Dr. K. Sowjanya Sree
Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Science
Central University of Kerala
India
Biography
Dr. K. Sowjanya Sree earned her Master’s degree (M.Sc. Plant Sciences) from University of Hyderabad in 2004 with a gold medal and Ph.D. from Andhra University in 2009 with Best Thesis Award. Dr. Sree’s research is specialized in the area of use of fungal toxins for crop pestmanagement. Currently, she has been awarded with the prestigious Max Planck- India mobilitygrant (2015-18) for elucidating the molecular pathway of the mechanism of action of destruxin(mycotoxin) in insect pests at Prof. Dr. David G. Heckel’s lab, Max Planck Institute of Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany. She has successfully implemented an SERB-Fast Track Young Scientist Project (2012-15) in the area of insect microRNAs.Dr. Sree’s research interests are also focused on Duckweed research and applications.Duckweeds are small aquatic angiosperms with a very high growth rate. Working together with Indian and international collaborators, efforts are being made to restore the past glory of duckweeds as a model plant. Basic research on duckweed molecular systematics and physiology (growth, flowering and stress); and duckweed biotechnology are the key areas of her duckweed research. Dr. Sree has been elected as the chair of the 4 th International Conference on Duckweed Research and Applications, 2017 at the last meeting in 2015 at Kyoto University,Japan.
Research Interest
1. Crop pest management (Insect molecular toxicology) 2. Duckweed research and applications (Duckweed plant Systematics (morphological and molecular), Ecology, Stress Physiology, Flowering, Biotechnology)
