Dr. Sachin Rustgi

Former MPS Faculty

Assistant Research Professor, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences Ph.D. Genetics and Plant Breeding, C.C.S. University, India 2006

Education

Ph.D. Genetics and Plant Breeding, C.C.S. University, India (2006)
M.S. Botany, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University, India (2001)
D.I.S.M. Diploma in Information Systems Management, Aptech, India (2000)
B.S. Biology, M.J.P. Rohilkhand University, India (1999)

Research

My research is a balance between applied and basic with an emphasis on the translational potential, and focus on the targeted improvement of small grain cereals. In this direction, I am applying and improvising tools and techniques of both structural and functional genomics as and when applicable in my research. My major research interests include but are not limited to the development of i) natural dietary therapies for the ‘gluten syndrome’ by engineering nutritionally enhanced wheat genotypes with reduced amount of immunogenic gluten proteins and glycemically rich amylopectin; ii) genetically resistant wheat and barley genotypes for major root pathogens of the U.S. Pacific Northwest by biomimetic engineering of wheat lines to produce an antifungal antibiotic pyrrolnitrin, and systemic expression of an antimycotic enzyme endochitinase; and iii) herbicide (imidazolinone) tolerant, nutritionally enhanced and commercially valuable barley cultivars by breeding for reduced proanthocyanidin and increased lysine contents. From the basic research, I am interested in deciphering: (a) genes and signaling pathways contributing to yield stability under stress environments; (b) molecular mechanism underlying the diploid-like pairing behaviors of polyploidy wheat; and (c) molecular and cytogenetic events that shaped wheat genome following allopolyploidization.

Publications

Publications (in reverse chronological order from 2014-11): Total citations based on Google Scholar = 1450, h-index = 14 and i10-index = 15
a) Monographs
1. Rustgi S, Wen N, Osorio C, Brew-Appiah RAT, Wen S, Gemini R, Mejias JH, Ankrah N, Moehs CP, von Wettstein D (2014) Natural dietary therapies for the ‘gluten syndrome’, Scientia Danica, Series B, Biologica vol. 3 (87 pages) ISBN 978-87-7304-376-9.

2. Rustgi S (2011) “In silico development and use of SSR and SNP markers in bread wheat: Gene derived markers and genome fractionation a glimpse in the wheat genome”, VDM Verlag Dr. Mueller, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing (152 pages) ISBN# 978-3-639-33227-8.

b) Research publications
1. Rustgi S*, Pollmann S, Buhr F, Springer A, Reinbothe C, von Wettstein D*, Reinbothe S*, (2014) JIP60-mediated, jasmonate- and senescence-induced molecular switch in translation toward stress and defense protein synthesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci, U S A 111(39):14181-14186 *co-corresponding author

2. Bhullar R, Nagarajan R, Bennypaul H, Sidhu GK, Sidhu G, Rustgi S, von Wettstein D, Gill KS (2014) Silencing of a metaphase I-specific gene results in a phenotype similar to that of the Pairing homeologous 1 (Ph1) gene mutations. Proc Natl Acad Sci, U S A 111(39):14187-14192

3. Yang C, Zhao L, Yang Z, Xu C, Zhang H, Wen S, Zhang C, Rustgi S*, von Wettstein D*, Liu B* (2014) Evolution of physiological responses to salt stress in hexaploid wheat. Proc Natl Acad Sci, U S A 111(32): 11882-11887 *co-corresponding author

4. Rustgi S, von Wettstein D, Ankrah N, Brew-Appiah RAT, Wen N, Mitchell SM, Gemini R, Reisenauer P, Brabb I (2014) Breeding celiac-safe wheat cultivars a future market class of wheat. Ann Wheat Newslet, 60: 143-146.

5. Hu L, Li N, Xu C, Zhong S, Lin X, Yang J, Zhou T, Yuliang A, Cao X, Zemach A, Rustgi S, von Wettstein D, Liu B (2014) Mutation of a major CG methylase in rice causes genome-wide hypomethylation, dysregulated genome expression, and seedling lethality. Proc Natl Acad Sci, U S A 111(29): 10642-10647

6. Rustgi S*, Matanguihan J, Mejías J, Gemini R, Osorio C, Wen N, Ankrah N, Brew-Appiah R, Murphy KM, von Wettstein D*, (2014) Assessment of Genetic Diversity among Barley Cultivars and Breeding Lines Adapted to the US Pacific Northwest, and Its Implications in Breeding Barley for Imidazolinone-Resistance. PLOS One 9(6): e100998. *co-corresponding author

7. Rustgi S (2014) Discussion with Assistant Research Professor Sachin Rustgi on the genetic modification of wheat to make it safe for celiacs. Journal of Gluten Sensitivity 13(2):11-14.

8. Mejias JH, Lu X, Osorio C, Ullman JL, von Wettstein D*, Rustgi S* (2014) Analysis of Wheat Prolamins, the Causative Agents of Celiac Sprue, Using Reversed Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC) and Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Nutrients 6(4): 1578–1597. *co-corresponding author

9. Zhang H, Bian Y, Gou X, Zhu B, Xu C, Qi B, Li N, Rustgi S, Zhou H, Han F, Jiang J, von Wettstein D, Liu B (2013) Persistent whole-chromosome aneuploidy is generally associated with nascent allohexaploid wheat. Proc Natl Acad Sci, U S A 110:3447-3452

10. Gupta PK, Rustgi S, Mir RR (2013) Array-based high-throughput DNA markers for cereal genetics and genomics. In: Gupta PK, Varshney RK (Eds.), Cereal Genomics II, Springer, ISBN: 978-94-007-6401-9.

11. Kumar N, Rustgi S* (2013) Agronomically relevant traits transferred to major crop plants by alien introgressions. In: Pratap A, Kumar J (Eds.), Alien Gene Transfer in Crop Plants: Innovations, Methods and Risk Assessment (Vol. I), Springer, New York, USA, ISBN: 978-1-4614-8584-1 *corresponding author

12. Rustgi S, Shafqat MN, Kumar N, Ali ML, Dweikat I, Baenziger P, Gill KS (2013) Genetic dissection of yield and its component traits using high-density composite map of wheat chromosome 3A: Bridging gaps between QTLs and underlying genes. PLoS ONE 8(7): e70526.

13. Rustgi S, von Wettstein D, Ankrah N, Mejias JH, Brew-Appiah RAT, Wen S, Wen N, Osorio C, Gemini R, Reisenauer P, Mohan J, Brabb I (2013) A natural dietary-therapy for gluten intolerance, sensitivity and allergenicity. Ann Wheat Newslet, 59: 151-155.

14. Rustgi S (2013) Engineering wheat genotypes compatible for gluten sensitive, allergenic and intolerant individuals. Int J Plant Biol Res 1(1): 1003.

15. Brew-Appiah RAT, Ankrah N, Liu W, Konzak CF, von Wettstein D*, Rustgi S* (2013) Generation of doubled haploid transgenic wheat lines by microspore transformation. PLoS ONE 8(11): e80155. *co-corresponding author

16. Zhang H, Bian Y, Gou X, Dong Y, Rustgi S*, Zhang B, Xu C, Li N, Qi B, Han F, von Wettstein D*, Liu B* (2013) Intrinsic karyotype stability and gene copy number variations may have laid the foundation for tetraploid wheat formation. Proc Natl Acad Sci, U S A 110:19466-19471 *co-corresponding author

17. Rustgi S (2013) Bringing barley back in crop rotation by breeding for imidazolinone resistance. Med Aromat Plants 2: e148.

18. Bennypaul HS, Mutti JS, Rustgi S, Kumar N, Okubara PA, Gill KS (2012) Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) of genes expressed in root, leaf and meiotic tissues of wheat, Funct Integr Genomics, 12, 143-156.

19. Osorio C , Wen N, Gemini R, Zemetra R, von Wettstein D*, Rustgi S* (2012) Targeted modification of wheat grain protein to reduce the content of celiac causing epitopes, Funct Integr Genomics, 12:417-438. *co-corresponding author

20. Rustgi S, von Wettstein D, Ankrah N, Brew-Appiah RAT, Wen S, Wen N, Osorio C, Gemini R, Reisenauer P, X. Lu, Mejias JH (2012) Engineering wheat for celiac patients, Ann Wheat Newslet, 58:248-253.

21. Wen S, Wen N, Pang J, Langen G, Brew-Appiah RAT, Mejias JH, Osorio C, Yang MM, Gemini R, Moehs CP, Zemetra RS, Kogel KH, Liu B, Wang X, von Wettstein D*, Rustgi S* (2012) Structural genes of wheat and barley 5-methylcytosine DNA glycosylases and their potential applications for human health. Proc Natl Acad Sci, U S A 109:20543-20548. *co-corresponding author
Note: Selected as the National Human Genome Research Institute’s (NHGRI) Genomic Advances of the Month (http://www.genome.gov/27551968).

22. Riar DS*, Rustgi S*, Burke IC, Gill KS, Yenish JP (2011) EST-SSR development from 5 Lactuca species and their use in studying genetic diversity among L. serriola biotypes, J Heredity, 102, 17-28. *co-first author

23. Lee H*, Rustgi S*, Kumar N, Burke IC, Yenish JP, Gill KS, von Wettstein D, Ullrich SE (2011) Single nucleotide mutation in the barley acetohydroxy acid synthase (AHAS) gene confers resistance to imidazolinone herbicides, Proc Natl Acad Sci, U S A, 108, 8909-8913. *co-first author

24. Bandopadhyay R*, Rustgi S*, Chaudhuri RK, Khurana P, Khurana JP, Tyagi AK, Balyan HS, Houben A, Gupta PK (2011) Use of methylation filtration and C0t fractionation for analysis of genome composition and comparative genomics in bread wheat, J Genet Genomics, 38, 315-325. *co-first author

25. Rustgi S, Balyan HS, Gupta PK (2011) MSL and SNPL: Softwares for in silico mining of SSRs and SNPs, Int J Biotechnol Biosci, 1, 353-355.

26. Baenziger PS, Dweikat I, Gill K, Eskridge K, Berke T, Shah M, Campbell BT, Ali ML, Mengistu N, Mahmood A, Auvuchanon A, Yen Y, Rustgi S, Moreno-Sevilla B, Mujeeb-Kazi A, Morris RM (2011) Understanding grain yield: It is a journey, not a destination, Checz J Genet Plant Breed, 47 S77-S84.

Honors and awards: 
2014 Faculty Excellence in Research Award, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University