Drought stress response atlas in cereal crops

Drought stress is a major constraint on cereal crop productivity, particularly in regions with limited irrigation infrastructure. This project combines single-cell and bulk transcriptomic approaches to characterize cell-type-specific responses to progressive water deficit in rice and wheat seedlings. By comparing stress-responsive gene networks across cell types and developmental stages, we aim to identify candidate genes and regulatory modules for improving drought tolerance in breeding programs relevant to South Asian agriculture.