My group actively woks on •

Concurrent production of acetone, butanol and ethanol by inactivation of acidogenesis pathway in Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 – a marker free approach (Funded by DST FAST TRACK) Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 produces butanol, acetone and ethanol through ABE Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol) fermentation. The enzymes phosphotransacetylase (PTA) and phosphotransbutrylase (PTB) are involved in acidogenesis pathway of C.acetobutylicum ATCC 824 in the formation of acetate and butyrate respectively. The genes encoding these enzymes pta and ptb will be deleted and the flow of carbon is expected towards solvent production. In the transformed C.acetobutylicum ATCC 824 the fragments cloned in pUC18 are expected to homologously recombine with the chromosomal pta and ptb genes and result in merodiploids which are resolved by PCR assay. The chromosomal genes will be inactivated, leaving behind marker free deletion mutant.

•

Chromosomal Integration of pyruvate decarboxylase gene in C.acetobutylicum for enhanced solvent production. (Fellowship Funded by DST Inspire) Pyruvate decarboxylase catalyzes the non oxidative decarboxylation of pyruvate to produce acetaldehyde and carbon dioxide. Transfer of this gene in a well known ABE producer C.acetobutylicum will result in a recombinant strain that produces higher solvent yield. In this study gene replacement by homologous recombination is applied at the pta gene locus to functionally delete pta (phosphotransacetylase) involved in the production of acetate in C.acetobutylicum and replace with pdc gene to improve the production of solvents.

•

Screening and characterization of high lipid accumulating microalgal freshwater environment

strain from

Biodiesel is a biomass derived fuel and it made up of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) that are derived from triglycerides by transesterification process. Microalgae are an important, economical choice for biodiesel production because of high growth rate, biomass and oil content (25-75%) compared with other bioenergy source. The present study aims at screening of high lipid content microalgal strain from freshwater sources. Microalgal strains were isolated and identified based on the morphological and molecular characterization was done using ITS-2 molecular marker. Ankistrodesmussp showing highest lipid content (30%) compared to other species. Furthermore, fatty acid profile of the Ankistrodesmus sp. shows highest oleic acid (25.66%) than other species.

•

Screening and Characterization of metagenomic alkaline serine protease from the activated sludge of tannery effluent treatment plant Soil microorganisms are valuable sources of novel enzymes, antibiotics and other biomolecules. Microbial enzymes are potentially useful in various industrial and agricultural sectors. This study aims to explore the activated sludge of a tannery effluent treatment plant for the production of novel alkaline protease through a culture independent approach by metagenomic library construction. The study has led to the identification of a novel thermostable alkaline serine

protease resistant to SDS, EDTA and few other organic solvents. This protease could be a promising source for various industries and also an effective detergent additive.

Publications •

Yadav A, Parida D, Muralidharan A.Ramya M(2014)Bioelectricity generation by proton exchange membrane-based microbial fuel cell from sewage substrate,Current Science 29: 106 (01) .Impact factor 0.9

•

Radha S, Aliya Fatima, Iyyappan S, Ramya M (2013) Direct colony PCR for rapid identification of varied microalgae from fresh water environment, Journal of Applied Phycology (2): 609-613. Impact Factor 2.414

•

Harishankar K, Sasikala C, Ramya M. 2013. Efficiency of the intestinal bacteria in the degradation of the toxic pesticide, chlorpyrifos. 3 Biotech 3(2):137-142.

•

Sonia J, Sasikala C, Ramya M , 2012.Biodegradation of Chlorpyrifos by bacterial consortium isolated from agriculture soil", World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 28(3):1301-1308.Impact Factor-1.2.

•

Pallabi Rout ,Sonia J, Sasikala C, Ramya M2012, Biodegradation of Benzo[a]pyrene by the mixed culture of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus vireti isolated from the petrochemical industry, Journal of Environmental Biology ,33, 985-989 (2012).Impact Factor 0.6.

•

Ramya M, Iyappan S, Manju A, Jiffe JS, 2010, Biodegradation and Decolorization of Acid Red by Acinetobacterradioresistens. J BioremedBiodegrad 1:105.

•

MohandassRamya, BhaskarAnusha and Kalavathy S, 2008, Decolorization and biodegradation of Indigo carmine by a textile soil isolate Paenibacillus larvae, Biodegradation, Vol 19(2): 283-291. Impact factor 2.0.

•

AnushaBhaskar, Vidhya VG and Ramya M, 2008, Hypoglycemic effect of Mucana prurinesseed extract on normal and streptozotocin –diebetic rats. Fitoterapia, 79(7-8): 539-543. Impact factor 1.8.

Funded Projects •

Principal Investigator in DST sponsored FAST TRACK on Concurrent production of acetone, butanol and ethanol by inactivation of acidogenesis pathway in Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 – a marker free approach (22Lakhs )- (2013-2016)

•

Co-Investigator in ICMR sponsored project on Isolation of the active compounds from the plant

extracts that were identified to be effective against NDM1 positive bacteria( 20122015).44.88 Lakhs

Research Guidance • • • •

Ph.D completed : 1 Ph.D doing : 4 M.Tech completed :4 M.Tech doing – 1

Student performing Experiment in Lab

Student viewing the algal cultures

Fermenter to grow the anaerobic C.acetobutylcum ATCC 824

Anaerobic growth Chamber