Madan Kumar Bhattacharyya PhD

Dr. Bhattacharyya joined Iowa State University on July 17, 2000 as an Assistant Professor. Previously, he was a principal investigator at the Noble Foundation where he initiated two projects. His primary interest is understanding the molecular basis of the soybean-Phytophthora sojae interaction. In 1992 he initiated the map-based cloning project to isolate the Phytophthora resistance gene Rps1-k. Through analysis of BAC and cosmid libraries, Bhattacharyya group showed that the Rps1-k region is most likely unstable in Escherchia coli. The has group identified candidate Rps1-k genes and is currently involved in identifying Rps1-k.

Dr. Bhattacharyya is also interested in studying the phosphoinositide signal transduction pathway. His group is one of the first groups to clone a PI-PLC gene from soybean. The group also isolated a candidate regulatory PI-PLC interacting protein. To understand the possible function of PI-PLCs, the group applied a reverse genetics approach. Two plc mutants have been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana and their functional characterization is underway.

Dr. Bhattacharrya is committed to improving soybean yield through augmenting disease resistance to many pathogens. He hopes that a better understanding of the soybean-P. sojae interaction will one day lead to the genetic engineering of soybeans with durable broad-spectrum resistance against many soybean pathogens. His group is also investigating the possibility of isolating non-host resistance genes from Arabidopsis and applying them in soybeans to develop durable resistance. Moreover, he hopes that his study on the phosphoinoside signal pathway will one day lead to the genetic improvement of soybeans and other agronomically important crops.