My major research interests are in molecular and cell biology of i) pre-mRNA splicing in plants and ii) plant microbe-interactions. iii) Biofuels and transgenic disease resistant plants.
Cell and molecular biology of Pre-mRNA splicing in plants. Pre-mRNA splicing is a critical step in the regulation of gene expression in higher eukaryotes. In addition, regulated alternative splicing, which generates multiple transcripts from the same gene, plays important roles in gene expression and proteome expansion. Despite its importance, pre-mRNA splicing, particularly alternative splicing is one of the least studies topics in plants. The major focus of my research is to understand pre-mRNA splicing in plants. Using a variety of molecular, cell biological, genetic and high-through-put analysis, I am studying the function of a group of serine/arginine-rich (SR) proteins in plant developmental processes and stress responses. My long-term goals are to understand the molecular mechanisms that link various environmental signals with the modulation of alternative splicing patterns of SR genes and to relate these patterns with specific phenotypic outcomes.
Cell and molecular biology of Plant-microbe interaction. Thoughtful application of plant's own defense mechanisms can lead to more effective protection against plant pathogens with lesser use of pesticides. One of the major focuses of my studies is to understand how plants regulate their gene expression against pathogens. Calcium and calmodulin play important role in plant defense signaling and gene regulation.. M long-term goals are to understand how changes in cellular Ca2+ levels that occur under various pathophysiological conditions are mechanistically linked to the regulation of defense-related genes. I am primarily interested in identifying and characterizing downstream components in the calcium signaling pathways that are initiated after pathogen attacks.
Biofuels and transgenic disease resistant plants. On a more practical side, I work on producing disease resistant plants that express defense-related genes from heterologous sources. In addition my research also invovles testing the feasibility of expresing fungal enzymes in transgenic plants for extracting sugars from plant cell walls.
Liqun Du, Ali G.S., Kayla A. Simons, Jingguo Hou, Tianbao Yang, A.S.N. Reddy and B. W. Poovaiah. Ca2+/calmodulin Regulates Salicylic Acid-mediated Plant Immunity. Nature 2009 Feb 26;457(7233):1154-8. Epub 2009 Jan 4
Ali, G.S. and A.S.N. REDDY. 2008. PAMP-Triggered Immunity: Early Events in the Activation of FLAGELLIN SENSITIVE2. Plant Signaling & Behavior 3 (6): 423-426.
Ali, GS, K.V.S.K. Prasad, M. Hanumapa and A.S.N.Reddy. 2008. Analyses of in vivo interaction and mobility of two spliceosomal proteins using FRAP and BiFC. PLoS ONE 3(4): e1953. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001953
Schindler, S., Szafranski, K., Hiller, M., Ali, G.S., Palusa, S.G., Backofen, R., Platzer, M., and Reddy, A.S. (2008). Alternative splicing at NAGNAG acceptors in Arabidopsis thaliana SR and SR-related protein-coding genes. BMC Genomics 9, 159.
Ali, G.S., K.V.S.K. Prasad, Irene Day and A.S.N. Reddy. 2007. Ligand-Dependent Reduction in the Membrane Mobility of FLAGELLIN SENSITIVE2, an Arabidopsis Receptor-Like Kinase. Plant Cell Physiol. 48:1601-11.
Ali, G.S. Palusa, S., Golovkin, M. ,Prasad, J., Manley, J. and A.S.N. Reddy. 2007. Regulation of Plant Developmental Processes by a Novel Splicing Factor. PLoS ONE 2(5): e471. Doi:10.137/journal.pone.0000471
Ali, G.S. and A.S.N. Reddy. 2007. Subcellular organization of pre-mRNA splicing machinery in plants. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. (eds. Reddy, A.S.N. and Golovkin, M.). Springer, Heidelberg. (invited book chapter).
Ali, G.S. and A.S.N. Reddy. 2007. Insights into the regulation of alternative pre-mRNA splicing in plants by stresses. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology. (eds. Reddy, A.S.N. and Golovkin, M.). Springer, Heidelberg. (invited book chapter).
Irene S. Day, V. S. Reddy, Ali, G.S. and A.S.N. Reddy (2002) Analysis of EF-hand-containing proteins in Arabidopsis. Genome Biol 3 (10):1-24.
Reddy V.S.*, Ali G.S.* (Co-first author) and Reddy A.S. (2002) Genes encoding calmodulin-binding proteins in the Arabidopsis genome. J Biol. Chem. 277: 9840-9852.
Ali, G.S. and A.S.N. Reddy. (2000) Inhibition of fungal and bacterial plant pathogens by synthetic peptides: In vitro growth inhibition, interaction between peptides and inhibition of disease progression. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction 13:874-879.
