Dr. M. Manamohan
Principle Scientist
Education
- University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, B.Sc. (Ag.), 1983-1988, Agriculture
- University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, M.Sc. (Ag.), 1988-1991, Crop Physiology
- Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-12, Ph.D., 1991-1994, Plant Physiology, Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, and Biochemistry
Professional Experience and Training
- Development of efficient regeneration & transformation protocols in tomato, chili & watermelon.
- Molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress tolerance in crops (drought, heat and salinity tolerance) & development of abiotic stress tolerant crops in tomato, chili, tobacco.
- Genes conferring abiotic stress tolerance, including the novel genes from hardy species such as Prosopis species, were cloned and functionally validated.
- Tomato fruits accumulating very high levels of anthocyanins (100-150 folds) were developed.
- Demonstrated the potential of RNAi in insect pest management.
- Optimized efficient protocols for transformation and regeneration of important horticultural crops such as chili and tomato.
- Durable & broad-spectrum plant virus resistance in tomato and chili, conferring resistance to four major viruses infesting these crops using RNAi.
Selected Publications
- M. Manamohan, et al. (2013). One-step DNA fragment assembly for expressing intron containing hairpin RNA in plants for gene silencing. Analytical Biochemistry, 433:189–191.
- G. Sharath Chandra, R. Asokan, M. Manamohan. (2012). Modified competing polymerase chain reaction primer for single tube quantitative PCR. Analytical Biochemistry 427: 175–177.
- R. Asokan, G. Sharath Chandra, M. Manamohan, et al.(2013).Quantitative real time PCR studies on the differential response of mid gut and non-mid gut genes to RNAi in the American boll worm, Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Bulletin of Entomological Research. doi:10.1017/S0007485313000138.
- R. Asokan, S.N. Nagesh, M. Manamohan et al. (2012). RNAi mediated management of fruit borer, Helicoverpa armigera Hubner (Noctuider, Lepidoptera): Sequence variations in generation of siRNAs for various target genes- an in silico analysis, Current Science, 102(12): 1692-1699.
- Manamohan M., et al. (2013). Anthocyanin enrichment of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) fruit by metabolic engineering. Current Science (In press).