P. Ananda Kumar

P. Ananda Kumar is an Indian plant molecular biologist and biotechnologist.[1]

Education

Born in a small village Kuchipudi, near Tenali, Guntur district of South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh Dr Kumar studied in the local S K V High School,[2] VSR and NVR College, Tenali[3] and Siver Jubilee Government College, Kurnool.[4] He acquired M.Sc degree in Botany from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati.[5] He joined Agricultural Research Service in 1978[6] He started his research career at Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry.[7]

Career

Kumar moved to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi in 1979 and started working in the area of Plant Nitrogen Metabolism. His research contributions lead to the finding that the photorespiratory nitrogen cycle is an open process.[8] He discovered that nitrate reductase enzyme derives its reducing power from photorespiration, considered a wasteful process by many plant physiologists.[9] Kumar acquired Ph.D degree in plant physiology for his research on photorespiratory ammonia assimilation in crop species. Kumar worked as Alexander von Humboldt Fellow in the University of Hannover, Germany in 1991 and 1992. Chloroplast targeting of cyanobacterial nitrate reducase was achieved in order to link nitrate reduction to photosynthetic electron transport.[10]

Biotechnology

Having acquired experience in molecular biology, Kumar started working on transgenic crops for insect resistance at Biotechnology Centre of IARI.[11][12] He developed Bt brinjal and field-tested it in 1995.[13] The "Event 142" that expresses a Bt insecticidal protein Cry1Fa1 is highly effective against Brinjal Shoot and Fruit Borer. The Event 142 was licensed to private companies for commercialization. Another "Event 25" was developed in tomato for protection against Tomato Fruit Borer (Helicoverpa armigera).[14] Event 25 was also licensed to a private company. He also worked in the areas of Bacillus thuringiensis, gene discovery, tissue specific promoters, protein purification and functional genomics of cotton, Ragi and brinjal.

Bt Genes

Dr Kumar constructed three codon modified genes encoding insecticidal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) viz., CryAc-F, Cry1Fa1 and Cry2Aa. Indian patents were granted for the first two genes.[15][16] The patent application for cry2Aa gene was published in 2011. Several genetically modified events were generated in major crops by scientists in public research institutions and private companies. These events are currently being tested for biosafety under the GMO regulatory System of India.[17]

Genomics

Dr Kumar also works in the area of plant genomics. He collaborated with Canadian institutions to sequence the Flax genome.[18] Extensive work was carried out to unravel the genomics of cotton in relation to fibre development and the effect of abiotic and biotic stresses on cotton boll development.[19]

NRCPB

Dr Kumar was Director of National Research Centre for Plant Biotechnology (NRCPB) located on the campus of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India.[20] NRCPB reached great heights during his tenure (2007-2012). The institute unveiled genome sequences of tomato, Pigeonpea and Linseed. Public-Private Partnership (PPP) was given impetus and several technologies were commercialized. The institute was conferred with 'Sardar Patel Best ICAR Institution Award' by ICAR and 'Mahindra Krishi Sansthan Award' by Mahindra and Mahindra.

SPBB

Dr Kumar is Secretary of the Society for Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology (SPBB). The society publishes a highly rated journal 'Journal of plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology' in collaboration with Springer.[21]

Dr Kumar organized a highly successful international conference at New Delhi (21–24 February 2012) on behalf of SPBB.[22] The conference was inaugurated by Prof. M.S. Swaminathan and attended by more than 600 national and international delegates.[23]

ANGRAU

Dr Kumar took over the responsibility of heading the 'Institute of Biotechnology' located in Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU), Hyderabad, India, as Director in August 2013.

IIRR (DRR)

Dr Kumar moved back to Indian Council of Agricultural Research after the university deputation was completed. He joined Directorate of Rice Research at Hyderabad in April 2015. The institute is currently known as Indian Institute of Rice Reseaech.[24] His research focuses on the root genomics of rice under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.[25]

Director, IIRR

Dr Kumar has taken charge of Director, IIRR with effect from 1 July 2017. He superannuated from ICAR service on 30 November 2017.[26]

Humboldt Fellow

After retirement, Dr Kumar joined the Institute of Botany, Leibniz University, Hannover as Alexander von Humboldt Senior Fellow. He worked on regeneration in vitro of a single cell C4 plant species Bienertia sinupersici. He successfully regenerated it via somatic embryogenesis.

Scientist Emeritus

Dr Kumar joined ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR) as Scientist Emeritus on October 1, 2018 to continue his research on genomics of rice under aerobic conditions.

Awards and Honours
  • Young Scientist Award – INSA-1987.[27]
  • Prof Hiralal Chakavarty Award – ISCA
  • National Bioscience Award – DBT
  • Recognition Award – NAAS-2007.[28]
  • VASVIK Award;– VASVIK Foundation-2000.[29]
  • Fellow – National Academy of Agricultural Sciences.[30]
  • Fellow - National Academy of Sciences, India.[31]
  • Fellow - Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences - 2016.[32]
  • Fellow – Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, Germany - 1991 and 2018
  • Dodla Raghava Reddy Medal - Plant Protection Association of India - 2016.
  • Sardar Patel Best ICAR Institution Award - NRCPB (as Director)
  • Mahindra Krishi Samriddhi Award - NRCPB (as Director)

Notes
  1. P.Ananda Kumar Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine at National Research Center on Plant Biotechnology
  2. SKV High School; http://skvhighschool.com/
  3. VSR & NVR College: http://www.vsrnvr.ac.in/
  4. SJGC: http://www.sjgckurnool.in/
  5. P.Ananda Kumar speaker profile at BioAsia
  6. ICAR: http://www.icar.org.in/
  7. "CTRI Rajahmundry".
  8. Singh et al.,1985. Photorespiratory nitrogen cycle-A critical evaluation. Physiologia Plantarum 66: 169-176
  9. Kumar et al., 1988, Glycine supports in vivo reduction of nitrate in barley leaves. Plant Physiology 88: 1486-1488
  10. Kumar et al., 1993. Integration of a cyanobacterial protein involved in nitrate reduction into isolated Synechococcus but not into pea thylakoid membranes. European Journal of Biochemistry 214: 533-537
  11. Bt brinjal: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/vaCgPllEBDAnLEM8dR0GVL/Genetic-history.html
  12. Pioneer of Bt brinjal: http://www.environmentportal.in/files/Bt%20Brinjal_2.pdf
  13. Bt brinjal: Kumar et al.,1998 Insect-resistant transgenic brinjal plants. Molecular Breeding 4: 33-37
  14. Bt tomato: Mandaokar et al., 2000, Transgenic tomato plants resistant to fruit borer. Crop Protection 19: 307-312
  15. India Patent Number: 242768, 2010; http://ipindia.ni.in%5B%5D
  16. India Patent number: 237912, 2010; http://ipindia.nic.in
  17. Bt brinjal BRL I: http://igmoris.nic.in/field_trials2009.asp Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Flax genome: Wang et al.,2012. The genome of flax (Linum usitatissimum) assembled de novo from short shotgun sequence reads. The Plant Journal 72: 461-473.
  19. Cotton genomics: Padmalatha et al., 2012. Genome-wide transcriptomic analysis of cotton under drought stress reveal significant down-regulation of genes and pathways involved in fibre elongation and up-regulation of defense responsive genes. Plant Molecular Biology 78: 223–246
  20. NRCPB: http://www.nrcpb.org/content/dr-p-ananda-kumar Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  21. SPBB: http://spbbindia.org/about_us.php
  22. Conference: http://www.spbbindia.org/icpbfs.asp Archived 21 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ICPBFS: http://www.icar.org.in/node/4318
  24. "Home".
  25. Publication: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13205-018-1406-9
  26. Retirement: http://www.icar-iirr.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31&Itemid=25&lang=en
  27. INSA Award: http://www.insaindia.org/youngmedal.php
  28. NAAS Award: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  29. VASVIK Award: http://www.vasvik.org/agricultural_sciences%20_&_technology.html
  30. NAAS Fellowship: "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 January 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. NASI Fellowship: http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp
  32. AP Acedemy Fellowship: http://apas.org.in/elected-fellows-of-apas-during-the-year-2016.html
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