Projects in progress at SolResLab

Genomics

Fungal luciferase system from Omphalotus olearius and Armillaria mellea

Whole-genome sequencing followed by isolation and cloning of the luciferase gene from bioluminescent fungi — Ph.D. research of Ms Akriti Singh (JWU, Jaipur), hosted at SolResLab since January 2024.

Metagenomics

Termite mound soil metagenome

Deciphering the soil microflora that helps termites build strong colonies.

Diagnostics

LAMP assay for Staphylococcus aureus

Optimising a loop-mediated isothermal amplification protocol for microbial detection and developing it into a kit.

Microbiology

Endophytes of Stevia rebaudiana

Isolating endophytes from leaf and stem tissues and testing their ability to synthesise steviosides (since October 2023). Ms Shivani (MMU, Mullana) completed six months of thesis work on this project.

Transcriptomics

Validation of RNA-seq experiments

SYBR Green qPCR assays for quality checks and validation of RNA-seq results.

Genetic Engineering

Gene synthesis

Long genes synthesised successfully — a 5.7 kb gene for Dr Archana Kumari (GBU) and a 3.2 kb gene for Dr Subramanian Sankaranarayanan (IIT Gandhinagar).

Protein Biology

Protein over-expression and isolation

Optimising vectors and hosts to isolate good-quality proteins for downstream experiments.

Technology Development

Plant-pathogen detection technology

Developing a fast, cheap and scalable plant-pathogen detection system.