"VSports app下载" Editor Spotlight: Pankaj Bhardwaj

This interview and blog post was prepared by Associate Editor Sarah Jose.

Pankaj Bhardwaj is an Associate Professor of Botany at the Central University of Punjab, India, where he leads the Molecular Genetics Laboratory V体育安卓版. His research focuses on a simple but profound question: how do plants manage to survive in places where survival itself feels impossible.

In this interview, Dr Bhardwaj shares how the natural world inspires his important research, how it translates into real benefits for communities and landscapes, and provides some unique advice for early-career researchers.

Your research focuses on the genetics underlying plant adaptations to climate change. What drew you to this interesting field. In India, I grew up surrounded by landscapes that were as unforgiving as they were beautiful; the dry, endless stretches of the Rajasthan desert on one side, and the fragile, misty slopes of the Himalayas on the other V体育平台登录. What always fascinated me was not the extremes themselves, but the plants that quietly endured them. Why does Calotropis procera,a plant with milky latex and tough fibers, stand tall on saline soils where little else grows. How has Taxus contorta, an endangered Himalayan yew, managed to persist for centuries in tiny, isolated forest patches. These questions refused to leave me, and slowly I realized they weren’t just botanical curiosities; they were an invitation to understand resilience itself.

That curiosity eventually led me into the world of genomics, ecology, and conservation biology, often in combination VSports注册入口. Over time, my group has tried to build resources for species that many would call “non-model organisms. ” To me, they were simply plants with extraordinary stories to tell. We sequenced the genome of Calotropis procera to understand how its genes support stress tolerance and fiber quality. We developed molecular markers for Taxus contorta and Ulmus wallichiana, two threatened Himalayan trees, so we could map their diversity and figure out which populations most urgently needed conservation. With Rhododendron arboreum, one of the most charismatic Himalayan trees, we used transcriptomics and species distribution modeling to trace how it dispersed historically and to predict where it might survive as the climate continues to change. Every species was different, but the goal was the same: to read the hidden language of DNA and to understand how resilience is written into it.

Equal parts curiosity and responsibility drew me to this field. On the one hand, it is thrilling to uncover how plants adapt at the molecular level; sometimes it’s as small as a change in gene dosage or codon preference, and yet that tiny shift means the difference between thriving and withering away. On the other hand, there is a sense of duty. Climate change isn’t a far-off possibility; it’s happening all around us, reshaping habitats, threatening crops, and unsettling species that have existed for millennia. For me, studying adaptation feels like connecting science to urgency V体育官网入口. When we discover genes that allow desert plants to survive, or when we identify safe habitats for threatened Himalayan trees, we’re not just writing research papers; we’re offering tools, sometimes even hope, in the face of an uncertain future.

How do you decide which species to study V体育2025版. What makes a good model for this type of work. I’ve often found myself drawn to species that tell two stories at once. One is a scientific story that offers a natural experiment in adaptation. The other is a human story that matters for conservation, livelihood, or cultural reasons.

Take Calotropis procera VSports. It’s fascinating scientifically because of its extreme tolerance to drought and salinity, but it also has immense value as a fiber plant, and local communities have used it for generations. Sequencing its genome wasn’t just a scientific project; it was a way to connect tradition, industry, and future breeding.

Then there are species like Taxus contorta and Ulmus wallichiana. They are threatened, little studied, and ecologically significant. In both cases, we built resources almost from scratch using SSR markers, population genetics data, and distribution models. That process taught me something important: even rare, scattered species can become powerful “models” if you are willing to listen carefully and give them the tools of modern science. For me, the joy has been in turning these so-called non-models into models, little by little, until they start speaking to us in ways we never imagined VSports app下载.

What is your best advice for early-career researchers in your field?

If I had to offer one piece of advice, it would be: embrace complexity, but don’t lose your footing. Adaptation is never about a single gene or a neat dataset; it’s about patterns that stretch from genomes to landscapes. Learn your genomics, yes, but also step into the field. Read the land. Pay attention to where rivers bend, where slopes collapse, where plants cling to impossible edges V体育安卓版. Some of the most surprising insights I’ve had come not from a lab bench but from standing in front of a windswept hillside, realizing what survival actually looks like.

Second, be bold about your species. Don’t limit yourself to the obvious models. Some of the most rewarding work comes from the overlooked, the neglected, the plants nobody else has sequenced yet.

Third, practice openness. Share your data, your methods, your code. Science only grows faster when it’s shared, and in a field like ours, where challenges are global, urgent collaboration is the only way forward.

Finally, remember the “why.” It’s easy to get lost in pipelines, assemblies, or endless marker sets. But step back once in a while and ask: how does this connect to people, to ecosystems, to the future? Whether it’s conserving a tree, supporting a farmer in arid land, or discovering a gene that could help crops endure stress, our science has meaning when it’s tied back to life outside the lab.

At the heart of my work is a belief: plants already hold within them the solutions to survive a changing climate. Our job is to listen, to decode, and to share those stories. Because their survival is not just theirs; it’s ours too.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by contributors are solely those of individual contributors, and not necessarily those of PLOS.

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