Jyoti P. Kakati

Associate Scientist - Crop Biotechnology
Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, PeeDee Research and Education Center

Office: 2200 Pocket Road, PDREC, Florence, SC-29506
Phone: 864-207-2768

Email: jkakati@clemson.edu
Vita: Download CV
Personal Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jyotikakati/

Educational Background

Ph.D. in Plant Science
Clemson University, SC, USA 2024

M.Tech (Biotechnology)
IIT Guwahati, Assam, India 2019

B.Tech (Biotechnology)
Anna University Chennai - K.S. Rangasamy College of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India 2012

Profile

I’m a Crop Biotechnology Associate Scientist with 5 + years of experience specialising in plant physiology, metabolomics, lipidomics, tissue culture and molecular biology. I earned my Ph.D. in Plant Science from Clemson University (Summer 2024) under the supervision of Dr. Sruthi Narayanan. My doctoral research focused on enhancing drought and heat-stress resilience in major oil crops (soybeans & peanuts) through integrated physiological and metabolomics strategies.

At present, I'm working with Dr. Sachin Rustgi (Associate Professor of Molecular Breeding) and applying my expertise to:
• Develop transgenic peach rootstocks addressing Armillaria root rot
• Engineer a CRISPR-Cas9-based biocontrol platform targeting Aspergillus flavus & Aspergillus parasiticus.

Originally from Northeast India and with an academic background spanning the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and Clemson University, I bring disciplined execution, a collaborative mindset, and a growth-oriented approach.

I’m eager to connect with fellow researchers, breeders, and industry experts to work towards achieving sustainable agriculture.

Research Interests

Plant Transformation: Developing and optimising plant transformation systems (e.g., gene editing, transgenics) to validate candidate genes in horticulture and oil crops.

Molecular Biology: Leveraging molecular biology tools (PCR, qPCR, genotyping, gene expression) to dissect the genetic basis of nutritional quality and stress response in crops.

Biopesticides Research: Exploring biopesticides and their interactions with plant physiological and molecular responses for quality yields.

Plant Physiology: Investigating the physiological impacts of heat and drought stress on oil-seed crop's growth, carbon/ nutrient allocation, and quality-trait outcomes.

Plant Metabolomics: Applying metabolomic profiling to oil-seed crops under abiotic stress to identify metabolic signatures linked to seed germination, starch, protein and oil quality changes.

Publications

• Saripalli, G.; Kakati, J.P.; Ou, X.; Liu, B.; Rustgi, S. Reprogramming meiosis to enhance diversity and chromatin introgression in polyploid crops: A focus on wheat. Adv. Agron. 2025 (In press).
• Kakati, J.P.; Fallen, B.; Armstrong, P.; Yan, S.; and Narayanan, S. High-protein soybean lines with stable seed protein content under heat and drought stresses. J. Agr. Food Res. 2024, 18.
• Rustgi, S.; Kakati, J.P.; Narayanan, S. Shaping plant architecture for improved productivity: Strigolactones and beyond. Adv. Agron. 2024, 186
• Kakati, J.P.; Fallen, B.; Bridges, W.; Narayanan, S. Characterization of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) population for germination and seedling root traits under water stress. Agronomy 2022, 12, 1944*
*This article was recognized as the "Editor's Choice Article" for 2022.
• Kakati, J.P.; Zoong Lwe, Z.S.; Narayanan, S. Heat stress during the early flowering stage did not affect seed fatty acid contents in conventional oleic peanut varieties. Peanut Sci. 2022, 49.
• Rustgi, S.; Kakati, J.P.; Jones, Z.T.; Zoong Lwe, Z.S.; Narayanan, S. Heat tolerance as a function of membrane lipid remodeling in the major US oilseed crops (soybean and peanut). J. Plant Biochem. Biotechnol. 2021, 30, 652-667.
• Ghodke, R.S.; Kakati, J.P.; Tadi, S.R.R.; Mohan, N.; Senthilkumar, S. Kinetic modeling of hyaluronic acid production in palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer) based medium by Streptococcus zooepidemicus MTCC 3523. Biochem. Eng. J., 2018, 137, 284-293.
• Mythili, G. B.; Ponmurugan, P.; Jeeva, S.E.; Manjukarunambika, K.; Elango, V.; Hemalatha, K.; Kakati, J.P.; Mohanraj, R.; Prathap, S. Biosynthesised silver and copper nanoformulation as foliar spray to control bird's eye spot disease in tea plantations. IET Nanobiotechnol. 2017, 11, 917-928.
• Robinson, J.P.; Kakati, J.P.; Sebastinraj, J.; Kumaresan, S. In vitro seed germination of Cymbidium aloifolium (L.) Sw., a potential medicinal orchid from eastern ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. J. Plant Biotechnol. 2017, 44, 343–348.
• Kakati, J.P.; Ponmurugan, P.; Rajasekaran, N.; Mythili, G. B. Effect of textile effluent treatment plant sludge on the growth metabolism of green gram (Vigna radiata L). Int. J. Environ. Pollut. 2013, 51, 79-90.

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