Associate Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
📍 AB2 3F9
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Research Area
Bacterial Genetics and Physiology, Metabolism, Stress Responses, Gene Regulation
Research Interests
Integrating metabolism with other cellular processes provides robustness enabling bacterial survival inside their host. Therefore, unravelling the players and networks in metabolism is of tremendous importance to plan novel strategies for disabling pathogens and promoting the growth of commensals. In this direction, research in our laboratory is focused towards identifying and characterising new players in metabolic pathways and understanding their interconnection with other cellular processes in bacteria, primarily Escherichia coli and Salmonella Typhimurium. We mainly focus on the metabolism of long-chain fatty acids and sugar acids, carbon sources implicated in the interaction of these enteric bacteria with their host. We use a diverse array of tools ranging from high-throughput approaches to candidate-level genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and bioinformatics.
2012 - 2018 : Assistant Professor, IISER Mohali
2011 - 2012 : Assistant Research Scientist, University of California San Francisco, USA
2009 - 2010 : Research Specialist, University of California San Francisco, USA
2004 - 2009 : Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California San Francisco, USA
1998 - 2003 : PhD, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India
1996 - 1998 : MSc Biotechnology, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India
1993 - 1996 : BSc Medical, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India
Department of Biotechnology (DBT)/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Senior Fellowship (2023)
University Gold Medal in MSc (1998)
University Gold Medal in BSc (1996)
Kanchan Jaswal, Megha Shrivastava and Rachna Chaba. Revisiting long-chain fatty acid metabolism in Escherichia coli: integration with stress responses. Current Genetics, March 2021. URL, DOI Kanchan Jaswal, Megha Shrivastava, Deeptodeep Roy, Shashank Agrawal and Rachna Chaba. Metabolism of long-chain fatty acids affects disulfide bond formation in Escherichia coli and activates envelope stress response pathways as a combat strategy. PLOS Genetics 16(10):e1009081, 2020. URL, DOI Garima Arya, Mohinder Pal, Monika Sharma, Bhupinder Singh, Swati Singh, Vishal Agrawal and Rachna Chaba. Molecular insights into effector binding by DgoR, a GntR/FadR family transcriptional repressor of D‐galactonate metabolism in Escherichia coli. Molecular Microbiology 115(4):591–609, 2020. URL, DOI Mohd. Imran Khan, Anshul Mishra, Pravin K Jha, Kumar Abhishek, Rachna Chaba, Pradeep Das and Kislay K Sinha. DNA polymerase β of Leishmania donovani is important for infectivity and it protects the parasite against oxidative damage. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules 124:291–303, 2019. URL, DOI Bhupinder Singh, Garima Arya, Neeladrita Kundu, Akshay Sangwan, Shachikanta Nongthombam and Rachna Chaba. Molecular and Functional Insights into the Regulation of D-Galactonate Metabolism by the Transcriptional Regulator DgoR inEscherichia coli. Journal of Bacteriology 201(4), November 2018. URL, DOI Shashank Agrawal, Kanchan Jaswal, Anthony L Shiver, Himanshi Balecha, Tapas Patra and Rachna Chaba. A genome-wide screen in Escherichia coli reveals that ubiquinone is a key antioxidant for metabolism of long-chain fatty acids. Journal of Biological Chemistry 292(49):20086–20099, December 2017. URL, DOI Santiago Lima, Monica S Guo, Rachna Chaba, Carol A Gross and Robert T Sauer. Dual Molecular Signals Mediate the Bacterial Response to Outer-Membrane Stress. Science 340(6134):837–841, 2013. URL, DOI Robert J Nichols, Saunak Sen, Yoe Jin Choo, Pedro Beltrao, Matylda Zietek, Rachna Chaba, Sueyoung Lee, Krystyna M Kazmierczak, Karis J Lee, Angela Wong, Michael Shales, Susan Lovett, Malcolm E Winkler, Nevan J Krogan, Athanasios Typas and Carol A Gross. Phenotypic Landscape of a Bacterial Cell. Cell 144(1):143–156, January 2011. URL, DOI Rachna Chaba, Benjamin M Alba, Monica S Guo, Jungsan Sohn, Nidhi Ahuja, Robert T Sauer and Carol A Gross. Signal integration by DegS and RseB governs the σ E -mediated envelope stress response in Escherichia coli. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108(5):2106–2111, 2011. URL, DOI Eugene Oh, Annemarie H. Becker, Arzu Sandikci, Damon Huber, Rachna Chaba, Felix Gloge, Robert J. Nichols, Athanasios Typas, Carol A. Gross, Günter Kramer, Jonathan S. Weissman and Bernd Bukau. Selective Ribosome Profiling Reveals the Cotranslational Chaperone Action of Trigger Factor In Vivo. Cell 147(6):1295–1308, 2011. URL, DOI Nidhi Ahuja, Dmitry Korkin, Rachna Chaba, Brent O Cezairliyan, Robert T Sauer, Kyeong Kyu Kim and Carol A Gross. Analyzing the Interaction of RseA and RseB, the Two Negative Regulators of the σE Envelope Stress Response, Using a Combined Bioinformatic and Experimental Strategy. Journal of Biological Chemistry 284(8):5403–5413, 2009. URL, DOI Meghna Thakur, Rachna Chaba, Alok K Mondal and Pradip K Chakraborti. Interdomain Interaction Reconstitutes the Functionality of PknA, a Eukaryotic Type Ser/Thr Kinase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 283(12):8023–8033, March 2008. URL, DOI Rachna Chaba, Irina L Grigorova, Julia M Flynn, Tania A Baker and Carol A Gross. Design principles of the proteolytic cascade governing the σE-mediated envelope stress response in Escherichia coli: keys to graded, buffered, and rapid signal transduction. Genes & Development 21(1):124–136, January 2007. URL, DOI Irina L Grigorova, Rachna Chaba, Hong Ji Zhong, Benjamin M Alba, Virgil Rhodius, Christophe Herman and Carol A Gross. Fine-tuning of the Escherichia coli σE envelope stress response relies on multiple mechanisms to inhibit signal-independent proteolysis of the transmembrane anti-sigma factor, RseA. Genes & Development 18(21):2686–2697, November 2004. URL, DOI Bishwajit Kundu, Anshuman Shukla, Rachna Chaba and Purnananda Guptasarma. The excised heat-shock domain of αB crystallin is a folded, proteolytically susceptible trimer with significant surface hydrophobicity and a tendency to self-aggregate upon heating. Protein Expression and Purification 36(2):263–271, 2004. URL, DOI Rachna Chaba, Manoj Raje and Pradip K Chakraborti. Evidence that a eukaryotic‐type serine/threonine protein kinase from Mycobacterium tuberculosis regulates morphological changes associated with cell division. European Journal of Biochemistry 269(4):1078–1085, February 2002. URL, DOI Jyoti Sarin, Sita Aggarwal, Rachna Chaba, Grish C Varshney and Pradip K Chakraborti. B-subunit of Phosphate-specific Transporter fromMycobacterium tuberculosis Is a Thermostable ATPase. Journal of Biological Chemistry 276(48):44590–44597, November 2001. URL, DOI