Srikanta Dani K G
Areas of Interest & Expertise
- Plant Physiology
- Photosynthesis
- Leaf Lifecycle
- Biology of Volatile Organic Compounds
- Plant Ageing
- Evolutionary Trade-offs
- Plant-Climate Interactions
- Biosphere-Atmosphere Feedbacks
Biography
Srikanta is an empirical plant biologist and likes being amidst trees asking himself (not trees) how and why they are the way they are. Most recently, he was a research associate and a Marie-Curie post-doctoral fellow at the Florence unit of the Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection (IPSP), Department of Biology, Agriculture, and Food Sciences, National Research Council of Italy (CNR).
He has a PhD in Biological Sciences from Macquarie University, Sydney, a Master’s degree in Earth System Science from University of Bristol, and a Master’s degree in Botany from Bangalore University.
By conducting experiments on trees and model herbaceous plants, he investigates plant leaf physiology, volatile metabolism, senescence (ageing), and death, often in molecular and organismal evolutionary contexts.
Some of his ideas on volatile organic compounds as plant developmental regulators were summarised in a recent Tansley Insight article in the journal New Phytologist.
He is also a poet, a Carnatic musician specialising in percussion, and a student of Kannada literature and South Indian medieval history.
Courses
Spoken Kannada
This course aims to enable handling of basic conversations in Kannada
Laboratory Techniques
Enhances laboratory skills and makes students independent in carrying out laboratory protocols and using instruments.
Quantitative Methods in Biology
The ability to use quantitative information to understand the world around us is essential to human functioning.
Understanding Plants
Do plants see, hear, feel and smell?
Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Learn about the molecular components of life, how they interact, and how we experiment with them.
Publications
Journal Articles
- Velikova, V., Dani, K.G.S., Loreto, F. (2023). Origin, evolution, and future of isoprene and nitric oxide interactions within leaves. Journal of Experimental Botany, 74(3), 688 – 706. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erac459
- Dani, K.G.S., & Loreto, F. (2022). Plant volatiles as regulators of hormone homeostasis. New Phytologist, 234, 804 – 812. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.18035
- Dani, K.G.S., Pollastri, S., Pinosio., S., Reichelt, M., Sharkey, T.D., Schnitzler, J‑P., & Loreto, F. (2022). Isoprene enhances leaf cytokinin metabolism and induces early senescence. New Phytologist, 234, 961 – 974. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17833
- Dani, K.G.S., Mathew, J., Nila, T.M., Antony, R., Suresh, S., & Kodandaramaiah, U. (2021). Competition between photosynthesis and reproduction is constrained by leaf mass per unit area (LMA) in ferns. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 132, 346 – 358.https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa189
- Dani, K.G.S., Fineschi, S., Michelozzi, M., Trivellini, A., Pollastri, S., & Loreto, F. (2020). Diversification of petal monoterpene profiles during development and senescence of wild roses: Insights into associations among floral fragrance, floral phenotype and floral longevity. Oecologia, 197, 957 – 969. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-020 – 04710‑z
- Dani, K.G.S., Torzillo, G., Michelozzi, M., Baraldi, R., & Loreto, F. (2020). Isoprene emission in darkness by a facultative heterotrophic green alga. Frontiers in Plant Science, 11, 598786. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.598786
- Dani, K.G.S., & Kodandaramaiah, U. (2019). Ageing in trees: A role for body size optimization in demographic senescence. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 36, 41 – 51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2018.10.002
- Dogra, H, & Dani, K.G.S. (2019). Defining features of age-specific fertility and seed quality in senescing indeterminate annuals. American Journal of Botany, 106(4), 604 – 610. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1265
- Dani, K.G.S., & Loreto, F. (2017). Trade-off between DMS and isoprene emission in marine phytoplankton. Trends in Plant Science, 22(5), 361 – 372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2017.01.006
- Dani, K.G.S., Silva, A.M., Michelozzi, M., Peluso, G., Torzillo, G., & Loreto, F. (2017). Relationship between isoprene emission and photosynthesis in diatoms: Implications for global marine emission estimates. Marine Chemistry, 189, 17 – 24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2016.12.005
- Dani, K.G.S., & Kodandaramaiah, U. (2017). Reproductive strategies in plants and animals: Lessons from offspring size and number trade-off: Optimization models, Genetic controls, and Responses to environment. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 5, 38. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2017.00038
- Dani, K.G.S., Marino, G., Taiti, C., Mancuso, S., Atwell, B.J., Loreto, F., & Centritto, M. (2017). De novo post-illumination monoterpene burst in Quercus ilex (holm oak). Planta, 245(2), 459 – 465. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-016‑2636‑x
- Dani, K.G.S., Fineschi, S., Michelozzi, M., & Loreto, F. (2016). Do cytokinins, volatile isoprenoids and carotenoids synergically delay leaf senescence? Plant, Cell & Environment, 39(5),1103 – 1111. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12705
- Dani, K.G.S., Fineschi, S., & Loreto, F. (2015). Biogenic volatile isoprenoid emission and levels of natural selection. Journal of the Indian Institute of Science, 95(1), 1 – 14. http://journal.library.iisc.ernet.in/index.php/iisc/article/view/4540/4841
- Dani, K.G.S., Jamie, I.M., Prentice, I.C., & Atwell, B.J. (2014). Increased ratio of electron transport to net assimilation rate supports elevated isoprenoid emission rate in eucalypts under drought. Plant Physiology, 166(2), 1059 – 1072. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.114.246207
- Dani, K.G.S., Jamie, I.M., Prentice, I.C., & Atwell, B.J. (2014). Evolution of isoprene emission capacity in plants. Trends in Plant Science, 19(7), 439 – 446. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2014.01.009
- Harrison, S.P., Morfopoulos, C., Dani, K.G.S., Prentice, I.C., Arneth, A., Atwell, B.J., Barkley. P., Leishman, M., Loreto, F., Medlyn, B., Niinemets, Ü., Peñuelas, J., Possell, M., & Wright, I.J. (2013). Volatile isoprenoid emission from plastids to planet. New Phytologist, 197, 49 – 57, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12021
- Dani, K.G.S., Mader, H.M., Wolff, E.W., & Wadham, J.L. (2012). Modelling the liquid-water vein system within polar ice sheets as a potential microbial habitat. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 333 – 334, 238 – 249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.04.009
- Dani, K.G.S., Hatti, K.S., Ravikumar, P., & Kush, A. (2011). Structural and functional analyses of a saturated Acyl ACP Thioesterase, type B from immature seed tissue of Jatropha curcas. Plant Biology, 13(3), 453 – 461. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1438 – 8677.2010.00410.x