CEMB Centre of Excellence in
Molecular Biology University of the Punjab
Plant Genomics Lab team photo at CEMB

Research at CEMB

Plant Genomics

The lab characterises and compares plant genomes to understand how species adapt to abiotic stresses such as salinity, drought and extreme temperature, with a focus on cotton and Agave sisalana as a biofuel crop.

Laboratory overview

From biological discovery to practical solutions.

Research spans gene discovery, bioinformatics and genetic transformation to understand abiotic-stress tolerance in crop and bioenergy plants — exploring why desi cotton and Agave sisalana withstand conditions that damage other species — and applies those findings to sustainable agriculture and biofuel production.

Abiotic stress genomicsCotton geneticsBiofuel crops

Inside the laboratory

Plant genomics
in motion.

Stress-tolerance research map 01
Diagram of the molecular mechanism of plants under biotic and abiotic stresses, covering climatic stress tolerance, wax and gossypol biosynthesis and biofuel production
Molecular mechanisms of plants under biotic and abiotic stress, from gene discovery to biofuel production.

Research programme

What the lab works on

The programme spans discovery, laboratory validation and the development of tools and formulations for real-world use.

  1. 01

    Abiotic stress adaptation

    Effects of abiotic stresses studied across crop species through molecular biology applications.

  2. 02

    Biofuel biomass pathways

    Exploring the lignin pathway in higher-biomass crops such as Agave sisalana to produce biofuel.

  3. 03

    Stress-defence biosynthesis

    Unravelling wax biosynthesis, terpenoids, gossypol and sterols in plants combating biotic and abiotic stress.

  4. 04

    Transgenic trait transfer

    Genetic transformation of cotton and model crops to study transgene expression in transgenic plants.

Research group

Meet the team

Contact the Director, group lead or a co-investigator directly, or reach a doctoral researcher by email.

Doctoral researchers

  • Faheem Akram
  • Muhammad Umair MajidDoctoral Researcher
  • Basit JabbarDoctoral Researcher
  • Fizza ZulfiqarDoctoral Researcher
  • Rabiah AshrafDoctoral Researcher
  • Abdullah JamilDoctoral Researcher
  • Sadia NadeemDoctoral Researcher
  • Nimra MazharMPhil Student
  • Rizwan AliMPhil Student
  • Shazma RanaMPhil Student
  • Hassan ZamanMPhil Student
  • Sadia ZafarMPhil Student
  • Aqsa KanwalMPhil Student

Connect with CEMB

Need more information?

Contact the right team