Ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.), a major spice crop of India, is valued the world over as a spice and drug. The major hurdle in ginger production is the soft rot disease caused by the soil-borne necrotrophic oomycete Pythium aphanidermatum (Edson) Fitzp. Extant ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe; Zingiberaceae) cultivars are uniformly susceptible to this pathogen. Conventional breeding methods are ineffective in ginger, because it is obligatory asexual, propagated exclusively through rhizomes. Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith, a wild relative of ginger, is resistant to P. aphanidermatum. Our interest is to know the molecular mechanisms that govern resistance response in Z. zerumbet-Pythium interaction in order to gain access to the resistance traits of Z. zerumbet through transgenic technologies for the genetic improvement of ginger. In addition, we are also trying transgenic improvement of ginger using alien antifungal genes with proven activity against P. aphanidermatum. Work is also in progress for the genome characterization of a set of Zingiberaceae species, including their molecular identification (barcoding) and phylogeny reconstruction.

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L., Piperaceae), the 'king of spices', is one of the oldest and most widely used spices in the world. Foot rot caused by Phytophthora capsici is a major constraint in pepper production. Resistance against this pathogen is not reported in the cultivated pepper germplasm. However, Piper colubrinum, an exotic

wild species of Piper is resistant to foot rot. We aim at improving Phytophthora resistance in black pepper by transgenic methodologies using suitable resistance variations from P. colubrinum. Defense transcriptome of P. colubrinum in response to P. capsici inoculation has been unraveled and the potential of the candidate genes identified toward engineering soft rot resistance in black pepper is being assessed using gene knock-out technologies or by analyzing the antifungal properties of the proteins encoded by the candidate genes. Alongside, isolation of tissue specific promoters from black pepper is being undertaken for the controlled tissue-specific expression of antifungal genes.

We are also interested to understand the role of CDPK (Calcium Dependant Protein Kinase) genes in conferring abiotic stress resistance and of Chalcone synthase in producing secondary metabolites. Programmes to clone and characterize type III polyketide synthase (PKS) gene, a key regulatory gene in the biosynthesis of phenyl propanoids, from important medicinal plants and to understand the multiple substrate binding capacity of the encoded enzymes towards the production of natural compounds are going on. Microsatellite-assisted circumscription of njavara (Oryza sativa cv Njavara), a medicinal rice in Kerala, which is traditionally used in several Ayurveda preparations, is another important programme going in our group.