K Veluthambi

Biography

Karuppannan Veluthambi obtained BSc and MSc (Botany) (1975, winning Gold Medal also), both from Madras University, after which he joined the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and obtained his PhD (1981) under the supervision of Professor Ramesh Maheshwari. Subsequently, he worked as Postdoctoral Fellow (1981-88) with Dr John Giovanelli (at NIH, Bethesda, USA), Professor BW Poovaiah (at Washington State University, USA) and Professor Stanton B Gelvin (at Purdue University, USA). During this period, he delineated the role of calcium and calmodulin in regulating protein phosphorylation in plants and characterized the T-DNA transfer intermediates transferred from Agrobacterium into plants. On returning to India (1988), Veluthambi joined Madurai Kamaraj University, where he is continuing now as Professor and Head, School of Biotechnology. He was also Dean of Research and Development in the University (2005-08).

Research Interest

Plant Sciences, Plant Biotechnology, Plant Virology