from healthy rice seeds.┬аGenome announcement. (Accepted).
Ghosh S, Gupta SK and┬аJha G*┬а(2014) Identification and functional analysis of AG1-IA specific genes of Rhizoctonia solani.┬аCurrent Genetics 60:┬а327-341. DOI: 10.1007/s00294-014-0438-x.
Kumar R, Barman A,┬аJha G, Ray SK (2013). Identification and establishment of genomic identity of┬аRalstonia solanacearum┬аisolated from a wilted chilli plant at Tezpur, North East India.┬аCurrent Science 105:┬а1571-1578.
Thakur K, Chawla V, Bhatti S, Swarnkar MK, Kaur J, Shankar R,┬аJha G*┬а(2013). ┬аDe novo transcriptome sequencing and analysis for┬аVenturiainaequalis, the devastating apple scab pathogen.┬аPLoS ONE 8(1): e53937. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0053937.
Kumar S,┬аHaque AS,┬аJha G, Sonti RV and Sankaranarayanan R (2012) Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies on CbsA, a secretory exoglucanase from┬аXanthomonasoryzae┬аpv.┬аoryzae.┬аActaCrystallographica Section F. 68: 1191-1194.
Bogdanove AJ, Koebnik R, Lu H, Furutani A, Angiuoli SV, Patil PB, Van Sluys MA, Ryan RP, Meyer DF, Han SW, Aparna G, Rajaram M, Delcher AL, Phillippy AM, Puiu D, Schatz MC, Shumway M, Sommer DD, Trapnell C, Benahmed F, Dimitrov G, Madupu R, Radune D, Sullivan S,┬аJha G, Ishihara H, Lee SW, Pandey A, Sharma V, Sriariyanun M, Szurek B, Vera-Cruz CM, Dorman KS, Ronald PC, Verdier V, Dow JM, Sonti RV, Tsuge S, Brendel V, Rabinowicz PD, Leach JE, White FF, Salzberg SL. (2011). Two new complete genome sequences offer insight into host and tissue specificity of plant pathogenic Xanthomonas spp. J. Bacteriology. 193: 5450-5464. Doi:10.1128/JB.05262-11.
Bhatti S and┬аJha G*┬а(2010) Current trends and future prospects of biotechnological interventions through tissue culture in apple.┬аPlant Cell Reports 29:┬а1215-1225.
Jha G,┬аPatel H K, Dasgupta M, Palaparthi R and Sonti RV (2010) Transcriptional profiling of rice leaves undergoing a hypersensitive response like reaction induced by┬аXanthomonasoryzaepv. oryzaecellulase.┬аRice┬а(springer). 3, 1-21. DOI 10.1007/s12284-009-9033-z. (Published in the special issue: biotic stress).
Jha G*,Thakur K and Thakur P (2009) The┬аVenturia┬аapple pathosystem: pathogenicity mechanisms and plant defense responses.┬аJournal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology.┬а┬а Article ID┬а┬а┬а┬а┬а┬а┬а 680160, doi:10.1155/2009/680160 (A review article).
Jha G┬аand Sonti RV (2009) Attack and defense in┬аXanthomonas-rice interactions.┬аProc. Indian NatnSciAcad 75:┬а49-68 (Invited Review).
Salzberg SL, Sommer DD, Schatz M C Phillippy AM, Rabinowicz PD, Tsuge S, Furutani A, Ochiai H, Delcher AL, Kelley D, Madupu R, Puiu D, Radune D, Shumway M, Trapnell C, Aparna G,┬аJha G,┬аPandey A, Patil PB, Ishihara H, Meyer DF, Szurek B, Verdier V, Koebnik R, Dow JM, Ryan RP, Hirata H, Tsuyumu S, Won Lee S, Ronald PC, Sonti RV, Van Sluys M -A, Leach JE, White FF and Bogdanove AJ (2008) Genome sequence and rapid evolution of the rice pathogen┬аXanthomonasoryzaepv.┬аoryzaePXO99A.┬аBMC Genomics┬а9:┬а204. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-9-204 (highly accessed article).
Jha G,┬аRajeshwari R and Sonti RV (2007) Functional interplay between two┬аXanthomonasoryzaepv.┬аoryzaesecretion systems in modulating virulence on rice.┬аMol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 20:┬а31-40 (A cover page article).
Aparna G, Chatterjee A,┬аJha G,┬аSonti RV and Sankaranarayanan R (2007) Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies on LipA, a secreted lipase/esterase from┬аXanthomonasoryzaepv.┬аoryzae.┬аActaCryst Sec F.┬аF63, 708-710.
Subramoni S,┬аJha G,┬аand Sonti RV (2006) Virulence functions of Xanthomonads. Book chapter in Plant Associated Bacteria, 535-571.┬аEdited┬аby Sam Gnanamanickam Published by┬аSpringer NL.
Jha G,┬аRajeshwari R and Sonti RV (2005) Bacterial type two secretion system secreted proteins: double-edged swords for plant pathogens.┬аMol. Plant-Microbe Interact.┬а18:891-898 (an invited review).
Rajeshwari R,┬аJha G┬аand Sonti RV (2005) Role of an┬аin plantaexpressed xylanase of┬аXanthomonasoryzaepv.┬аoryzaein promoting virulence on Rice.┬аMol. Plant-Microbe Interact. 18:┬а830-837.
Patent
Durga Madhab Swain, Sunil Kumar Yadav,┬аGopaljee Jha.┬а2016. Novel Protein Against Fungal Pathogens. Provisional Indian Patent Application no. 201611024726.
Pramila Yadav, Ashish Bedi,┬аGopaljee Jha, Subhash C Yadav.┬аA conjugate comprising gold nanoparticles and┬аVenturia inaequalis┬аspecific probes and kits comprising the same for the detection of apple scab. Indian Patent (File No:┬а361/DEL/2015)
Karnika Thakur and┬аGopaljeeJha, Method for detecting fungal pathogens. WIPO patent pub no: WO/2011/098907