Vaibhav Srivastava

Master's projects, internships, and diploma projects are always available - contact me directly for more information!

Area of research
Sustainable aquaculture and agriculture associated with food security and disease control. Our research draws from a variety of cutting-edge fields, including microbial and plant biotechnology, mass spectrometry-based proteomics, drug discovery, protein engineering, microbiology, biochemistry, enzymology, genomics, and metabolomics. By leveraging these powerful tools, we are working towards a more sustainable and secure food system for all.

Background

I am a multidisciplinary scientist with extensive experience in plant and microbial biotechnology, as well as analytical chemistry. My research focuses on sustainable aquaculture and agriculture and its impact on food security and disease control. Specifically, we are investigating fungal-like eukaryotic microorganisms, including Saprolegnia parasitica and Phytophthora spp., which belong to the family oomycetes, or water molds. These microorganisms are pathogenic to many plant and animal species, causing significant environmental damage and financial loss in agriculture and aquaculture. Given the lack of effective and environmentally safe treatments, we are using bioinformatics, molecular biology, and biochemical approaches to understand the molecular and physiological pathways associated with the development, pathogenicity, and host specificity of these pathogens. Additionally, we conduct large-scale multi-omics studies, such as transcriptomics and proteomics, to identify candidate proteins as potential targets for disease control.

My research also explores the modification of plant cell walls by engineering carbohydrate biosynthetic pathways for a wide range of applications, using poplar (Populus) and Arabidopsis as experimental model systems. Through our work, we aim to not only understand the molecular function of target genes with currently unknown catalytic activity but also utilize modified plant biomass for useful industrial applications.

Teaching

I specialize in teaching master's and Ph.D.-level courses that focus on plant and microbial biotechnology. In particular, I cover a wide range of topics related to the applications of metabolic engineering in plants and other microbial organisms. Through these courses, my aim is to provide students with a deep understanding of the fundamental principles behind metabolic engineering and its potential applications in various industries.

I am also involved in other courses that focus on the technical aspects of mass spectrometry-based qualitative and quantitative proteomics. In these courses, I teach students how to utilize state-of-the-art techniques and methodologies to analyze and interpret proteomics data. 

Financial support

My research is currently supported by the H2020 FetOpen project NOPEST (http://www.h2020nopest.org/), the Swedish Research Council Formas (https://formas.se/), and STINT (https://www.stint.se/en/).

Co-supervision of PhD students:

Erik Malm, KTH Division of Glycoscience. (Main supervisor Prof Vincent Bulone)Graduated 2014.

Vallentina Gallo, University of Pharma, Italy. (Main supervisor Prof Nelson Marmiroli)Graduated 2018.

Felicia Leijon, KTH Division of Glycoscience. (Main supervisor Prof Vincent Bulone)Graduated 2019.