Research Interests

My area of research interest is conservation genetics of Indian endangered species especially, big cats and ungulates. My lab focuses on the application ofDNA markers in population and evolutionary genetics and in wildlife forensics. The major efforts are towards the use of non-invasive sampling protocols and species – specific DNA markers to look into the genetic structure of existing populations in wild as well as in captivity.

Selected Publications

N.Rai*, S. K.Verma*, Ajay Gaur*, F. M.Iliescu, M.Thakur, T. R.Golla, K.Chandra, S. Prakash, W.Tabasum, A.Sreenivas, L.Singh, K.Thangaraj and G. S.Jacobs (2020) Ancient mtDNA from the extinct Indian cheetah supports unexpectedly deep divergence from African cheetahs. Scientific Reports: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-60751-7. *Equal contribution.

S. Mitra, A. Sreenivas, D. T. Sowpati, A. S. Kumar, G. Awasthi, M. Kumar, W. Tabasum and Ajay Gaur (2019). De novo assembly and annotation of Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) genome. BioRxiv: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/549790.

R. K. Sarvani, D. R. Parmar, W. Tabasum, N. Thota, A. Sreenivas and Ajay Gaur (2018). Charecterization of complete mitogenome of Indian mouse deer, Moschiola indica (Artiodactyla: Tragulidae) and its evolutionary significance. Scientific Reports: DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-20946-5.

D. R. Parmar, S. Mitra, S. Bhadouriya, T. Rao, V. Kunteepuram and Ajay Gaur (2017). Characterization of Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I and Class II DRB Loci of Captive and Wild Indian Leopards (Panthera pardus fusca). Genetica: DOI: 10.1007/s10709-017-9979-5.

W. Tabasum, A. Sreenivas, N. Rai, K. Thangaraj and Ajay Gaur (2016). Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica). Mitochondrial DNA: DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2016.1214541.

C. N. Balakrishnan, S. L. Monfort, Ajay Gaur, L. Singh and M. D. Sorenson (2003). Phylogeography and conservation genetics of Eld`s Deer (Cervuseldi). Molecular Ecology, 12: 1 – 10.