Barkat Murtaja Mustafa

Doctor of Philosophy Student    

b.mustafa@pgrad.unimelb.edu.au

Current Research 

Functional Mechanisms of Ascochyta Blight Resistance in Lentil

The objective of this project is to gain an understanding of the functional role of genes involved in resistance to Ascochyta blight in lentil. This will be achieved through the following aims:

1. Construct a cDNA microarray using selected lentil, lathyrus and chickpea stress and defence-related sequences

2. Use the constructed array in a time course study to identify differentially expressed genes in lentil in response to Ascochyta inoculation

3. Identify the differentially expressed genes between resistant and susceptible lentil genotypes

4. Verify and quantify differential gene expression among genotypes and over a greater time course using RT-PCR and Q-PCR

5. Fully characterise key defence genes in resistant genotypes by RACE-PCR, cloning and sequencing, and Southern and northern blotting   

Qualifications

Master of Science (Botany)

University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bachelor of Science (Honours)

University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Scholarships and Awards

• A.M. White Scholarship-2006, Melbourne School of Land and Environment, University of Melbourne
• Richard W.S. Nicholas Agricultural Science Scholarships-2005.  Melbourne School of Land and Environment at The University of Melbourne
• Rowden White Prize-2005, Melbourne School of Land and Environment, University of Melbourne
• A.M. White Scholarship-2005, Melbourne School of Land and Environment, University of Melbourne
• Melbourne International Fee Remission Scholarship (MIFRS), University of Melbourne, Australia
• Melbourne School of Land and Environment (FLFR) - Warren Clark Scholarship, University of Melbourne, Australia

• Dhaka University scholarship for outstanding academic results in B.Sc 3rd year (1999-2000), 2nd year (1998-1999), 1st year (1997-1998) 

  
  

Publications

Theses

Mustafa, B. M. (2001) In vitro micropropagation and Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Masters Thesis. Department of Botany, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Mustafa, B. M. (199?) Honours Thesis. Department of Botany, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Peer Reviewed Publications

Sarker, R. H., Mustafa, B. M., Biswas, A., Mahbub, S., Nahar, M., Hashem, R. and Hoque, M. I. (2003) In vitro Regeneration in Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.). Plant Tissue Culture (PTC), 13(2)

Sarker, R. H., Mustafa, B. M., Biswas, A., Mahbub, S. and Hoque, M. I. (2003) Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik). Plant Tissue Culture (PTC), 13(1)

Sarker, R. H. and Mustafa, B. M. (2002) Regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of two indigenous potato varieties of Bangladesh. Plant Tissue Culture (PTC), 12(1): 69-77

Conference Abstracts

Poster

Ford, R., Viret, L., Pang, E. C. K., Taylor, P. W. J., Materne, M. and Mustafa, B. M. (2007) Defence responses in lentil seedlings to Ascochyta lentis. 16th Biennial Australasian Plant Pathology Society Conference ,24-27 September 2007, Adelaide, Australia.

Mustafa, B. M., Coram, T. E., Pang, E. C. K., Taylor, P. W. J.  and Ford, R. (2006) Ascochyta blight resistance in lentil. Accepted for poster presentation at  8th International Congress on Plant Molecular Biology, 21st- 25th Adelaide, South Australia.

Mustafa, B. M., Coram, T. E., Pang, E. C. K., Taylor, P. W. J. and Ford, R. (2006) Unraveling Ascochyta lentis resistance in lentil. Accepted for  the 1st Ascochyta conference to be held in 2nd -5th July Britanny, France.

Coram, T. E., Mantri, N. L., Mustafa, B. M., Harjati, N., Ford, R., Keane, P. and Pang, E. C. K. (2006) The Pulse Chip: Discovering The Sequence Of Gene Activation For Resistance To Ascochyta Blight In Chickpea And Other Pulses. Plant and Animal Genome XIV Conference held 14th-18th January San Diego, California, USA.

Mustafa, B. M., Corum, T., Pang, E. C. K., Taylor, P. W. J. and Ford, R. (2005) Microarray analysis of ascochyta blight resistance in lentil. Poster presented at the 15th Biennial Australasian Plant Pathology Society Conference, 26th-29th September, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

Ford, R., Taylor, P. W. J., Mustafa, B. M., Phan, H. T. T., Oliver, R. P., Cho, S., Sarker, A., Pang, E. C. K., McPhee, K. E., Coyne, C. J., Rajesh, P. N., Rubeena and Muehlbauer, F. J. (2005) Biotechnology applications for breeding lentil resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses. 2nd Australian Model Legume Workshop held 5th - 8th April  Perth, Western Australia

Hoque , M. I., Sarker, R. H. and Mustafa, B. M. (2002) In vitro micropropagation and Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation in two indigenous potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) varieties of Bangladesh. 5th Triennial Conference of the European Association for Potato Research (EAPR) held in Hamburg, Germany

In vitro micropropagation and Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation of  two indigenous potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) varieties of Bangladesh. Paper presentation in 4th International Plant Tissue Culture Conference held on 1-3 November 2001 in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sarker, R. H., Hoque, M. I., Hashem, R., Mahbub, S., Mustafa, B. M. and Biswas, A. (2001) In vitro regeneration and Agrobacterium mediated transformation of lentil. 4th International Plant Tissue Culture Conference held on 1-3 November 2001 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

In vitro micropropagation and Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Poster presentation in Annual Plant Tissue Culture Conference 2000 in Dhaka, organized by Bangladesh Association for Plant Tissue Culture. 

Oral

Mustafa, B. M. Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation of potato and lentil. International  student seminar on Molecular Plant Development at the Max Planck Institute for Plant breeding research, Kolon, Germany 19th of May, 2003.

Mustafa, B. M. In vitro micropropagation and Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation of  two indigenous potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) varieties of Bangladesh. Paper presentation in 4th International Plant Tissue Culture Conference held on 1-3 November 2001 in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Other Publications
  
Reports 

Annual progress report (2002) of the USDA project (BG-ARS-101) “Improvement of Lentil through genetic   transformation.”