Surinder Chopra, Ph.D.

Professional Background

• 7/12-current. Professor, maize molecular genetics, Department of Plant Science, The Pennsylvania State University.
• 7/06–6/12. Associate Professor, maize molecular genetics. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University.
• 7/00–7/06. Assistant Professor, maize molecular genetics. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University.
• 7/96–7/00. Associate Scientist. Department of Zoology and Genetics and Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University. Ames, IA.
• 9/93–6/96. Post Doctoral Res. Associate. Lab. of Dr. Thomas Peterson, Department of Zoology and Genetics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA.
• 3/93–8/93. Visiting Research Fellow. Department of Horticulture, Washington State Univ., Pullman, WA.
• 10/87–2/93. Graduate Research Assistant. Belgian Development and Cooperation scholarship, Lab. of Prof. Michele Jacobs, Vrije Univ. of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
• 9/82–9/87. Graduate Research Assistant. Belgian Development and Cooperation scholarship, Lab. of Prof. Michele Jacobs, Vrije Univ. of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.
• 8/78–6/81. Junior Research Fellow. Dept of Plant Breeding, Punjab Agricultural. Univ, Ludhiana, India.

Responsibilities and Interests

The goal of our research is to understand epigenetic gene regulation and metabolic coordination for the role of secondary metabolites in plant developmental processes as well as plant resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. We use a flavonoid biosynthetic pathway in maize and sorghum as our model system. Our research has lead to the identification of genetic factors involved in the regulation and biosynthesis of specific plant flavonoid compounds that act as potent antioxidants in animals and plants.

Appointment

• 70% Research
• 30% Teaching

Courses

• AGRO/BIOTC 460 (3 credits) - Advances and Applications of Plant Biotech
• PLBIO 516 (2 credits) - Modern Techniques in Plant Molecular Biology

Links

• Agroecology
• MaizeGDB

Current Members of the Lab

• Debamalya Chatterjee, Postdoctoral Scholar, Maize-Fall Armyworm interactions.
• Tyler Lesko,  Graduate Student, Maize-Fall Armyworm interactions.
• Brianna Huber, Undergraduate Researcher 
• Bryan Panek, Undergraduate Researcher
• Maria A. Gil-Polo, Graduate Student, Lab Rotation.

Past Lab Members

• Binning Wu, Graduate Student. 
• Iffa Gaffoor, Postdoctoral Research Associate, The interaction of sorghum Phytoalexins with Colletotrichum sublineola.
• Kameron Wittmeyer,  Graduate Student, Epigenetic Gene Regulation in maize. Current: USDA/ARS, Delaware
• Qixian Tan, Graduate Student. 
• Bin Liu, Graduate Student. 
• Dinakaran Elango, Graduate Student, Sorghum Phytoalexins. Current: Postdoctoral Scholar, Iowa State.
• Jin Cui, Graduate Student, Epigenetic Gene Regulation in maize. Current: CVS, USA
• Debamalya Chatterjee, Graduate Student, Role of Zmufo1 in Maize Seed Development. Current: Postdoctoral Scholar, Penn State.
• Xiaoyu Wang, Visiting Graduate Student, JiLin University, Cold tolerance Genetics and molecular biology in maize and sorghum
• Cullen Dixon, Undergraduate Student. Current: Grad Student, Ohio State
• Rajandeep Sekhon, Graduate Student, Postdoctoral fellow. Current: Associate Professor, Clemson University
• Vineet Sangar, Graduate student. Current: Research Scientist, Amazon.
• Michael Robbins, Graduate Student, Postdoctoral Fellow. Current: Assistant Professor, Lock Haven University
• Farag Ibraheem, Graduate Student. Current: Faculty, University of Mansoura, Egypt.
• Jay Boddu, Postdoctoral Fellow. Current: Big Data Scientist, Monsanto, St Louis
• Weiya Xue, Postdoctoral Research Associate. Current: Research Associate, Plant Pathology, Penn State.
• Rashmi Thakare, Visiting Scholar
• Sanjeev Deshpande, Visiting Borlaug Fellow, Department Chair, University of Ag. Sciences, Dharward, India

Selected Publications

Chatterjee D, Wittmeyer K, Lee TF, Cui J, Yennawar NH, Yennawar HP, Meyers BC, Chopra S. 2021. Maize unstable factor for orange1 is essential for endosperm development and carbohydrate accumulation. Plant Physiology. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiab183

Gaffoor I, Sandoya GV, Xavier KV, Nuckles EM, Pinnamaneni SR, Vaillancourt LJ, Chopra S. 2021. Performance of novel sorghum germplasm in Pennsylvania and their response to anthracnose (Colletotrichum sublineola). Crop Science. https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20486

Wu B, Chang H, Marini R, Chopra S, Reddivari L. Characterization of Maize Near-Isogenic Lines With Enhanced Flavonoid Expression to Be Used as Tools in Diet-Health Complexity. Frontiers in plant science. 2021 Jan 18;11:2249. 10.3389/fpls.2020.619598

Cloutier M, Chatterjee D, Elango D, Cui J, Bruns MA, Chopra S. 2020. Sorghum root flavonoid chemistry, cultivar, and frost stress effects on rhizosphere bacteria and fungi. Phytobiomes Journal. Aug 12:PBIOMES-01. https://doi.org/10.1094/PBIOMES-01-20-0013-FI

Wu B, Li S, Chang H, Anderson R, Chopra S, Reddivari L. Maize Flavan-4-ols and Anthocyanins Alleviated Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Colitis in Mice via Intestinal Barrier Function Restoration. Current Developments in Nutrition. 2020 Jun;4(Supplement_2):488.

Wu B, Bhatnagar R, Indukuri VV, Chopra S, March K, Cordero N, Chopra S, Reddivari L. 2020. Intestinal mucosal barrier function restoration in mice by maize diet containing enriched flavan-4-ols. Nutrients. Apr;12(4):896.  https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12040896