Manpartik Gill
Saskatoon,SK
Summary
Plant Geneticist with 8+ years of international research experience (India, UK, Canada) in crop improvement, specializing in hormone pathway manipulation and molecular breeding. Proven ability to lead projects across diverse teams to develop climate-resilient and improved plant architecture crops. Currently working as a Post Doctorate researcher with the National Research Council (NRC) and the University of Calgary, based in Saskatoon, Canada.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
Work History
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Calgary
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
01.2024 - Current
- Developing drought-tolerant wheat by editing hormone signaling pathways (e.g., ABA and BR) to enhance water-use efficiency as part of ADF project.
- Propagated 4,500 pea accessions (global diversity panel) in the glasshouse using single-seed descent (SSD) for seed multiplication as part of PEACE project.
- Investigating genetic basis of semidwarf, upright-leaf durum wheat via hormone profiling, genomics and transcriptomics as part of Genome Canada project.
Junior Research Fellow
Punjab Agricultural University
, India
01.2018 - 09.2018
- Reduced acrylamide-forming potential of bread wheat using natural and genome editing induced genetic variation at TaASN2 locus
- Biochemical testing of proline, PPO, acrylamide, and protein content from vegetative and reproductive tissues
Education
Ph.D. - Crop Science
University of Nottingham And Rothamsted Research
United Kingdom11-2023
Master of Science - Plant Breeding and Genetics
Punjab Agricultural University
India09-2017
BSc - Agriculture (Hons.)
Punjab Agricultural University
India01.2015
Skills
- Trait Development
- Molecular Breeding
- Large-scale Phenotyping
- Genetics & Genomics
- Data Analysis
- Project Management and Cross-team Collaboration
- Technical writing and Problem solving
Accomplishments
- Secured future food beacon (FFB) international fellowship for PhD from the University of Nottingham and Rothamsted Research, UK.
- Received merit certificate during master's degree.
- Recipient of merit scholarship for 2 years (2011-12 and 2012-13) during bachelor’s degree.
Conferences/ Meetings
- Won Best Oral Presentation award and Travel award worth $650 at 5th Canadian Wheat Symposium at UBC, Vancouver, Canada, from 13-16th November 2023.
- Presented Oral Presentations during the Ph.D. student symposium at Rothamsted Research, UK, in 2022 and 2021.
- Presented Oral Presentations in Future food beacon briefing, in University of Nottingham, UK, in 2021 and 2020.
Publications
- Utilization of KASP technology for wheat improvement, Cereal Research Communications, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-020-00057-6.
- Cas9 endonuclease: a molecular tool for in vitro cloning and CRISPR edit detection, Frontiers in Genome Editing, 2025, https://doi.org/10.3389/fgeed.2025.1565297.
- Induced variation in BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE 1 (BRI1) confers a compact wheat architecture, 2025, Under review in BMC Plant Biology.
- Knocking-out the brassinosteroid-biosynthesis genes DWARF1 or DWARF4 produces upright canopy architecture in wheat, 2025, Under Review in BMC Plant Biology.
- Pisum 60+: Unlocking the Pea Pan-Genome for Crop Innovation, 2025, Under preparation.
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Postdoctoral Research Associate
University of Calgary
01.2024 - Current
Junior Research Fellow
Punjab Agricultural University
01.2018 - 09.2018
Ph.D. - Crop Science
University of Nottingham And Rothamsted Research
Master of Science - Plant Breeding and Genetics
Punjab Agricultural University
BSc - Agriculture (Hons.)
Punjab Agricultural University