I have profound expertise in plant breeding, genetic engineering, genome editing, bioinformatics, and various In-vitro and In-vivo techniques including radioactive lipid profiling. My professional aspirations are to integrate these fields to develop crop varieties resilient to environmental changes. In my prior research at NIBGE and SILS, University of Amsterdam (UvA), The Netherlands, I investigated the role of AtPLC5 gene for thermotolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana. I successfully cloned and overexpressed AtPLC5 gene in a local wheat cultivar to enhance heat tolerance. Additionally, I used 32Pi radioactive isotope labeling to study Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) and Phosphatidic Acid (PA) responses under heat and osmotic stress in transgenic wheat. I also worked as a Research Associate in Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) funded project on “CRISPR-Cas9 based precise excision of TaHyPRP1 domain(s) to generate salt stress tolerance in wheat”. Currently, at the Center for Advance Studies, Agriculture and Food Sciences (CAS-AFS), I focus on genome editing of cereals, particularly wheat, to improve resistance starch, grain weight and iron zinc contents. In oilseed crops, I work on brassica to enhance the oil profile by reducing erucic acid contents, addressing the challenges posed by climate change.

Publications

(1). • Annum N, Ahmed M, Tester M, Mukhtar Z and Saeed NA (2023). Physiological responses induced by phospholipase C isoform 5 upon heat stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. Front. Plant Sci. 14:1076331. http://doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1076331. http://doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1076331
(2). • Imtiaz K, Ahmed M, Annum N, Tester M and Saeed NA (2023). AtCIPK16, a CBL-Interacting Protein Kinase Gene confers salinity Tolerance in Transgenic Wheat. Front. Plant Sci. 14:1127311. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1127311 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1127311
(3). • Annum N, Ahmed M, Imtiaz K, Mansoor S, Tester M and Saeed NA (2022). 32Pi Labeled Transgenic Wheat Shows the Accumulation of Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and Phosphatidic Acid Under Heat and Osmotic Stress. Front. Plant Sci. 13:881188. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.881188 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.881188