Major research foci include:
- Management of wheat blast disease caused by Magnaporthe oryzae Triticum using multiple approaches including genomics & genome editing, biological control, nanopesticides, introgression of resistant genes into commercially cultivated varieties, and mutation breeding.
- Development of a rapid, specific, and convenient method for the detection of wheat blast in seed lots, asymptomatic plants, alternate hosts, and the quarantine offices.
- Plant probiotics and their usage as biostimulants, biofertilizers, biopesticides, and bioprospecting.
- Discovery of novel bioactive compounds useful for plant protection.
- Basic research on host-microbe interactions using genomics, metagenomics and other molecular approaches.