Specialization

Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics

Email

neeta.lohani@thapar.edu

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RESEARCH INTERESTS

Crop Improvement and Climate Resilience Development of biotechnological approaches for engineering multiple abiotic stress tolerance in crops, with emphasis on creating climate-resilient varieties through understanding and manipulating molecular stress response pathways. Integration of genomic resources with breeding strategies to enhance crop productivity under changing climate conditions.

Structural and Comparative Genomics Large-scale genomic analyses including structural variation identification, pan-genome construction, and comparative genomics across wild and cultivated germplasm. Application of bioinformatics approaches to understand genomic diversity, evolutionary relationships, and breeding history in major crop species.

Plant Systems Biology and Multi-Omics Integration Integration of transcriptomic, genomic, and phenotypic data to understand complex biological processes in plants, including the use of network biology approaches to explore gene regulatory networks, intron retention programs, and chromatin remodeling in developmental and stress response contexts.

Plant Reproductive Biology and Heat Stress Response Investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying heat stress impacts on pollen development, male fertility, and pollen-pistil interactions in crop species, with particular emphasis on understanding how temperature extremes affect reproductive success and yield in economically important crops including Brassica napus (canola) and Glycine max (soybean).

Functional Genomics and Transcriptional Regulation Genome-wide analysis of transcriptional reprogramming in response to abiotic stress, including the role of heat shock factors, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and transcription factor families in regulating stress-responsive gene expression networks. Special focus on unfolded protein response pathways and protein homeostasis mechanisms under environmental stress conditions.

EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy – Agricultural Sciences (2021)
The University of Melbourne, Australia

Master of Technology – Agricultural Systems and Management (2016)
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India
DAAD Scholar at Leibniz University, Germany

Master of Science – Botany (2012)
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, India

Bachelor of Science – Biotechnology (2010)
Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, India

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Research Scientist

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO
June 2023 – May 2025

Associate Research Fellow – Agriculture & Plant Science

Western Sydney University – School of Science, Australia
August 2022 – May 2023

Associate Lecturer and Research Fellow

The University of Melbourne – Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Australia
July 2021 – August 2022

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Associate Lecturer and Research Fellow – Agriculture & Plant Science

Western Sydney University – School of Science, Australia
August 2022 – May 2023

Course Portfolio: 'Plant Production' and 'Plant-Climate Interactions in Controlled Environments'

Associate Lecturer and Research Fellow

The University of Melbourne – Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, Australia
August 2022 – May 2023

Course Portfolio: 'Trends in Agri-Food Biotechnology' (Associate Lecturer), 'Biotechnology' (Associate Lecturer), 'Biology for Agriculture' (Guest Lecturer), and 'Food for Healthy Planet' (Guest Lecturer)

PUBLICATIONS

1. Wang, Z., Jiang, H., Liu, K., Lohani, N., et al. (2025). Divergence of Bowman-Birk Protease Inhibitor Family into seed-specific and environmentally responsive subfamilies in Legume and Soybean: Implication for Legume Seed Composition Improvement. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.26.658694

2. Lohani, N. (2025). Unbalanced Act: Biased Subgenome Expression During Canola Seed Development. Plant Physiology, 198(4), kiaf324. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf324

3. Lohani, N. (2025). Conserved language of plant gene regulation. Plant Physiology, 198(3), kiaf263. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf263

4. Lohani, N. & Jain, P. (2025). Protein Homeostasis Under Heat Stress: The Role of BiP3, HsfA2, and Chromatin Remodeling in Plants. Plant Physiology, 198(1), kiaf172. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf172

5. Lohani, N., Singh, M. B., & Bhalla, P. L. (2025). Deciphering the vulnerability of pollen to heat stress for securing crop yields in a warming climate. Plant, Cell & Environment, 48(4), 2549-2580. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15315

6. Liu, Y., Wang, Z., Liu, G., Shen, W., Lohani, N., Wang, P., ... & Huan, H. (2025). Physiological and molecular insights into adaptive responses of Vigna marina to drought stress. Grass Research, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.48130/grares-0025-0003

7. Lohani, N., Singh, M.B., & Bhalla, P.L. (2024). Heat-triggered transcriptional reprogramming in microspores disrupts progression of pollen development in Brassica napus L. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.15.623842

8. Lohani, N., Golicz, A.A., Allu, A.D., Bhalla, P.L., & Singh, M.B. (2023). Genome-wide analysis reveals the crucial role of lncRNAs in regulating the expression of genes controlling pollen development. Plant Cell Reports, 42(2), 337-354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00299-022-02960-0

9. Lohani, N., Singh, M.B. and Bhalla, P.L. (2022). Rapid transcriptional reprogramming associated with heat stress-induced unfolded protein response in developing Brassica napus anthers. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 905674. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.905674

10. Lohani, N., Singh, M.B. and Bhalla, P.L. (2022). Biological Parts for Engineering Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants. BioDesign Research. https://doi.org/10.34133/2022/9819314

11. Golicz, A.A., Allu, A.D., Li, W., Lohani, N., Singh, M.B., & Bhalla, P.L. (2021). A dynamic intron retention program regulates the expression of several hundred genes during pollen meiosis. Plant Reproduction, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-021-00411-6

12. Lohani, N., Singh, M.B., & Bhalla, P.L. (2021). Short‐term heat stress during flowering results in a decline in Canola seed productivity. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.12534

13. Lohani, N., Babaei, S., Singh, M.B. and Bhalla, P.L. (2021). Genome-Wide In Silico Identification and Comparative Analysis of Dof Gene Family in Brassica napus. Plants, 10(4), p.709. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10040709

14. Lohani, N., Singh, M.B. and Bhalla, P.L. (2021). RNA-seq highlights molecular events associated with impaired pollen-pistil interactions following short-term heat stress in Brassica napus. Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, p.2150.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.622748

15. Singh, M.B., Lohani, N. and Bhalla, P.L. (2021). The Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Response in Pollen Development and Heat Stress Tolerance. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12, p.568. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.661062

16. Lohani, N., Jain, D., Singh, M.B. and Bhalla, P.L. (2020). Engineering Multiple Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Canola, Brassica napus. Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, p.3. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00003

17. Lohani, N., Singh, M.B. and Bhalla, P.L. (2020). High temperature susceptibility of sexual reproduction in crop plants. Journal of Experimental Botany, 71(2), pp.555-568. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erz426

18. Lohani, N., Golicz, A.A., Singh, M.B. and Bhalla, P.L., 2019. Genome-wide analysis of the Hsf gene family in Brassica oleracea and a comparative analysis of the Hsf gene family in B. oleracea, B. rapa and B. napus. Functional & integrative genomics, 19(3), pp.515-531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-018-0649-1

Book Chapter

Lohani, N., Jain, D., Singh, M.B. and Bhalla, P.L., 2020. Adoption and advances in Genetically Modified Oil Seed Crops in Australia. CSIRO Publishing, Australia

AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

• Chancellor's Excellence Award for PhD Thesis (The University of Melbourne)

• American Society of Plant Biologists Travel Award (2024)

• Best Elevator Pitch Award at BioBash 2024, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO, USA

• Australian Society of Plant Biologists Travel Award (2023)

• Rowden White Scholarship (2021)

• The Elizabeth Ann Crespin Fellowship (2020)

• Melbourne Global Scholars Award (2019)

• Dr Frank Cope Award for Agronomy (2018)

• Best talk award at the 5th Annual Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences Postgraduate Symposium 2018 in all categories

• Best talk award at the 4th Annual Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences Postgraduate Symposium 2017 in the Crop Science category

• Melbourne Research Scholarship (MRS) (2016-2020)

• DAAD Masters Sandwich Program Scholarship (2015-16)

• UGC GATE Post Graduate Scholarship

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE & OUTREACH

Editorial & Review Activities:

• Assistant Features Editor (2025-27), Plant Physiology, American Society of Plant Biologists

• Guest Editor, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

• Reviewer: Nature Communications (Co-Reviewer), Plant Stress Journal, The Plant Genome, BMC Plant Biology, Physiologia Plantarum, Frontiers in Plant Sciences, Scientific Reports, and Journal of Plant Growth Regulation

Leadership & Community Service:

• Member of the Board of Directors for Livelihood Care Foundation (NGO, India) working towards empowering rural communities through Risk Mitigation, Sustainable Livelihood and market access

• Secretary of International Women in STEM Hub, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

• Co-organised a workshop "Genomics of Seed Quality Traits" at Plant and Animal Genome Conference/PAG 32 (January 9-14, 2025)

Public Outreach & Education:

• SciFest: Play and Creativity Expo through the Saint Louis Science Center and Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (Volunteer)

• PlantTechJam: Interactive activity booth at Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (Organizer & Volunteer)

• Bioinformatics Boot Camp at the Harris-Stowe State University (Volunteer – 1 hour workshop)

• BioSTL's PATHWAYS Program (Panelist)

• Science Meets Parliament Australia Conference (Australian Society of Plant Biologists sponsored delegate)

Student Organizations & Leadership:

• I2G Student Club (Secretary and Treasurer) and AgriFoodies (Secretary)

• Melbourne India Post Graduate Program International Conference 2017 (Committee Member)

• India Regional Strategy Group (Student Representative)

• IIT Kharagpur – Career Development Center (Student Placement Coordinator)

SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

1. Heat-triggered transcriptional reprogramming in microspores disrupts progression of pollen development in Brassica napus, Plant Biology 2025, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, July 2025, Poster

2. Understanding soybean genomic diversity and transcriptomic response to environmental stresses, Plant Biology 2024, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 2024, Poster

3. New Phytologist Next Generation Scientists Symposium, June 2024, Poster and Flash Talk (Invited Delegate)

4. Structural Variations across 5000 wild and cultivated Soybean Genomes, Soybean Breeders Workshop, Feb 2024, Oral Presentation

5. RNA-seq highlights molecular events associated with impaired pollen-pistil interactions following short-term heat stress in Brassica napus, FVAS Postgraduate Symposium, Dec 2020, Oral Presentation

6. The diversification of Heat Shock Factors (Hsf) gene family in Brassicas, Plant Biology 2019, San Jose, California, August 2019, Poster

7. Genome-wide identification and systemic analysis of Hsf gene family in B. oleracea, BRASSICA 2018, Saint Malo, France, Oral Presentation

8. Impact of heat stress on male gametophyte development in Canola (Brassica napus), FVAS Postgraduate Symposium, Oct 2017, Oral Presentation (Best Talk Award, Crop Science Category)

MEDIA COVERAGE

Helping crops survive heatwaves, 2021. Pursuit Article by Dr Nerissa Hannink, University of Melbourne.
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/helping-crops-survive-heatwaves

Climate, canola and coping with changing conditions, 2021. Phys.Org News Article Dr Nerissa Hannink, University of Melbourne.
https://phys.org/news/2021-02-climate-canola-coping-conditions.html