Ashok Kumar Chanda
Graduate Student
E-mail: AChanda@agcenter.lsu.edu

Major Professor: Dr. Zhi-Yuan Chen

Education

2006-Present - PhD Candidate, Dept. of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology, Louisiana State University

2002-2004 - M.Sc. (Agricultural Biotechnology), Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India

1997-2001 - B.Sc. (Agriculture), Acharya N G Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India

Area of Research

Cercospora kikuchii is the causal agent of soybean leaf blight and purple seed stain. These diseases can cause significant reduction in seed quality and losses in yield. During the recent years, leaf blight disease has become severe in southern United States, such as Louisiana, and been gradually spreading to the northern states. Symptoms of the disease typically appear at late reproductive stages, which make it a difficult task to manage this disease. Fungicides can offer only limited protection and no significant resistance to the disease has been found in soybeans. In addition, there is no relationship between incidence of leaf blight and purple seed stain and resistance.

During infection of host plants, Cercospora kikuchii produces a non-host selective toxin “Cercosporin”, a perylenequinone polyketide photosensitizer and a possible pathogenicity factor. It can react with oxygen and produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can damage cell membranes and ultimately cause cell death upon exposure to light.

However, the biosynthesis of cercosporin has not been completely understood due to the complex regulation by different environmental cues and also nutritional factors. Currently, we are utilizing a proteomic-based approach to understand the cercosporin biosynthetic pathway by comparing the protein profiles of C. kikuchii grown under conditions favorable and non-favorable for cercosporin production.

To know more about cercosporin, check the following link:

http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.phyto.38.1.461