Students

Anuj Menon pursuing Ph.D.

I study egg-laying rhythms in Drosophila melanogaster. Among the various circadianly rhythmic behaviors exhibited by the fly, this is a phenomenon that has been least investigated for various reasons. Modulation of egg laying rhythm is most likely to impact its Darwinian fitness and therefore understanding aspects of this rhythm is relevant and may even have applied value. My goals are to determine if this circadian (near 24 hr) rhythm, has certain unique properties, such as where it is generated from (because unlike the other well studied fly rhythms, it does not originate in the fly brain) and whether it is truly controlled by the “clock genes” which, strongly influence other behavioural rhythms.

My studies have shown that the presence of male flies can impact various aspects of the rhythm (Menon et al., 2014, Chronobiology International).

Kulkarni Rutvij Kaustubh pursuing

Flies are gregarious in nature and commonly form aggregations near rotting substrates. However, their behaviour under such conditions as well as the costs and benefits associated with group formation are not well understood. My work examines the nature of sociality in the fly, specifically the manner in which flies interact with one another, its physiological consequences and ultimately, its effects on survival and reproduction of the individual. My hope is that these investigations will allow us to employ the powerful Drosophila model system for studying neurophysiology and evolution of social behaviour.

Iyengar Aishwariya Prasan pursuing Ph.D.

Animals sense the continuously changing environmental conditions like light, temperature, humidity and food availability across the length of a day.  Internal clock mechanisms or circadian clocks use these time-cues to correctly time various physiological and behavioural processes (eating, sleeping, waking etc).  

My studies aim to understand the effect of ambient temperature on rhythmic activity-rest behaviour that is controlled by the circadian clock of the fly. Using various neurogenetic manipulations, I have been able to examine the role of specific groups of clock neurons, temperature-sensory neurons and the neuropeptides and neurotransmitters secreted by them. My goal is to trace the working of the complex neuronal network that integrates thermosensory input with timing of behaviour.

Thermosensory pathways explored in this fashion in the simple fly model has aided the understanding of related neuronal pathways like host-seeking in mosquitoes, pain-sensing in humans, etc that have been utilized to curb spreading of disease or improve lifestyle of neuropathic patients.

Iyer Aishwarya Ramakrishnan pursuing Ph.D.

The circadian pacemaker circuit in Drosophila melanogaster comprise of ~150 neurons distributed bilaterally in the brain and organized in distinct anatomical clusters. My research is aimed at understanding how these different subsets of clock neurons communicate with each other and function as a network to generate circadian and sleep-wake rhythms. Specifically, I focus on investigating the role of electrical synapses (gap junctions) in the circadian circuit for inter-neuronal communication. 

My studies show a role for two proteins Innexin1 and Innexin2 in maintaining the intrinsic or free running period of the locomotor activity rhythm in flies (Ramakrishnan and Sheeba, Biorxiv)

Arijit Ghosh pursuing Ph.D.

I wish to understand the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying complex behaviors. My studies use diverse methodologies - from behavioral screening to whole-genome sequencing. I am trying to understand the genetic diversity that gives rise to different chronotypes in organisms, mainly through large-scale genomic deletion screening and pooled-sequencing. I am also interested in masking - a non-clock-dependent timing mechanism. I love to code, and my recent endeavors resulted in the development of a full-scale shiny app for time-series analysis.

Apart from my work in the lab, I am a serial chiller, leisure photographer, and connoisseur of sci-fi (old and new) and good food (I am rated a super foodie by Zomato)! For a full list of my publications, check out my Google Scholar profile, for my publicly available codes, check out my Github page. More details here - https://orijitghosh.github.io/

Ankit Sharma pursuing Integrated Ph.D

Huntington Disease (HD) is a monogenic neurodegenerative condition caused by increase in glutamine (CAG) repeats in the Huntingtin gene (Htt). The causal gene was identified in 1993, yet we remain unclear about fundamental information regarding the disease and its progression. My studies using Drosophila melanogaster as a model, I am trying to understand how mutant human Huntingtin protein leads to disease phenotype and if protein homeostatic pathways can be targeted as a therapeutic approach to mitigate the toxic effect of the mutant protein.

Sharma Pragya Niraj pursuing Integrated Ph.D

For my graduate studies, I have been exploring the waveform plasticity of circadian activity under unconditional light and temperature cycles and its molecular and neuronal correlates using two approaches 1) Using novel light regimes to probe the flexibility of activity waveform and using fly neurogenetics to understand how these regimes influence the circadian network 2) Using divergent fly chronotype populations, established by laboratory selection, to understand differences in the responses of extreme chronotypes to light and temperature cycles.

Dani Chitrang Kamal pursuing Ph.D.

Most studies on circadian rhythms are carried out in controlled laboratory conditions, usually in the presence of one time-cue. However, in natural environments multiple time-cues like light, temperature, humidity, food availability, predators etc. are simultaneously present and how circadian clocks would be keeping time in such complex environments is not well understood. I am studying how circadian clocks of flies reared in such conditions evolve in terms of clock controlled behaviour and life-history traits compared to flies reared in the lab.

Pavitra Prakash pursuing Ph.D.

The circadian system comprising of the neuronal circuit and assayable, robust behaviours controlled by them are known to be compromised in multiple neurodegenerative conditions. Such circadian dysfunctions are suspected to further disrupt neuronal homeostasis and worsen neurodegenerative symptoms. Multiple cellular systems are involved in this feed-forward snowballing effect. The circadian neuronal circuit, therefore serves as a versatile handle to study the key players in neurodegeneration. During my research, I sought to test and establish circadian neuronal and associated behavioural effects upon expressing the neurodegenerative Huntingtin protein in Drosophila circadian neurons. My primary focus is to uncover (or screen for) environmental and genetic modifiers of disease phenotypes both at neuronal and behavioural levels.

Mansi Rathi pursuing Ph.D.

Organisms show daily rhythmicity in a variety of behavioral and physiological processes. These rhythms are regulated by a circadian clock. Using a long-term selection approach, diverged chronotype populations of Drosophila melanogaster have been established in our lab by imposing selection pressure on timing of emergence rhythm. As a result of selection, the flies diverged not only in their emergence rhythm but also in their underlying circadian clock. My objective is to characterize physiological traits that are partially regulated by circadian clock like sleep, immunity, and development time in these chronotype populations and study if these traits can co-evolve.