Rupinder Kaur
· Assistant Research ProfessorPennsylvania State University · Pathology
Active 2005–2025
Academic metrics are sourced from OpenAlex and public funding records; values may differ from Google Scholar.
About
Rupinder Kaur is an Assistant Research Professor at the Department of Entomology at Penn State University. Her research focuses on insect science, an interdisciplinary life science that aims to improve human health, quality of life, and the sustainability of food and ecosystems. As part of the department's community of faculty, staff, and students, she contributes to research efforts that support these goals.
Research topics
- Biology
- Genetics
- Evolutionary biology
- Ecology
- Cell biology
Selected publications
Science · 2024-03-07 · 26 citations
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingThe extent to which prophage proteins interact with eukaryotic macromolecules is largely unknown. In this work, we show that cytoplasmic incompatibility factor A (CifA) and B (CifB) proteins, encoded by prophage WO of the endosymbiont Wolbachia, alter long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and DNA during Drosophila sperm development to establish a paternal-effect embryonic lethality known as cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). CifA is a ribonuclease (RNase) that depletes a spermatocyte lncRNA important for t…
PLoS Biology · 2024-03-28 · 15 citations
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingThe rising interest and success in deploying inherited microorganisms and cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) for vector control strategies necessitate an explanation of the CI mechanism. Wolbachia-induced CI manifests in the form of embryonic lethality when sperm from Wolbachia-bearing testes fertilize eggs from uninfected females. Embryos from infected females however survive to sustain the maternally inherited symbiont. Previously in Drosophila melanogaster flies, we demonstrated that CI modifie…
iScience · 2022-10-10 · 3 citations
articleOpen accesstransgenes.
Cell Reports · 2025-10-01 · 2 citations
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingSymbiotic relationships between arthropod hosts and microorganisms have garnered global attention for their influence on host ecology, evolution, and vector control. A major gap in the field is to mechanistically define and reconstitute symbiotic traits in the absence of microbes. Here, we address this omission by identifying an evolutionarily conserved host mechanism that recapitulates Wolbachia-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI)-a paternal-effect embryonic lethality trait. We first show…
Evolutionary Diversification and Functions of the Candidate Male Killing Gene <i>wmk</i>
Genome Biology and Evolution · 2025-09-19 · 2 citations
articleOpen accessSymbiont-mediated male killing (MK) is a mechanism that selectively eliminates male offspring, often by disrupting sex-specific developmental processes. In Drosophila melanogaster, the WO-mediated killing gene wmk from Wolbachia prophage WO transgenically reproduces the MK phenotype, yet how the gene evolves and functions across diverse Wolbachia has not been systematically investigated. We analyzed 32 Wolbachia genomes available in the NCBI database to study wmk homologs across different arthro…
Frequent coauthors
- 27 shared
Seth R. Bordenstein
Pennsylvania State University
- 12 shared
Brittany A. Leigh
Vanderbilt University
- 11 shared
Omar Rota‐Stabelli
University of Trento
- 9 shared
Wolfgang J. Miller
Medical University of Vienna
- 8 shared
J. Dylan Shropshire
Vanderbilt University
- 7 shared
Mitali Mukerji
Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine
- 7 shared
Manickam Chidambaram
- 7 shared
Isabella T. Ritchie
University of South Florida St. Petersburg
Labs
Education
Ph.D.
University of Vienna, Austria
Similar researchers at Pennsylvania State University
- Resume-aware match score
- Save to shortlist
- AI-drafted outreach
See your match with Rupinder Kaur
PhdFit ranks faculty by your research interests, methods, and publications — grounded in their actual work, not templates.
- Free to start
- No credit card
- 30-second signup