I am a dynamic Plant Biotechnologist with broad expertise from routine and specialist analytical testing to mentoring postgraduate students and supporting trainees. The knowledge I gathered all through my career has made me multidimensional like a combo of multidisciplinary areas, especially in Plant Biotechnology.
I have worked on the cereal killer of rice, Magnaporthe oryzae which causes rice blast disease. My contribution to research during my Ph.D. throws a lot of new insights in regard to the functioning of G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) in this plant pathogenic fungus.
I have a research interest in plant-pathogen interactions, especially the Magnaporthe-rice pathosystem. Presently, I am interested in identifying and characterizing the set of genes affecting pathogenicity along with deciphering the novel effectors playing a role in the rice-blast fungus interaction. I am more interested in unraveling the complex signaling networks involved in blast pathogenesis as well as finding an eco-friendly cure for the devastating blast disease to safeguard economically important rice crops.
Currently, I am employing wet laboratory-based research in the domains of Advanced Molecular Plant-Pathogen Interactions and Pathogen Informatics.
* Interested research aspirants with CSIR/UGC NET may send their applications with CVs and research interest to nazmiara.dbs@presiuniv.ac.in
* Students interested in doing Summer Internship (Bsc./M.Sc.), Short-Term Projects, and MSc. Dissertation to learn molecular biology techniques, wet-lab hands on training, bioinformatics, etc. may send their applications too via emails. For detailed information please visit: https://www.presiuniv.ac.in/web/notice270420221.php
* Ph.D. Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology Durgapur (January 2018)
- Thesis: Functional Characterization of Putative G-protein Coupled Receptor Genes in Rice Blast Fungus
* M.Tech. Biotechnology, West Bengal University of Technology (2009)
* M.Sc. Bioinformatics, Allahabad Agricultural Institute-Deemed University (2006)
* B.Sc. Major in Biological Techniques & Specimen Preparations, University of Burdwan (2004)
Work Experience
* Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata (Since March 2019 to Present)
* Assistant Professor, Postgraduate Department of Biotechnology, Oriental Institute of Science & Technology, Dewandighi, Burdwan, Affiliated to Vidyasagar University (November 2009 to June 2010)
Awards and Achievements
- * Best Oral Presentation Award at the "Green Biomerge 2024" an International Conference organized by Department of Biotechnology, Brainware University, Kolkata (22nd-24th February, 2024)
- * Awarded Start-up Research Grant by Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), DST, Government of India - 2019 in Plant Sciences
- * Qualified West Bengal State Eligibility Test (SET) - 2017 in Life Sciences
- * Qualified National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by The Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB), ICAR - 2015 in Agricultural Biotechnology
- * Awarded UGC Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF), 2010-11
- * Awarded Merit certificate for scoring the highest DGPA in M.Tech.
- Current Research Activities:
1. An ongoing CRG project entitled "Functional inter-connection between WISH and cell-wall biosynthesis / remodelling pathway in rice blast fungus" Dr. Subhankar Roy Barman (PI), Dr. Utpal Adhikari (Co-PI), Dr. Nazmiara Sabnam (Co-PI), DST-SERB, Govt. of India, 2022-2025.
2. Principal Investigator of SRG project entitled "Functional characterization of novel secreted effectors in Magnaporthe oryzae", DST-SERB, Govt. of India, 2019-2022. (Completed)
- Administrative Responsibilities:
1. Member of Colloquium Committee (2022)
2. Member of Library Committee (2022)
3. Member of Shared Equipment and Core Facility Maintenance Committee (2022)
4. Co-ordinator of subjects such as Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, etc.
5. Co-ordinator of a major paper 'Biostatistics and Bioinformatics - BT0703' for M.Sc Biotechnology with two specializations in Plant Biotechnology and Microbial Biotechnology courses (2019).
6. In-charge of the establishment of Bioinformatics laboratory (2019-2020).
7. Member of the Biosafety Committee of the School of Biotechnology, Presidency University, Rajarhat, Newtown, Kolkata (2019-2020).
I have taught Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Bioinformatics subjects over the past couple of years along with my own studies. I am experienced in teaching and served as an Assistant Professor in the Postgraduate Department of Biotechnology, Oriental Institute of Science & Technology, Affiliated to Vidyasagar University, Dewandighi, Burdwan. During that period I taught two postgraduate courses such as M.Sc. Biotechnology, and M.Sc. Biochemistry.
I have also taught two advanced postgraduate courses such as Plant Biotechnology and Microbial Biotechnology in the School of Biotechnology, Rajarhat Newtown Campus (2019-2020).
As a Biotechnologist, my specialized subjects are Recombinant DNA Technology, Advanced Molecular Biology, Plant Biotechnology, Microbial Technology, Bioinformatics, and Bioprocess Engineering, etc.
- 1. Debrup Sarkar (Project Assistant, SERB, DST, SRG, 2020-22)
- 2. Anwesha Chakraborty (SSR Student Intern, SERB, DST, SRG, Sept-Nov 2021)
- 3. Debosmita Ghosh (M.Sc. Life Sciences, Disseration, PU, Kolkata, 2020-21)
- 4. Kuntal Patra (M.Sc. Life Sciences, Disseration, PU, Kolkata, 2021-22)
- 5. Sayed Wahid Raja - Ongoing (M.Sc. Life Sciences, Disseration, PU, Kolkata, 2023-24)
* Life Member of Indian Mycological Society
* DNA Life Organization, Bangaluru, Karnataka
1. Anwesha Chakraborty, Afzal Hussain, and Nazmiara Sabnam. “Uncovering the Structural Stability of Magnaporthe oryzae Effectors: A Secretome-Wide In Silico Analysis.” Journal of Biomolecular Structure & Dynamics (2023): 18:1-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07391102.2023.2292795 [IF: 4.4, *Corresponding Author]
2. Nazmiara Sabnam, Afzal Hussain, and Pallabi Saha. "The secret password: Cell death-inducing proteins in filamentous phytopathogens-As versatile tools to develop disease-resistant crops." Microbial Pathogenesis (2023): 106276. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106276 [IF: 3.848, *Corresponding Author]
3. Afzal Hussain, Ashfaq Hussain, Nazmiara Sabnam, Chandan Kumar Verma, and Namita Shrivastava. "Insilico exploration of the potential inhibitory activity of DrugBank compounds against CDK7 kinase using structure-based virtual screening, molecular docking, and dynamics simulation approach." Arabian Journal of Chemistry 16, no. 2 (2023): 104460. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arabjc.2022.104460 [IF: 6.212]
4. Debrup Sarkar, Satyabrata Majumder, Kalyan Giri, and Nazmiara Sabnam, In silico characterization, molecular docking, and dynamic simulation of a novel fungal cell-death suppressing effector, MoRlpA as potential cathepsin B-like cysteine protease inhibitor during rice blast infection, Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 41(18): 9039-9056 (2022), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07391102.2022.2139763 [IF: 5.235, *Corresponding Author]
5. Pallabi Saha, Atrayee Sarkar, Nazmiara Sabnam, Meghana D Shirke, H B Mahesh, Aman Nikhil, Anantharamanan Rajamani, Malali Gowda, and Subhankar Roy-Barman, Comparative analysis of secondary metabolite gene clusters in different strains of Magnaporthe oryzae, FEMS Microbiology Letters, Volume 368, Issue 1 (2021), fnaa216, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/femsle/fnaa216 [IF: 2.82]
6. Nazmiara Sabnam and Subhankar Roy Barman. "WISH, a novel CFEM GPCR is indispensable for surface sensing, asexual and pathogenic differentiation in rice blast fungus." Fungal Genetics and Biology 105 (2017): 37-51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fgb.2017.05.006 [IF: 3.883]
7. Subhankar Roy-Barman, Ravindra A. Raut, Atrayee Sarkar, Nazmiara Sabnam, Sanjukta Chakraborty, and Pallabi Saha. "Recent advances in the development of transgenic crop plants, biosafety aspects, and future perspectives." Plant Biotechnology (2017): 271-411. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781771885812 - Cat# N11896.
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