Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation

Dr Parimalan Rangan

Scientist
Division of Genomic Resources, ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources
Honorary Senior Fellow
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
+91-11-25843697
PUSA campus, New Delhi 110012 India

Overwiew

Operationalizing the C4 photosynthetic pathway – much energy efficient outside the ambient temperature window than C3 photosynthetic pathway – in major C3 crop plants especially rice and wheat is one of the major focus under agricultural research at global level to obtain improved yield for food security.  We have discovered the accomplishment of C4 photosynthetic pathway exclusively in developing wheat grains at grain filling stage.  This opens up the possibility of accomplishing the energy efficient C4 photosynthesis in leaves of Wheat and rice by understanding the regulatory mechanism through which it is selectively expressed in grains and its origin.  With yield improvement through genetic gain achieving its plateau, more focus on the improvement of photosynthetic efficiency to improve yield is the key alternate and also the need of the day.  

Role of polyamines in imparting abiotic stress tolerance, identification and characterization of genes regulating or imparting abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants. Especially, the role of polyamines and its biosynthetic pathway, genetic variability, its role in differential functionality and improved efficiency beyond optimal environments.  

Development of markers and fingerprinting profiles in order to make available the unique identity criteria for cultivars / germplasm of Vegetable Brassicas.  This is primarily focussed on the cultivars and landraces being cultivated in India and with secondary importance for the ones being procured from across the globe.  

Researcher biography

Parimalan Rangan, is a graduate from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), B. Sc. (Forestry); post-graduate in Agriculture with Plant Breeding and Genetics as specialization (TNAU); PG diploma in Bioinformatics from Bharathiar University; doctorate in Biotechnology from CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute under University of Mysore through CSIR-JRF-NET fellowship.  Underwent a Post-doctoral research on heat stress tolerance in wheat at Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland through Indo-Australian Career Boosting Gold Fellowship funded by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.  In 2016, Parimalan Rangan was conferred with Honorary Senior Research Fellow for the discovery of C4 photosynthetic pathway in developing wheat grains.

Some of his earlier works include: effect of Frankia on Casuarina seedlings; genetic variability studies; tissue culture including somatic embryogenesis and genetic transformation in annatto plant; bixin (annatto dye) biosynthetic pathway; development of chemotaxonomic markers in identifying plants that produce higher annatto dye yield; screening of pomegranate germplasm; and development and standardization of detection and quantification protocols for genetically modified plants or plant products.  

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
  • Master of Science, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Mysore

Grants 

Variation in polyamine biosynthetic genes for abiotic stress tolerance 
(2013-2014) Young Scientist Award project, DST, Government of India

Heat stress tolerance in wheat
(2014-2016) Indo-Australian Career Boosting Gold Fellowship, DBT, Government of India

Available research projects

Variation in polyamine biosynthetic genes for abiotic stress tolerance

Polyamines are the key metabolites involved in normal developmental processes.  In plants, it is well known that these polyamines are differentially regulated under stressed environments.  With existing variation and diversity in rice germplasm with altered levels of tolerance for various abiotic stress environments, identifying variation for genes involving polyamine biosynthetic pathway is the key focus and linking the variation with tolerance levels.

Heat stress tolerance and grain quality in wheat

Wheat is one of the three major crops along with Maize and Rice that feed the whole globe.  Of which, Rice and Maize are tropical crop while wheat is of temperate to sub-tropical nature.  Due to which, wheat is most susceptible to heat stress.  Identifying the genes imparting tolerance for heat stress in tolerant genotypes will be of much help in transferring those genes into the high yielding cultivars for improved yield without compromising in quality.
 

Publications

Journal articles

Rangan, P., Furtado, A., Henry, R.  2016.  New evidence for grain specific C4 photosynthesis in wheat.  Sci Rep., 6: 31721; doi: 10.1038/srep31721

Rangan, P., Rajesh Bhoge, Randhawa, G.J., and Chitra Devi Pandey.  2015.  Assessment of transgene flow in eggplant germplasm conserved at National Genebank.  Indian J. Biotechnol., 14: 357-363.

Rangan, P., Mahendranath, G., and Giridhar, P.  2014.  Analysis of water soluble polysaccharides as a potential chemotaxonomic marker for landraces in Bixa orellana.  Indian J. Biochem. Biophys., 51: 81-86. 

Vikas, V.K., Sivasamy, M., Kumar, J., Jayaprakash, P., Sundeep, K., , Rangan, P., Arun,  K., Kalyani, S., Radhamani, J., Sherry, R.J., Mamata, Y., Jyotisna, R., Bisht, I.S., Bhandari, D.C., Sunil A., Dutta, M., Tyagi, R.K., and Bansal, K.C.  2014.  Stem and leaf rust resistance in wild relatives of wheat with D genome (Aegilops spp.).  Genet Resour Crop Evol., 61: 861-874; doi: 10.1007/s10722-014-0085-6

Rangan, P., Akshatha, V., Giridhar, P., and Ravishankar, G.A.  2011.  Somatic embryogenesis and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in Bixa orellana L.  Plant Cell Tiss. Organ Cult., 105: 317-328; doi: 10.1007/s11240-010-9870-x

Rangan, P., Giridhar, P., and Ravishankar, G.A.  2011.  Enhanced shoot organogenesis in Bixa orellana L. in the presence of putrescine and silver nitrate.  Plant Cell Tiss. Organ Cult., 105: 285-290; doi: 10.1007/s11240-010-9865-7

Mahendranath, G., Akshatha, V., Rangan, P., Giridhar, P., and Ravishankar, G.A.  2011.  Annatto pigment production in root cultures of Achiote.  Plant Cell Tiss. Organ Cult., 106: 517-522; doi: 10.1007/s11240-011-9931-9

Review articles

Henry, R.J., Rangan, P., Furtado, A.  2016.  Functional cereals for production in new and variable climates.  Curr. Opin. Plant Biol., 30: 11-18; dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pbi.2015.12.008 

Rangan, P., Rajkumar, S., Rajesh, K, Singh, A.K., and Singh R.  2014.  Recent advances in polyamine metabolism and abiotic stress tolerance.  BioMed Res. Intl., 2014:  ID239621; dx.doi.o0072g/10.1155/2014/239621

Book chapter

Rangan, P., Kandan, A., and Singh, M.C.  2013.  Biotechnological approaches for crop protection and improvement. In: Biotechnological approaches in crop protection (Prasad, D., and Ray, D.P., Eds), Biotech Books, New Delhi, pp: 512-527.

Publications

Book Chapters (3)
Journal Articles (32)
Conference Paper (1)

Book Chapters

Wambugu, Peterson W., Ndjiondjop, Marie-Noelle, Rangan, Parimalan and Henry, Robert J. (2024). Application of Genomics in Supporting Efficient Conservation and Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources. Sustainable Development and Biodiversity. (pp. 339-361) Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-99-5245-8_10
Rangan, Parimalan, Furtado, Agnelo, Henry, Robert and Gaikwad, Ambika (2021). Development of Transcriptome Analysis Methods. Comprehensive Foodomics. (pp. 462-471) Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-08-100596-5.22752-2
Rangan, Parimalan, Furtado, Agnelo and Henry, Robert (2021). Wheat Grain Transcriptome. Comprehensive Foodomics. (pp. 501-512) Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-08-100596-5.22730-3

Journal Articles

Rangan, Parimalan, Furtado, Agnelo, Chinnusamy, Viswanathan and Henry, Robert (2024). A multi-cell model for the C4 photosynthetic pathway in developing wheat grains based upon tissue-specific transcriptome data. BioSystems, 238 105195, 105195. doi: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105195
Vishwakarma, Harinder, Sharma, Sandeep, Panzade, Kishor Prabhakar, Kharate, Pawankumar S., Kumar, Ajay, Singh, Nisha, Avashthi, Himanshu, Rangan, Parimalan, Singh, Anuj Kumar, Singh, Artika, Angadi, Ulavappa Basavanneppa, Siddique, Kadambot H.M., Singh, Kuldeep, Singh, Gyanendra Pratap, Pandey, Renu and Yadav, Rashmi (2024). Genome-wide analysis of the class III peroxidase gene family in sesame and SiPRXs gene validation by expression analysis under drought stress. Plant Stress, 11 100367, 100367. doi: 10.1016/j.stress.2024.100367
Yadav, Sheel, Tyagi, Anshika, Kumari, Ratna, Srivastava, Harsha, Rangan, Parimalan, Wankhede, Dhammaprakash and Gaikwad, Ambika B (2024). Corrigendum to “Comparative transcriptome profiling of fruit tissue provides novel insights into piperine biosynthesis in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.)” [Scientia Horticulturae 322, (2023), 112451, 1–11]. Scientia Horticulturae, 324 112570, 112570. doi: 10.1016/j.scienta.2023.112570
Yadav, Sheel, Tyagi, Anshika, Kumari, Ratna, Srivastava, Harsha, Rangan, Parimalan, Wankhede, Dhammaprakash and Gaikwad, Ambika B (2023). Comparative transcriptome profiling of fruit tissue provides novel insights into piperine biosynthesis in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.). Scientia Horticulturae, 322 112451, 1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.scienta.2023.112451
Rangan, Parimalan, Henry, Robert, Wambugu, Peterson and Periyannan, Sambasivam (2023). Editorial: Plant genetic and genomic resources for sustained crop improvement. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14 1266698, 1-3. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1266698
Ruperao, Pradeep, Rangan, Parimalan, Shah, Trushar, Thakur, Vivek, Kalia, Sanjay, Mayes, Sean and Rathore, Abhishek (2023). The progression in developing genomic resources for crop improvement. Life, 13 (8) 1668, 1-28. doi: 10.3390/life13081668
Rangan, Parimalan, Pradheep, Kanakasabapathi, Angamuthu, Mahalingam, Mohan, Justin, Yadav, Rashmi and Singh, Kuldeep (2023). Trans situ conservation strategies to conserve the extinction risk species, Sesamum prostratum Retz., a crop wild relative of sesame being endemic to coastal strand habitat: a case study. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 71 (1), 511-517. doi: 10.1007/s10722-023-01630-8
Ruperao, Pradeep, Bajaj, Prasad, Subramani, Rajkumar, Yadav, Rashmi, Reddy Lachagari, Vijaya Bhaskar, Lekkala, Sivarama Prasad, Rathore, Abhishek, Archak, Sunil, Angadi, Ulavappa B., Singh, Rakesh, Singh, Kuldeep, Mayes, Sean and Rangan, Parimalan (2023). A pilot-scale comparison between single and double-digest RAD markers generated using GBS strategy in sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). PLoS One, 18 (6) e0286599, 1-19. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286599
Rangan, Parimalan, Pradheep, Kanakasabapathi, Archak, Sunil, Smýkal, Petr and Henry, Robert (2023). Editorial: genomics and phenomics of crop wild relatives (CWRs) for crop improvement. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14 1221601, 1-2. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1221601
Gaikwad, Ambika Baldev, Kumari, Ratna, Yadav, Sheel, Rangan, Parimalan, Wankhede, Dhammaprakash Pandhari and Bhat, KV. (2023). Small cardamom genome: development and utilization of microsatellite markers from a draft genome sequence of Elettaria cardamomum Maton. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14 1161499, 1-17. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1161499
Kumar, Gaddam Prasanna, Pathania, Pooja, Goyal, Nitu, Gupta, Nishu, Parimalan, R., Radhamani, J., Gomashe, Sunil Shriram, Kadirvel, Palchamy and Rajkumar, S. (2023). Genetic diversity and population structure analysis to construct a core collection from safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) germplasm through SSR markers. Agriculture, 13 (4) 836. doi: 10.3390/agriculture13040836
Gaikwad, Ambika Baldev, Kaila, Tanvi, Maurya, Avantika, Kumari, Ratna, Rangan, Parimalan, Wankhede, Dhammaprakash Pandhari and Bhat, K. V. (2023). The chloroplast genome of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) and its comparative analysis with related Piper species. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13 1095781, 1-15. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1095781
Rangan, Parimalan (2022). Can genomics tools assist in gaining insights from the aquatic angiosperms to transform crop plants with multiple carbon concentrating mechanisms to adapt and yield better in challenging environment?. Plant Physiology Reports, 27 (4), 580-589. doi: 10.1007/s40502-022-00700-w
Nawade, Bhagwat, Kumar, Ajay, Maurya, Rasna, Subramani, Rajkumar, Yadav, Rashmi, Singh, Kuldeep and Rangan, Parimalan (2022). Longer duration of active oil biosynthesis during seed development is crucial for high oil yield—lessons from genome-wide in silico mining and RNA-seq validation in sesame. Plants, 11 (21) 2980, 1-24. doi: 10.3390/plants11212980
Rangan, Parimalan, Kanakasabapathi, Pradheep, Angamuthu, Mahalingam, Senthilraja, G. and Justin-Mohan, J. (2022). Decline in occurrence and distribution of Sesamum prostratum, a crop wild relative of sesame, along the eastern coastal region of India. Indian Journal of Plant Genetic Resources, 35 (1), 4-10. doi: 10.5958/0976-1926.2022.00002.X
Rangan, Parimalan, Maurya, Rasna and Singh, Shivani (2022). Can omic tools help generate alternative newer sources of edible seed oil?. Plant Direct, 6 (6) e399, e399. doi: 10.1002/pld3.399
Rangan, Parimalan, Wankhede, Dhammaprakash P., Subramani, Rajkumar, Chinnusamy, Viswanathan, Malik, Surendra K., Baig, Mirza Jaynul, Singh, Kuldeep and Henry, Robert (2022). Evolution of an intermediate C4 photosynthesis in the non-foliar tissues of the Poaceae. Photosynthesis Research, 153 (3), 125-134. doi: 10.1007/s11120-022-00926-7
Yadav, Rashmi, Kalia, Sanjay, Rangan, Parimalan, Pradheep, K., Rao, Govind Pratap, Kaur, Vikender, Pandey, Renu, Rai, Vandna, Vasimalla, Celia Chalam, Langyan, Sapna, Sharma, Sanjula, Thangavel, Boopathi, Rana, Virendra Singh, Vishwakarma, Harinder, Shah, Anshuman, Saxena, Abhishek, Kumar, Ashok, Singh, Kuldeep and Siddique, Kadambot H. M. (2022). Current research trends and prospects for yield and quality improvement in sesame, an important oilseed crop. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.863521
Vignesh, P., Mahadevaiah, C., Parimalan, R., Valarmathi, R., Dharshini, S., Nisha, Singh, Suresha, G. S., Swathi, S., Mahadeva Swamy, H. K., Sreenivasa, V., Mohanraj, K., Hemaprabha, G., Bakshi, Ram and Appunu, C. (2021). Comparative de novo transcriptome analysis identifies salinity stress responsive genes and metabolic pathways in sugarcane and its wild relative Erianthus arundinaceus [Retzius] Jeswiet. Scientific Reports, 11 (1) 24514, 24514. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-03735-5
Henry, Robert J., Furtado, Agnelo and Rangan, Parimalan (2020). Pathways of photosynthesis in non-leaf tissues. Biology, 9 (12) 438, 1-13. doi: 10.3390/biology9120438
Rangan, Parimalan (2020). Endosperm variability: from endoreduplication within a seed to higher ploidy across species, and its competence. Seed Science Research, 30 (3), 173-185. doi: 10.1017/S0960258520000148
Rangan, Parimalan, Furtado, Agnelo and Henry, Robert (2020). Transcriptome profiling of wheat genotypes under heat stress during grain-filling. Journal of Cereal Science, 91 102895, 102895. doi: 10.1016/j.jcs.2019.102895
Kumari, Ratna, Wankhede, Dhammaprakash Pandhari, Bajpai, Akansha, Maurya, Avantika, Prasad, Kartikay, Gautam, Dikshant, Rangan, Parimalan, Latha, M., John K., Joseph, A., Suma, Bhat, Kangila V. and Gaikwad, Ambika B. (2019). Genome wide identification and characterization of microsatellite markers in black pepper (Piper nigrum): A valuable resource for boosting genomics applications. PLoS ONE, 14 (12) e0226002, e0226002. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226002
Rangan, Parimalan, Furtado, Agnelo and Henry, Robert (2018). Differential response of wheat genotypes to heat stress during grain filling. Experimental Agriculture, 55 (5), 818-827. doi: 10.1017/s0014479718000406
Henry, Robert J., Furtado, Agnelo and Rangan, Parimalan (2018). Wheat seed transcriptome reveals genes controlling key traits for human preference and crop adaptation. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 45 (Pt B), 231-236. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2018.05.002
Rangan, Parimalan, Furtado, Agnelo and Henry, Robert J. (2017). The transcriptome of the developing grain: A resource for understanding seed development and the molecular control of the functional and nutritional properties of wheat. BMC Genomics, 18 (1) 766, 766-776. doi: 10.1186/s12864-017-4154-z
Nirmal, Ravi C., Furtado, Agnelo, Rangan, Parimalan and Henry, Robert J. (2017). Fasciclin-like arabinogalactan protein gene expression is associated with yield of flour in the milling of wheat. Scientific Reports, 7 (1) 12539, 12539. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-12845-y
Henry, Robert J., Rangan, Parimalan and Furtado, Agnelo (2017). Does C-4 Photosynthesis Occur in Wheat Seeds?. Plant Physiology, 174 (4), 1992-1993. doi: 10.1104/pp.17.00837
Henry, Robert J., Rangan, Parimalan, Furtado, Agnelo, Busch, Florian A. and Farquhar, Graham D. (2017). Does C-4 Photosynthesis Occur in Wheat Seeds?. Plant Physiology, 174 (4), 1994-1995.
Rangan, Parimalan, Furtado, Agnelo and Henry, Robert J. (2016). Commentary: new evidence for grain specific C4 photosynthesis in wheat. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7 (OCTOBER2016) 1537. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2016.01537
Rangan, Parimalan, Furtado, Agnelo and Henry, Robert J. (2016). New evidence for grain specific C4 photosynthesis in wheat. Scientific Reports, 6 (1) 31721, 31721. doi: 10.1038/srep31721
Henry, Robert J., Rangan, Parimalan and Furtado, Agnelo (2016). Functional cereals for production in new and variable climates. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 30, 11-18. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2015.12.008

Conference Paper

Henry, Robert J., Rangan, Parimalan and Furtado, Agnelo (2015). Developing cereals acceptable to consumers for production in new and variable climates. Agriculture and Climate Change - Adapting Crops to Increased Uncertainty (AGRI 2015), Amsterdam, Netherlands, 15-17 February 2015. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/j.proenv.2015.07.128

Areas of research

Centre for Crop Science