The advent of direct electron detectors, advanced electron microscopes that generate a well-collimated electron beam, and the development of robust algorithms that could perform beam-induced motion correction have created immense excitement in the field of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). These breakthroughs have resulted in the determination of medium to high-resolution structures. As a result, gaining structural insights into large biological macromolecules, which are recalcitrant to structure determination by X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, or small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), is now within reach.
 

Asfarul’s research interest involves the development of a user-friendly sample preparation method for cryo-EM, and structural studies of a myriad range of biological samples using integrated structural biology. 

Lavanya Tayi, Sushil Kumar, Rajkanwar Nathawat, Asfarul S. Haque, Roshan V. Maku, Hitendra Kumar Patel, Rajan Sankaranarayanan and Ramesh V. Sonti, A mutation in an exoglucanase of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, which confers an endo mode of activity, affects bacterial virulence, but not the induction of immune responses, in rice, Molecular Plant Pathology ) 19: 1364-1376. DOI: 10.1111/mpp.12620
 

Michael J. Tarry*, Asfarul S. Haque*, Khanh Huy Bui and T. Martin Schmeing. X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy of cross- and multi-module nonribosomal peptide synthetase proteins reveal a flexible architecture. Structure 2017 25: 1–11. (Selected for journal cover) DOI: 10.1016/j.str.2017.03.014
 

Priyadarshan Kinatukara, Ketan D. Patel, Asfarul S. Haque, Raghavendra Singh, Rajesh S. Gokhale and Rajan Sankaranarayanan, Structural insights into the regulation of NADPH binding to reductase domains of nonribosomal peptide synthetases, Journal of Structural Biology (2016) 194: 368–374. DOi: 10.1016/j.jsb.2016.03.014
 

Sonali Srivastava, Sarika Chaudhary, Lipi Thukral, Ce Shi, Rinkoo D, Gupta, Radhika Gupta, K. Priyadarshan, Archana Vats, Asfarul S. Haque, Rajan Sankaranarayanan, Vivek T. Natarajan, Rakesh Sharma, Courtney C. Aldrich, and Rajesh S. Gokhale, Unsaturated lipid assimilation by mycobacteria requires auxiliary cis – trans Enoyl CoA isomerase, Chemistry and Biology (2015) 22: 1577–1587. DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2015.10.009
 

Mahesh Kumar Gupta, Rajkanwar Nathawat, Dipanwita Sinha, Asfarul S. Haque, Rajan Sankaranarayanan and Ramesh V. Sonti, Mutations in the predicted active site of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae XopQ differentially affect virulence, suppression of host innate immunity and induction of HR in a nonhost plant, Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (2015) 28: 195–206. (Selected for journal cover) DOI:10.1094/MPMI-09-14-0288-R
 

Asfarul S. Haque, Ketan Patel, Mandar V. Deshmukh, Rajesh S. Gokhale and Rajan Sankaranarayanan, Delineating the reaction mechanism of reductase domains from nonribosomal peptide synthetases of mycobacteria, Journal of Structural Biology (2014) 187: 207–214. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsb.2014.07.008
 

Kinatukara Priyadarshan, Asfarul S. Haque, Raju Rukmini and Rajan Sankaranarayanan, Structural remodeling creates diversity in lipid repertoire of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Journal of the Indian Institute of Science (2013) 94: 139–148. 
 

Arush Chhabra*, Asfarul S. Haque*, Ravi Kant Pal, Aneesh Goyal, Rajkishore Rai, Seema Joshi, Santosh Panjikar, Santosh Pasha, Rajan Sankaranarayanan and Rajesh S. Gokhale. Nonprocessive [2 + 2]e− off- loading reductase domains from mycobacterial nonribosomal peptide synthetases, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. (2012) 109: 5681–5686. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1118680109
 

Sushil Kumar, Asfarul S. Haque, Gopaljee Jha, Ramesh V. Sonti and Rajan Sankaranarayanan, Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of CbsA, a secretory exoglucanase from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, Acta Crystallographica Section F (2012) 68: 1191–1194. DOI: 10.1107/S1744309112034197