A microscopy image showing layers in different colors and a network of neurons

Department of
Biology

Photo of Krishanpal   Karmodiya

Krishanpal Karmodiya

Associate Professor

Biology

Epigenetics and Transcriptional Control in Plasmodium

+91-20-25908195

krish@iiserpune.ac.in

Krishanpal Karmodiya obtained his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore in 2008. As a postdoctoral fellow he joined the Institute of Genetics and Molecular and Cellular Biology (IGBMC), Strasbourg, France to study the role of epigenetics during stem cell differentiation. He joined IISER Pune in 2012. Dr. Karmodiya uses functional genomic approaches including high-throughput sequencing technologies to elucidate the mechanisms of drug-resistance and virulence in Plasmodium falciparum.

Research

Plasmodium Epigenetics Lab

Malaria is a major public health problem in many developing countries, with Plasmodium falciparum causing the most malaria associated mortality. Moreover, the emergence of drug-resistant parasites thwarts efforts to control malaria. One of the major challenges is identification of new drug targets for efficacious, affordable treatment. Dr. Krishanpal Karmodiya's group focuses on epigenetic and transcriptional regulation as potential avenues to disrupt the progression of this deadly parasite. To accomplish this, their research combines tools from functional genomics, molecular biology, biochemistry and computational biology to understand the fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying the development of this parasite. The focus is predominantly on the red blood cell stage of development, which is the stage in which all of the clinical manifestations of the malaria disease occur.

Major research interests:

  • Epigenetics and transcriptional regulation in P. falciparum
  • Mechanisms of drug resistance
  • Cellular heterogeneity in unicellular parasite
  • Genomic epidemiology of P. falciparum

Selected Publications

Rawat M., Srivastava A., Gupta I., and Karmodiya K. (2021) Single cell RNA-sequencing reveals cellular heterogeneity, stage transition and antigenic variation during stress adaptation in synchronized Plasmodium falciparum. Microbiology Spectrum, 9(1):e0000821

Rawat M., Kanyal A., Sahasrabudhe A., Vembar S.S., Lopez-Rubio J.J., and Karmodiya K. (2021) PfGCN5, a global regulator of stress responsive genes, modulates artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum. Scientific Reports, 11(1):852.

Kanyal A., Rawat M., Gurung P., Choubey D., Anamika K., and Karmodiya K. (2018) Genome-wide survey and phylogenetic analysis of histone acetyltransferases and histone deacetylases of Plasmodium falciparum. The FEBS journal, 285 (10): 1767-1782.

Ubhe S., Rawat M., Verma S., Anamika K., and Karmodiya K. (2017) Genome-wide identification of novel intergenic enhancer-like elements: implications in the regulation of transcription in Plasmodium falciparum. BMC Genomics, 18(1):656.

Karmodiya K.*, Pradhan S.J., Joshi B., Jangid R., Reddy P.C., and Galande S. (2015) A comprehensive epigenome map of Plasmodium falciparum reveals unique mechanisms of transcriptional regulation and identifies H3K36me2 as a global mark of gene suppression. Epigenetics and Chromatin 8:32. (*Corresponding author)