Name : Ashutosh Kumar Shukla Designation : Senior principal scientist Address : CSIR-CIMAP, Near Kukrail Picnic Spot, Lucknow-226015, India E. mail : ashutoshshukla[at]cimap[dot]res[dot]in Contact No : +91-9450932113 Epabx No. : 553 Download Resume Area of Specialization Dr. Ashutosh K. Shukla’s core research area is medicinal plant molecular biology and biotechnology with a focus on alkaloid-producing plants. His lab aims to make a meaningful contribution towards better understanding of various aspects of secondary metabolism in medicinal plants. He has carried out studies on biotic/abiotic modulation of plant secondary metabolism and also contributed in medicinal plant authentication and validation of traditional claims on medicinal properties of plants. His work has provided new insights for omics-based characterization of secondary metabolism in contrasting organs, genotypes and developmental stages of medicinal plants like Catharanthus roseus, Papaver somniferum and Artemisia annua. A major thrust area of the lab is focused on evolving vindoline enhancing strategies and carrying out relevant gene prospecting in C. roseus. It involves elucidation of stress and micronutrient dependency of vindoline accumulation in C. roseus. Analysis/characterization of genes responsible for modulating high-value medicinally-important secondary metabolite biosynthesis is expected to facilitate cost-effective production alternatives. Further, the lab is using biotechnology for validation of Ayurveda and providing a scientific basis for principles of traditional medicine. Special interest lies in gaining insights into hypoglycemic/antidiabetic, anti-allergic, hepatoprotective and IBD-managing potential of medicinal plants. The lab is also venturing to study the biosynthesis of economically important alkaloids in some unexplored Indian medicinal plants. Education M.Sc. Biochemistry MBA Marketing Ph.D. Biochemistry Post Doctoral Alkaloid Biotechnology Post Doctoral Alkaloid Biotechnology Academic/Research Experience CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants , Plant Biotechnology - Senior Principal Scientist (June 2021- till date ) Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Germany, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences - Visiting Scientist (March 2018- June 2018 ) CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants , Plant Biotechnology - Principal Scientist (June 2016- June 2021 ) Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Toni Kutchan Lab - Visiting Scientist (September 2012- September 2013 ) CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Plant Biotechnology - Senior Scientist (June 2012- June 2016 ) CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Plant Biotechnology - Scientist (June 2008- June 2012 ) Honours and Awards National Scholarship Award ,merit position in the B.Sc. examination by Ministry of Human Resource Development in 1994 Rai Saheb Sheo Shanker Memorial Scholarship ,first position in M.Sc. I (Biochemistry)by University of Lucknow in 1995 Prof. P.S. Krishnan Gold Medal ,first position in M.Sc. (Biochemistry)by University of Lucknow in 1996 BioTalent Award,poster session (first prize)by Bangalore Bio 2007 in 2007 First prize ,Science and Innovation Quiz by UK Trade and Investment at Bangalore Bio 2007 in 2007 CIMAP Day Award ,by CSIR-CIMAP in 2007 Award for the Highest Impact Factor Publication , Highest Impact Factor Publication of CIMAP by CSIR-CIMAP in 2007 BioTalent Award,Poster Session by Bangalore Bio 2008 in 2008 Best Research Paper Award ,Best Research Paper by University of Lucknow in 2007 Indo-US Research Fellowship,research in the area of Life Sciencesby IUSSTF and DST in 2012 Award for an Outstanding Research Publication ,Outstanding Research Publication by CSIR-CIMAP in 2021 Raman Research Fellowship ,the year 2017-18 by CSIR in 2018 Publication Mall M, Shanker K, Samad A, Kalra A, Sundaresan V, Shukla AK. Stress responsiveness of vindoline accumulation in Catharanthus roseus leaves is mediated through co-expression of allene oxide cyclase with pathway genes. Protoplasma 2022 Singh P, Yadav V, Deshmukh Y, Das P, Singh RP, Bano N, Kumar M, Shukla AK, Krishna A, Khare P. Decoding the link between bacterial diversity and enzymatic activities of soil from Cymbopogon flexuosus growing dryland. Applied Soil Ecology 2021 Rodrigues V, Kumar A, Prabhu KN, Pragadheesh VS, Shukla AK, Sundaresan V. Adventitious root cultures of Decalepis salicifolia for the production of 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, a vanillin isomer flavor metabolite. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 2021 Kumar A, Rodrigues V, Verma S, Singh M, Hiremath C, Shanker K, Shukla AK, Sundaresan V. Effect of salt stress on seed germination, morphology, biochemical parameters, genomic template stability, and bioactive constituents of Andrographis paniculata Nees. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum 2021 Nigam N, Khare P, Ahsan M, Yadav V, Shanker K, Singh RP, Pandey V, Das P, Singh A, Yadav R, Tripathi P, Sinam GG, Shukla AK, Karak T. Biochar amendment reduced the risk associated with metal uptake and improved metabolite content in medicinal herbs. Physiologia Plantarum 2021 Shukla B, Gupta S, Srivastava G, Sharma A, Shukla AK, Shasany AK. lncRNADetector: A bioinformatics pipeline for long non-coding RNA identification and MAPslnc: A repository of medicinal and aromatic plant lncRNAs. RNA Biology 2021 Khanuja SPS, Shukla AK. Human health and nutrition: Functional foods. KL Chadha, AK Singh, VB Patel (Eds.) Horticulture to Horti-Business, Souvenir of the Fourth Indian Horticulture Congress held at New Delhi during 18-21 November, 2010, Westville Publishing House, New Delhi, pp 433-445 2011 Shasany AK, Shukla AK, Khanuja SPS . Medicinal and Aromatic Plants. C Kole (Ed.) Genome Mapping and Molecular Breeding in Plants, Volume 6 Technical Crops, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, pp 175-196 2007 Patents File No Title Inventors Patent No. Abstract 7,211,428 Strain of Bacillus as a bioinoculant Sattar A, Alam M, Khaliq A, Khanuja SPS, Kalra A, Samad A, Shasany AK, Darokar MP, Shukla AK, Padmapriya T, Yaseen M, Dhawan OP, Zaim M, Ajaya Kumar PV US/7,211,428 / Strain of Bacillus as a bioinoculant