Staff profile

I started my Research from post-grad dissertation project on " Defence associated Peroxidase from lemon" at University of Lucknow, India.  I received my PhD degree from National Institute of Plant Genome Research, JNU, New Delhi in 2019. I worked on Role of Mitogen-activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) in plant growth and development under the supervision of Dr. Alok Krishna Sinha. After my PhD I stayed with Dr. Sinha to work on Light signalling for 6 months before moving to UK. I joined the lab of Prof. Ari Sadanandom, Dept of Biosciences, Durham University in 2021. I worked with Dr Elain Fitches (Co-supervisor) on FRASS project in collaboration with FRASS industries for a year. Since then, I have been working with Prof. Ari on role of SUMOylation in temperature sensing and plant growth.   

• Post-translational modification, Phosphorylation, SUMOylation, ABA, Auxin, Plant biotechnology

• 2024: Best Flash Talk award in International Symposium on Plant Photobiology 2024:
• 2024: Best Poster Award on Research Away Day 2024:

Journal Article

• SUMO protease FUG1, histone reader AL3 and chromodomain protein LHP1 are integral to repeat expansion-induced gene silencing in Arabidopsis thaliana.
  
  Sureshkumar, S., Bandaranayake, C., Lv, J., Dent, C. I., Bhagat, P. K., Mukherjee, S., Sarwade, R., Atri, C., York, H. M., Tamizhselvan, P., Shamaya, N., Folini, G., Bergey, B. G., Yadav, A. S., Kumar, S., Grummisch, O. S., Saini, P., Yadav, R. K., Arumugam, S., … Balasubramanian, S. (2024). SUMO protease FUG1, histone reader AL3 and chromodomain protein LHP1 are integral to repeat expansion-induced gene silencing in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature Plants, 10, 749-759. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-024-01672-5
• SUMOylation of OsPSTOL1 is essential for regulating phosphate starvation responses in rice and Arabidopsis
  
  Mukkawar, V., Roy, D., Sue-ob, K., Jones, A., Zhang, C., Kumar Bhagat, P., Kakkunnath, S. M., Heuer, S., & Sadanandom, A. (2024). SUMOylation of OsPSTOL1 is essential for regulating phosphate starvation responses in rice and Arabidopsis. Frontiers in Plant Science, 15, Article 1274610. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2024.1274610
• Phosphorylation of AGO1a by MAP kinases is required for miRNA mediated resistance against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae infection in rice
  
  Singh, K., Sharma, D., Bhagat, P. K., Tayyeba, S., Noryang, S., & Sinha, A. K. (2024). Phosphorylation of AGO1a by MAP kinases is required for miRNA mediated resistance against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae infection in rice. Plant Science, 340, Article 111967. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2023.111967
• SUMO/deSUMOylation of the BRI1 brassinosteroid receptor modulates plant growth responses to temperature
  
  Naranjo-Arcos, M., Srivastava, M., Deligne, F., Bhagat, P. K., Mansi, M., Sadanandom, A., & Vert, G. (2023). SUMO/deSUMOylation of the BRI1 brassinosteroid receptor modulates plant growth responses to temperature. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(4), Article 2217255120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2217255120
• MKKK20 works as an upstream triple-kinase of MKK3-MPK6-MYC2 module in Arabidopsis seedling development
  
  Ojha, M., Verma, D., Chakraborty, N., Pal, A., Bhagat, P. K., Singh, A., Verma, N., Sinha, A. K., & Chattopadhyay, S. (2023). MKKK20 works as an upstream triple-kinase of MKK3-MPK6-MYC2 module in Arabidopsis seedling development. IScience, 26(2), Article 106049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106049
• The conjugation of SUMO to the transcription factor MYC2 functions in blue light-mediated seedling development in Arabidopsis
  
  Srivastava, M., Srivastava, A. K., Roy, D., Mansi, M., Gough, C., Bhagat, P. K., Zhang, C., & Sadanandom, A. (2022). The conjugation of SUMO to the transcription factor MYC2 functions in blue light-mediated seedling development in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell, 34(8), 2892-2906. https://doi.org/10.1093/plcell/koac142
• Dynamic Phosphorylation of miRNA Biogenesis Factor HYL1 by MPK3 Involving Nuclear–Cytoplasmic Shuttling and Protein Stability in Arabidopsis
  
  Bhagat, P. K., Verma, D., Singh, K., Badmi, R., Sharma, D., & Sinha, A. K. (2022). Dynamic Phosphorylation of miRNA Biogenesis Factor HYL1 by MPK3 Involving Nuclear–Cytoplasmic Shuttling and Protein Stability in Arabidopsis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(7), Article 3787. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23073787