Dr. Prashant Mohanpuria joined PAU as Assistant Professor on 03.12.2012 after completing BSc (Agriculture Honors) from RAU Bikaner (Rajasthan) in 2002 and M.Sc. (Agricultural Biotechnology) from HPAU Palampur (H.P.) in 2004. He did his PhD Life Sciences (Biotechnology) from IHBT (CSIR) Palampur (H.P.) in 2012. His field of specialization is Gene silencing and gene editing for crop quality and crop pest resistance. He has completed two projects funded by DBT as Co-PI in 2019 and 2022, and one project funded by CSIR as PI in 2024, while continuing two projects funded by DBT at present. He has guided 6 M.Sc. and 1 PhD students as major advisor, and published 42 research papers in national and international journals and presented 28 papers in national and international conferences. He has delivered 20 lectures in conferences/training/seminars. 

Professional Accomplishments

Education: B.Sc., RAU Bikaner (2002); M.Sc., CSKHPAU Palampur (2004); Ph.D., IHBT (CSIR) Palampur (2012)

Positions held: Assistant Professor, Lovely Professional University Jalandhar (21.07.2011 to 17.08.2012), Assistant Professor of Biotechnology, PAU Ludhiana (3rd Dec 2012-till date)

Research Interests:

1. Improving Citrus nutritional properties and quality to benefit human health and enhance Citrus utilization
2. RNAi for pest resistance in fruit crops.

Research Projects:

1. DBT project on RNAi mediated gene silencing for identification of novel and potential targets in whitefly, Bemisia tabaci for its management (Co-PI), DBT (GOI) 
2. DBT project on Functional characterization of knockout mutants of ZmPLA1 orthologue for haploid induction ability in rice through CRISPR/CAS9 ribonucleoprotein complex (Co-PI) 

Selected Research Publications :

1. 1. Sidhu, G.S., Mohanpuria, P., Gaikwad, P.N., Kaur, G., Kaur, H. (2024) Polyembryony: A Potential Horticultural Trait, Reveals Complex Mechanism, Role of Molecular Markers and their Application in Fruit Crops. Botanical Review . https://doi.org/10.1007/s12229-024-09300-9. (NAAS rating: 10).
   2. Kaur, S., Chawla, N., Jindal, S.K., Mohanpuria, P., Jain, S., Sharma, U. (2024). Biochemical and gene expression profiling of oxalate biosynthesis in cherry tomato (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme) in Indo-Gangetic Plains of India, Food Bioscience 61,104952, ISSN 2212-4292, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbio.2024.104952. (NAAS: 11.20)
   3. Sharma, N., Sarao, N.K., Mohanpuria, P., Sharma, A. (2024). Effective Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) and generation of RNAi plants resistant to Begomovirus infecting okra. The Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology, 99(2), 146–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/14620316.2023.2251978. (NAAS: 7.90)
   4. Kaur S, Singh S, Mohanpuria P, Govindaswamy M, Sidhu, GS, Yue, Z, and Li Z (2023). RNA interference mediated silencing of NOA and V-ATPase subunit D genes results in deformities and mortality in Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel1912) Journal of Applied Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jen.13198 (NAAS: 7.90)
   5. Mohanpuria, P., Govindaswamy, M., Sidhu, G.S., Singh, S., Kaur, Singh, S., Chhuneja, P. (2021). Ingestion of bacteria expressing dsRNA to maggots produces severe mortality and deformities in fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae). Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control 31(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s41938-020-00345-7  (NAAS Rating: 6.38) 
   6. Arora, S., Mohanpuria P., Sidhu, G.S., Yadav, I.S., Kumari, V. (2018). Cloning and characterization of limonoid glucosyltransferase from Kinnow mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco). Food Technology and Biotechnology. Special Issue, Original Scientific Paper 56(2): 228-237. DOI: 10.17113/ftb.56.02.18.5349 (NAAS rating: 7.52) 

Awards/Honours/Distinctions: 

1. Mohanpuria, P., Arora, S., Jindal, S.K., Chawla, N., Hashimoto, R., Osakabe, Y., Osakabe, K., Chhuneja, P. Tomato gene editing for enhancing shelf life using CRISPR/Cas9. (poster abstract No. Psc_daviet_sb_258). In: 22nd Punjab Science Congress on “Innovating Science and Technology in the Service of Society” February 7-9, 2019 at DAVIET, Punjab.  (1st prize in poster presentation)
2. CSIR (NET)-JRF (2004) for pursuing Ph.D. 
3. ICAR (NET) (2004) 
4. DBT scholarship during M.Sc. 
5. NTS-ICAR during B.Sc.