Faculty Profile

Ajit Ghosh, PhD

Associate Professor

Contact Information

  • Office Address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh
  • Phone: +8801679436700
  • Email: aghosh-bmb@sust.edu

Biography

Ajit Ghosh joined Shahjalal University of Science and Technology as a Lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in March, 2015. Prior to joining here, he was serving as a Research Associate at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India. He received his PhD degree in Plant Molecular Biology from International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India in 2015. He completed his B.Sc. and M.S. from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh in the year 2006 and 2007, respectively.
Dr Ghosh received a very prestigious Alexander-von-Humboldt postdoctoral fellowship to pursue his advance research activities at a world-renowned institute, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany from June 2017 to January 2020.
Dr Ghosh’s major teaching interests include Enzymology, Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics and Plant Biotechnology. His main research goal is to understand the highly complex mechanism of plant stress modulation pathways. As stress tolerance is a multigenic trait, his laboratory is actively working on the identification of various stress-responsive genes such as trehalose synthase, Isopentyl transferase, glyoxalase, glutathione S-transferase, aldehyde dehydrogenase from different plant species. The long-term aim of his lab is to identify the underline mechanism of stress tolerance and the key component of this network. Several of his research articles have already been published in different international peer-reviewed journals, including The Plant Journal, Biochemical Society Transactions, Scientific Reports, BMC Plant Biology, Plos One, Frontiers in Plant Science, Plant Gene, and Gene.

Education

  • PhD (Plant Molecular Biology): 2010-2015 Institute: International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India. Thesis title: “Characterization of Novel Glyoxalase genes from rice and their Functional validation under Abiotic Stresses”.
  • MS (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology): 2006-2007 Institute: University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Thesis title: “Jute SSR markers: For Marker Assisted Selection and Linkage Mapping”.
  • BSc (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology): 2003-2006 Institute: University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Research Interests

  • Plant Genomics and transcriptomics
  • Plant Physiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Microbiology
  • Enzyme Kinetics

Active Research Project

  • 1. Identification and molecular characterization of multiple abiotic stress tolerant tomato genotypes and their putative resistant gene families. Principle Investigator. (Funding Body: Ministry of Education, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh) Duration: 2021-2024.
  • 2. Isolation, In-vitro screening, and characterization of salt-tolerant growth-promoting microbes from the soil sample of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Principle Investigator. (Funding Body: SUST Research Centre, SUST, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh). Duration: 2023- 2024.
  • 3. Identification and molecular characterization of multiple abiotic stress tolerant tomato genotypes and their putative resistant gene families. Principle Investigator. Equipment grants from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. Duration: 2021-2024.

Previous Research Project

  • 1. Identification and characterization of noble Isopentenyl transferase gene(s) in Oryza sativa (rice) to minimize the yield gap under salinity and drought stress. (Funding body- SUST Research Centre, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh). Duration: 2015-2016.
  • 2. Isolation, characterization, and identification of antibiotic-producing microbes from the ground samples of Sylhet division, Bangladesh. (Funding body- SUST Research Centre, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh). Duration: 2020-20211
  • 3. Identification, expression profiling and functional characterization of highly abiotic stress-inducible Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Gene Family members in potato for the future crop improvement. (Funding body- SUST Research Centre, SUST, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh). Duration: 2021-2022.
  • 4. Association of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme gene insertion/deletion with polymorphism with risk of cardiovascular disease in a Bangladeshi population. Co-Principle Investigator. Funding Body (SUST Research Centre, SUST, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh). Duration: 2016- 2017.
  • 5. Identification and molecular characterisation of a highly stress-inducible cytotoxin, Methylglyoxal, detoxifying genes/proteins from tomato. Principle Investigator, (Funding Body: SUST Research Centre, SUST, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh). Duration: 2022 - 2023.
  • 6. Identification, expression profiling and functional characterization of highly abiotic stress-inducible Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Gene Family members in potato for the future crop improvement. (Funding body- University Grants Commission, Bangladesh). Duration: 2022-2023.
  • 7. Searching the presence of antibiotic-producing microbes in the soil samples of Sylhet division in Bangladesh. Principle Investigator. (Funding Body: Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh). Duration: 2020-2021.

Journal Publications

  • 1. Imran A. and Ghosh A. (2024) Evolutionary expansion, functional diversification, and transcript profiling of plant Glutathione Peroxidases. Plant Science, 111991
  • 2. Hasan M., Nishat Z.S., Hasan M.S., Hossain T., and Ghosh A. (2024) Identification of m6A RNA methylation genes in Oryza sativa and expression profiling in response to different developmental and environmental stimuli. Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports 38, 101677
  • 3. Wei D-Q., Islam M.A., Shahi S., Marzan A.A., Amin M.R., Hasan M.N., Hoque N., Ghosh A., Barua A., Khan A., Dhama K., Chakraborty C., Bhattacharya P. (2023) Variant-specific deleterious mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome reveal immune responses and potentials for prophylactic vaccine development. Frontiers in Pharmacology 14
  • 4. Marzan A.A., Shahi S., Arman M.S., Hasan M.Z., Ghosh A. (2023) Probing biological network in concurrent carcinomas and Type-2 diabetes for potential biomarker screening: An advanced computational paradigm. Advances in Biomarker Sciences and Technology 5, 89-104
  • 5. Imran A., Islam R., Shaha A., Ferdousee S., Mishu M.A. and Ghosh A. (2022) Development of multi-epitope based subunit vaccine against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus using reverse vaccinology approach. International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics
  • 6. Nishat Z.S., Hasan M.S., Islam M.S., Hossain T., and Ghosh A. (2022) Identification of epitranscriptomic methylation marker genes in Arabidopsis and their expression profiling in response to developmental, anatomical, and environmental modulations. Current Plant Biology, 100247.
  • 7. Ghosh A., Mustafiz A., Pareek A., Sopory S.K., Singla-Pareek S.L. (2022) Glyoxalase III enhances salinity tolerance through ROS scavenging and reduced glycation. Physiologia Plantarum; e13693. doi: 10.1111/ppl.13693.
  • 8. Islam M.S., and Ghosh A. (2022) Evolution, family expansion, and functional diversification of plant aldehyde dehydrogenases. Gene, 829:146522
  • 9. Hu Z., Ghosh A., and Koncz C. (2022) Plant Gene Modification by BAC Recombineering. In: Reisch, C.R. (eds) Recombineering. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2479: 71-84. Humana, New York, NY. DOI: 10.1007/978-1- 0716-2233-9_6
  • 10. Ghosh A., Islam M.S., Alam N.B., Mutafiz A., Islam T. (2022) Transcript profiling of glutathione metabolizing genes reveals abiotic stress and glutathione-specific alteration in Arabidopsis and rice. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants, 28(7):1375-1390.
  • 11. Islam M.S., Mohtasim M., Islam T., Ghosh A. (2022) Aldehyde dehydrogenase superfamily in sorghum: genomewide identification, evolution, and transcript profiling during development stages and stress conditions. BMC Plant Biology, 22(1): 316.
  • 12. Taqui R., Debnath M., Ahmed S., Ghosh A. (2022) Advances on plant extracts and phytocompounds with acetylcholinesterase inhibition activity for possible treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Phytomedicine Plus, 2 (1): 100184
  • 13. Siddiqe R. and Ghosh A. (2021) Genome-wide in silico identification and characterization of Simple Sequence Repeats in diverse completed SARS-CoV-2 genomes. Gene Reports.
  • 14. Imran, Md. Ashik; Noor, Imad Uddin; Ghosh, Ajit (2021) Impact of Lockdown Measures and Meteorological Parameters on the COVID-19 Incidence and Mortality Rate in Bangladesh, Infectious Microbes & Diseases; 3 (1): 41-48
  • 15. Hasan M.S., Singh V., Islam S., Islam M.S., Ahsan R., Kaundal A., Islam T., Ghosh A. (2021) Genome-wide identification and expression profiling of glutathione S-transferase family under multiple abiotic and biotic stresses in Medicago truncatula L. Plos One, 16(2): e0247170.
  • 16. Arabia S., Shah M.N.A., Sami A. A., Ghosh A. and Islam T. (2021) Identification and expression profiling of proline metabolizing genes in Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa to reveal their stress-specific transcript alteration. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants, 27(7):1469-1485.
  • 17. Islam M.S., Hasan M.S., Hasan M.N., Prodhan S.H., Islam T. and Ghosh A. (2021) Genome-wide identification, evolution, and transcript profiling of Aldehyde dehydrogenase superfamily in potato during development stages and stress conditions. Scientific Reports, 11(1):18284.
  • 18. Nahid A.A. and Ghosh A. (2021) Investigating the possible origin and transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 genomes and variants of concern in Bangladesh. Infection Genetics and Evolution, 95: 105057.
  • 19. Hasan M.S., Islam S., Hasan M.N., Sajib S.D., Ahmed S., Islam T., and Ghosh A. (2020) Genome-wide analysis and transcript profiling identify several abiotic and biotic stress-responsive Glutathione S-transferase genes in soybean. Plant Gene, 23: 100239.
  • 20. Tabassum P., Mohanto N., Sayed A., Islam R., Haque F., Ahmed S., Ghosh A. (2020) A questionnaire-based study to identify the physiological implications of unpleasant hall dining foods among university students. Bioresearch Communication, 6(2): 894-903.
  • 21. Nazmir B.A., Md. Waseque M., Md. Sajjad H.S., H. M. Syfuddin, Ajit G. (2020) The Current Scenario of cancer in Bangladesh on a global perspective. IOSR Journal of Environmental Science, Toxicology and Food Technology, 14 (10): 43-51.
  • 22. Islam S., Sajib S.D., Jui Z.S., Arabia S., Islam T., and Ghosh A. (2019) Genome-wide identification of glutathione S-transferase gene family in pepper, its classification, and expression profiling under different anatomical and environmental conditions. Scientific Reports, 9:9101.
  • 23. Hu Z., Ghosh A., Stolze S., Horváth M., Bai B., Schaefer S., Zündorf S., Liu S., Harzen A., Haijheidari M., Sarnowski T., Nakagami H., Koncz Z., and Koncz C. (2019) Gene modification by fast-track recombineering for cellular localization and isolation of components of plant protein complexes. The Plant Journal, 100(2):411-429.
  • 24. Alam N.B. and Ghosh A. (2018) Comprehensive analysis and transcript profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa catalase gene family suggests their specific roles in development and stress responses. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry,123: 54-64.
  • 25. Islam T. and Ghosh A. (2018) Genome-wide dissection and expression profiling of unique glyoxalase III genes in soybean reveal the differential pattern of transcriptional regulation. Scientific Reports, 8(1): 4848.
  • 26. Ghosh A., Shah M.N.A., Jui Z.S., Saha S., Fariha K.A., and Islam T. (2018) Evolutionary variation and expression profiling of Isopentenyl transferase gene family in Arabidopsis thaliana L. and Oryza sativa L. Plant Gene, 15: 15-27.
  • 27. Shah M.N.A., Shatil A., Islam T. and Ghosh A. (2018) Molecular evolution of SUN-domain containing proteins in diverse plant species and their expression profiling in response to developmental and perturbation stimuli. Phytochemistry, 157: 28-42.
  • 28. Mostofa M. G., Ghosh A., Li Z.G., Siddiqui M.N., Fujita M., Tran L.P. Methylglyoxal - a signaling molecule in plant abiotic stress responses. Free Radical Biology & Medicine, 122: 96-109.
  • 29. Islam O., Rahman I.A., Islam T., Ghosh A. (2017) Genome-wide identification and expression analysis of Glutathione S-transferase gene family in tomato: gaining an insight to their physiological and stress-specific roles. Plos One. Accepted.
  • 30. Islam O., Choudhury M., Majlish A.K., Islam T., Ghosh A. (2017) Comprehensive genome-wide analysis of Glutathione S-transferase gene family in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and their expression profiling in various anatomical tissues and perturbation conditions. Gene. 639, 149-162.
  • 31. Gupta B., Sahoo K., Ghosh A., Tripathi A.K., Khalid A., Das P., Singh A., Pareek A., Sopory S.K., Singla-Pareek S.L. (2017) Manipulation of glyoxalase pathway confers tolerance to multiple stresses in rice. Plant, Cell and Environment. 20, doi: 10.1111/pce.12968.
  • 32. Begum M. S., Zangrando E., Sheikh M. C., Miyatake R., Howlader M. B.H., Rahman N., Ghosh A. (2017) Bischelated complexes with dithiocarbazate N,S Schiff base ligand: Synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity. Transition Metal Chemistry. 42 (6), 553–563.
  • 33. Ghosh A. (2017) Genome-wide identification of glyoxalase genes in Medicago truncatula and their expression profiling in response to various developmental and environmental stimuli. Frontiers in plant science 8, 257054
  • 34. Ghosh A, Hasan MR, Kushwaha HR, Pareek A, Sopory SK, Singla-Pareek SL (2016) Presence of unique glyoxalase III proteins in plants indicates the existence of shorter route for methylglyoxal detoxification. Scientific Reports, 6 (6):18358.
  • 35. Hasan MR, Ghosh A, Kaur C, Pareek A, Singla-Pareek SL (2016) Glyoxalase Pathway and Drought Stress Tolerance in Plants. Drought Stress Tolerance in Plants, Vol 1, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28899-4_16.
  • 36. Ghosh A. and Islam T. (2016) Genome-wide analysis and expression profiling of glyoxalase gene families in soybean (Glycine max) indicates their development and abiotic stress specific response. BMC Plant Biology, 16:87.
  • 37. Ghosh A. (2016) Expression Analysis of Soybean (Glycine max) Glyoxalase Genes Indicates their Biotic Stress Specific Alteration. Research & Reviews: Journal of Botanical Sciences, 5(3).
  • 38. Zangrando E., Begum S., Sheikh C., Miyatake R., Hossain M., Alam MA, Hasnat MA, Halim MA, Ahmed S., Rahman MN, Ghosh A. (2016) Synthesis, characterization, density functional study and antimicrobial evaluation of a series of bischelated complexes with a dithiocarbazate Schiff base ligand. Arabian Journal of Chemistry. DOI: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2016.07.019
  • 39. Kaur C., Tripathi A.K., Nutan K.K., Sharma S., Ghosh A., Tripathi J.K., Pareek A., Singla-Pareek S.L., Sopory S.K. (2016). A nucleus-localized rice glyoxalase I enzyme, OsGLYI-8 functions in the detoxification of methylglyoxal in the nucleus. The Plant Journal. doi: 10.1111/tpj.13407.
  • 40. Ghosh A, Hasan MR, Kushwaha HR, Pareek A, Sopory SK, Singla-Pareek SL (2016) Presence of unique glyoxalase III proteins in plants indicates the existence of shorter route for methylglyoxal detoxification. Scientific Reports, 6 (6):18358.
  • 41. Ghosh A, Pareek A, Singla-Pareek SL (2015) Leaf Disc Stress Tolerance Assay for Tobacco. Bio-protocol, 5 (7): e1440.
  • 42. Ghosh A, Pareek A, Singla-Pareek SL (2015) Stress Tolerance Assay at the Seed Germination Stage for Tobacco. Bio-protocol, 5 (7): e1441.
  • 43. Kaur C, Ghosh A, Pareek A, Sopory SK, Singla-Pareek SL (2014) Glyoxalases and stress tolerance in plants. Biochemical Society Transactions, 42: 485-490.
  • 44. Mustafiz A, Ghosh A, Tripathi AK, Kaur C, Ganguly AK, Bhavesh NS, Tripathi, J, Pareek A, Sopory SK, Singla-Pareek SL (2014) A novel Ni2-dependent and methylglyoxal inducible rice glyoxalase I possesses a single active site and functions in abiotic stress response. The Plant Journal, 78: 951-963
  • 45. Ghosh A, Pareek A, Sopory SK, Singla-Pareek SL (2014) A glutathione responsive rice glyoxalase II, OsGLYII-2, functions in salinity adaptation by maintaining better photosynthesis efficiency and anti-oxidant pool. The Plant Journal, 80: 93-105.
  • 46. Tanmoy AM, Alam MM, Moosa MM, Ghosh A, Quarni W, Ahmed F, Zaman NR, Sharmin S, Islam MT, Islam MS, Hossain K, Ahmed R, Khan H (2014) Corchorus L. and Hibiscus L.: molecular phylogeny helps to understand their relative evolution and dispersal routes. Bioresearch Communication, 1(1): 1-10.
  • 47. Reza A, Sharmin S, Moosa MM, Mahmood N, Ghosh A, Begum RA, Khan H (2013) Identification and molecular characterization of a receptor-like protein kinase gene from Corchorus capsularis. Turkish Journal of Biology, 37: 11-17.
  • 48. Ahmed S, Shafiuddin, Azam S, Islam S, Ghosh A, Khan H (2011) Identification and characterization of jute LTR retrotransposons: Their abundance, heterogeneity and transcriptional activity. Mobile Genetic Elements, 1:18-28.
  • 49. Ghosh A, Sharmin S, Islam S, Pahloan MU, Islam S, Khan H (2010) SSR markers linked to mite (Polyphagotasonemus latus Banks) resistance in jute (Corchorus olitorius L.). Czech Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding, 46: 64-74.

Teaching

  • Plant Biotechnology
  • Carbohydrate Metabolism
  • Basic Immunology
  • Molecular Diagnostics and Forensic Sciences
  • Oncology

Awards & Recognition

  • Alexander Von Humboldt (AvH) postdoctoral fellowship (2017-2019)
  • Young scientist travel award of FAO-BMB (2015)
  • Travel Award from DST, Government of India (2013)
  • Pre-doctoral fellowship from ICGEB (2009)
  • Deans’ Award from the faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Dhaka (2008)
  • NSICT Research fellow, Government of the people's republic of Bangladesh (2008)

Graduate Supervision

  • 1. 15