Mohammad Irfan

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Verified

Mohammad verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Research Associate at Cornell University

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruit ripening-specific N-glycan processing enzyme, β-D-N-acetylhexosaminidase (β-Hex), plays an important role in the ripening-associated fruit-softening process. However, the regulation of fruit ripening-specific expression of β-Hex is not well understood. We have identified and functionally characterized the fruit r...

As sessile species and without the possibility of escape, plants constantly face numerous environmental stresses. To adapt in the external environmental cues, plants adjust themselves against such stresses by regulating their physiological, metabolic and developmental responses to external environmental cues. Certain environmental stresses rarely o...

N-glycans and N-glycan processing enzymes are key players in regulating the ripening of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) fruits, a model for fleshy fruit ripening. β-D-N-acetylhexosaminidase (β-Hex) is a N-glycan processing enzyme involved in fruit ripening. The suppression of β-Hex results in enhanced fruit shelf life and firmness in both climacteric...

Tropical fruits and vegetables are predominantly cultivated in warm climate zones, resulting in cultivar diversity in terms of structure, features, and physiology. These constitute a variety of bioactive ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, flavonoids, fatty acids, fiber, and their distinctive appearances attract cu...

Large enzyme families catalyze metabolic diversification by virtue of their ability to use diverse chemical scaffolds. How enzyme families attain such functional diversity is not clear. Furthermore, duplication and promiscuity in such enzyme families limits their functional prediction, which has produced a burgeoning set of incompletely annotated g...

Cellulose, the most abundant polysaccharide on earth composing plant cell walls, is synthesized by coordinated action of multiple enzymes in cellulose synthase complexes embedded within the plasma membrane. Multiple chains of cellulose fibrils form intertwined extracellular matrix networks. It remains largely unknown how newly synthesized cellulose...

The metabolic diversity of plants, comprising over a million different metabolites across the plant kingdom, harbors enormous potential for pharmaceutical and biotechnological applications. Resin glycoside (RG) acylsugars from the Convolvulaceae are of interest due to their medicinal and agricultural potential. However, understanding the biological...

Walnut (Juglans spp.) trees hold immense significance in both economic and ecological contexts within agri-horticultural ecosystems. The comprehension of the intricate mechanisms underpinning walnut growth and development stands as a pivotal endeavor, essential for advancing sustainable yield practices. This comprehensive review delves into the mul...

Plant cell walls are composed of polysaccharides among which cellulose is the most abundant component. Cellulose is processively synthesized as bundles of linear β-1,4-glucan homopolymer chains via the coordinated action of multiple enzymes in cellulose synthase complexes (CSCs) embedded within the plasma cell membrane. Plant cell walls are compose...

Genetic engineering aims to enhance desirable traits in target plants through the precise introduction of specific genetic regions. Central to this endeavor is the modulation of gene expression, which is influenced by the strength of the promoter fused to the gene of interest. Promoters, located upstream of the transcription start site, contain ess...

Fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals are crucial for human health and the global economy, but their susceptibility to postharvest losses significantly reduces their quality and quantity. Bioengineering technologies offer promising solutions to extend shelf life, improve quality, and enhance resistance to stress. This chapter explores the current sta...

Postharvest environmental conditions of fruits and vegetables significantly affect quality and shelf life. Bioengineering fruits and vegetables, however, can enhance their value and durability. This book addresses the issues related to postharvest losses in fruits and vegetable crops using cutting-edge technologies, bringing together the most recen...

Faster ripening and senescence of banana fruit is closely associated with higher ethylene production and oxidative damages. Present study evaluated the mechanism of sodium nitroprusside (as a nitric oxide donor) on delayed ripening and senescence in banana as well as mitigating the oxidative damage. Nitric oxide (NO) was applied to fruit by vacuum...

Fruit color, a significant consumer trait, is governed by a complex interplay of pigments and mutations in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. The down-regulation of three fruit color-related genes, SlSGR1, SlPSY1, and SlMYB12, results in green fruit at maturity in tomato. Using a green ripe tomato cultivar (Lvbaoshi or Emerald) and several wild t...

Symbiodiniaceae species is a dinoflagellate that plays a crucial role in maintaining the symbiotic mutualism of reef-building corals in the ocean. Reef-building corals, as hosts, provide the nutrition and habitat to endosymbiotic Symbiodiniaceae species and Symbiodiniaceae species transfer the fixed carbon to the corals for growth. Environmental st...

Resin glycosides (RGs), a subclass of acylsugars, are plant defense compounds specifically produced by members of family Convolvulaceae, the horticulturally important morning glory family. Not only are RGs effective against herbivores and nematodes, but also against a variety of plant and human bacterial and fungal pathogens. Furthermore, RGs are k...

Litchi fruit is valued for its characteristic flavor and attractive color. However, oxidative pericarp browning soon after harvest limits its shelf-life and availability. Melatonin has been reported to mitigate several abiotic stresses in plant and plant based products. In this investigation, the effects of postharvest application of melatonin (0.1...

Crop production is significantly influenced by climate, and even minor climate changes can have a substantial impact on crop yields. Rising temperature due to climate change can lead to heat stress (HS) in plants, which not only hinders plant growth and development but also result in significant losses in crop yields. To cope with the different str...

The present study aimed to produce, characterize, and apply pullulanase from Aspergillus flavus (BHU-46) for fruit juice processing, assessing its enzymatic properties and impact on juice quality. Pullulanase was produced via solid-state fermentation using wheat bran as the substrate. Purification and characterization included specific activity, mo...

Carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs) are noncatalytic domains that assist tethered catalytic domains in substrate targeting. CBMs have therefore been used to visualize distinct polysaccharides present in the cell wall of plant cells and tissues. However, most previous studies provide a qualitative analysis of CBM‐polysaccharide interactions, with li...

The current study was designed to prepare whey-carrot-based functional beverages and to study the effect on physicochemical properties during the 28-day storage period. Different ratios of whey and carrot juice were selected for the preparation of the six formulations, out of which based on the sensory acceptance only three were selected for furthe...

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a low molecular gasotransmitter that has emerged as a potential tool to improve postharvest attributes of perishable horticultural produce. H2S as a signalling molecule regulates specific biological functions at cellular and molecular level even at very minute concentration in fruit and vegetables. The cytoprotective actio...

High-altitude climates are characterized by intense solar and UV (ultraviolet) stress, long periods of sunlight, low temperatures, and a significant temperature differential between day and night. These traits affect high-altitude plants’ physical structure and physiological and metabolic functions. Abiotic stress responses are critical for underst...

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) that includes 15 lanthanides, scandium and yttrium, are a special class of elements due to their remarkable qualities such as magnetism, corrosion resistance, luminescence, and electroconductivity. Over the last few decades, the implication of REEs in agriculture has increased substantially, which was driven by Rare Earth...

Worldwide, crop productivity is highly influenced by heavy metal toxicity. Lead (Pb) the is second-most toxic heavy metal that has high persistence in soil. Lead is translocated in plants from rhizosphere soil and enters the food chain, where it poses a significant hazard to the health of humans. In the present investigation, seed priming with tria...

Introduction Increased soil salinity in the recent years has adversely affected the productivity of mango globally. Extending the cultivation of mango in salt affected regions warrants the use of salinity tolerant/resistant rootstocks. However, the lack of sufficient genomic and transcriptomic information impedes comprehensive research at the molec...

Cadmium (Cd) and Mercury (Hg) is among the heavy metals most hazardous for plant and human health. Known to induce oxidative stress in plants and disbalance equilibrium in the antioxidant defence system, these metals alter plant growth and cause damage at the cellular and molecular levels. Soybean is an important oilseed crop that is raised in soil...

The current study was designed to prepare whey-carrot-based functional beverages and studying the effect on physicochemical properties during the 28 days of storage period. Different ratio of whey and carrot juice were selected for preparation of the six formulations, out of which based on the sensory acceptance only three were selected for the fur...

Acylsugars constitute a diverse class of secondary metabolites found in many flowering plant families. Comprising sugar cores and acyl groups connected by ester and/or ether linkages, acylsugar structures vary considerably at all taxonomic levels-from populations of the same species to across species of the same family and across flowering plants,...

Carbohydrate binding modules (CBMs) are non-catalytic domains associated with cell wall degrading carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) that are often present in nature tethered to distinct catalytic domains (CD). Fluorescently labeled CBMs have been also used to visualize the presence of specific polysaccharides present in the cell wall of plant c...

Fermented bamboo shoots are rich in high protein, carbohydrates, fibre and minerals while low in fat content. In the North-East region of India and other Asian countries, they are mostly used in various food preparations. The present study was undertaken to explore the diversity of bacteria associated with Bamboo shoots and to evaluate their antiba...

The transition of plants from water to land is considered one of the most significant events in the evolution of life on Earth. The colonization of land by plants, accompanied by their morphological, physiological and developmental changes, resulted in plant biodiversity. Besides significantly influencing oxygen levels in the air and on land, plant...

Arsenic (As) traces have been reported worldwide in vegetables and crops cultivated in As-polluted soils. Being carcinogenic, the presence of As in edibles is of great concern as it ultimately reaches humans and animals through the food chain. Besides, As toxicity adversely affects the growth, physiology, metabolism, and productivity of crops. In t...

stress signaling cross-talk. Several studies had provided pieces of evidence for the potential role of Si/ Se in the induction of phytohormonal and anti-oxidant stress signaling mechanisms. Except for greater Se-toxicity at low concentrations when compared to Si, the individual and combined effects of Si/Se in many plants have shown similar inducti...

Food security and crop production are challenged worldwide due to overpopulation, changing environmental conditions, crop establishment failure, and various kinds of post-harvest losses. The demand for high-quality foods with improved nutritional quality is also growing day by day. Therefore, production of high-quality produce and reducing post-har...

With the advancement of nanotechnology, the use of nanoparticles (NPs) and nanomaterials (NMs) in agriculture including perishable vegetable crops cultivation has been increased significantly. NPs/NMs positively affect plant growth and development, seed germination, plant stress management, and postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables. However...

With the advancement of nanotechnology, the use of nanoparticles (NPs) and nanomaterials (NMs) in agriculture including perishable vegetable crops cultivation has been increased significantly. NPs/NMs positively affect plant growth and development, seed germination, plant stress management, and postharvest handling of fruits and vegetables. However...

During evolution, both human and plant pathogens have evolved to utilize a diverse range of carbon sources. N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), an amino sugar, is one of the major carbon sources utilized by several human and phytopathogens. GlcNAc regulates the expression of many virulence genes of pathogens. In fact, GlcNAc catabolism is also involved i...

There is little information available to decipher the interaction between molybdenum (Mo) and nitric oxide (NO) in mitigating arsenic (As v) stress in plants. The present work highlights the associative role of exogenous Mo and endogenous NO signaling in regulating As v tolerance in wheat seedlings. Application of Mo (1 μM) on 25-day-old wheat seed...

Hydrogen sulphide (H2S) is a gaseous molecule and originates endogenously in plants. It is considered a potential signalling agent in various physiological processes of plants. Numerous reports have examined the role of H2S in fruit ripening and in enhancing fruit quality traits. H2S coordinates the fruit antioxidant system, fruit ripening phytohor...

The circadian clock is a cell autonomously and endogenously regulated biological timekeeper that detects changes in environmental stimuli and generates 24-h rhythms that are synched with day to day and periodic oscillations to govern many biological functions. Plant's circadian clocks enable them to anticipate environmental changes by modifying the...

In this work, we investigated the impact of different electrolytes (NaBr, Na2SO4, and Na3PO4) and temperatures on the aggregation behavior of dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) through the conductivity measurement technique. The measurements were conducted at a single fixed temperature (310.55 K) for different concentrations of electrolytes an...

B-cell lymphoma2 (Bcl-2)-associated athanogene (BAG) family proteins are evolutionary conserved across all eukaryotes. These proteins interact with HSP70/HSC70 and function as co-chaperones during stress response and developmental pathways. Compared to the animal counterpart, the BAG proteins in plants are much less studied and primarily Arabidopsi...

Salicylic acid (SA) is a well-known plant growth regulator, which participates in many physiological processes of plants under normal and stressful conditions. In this study, we investigated the impact of SA supplementation on the components of ascorbate-glutathione cycle and glyoxalase system, photosynthesis and growth of rice (Oryza sativa) plant...

We have investigated the behaviour of change of molar conductivity of mixtures of two crown ethers (CE) (18-Crown-6; 18C6 and 24-Crown-8; 24C8) and metal ions (Mⁿ⁺) (Zn²⁺ and Cu²⁺) and the complexation between CE and Mⁿ⁺ in water + acetonitrile binary solvent system (20, 40, 60 and 80%; v/v) at 298.15 K to 328.15 K by conductometric technique. Kf v...

A study on the interaction of a fourth-generation antibiotic drug, moxifloxacin hydrochloride (MFH), with a cationic surfactant, such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) in the aqueous solution of alcohol (1-propanol (1-PrOH)) and polyols (galactose/maltose), has been carried out using the conductivity measurement technique. The critical micel...

The evolution of new traits in living organisms occurs via the processes of mutation, recombination, genetic drift, and selection. These processes that have resulted in the immense biological diversity on our planet are also being employed in metabolic engineering to optimize enzymes and pathways, create new-to-nature reactions, and synthesize comp...

Unfavorable environmental conditions are the critical inimical to the sustainable agriculture. Among various novel strategies designed to protect plants from abiotic stress threats, use of mineral elements as ‘stress mitigators’ has emerged as the most crucial and interesting aspect. Silicon (Si) is a quasi-essential nutrient that mediates plant gr...

The morphological plasticity of Candida albicans is a virulence determinant as the hyphal form has significant roles in the infection process. Recently, phosphoregulation of proteins through phosphorylation and dephosphorylation events has gained importance in studying the regulation of pathogenicity at the molecular level. To understand the import...

Surfactant-induced amyloid fibrillation has many implications in laboratory and industry. Previously, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB; C19H42BrN) induced amyloid formation in concanavalin A (ConA) has been reported by authors (Khan, JM et al., 2016 A). In this work, cationic gemini surfactants pentanediyl‑1,5‑bis (dimethylcetylammonium bromide...

Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is an anionic surfactant that can be used to stimulate protein fibrillation in vitro. Here, we investigated the effects of SDS on camel IgG aggregation at pH 3.5 and 7.4. SDS-induced amyloid fibril formation in camel IgG was examined by turbidity measurements, Rayleigh scattering, Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence, intrin...

The discovery of RNA silencing mechanisms has transformed research into gene function and has also allowed novel traits to be developed in plants, including some for industrial applications. To silence the expression of an undesirable gene, RNA silencing may be preferable over direct gene mutation as it leads to a dominant trait. This helps in stra...

Genetic engineering has provided new tools for effectively ensuring food and nutritional security to improve agriculture across the world. Conventional agricultural practices can be assisted by molecular biology and biotechnology tools to develop crops with superior traits in a relatively fast way. Genetic engineering allowed solving important prob...

Soya bean (Glycine max) and grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) seeds are important sources of dietary proteins; however, they also contain antinutritional metabolite oxalic acid (OA). Excess dietary intake of OA leads to nephrolithiasis due to the formation of calcium oxalate crystals in kidneys. Besides, OA is also a known precursor of β-N-oxalyl-L-α,β-...

α-Mannosidase (α-Man), a fruit ripening-specific N-glycan processing enzyme, is involved in ripening-associated fruit softening process. However, the regulation of fruit-ripening specific expression of α-Man is not well understood. We have identified and functionally characterized the promoter of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) α-Man to provide molec...

Ripening which leads to fruit senescence is an inimitable process characterized by vivid changes in color, texture, flavor, and aroma of the fleshy fruits. Our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the regulation of fruit ripening and senescence is far from complete. Molecular and biochemical studies on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) ripening m...

Monoterpenes, which are among the major components of plant essential oils, are known for their ecological roles as well for pharmaceutical properties. Geraniol, an acyclic monoterpene induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis/senescence in various cancer cells and plants; however, the genes involved in the process and the underlying molecular mechan...