Shoaib Munir, Plant Molecular Biology

Research

I study how horticultural crops respond to abiotic stress, with a focus on tomato and fruit quality.

Abiotic stress

Plant responses to heat, drought and salinity, a question of crop resilience under a changing climate.

Fruit quality

Tomato and other fruit crops, including nutritional quality and the vitamin C question.

Gene regulation

Alternative splicing and how gene expression is reshaped when plants are stressed.

Calcium signalling

Calmodulin-like (CML) proteins as candidate decoders of stress signals.

Publications

20 peer-reviewed papers. Google Scholar (29 Sep 2026): 829 citations, h-index 13, i10-index 15.

2026
Corresponding author Pangenome-wide identification of chloroplast RNA splicing and ribosome maturation (CRM) genes in eight Pyrus genomes indicated their involvement in multiple stresses. Scientific Reports. doi:10.1038/s41598-026-48265-0
2025
Co-first author Alternative splicing occurs in auxin-mediated trade-off between fruit development and quality in tomato. BMC Plant Biology. doi:10.1186/s12870-025-07259-2
2025
Transcription factors SlBBX20 and SlMYB9 in tomato modulate plant height through gibberellin metabolic and response pathways. Journal of Experimental Botany. doi:10.1093/jxb/eraf403
2025
Botrytis cinerea targets chloroplast to suppress photosynthesis and enhance susceptibility by attenuating degradation of SlBIUPa in tomato. Plant, Cell & Environment. doi:10.1111/pce.70085

Show 16 earlier papers (2013 to 2023)

2023
SlTCP24 and SlTCP29 synergistically regulate compound leaf development through interacting with SlAS2 and activating transcription of SlCKX2 in tomato. New Phytologist. doi:10.1111/nph.19221
2022
Cyclin gene SlCycB1 alters plant architecture in association with histone H3.2 in tomato. Horticultural Plant Journal. doi:10.1016/j.hpj.2021.12.004
2022
Assessing salt tolerance induction in potato by salicylic acid using morpho-physio-biochemical, ionic, and yield indices. Potato Research. doi:10.1007/s11540-021-09539-4
2021
Genome-wide identification and expression profiling of tomato invertase genes indicate their response to stress and phytohormones. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation. doi:10.1007/s00344-021-10384-5
2021
Regulation of invertase and sucrose for improving tomato fruit flavor: a review. Vegetable Research. doi:10.48130/VR-2021-0010
2021
Functional gain of fruit netted-cracking in an introgression line of tomato with higher expression of the FNC gene. Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering. doi:10.15302/J-FASE-2020374
2020
First author Genome-wide analysis of myo-inositol oxygenase gene family in tomato reveals their involvement in ascorbic acid accumulation. BMC Genomics. doi:10.1186/s12864-020-6708-8
2020
Co-first author Linking phytohormones with growth, transport activity and metabolic responses to cadmium in tomato. Plant Growth Regulation. doi:10.1007/s10725-020-00580-w
2020
Altered brassinolide sensitivity1 transcriptionally inhibits chlorophyll synthesis and photosynthesis capacity in tomato. Plant Growth Regulation. doi:10.1007/s10725-020-00650-z
2020
An allelic variant of GAME9 determines its binding capacity with the GAME17 promoter in the regulation of steroidal glycoalkaloid biosynthesis in tomato. Journal of Experimental Botany. doi:10.1093/jxb/eraa014
2019
Biosynthetic gene pyramiding leads to ascorbate accumulation with enhanced oxidative stress tolerance in tomato. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. doi:10.3390/ijms20071558
2019
Development of a highly specific co-dominant marker for genotyping the Ph-3 (tomato late blight resistance) locus by comparing cultivated and wild ancestor species. Molecular Breeding. doi:10.1007/s11032-019-0953-z
2016
First author Overexpression of calmodulin-like (ShCML44) stress-responsive gene from Solanum habrochaites enhances tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses. Scientific Reports. doi:10.1038/srep31772
2016
First author Genome-wide identification, characterization and expression analysis of calmodulin-like (CML) proteins in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. doi:10.1016/j.plaphy.2016.02.020
2016
An ATL78-like RING-H2 finger protein confers abiotic stress tolerance through interacting with RAV2 and CSN5B in tomato. Frontiers in Plant Science. doi:10.3389/fpls.2016.01305
2013
Effect of drought stress on growth and flowering of marigold (Tagetes erecta L.). Pakistan Journal of Botany 45(S1): 123–131.