Ms. Mandavi Pandey is a PhD candidate at the National Institute of Plant Genome Research in New Delhi, India. Her research focuses on enhancing low phosphate tolerance among high-yield rice varieties that struggle in phosphate-deficient soils. To accomplish this, she is examining the galactolipid biosynthetic genes. She aims to improve elite rice cultivars by engineering beneficial non-lipid biosynthetic genes that promote low phosphorus tolerance and enhance phosphorus utilization efficiency. To gain deeper insight into the mechanisms involved, she has developed CRISPR/Cas9 knockout lines to study their impact on root development under phosphate starvation conditions.
Mandavi earned her bachelor’s degree in science, majoring in botany with combined studies in zoology and chemistry, from the Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University (BHU). She completed her master’s degree from the Botany Department at BHU.
As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences at Michigan State University, Mandavi is investigating the nutrient-lipid profiling of the DGDG synthase gene to explore the growth-stress trade-off in rice (Oryza sativa). She employs robust methodologies for chloroplastic ionome analysis and measures radioactive phosphorus acquisition efficiency in Dr. Hatem Rouached’s lab. In addition, she utilizes advanced lipidomic facilities, which significantly support her doctoral research. The results are expected to provide valuable insights into the relationship between photosynthetic development, nutrient balance, and plant growth, potentially paving the way for genetic innovations that enhance soil phosphorus utilization.
Mandavi enjoys painting, singing, and dancing, is passionate about English and Hindi literature and enjoys writing.