Home      Faculty
Department of Biotechnology Anna University

Dr. S. Meenakshisundaram


Dean, Alagappa College of Technology

Professor, Centre for Biotechnology

Anna University, Chennai 600025

meenakshi@annauniv.edu
   Vidwan id: 57330

Coordinator : MHRD - Center of Excellence in Biomedical Application

Coordinator : BIRAC - University Innovation Cluster

044-22359344 / 09840348173









Profile and expertise:


Prof. S. Meenakshisundaram did undergraduation in Chemical Engineering and postgraduation in Biotechnology. His doctoral work is in the field of Bioprocess optimization and he was trained in Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in various aspects of Bioprocess medium design, cultivation methods, online analytics and control. Presently his group is working in Recombinant Expression and Bioprocessing. The group has engineered Pichia pastoris strain to overproduce Candida antarctica lipase B enzyme and successfully transferred the technology to industry for commercialization. He is Consultant in the field of Bioprocess optimization, scaleup strategies and recombinant cultivation. Successfully completed various consultancy projects to industries in Bioprocess development and scaleup.



Professional and academic affiliations:


Dr. S. Meenakshisundaram is having six years of industrial experience in the biotech industry. As Senior Scientist of the company he led team of professionals in bioprocess scaleup strategies and commissioning biotech plant. After the industrial experience he joined Anna University as Teacher and Researcher. His passion for teaching is in the field of Biochemical engineering and he is involved in teaching undergraduates and post graduates various aspects of bioprocess engineering right through principles to recombinant cultivations to validation in Biotech industry.



Research Expertise:


As researcher his goals are Technology development for biological products either metabolites or proteins through engineering the microorganisms. Research approach of his group is integrated process development from genetic engineering to process manipulation to purification. He has mentored 13 Scholars for Ph.D and 7 scholars for M.S by Research program. He continues mentoring 10 scholars for Ph.D.

Most of his current research work is focusing on engineering methylotropic yeast Pichia pastoris especially in creating platform tools for yeast metabolic engineering applications. The group specializes in the field of engineering the secretory pathways of Pichia pastoris and cofactor engineering for overproduction of recombinant protein. Group have created engineered strains with overexpression of molecular chaperones, identified novel signal sequence, novel promoters, transcription terminators which could be an alternative to existing one. In addition the group is working with various gene knockin and knockout strategies / pathway engineering to overproduce metabolites such as SAdenosyl L Methionine, Glucaric acid and other industrially importanet enzymes / therapeutic proteins.

Prof. S. Meenakshisundaram is having funding from various government agencies such as DBT, UGC, DST-SERB, CSIR etc. He is involved in major funded research projects of the department/university such as DBT Programme support in neglected infectious diseases, DBT Builder, UGC-University with Potential for Excellence, UGC Departmental Special Assistance and MHRD Centre of excellence in Biomedical applications.

As a Business In-charge of Technology Business incubator he nurture new biotech ventures to achieve their goals through incubation and as Chief Coordinator in BIRAC University Innovation Cluster encourage research scholars & post graduates to venture into entrepreneurship through Innovation fellowship.

He is also holding additional responsibility as Dean, Alagappa College of Technology Campus, Anna University, Co- Coordinator in DST supported National Hub for Healthcare Instrumentation, Deputy Coordinator in UGC supported University with Potential for Excellence Program in Anna University. He also served as Director, Centre for Food Technology, Anna University.



Education

Sl No. Institution Degree Major Subject
1. Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Bharathiar University B.Tech Chemical Engineering
2. Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University M.Tech Biotechnology
3. Anna University Ph.D Biotechnology

Present Position

Professor, Department of BioTechnology, Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai from December-2009.


Present Additional Responsibility

Dean, Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai from June-2018.
Coordinator, MHRD- Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Applications, Anna University, Chennai from July-2017.
Chief coordinator, University Innovation Cluster, Anna University, Chennai from July-2017.
Director, Centre for Food Technology, Anna University, Chennai.


Previous Positions


Assistant Professor, Department of BioTechnology, Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai during October-2008 and December-2009.
Assistant Professor, Department of BioTechnology, Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai during August-2003 and October-2008.
Guest Faculty, Department of BioTechnology, Alagappa College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai during April-2002 and August-2003.


Previous Additional Responsibility


Director, Centre for Food Technology, Anna University, Chennai during May-2015 and April-2019.
Deputy Coordinator, University Innovation Cluster, Anna University, Chennai during May-2014 and July-2017, Anna University, Chennai.


Membership in Professional Organizations


Life member in Biotech Research Society of India


Other Employment


Senior Scientist, Tuticorin Alkali Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited for 5.5 years.






Areas of Specialisation


• Bioprocess Engineering

• Recombinant protein production

• Metabolic Engineering



Research Guidance


• Ph.D. Supervisor Registration Number : 9950068

• Number of Ph.D Scholars Guided : 13

• Number of Ph.D Scholars Guiding : 10

• Number of M.S (By Research) Scholars Guided : 7

• Number of M.E./ M.Tech. Projects Guided : 30

• Number of M.E./ M.Tech. Projects Guiding : 4



Current Sponsored Projects


Title of the project Name of the funding Institution Duration Amount
MHRD – Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Applications - one of the Investigators MHRD May 2013 – Mar 2021 25000000.00
University Innovation cluster at Anna University BIRAC - DBT April 2014 - Mar 2021 23040000.00
Continuous cultivation expression of recombinant protein using yeast expression system and scaleup M/s Sudhin Biopharma April 2018 - Mar 2021 1000000.00

Sponsored Projects Completed


S.No Title of the project Amount (in Rs)
1. Recombinant production of CALB enzyme using P. pastoris and its immobilization for chiral conversion applications DBT Jan-2008 - Dec- 2010 2215000.00
2. Construction of a single-chain antibody fragment specific for WB-SXP1 and its expression in E.coli UGC Feb-2009 - Jan-2012 1009000.00
3. Process optimization of production of Lactic and gluconic acid by Fermentation M/s Global Calcium Private Limited, Hosur 300000.00
4. Fermentation studies on Seleno-methionine production M/s Kemin Asia Private Limited, Chennai 300000.00
5. Scale-up of Leather enzyme Protease production M/s Central Leather Research Institute 420000.00
6. Substrate affinity modification of PENG acylase M/s Fermenta Biotech Limited, Mumbai 300000.00
7. Engineering Microorganisms for the production of Metabolites used in the Food Industries funded by Department of Biotechnology (May-2014 - March-2018). 10798300.00.
8. Regulation of Gene expression levels in P.pastoris by manipulation of transcription terminators funded by CSIR (June-2016 - May-2019). 2420000.00
9. Metabolic engineering Pichia pastoris for the production of Glucaric acid funded by DST SERB (March-2017 - February-2020) 4522650.00
10. Recombinnt protein expression in P.pastoris M/s Sudhin Biopharma Nov-2015 - Nov-2016 900000.00
11. Continuous cultivation expression of recombinant protein using yeast expression system and scaleup funded by M/s Sudhin Biopharma (April-2018 - April-2019). 1000000.00






Publications


Research Papers Published in International Journals : 23

  • S.A. Rothen, M. Saner, S. Meenakshisundaram, B. Sonnleitner, A. Fiechter, "Glucose uptake kinetics of Saccharomyces cerevisiae monitored with a newly developed FIA", Journal of Biotechnology, published by Elsevier. Vol. 50, pp. 1 - 12 (1996).
  • S. Meenakshisundaram G. Suresh R. K. Fernando K. Jenny R. Sachidanandham K.Jayaraman, "“Metabolic response of Bacillus sphaericus 1593M for dual-substrate limitation in continuous and total-cell-retention cultures” ", Appl Microbiol Biotechnol , published by Springer. Vol. 47, pp. 554-559 (1997).
  • M. Shanmugavelu S. Meenakshisundram Kunthala Jayaraman, "“Enhanced and constitutive expression of mosquito larvicidal protein genes of Bacillus sphaericus under leaky regulation of T7 expression system in Escherichia coli”", Biotechnology Letters, published by Springer. Vol. 19, pp. 341- 344 (1997).
  • S. Janardhan, P. Pandiaraja, S. Thirugnanam, M. N. Balamurali, Kennedy Fernando, H. C. Mody, P. K. Desai, S. Meenakshisundaram, P. Kaliraj, " “Production, purification and diagnostic application of filarial recombinant protein WbSXP-1 expressed in salt inducible Escherichia coli”", J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol, published by Springer. Vol. 34, pp. 675-683 (2007).
  • K. Srinivasa Babu, Aju Antony, T. Muthukumaran, S. Meenakshisundaram, "“Construction of intein-mediated hGMCSF expression vector and its purification in Pichia pastoris”", Protein Expression and Purification , published by Elsevier. Vol. 57, pp. 201-205 (2008).
  • Krishnan Subramanian, Chinnasamy Selvakumar, Sankaranarayanan Meenakshisundaram, Arun Balakrishnan, and Baddireddi Subhadra Lakshmi, "“Extract of Alpinia Officinarum suppresses enteropathogenic Eschichia coli (EPEC) Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) Induced Inflammation in J774 A.1 Macrophages”", Journal of Health Science, published by POLISH SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL ELECTRONIC JOUR. Vol. 54, pp. 112-117 (2008).
  • V. S. Kumar, S. Meenakshisundaram, N. Selvakumar, "“Conservation of cellulase enzyme in biopolishing application of cotton fabrics”", Journal of the Textile Institute , published by Taylor and Francis. Vol. 99, Issue 4, pp. 339-346 (2008).
  • K. Srinivasa Babu, T. Muthukumaran, Aju Antony, S. D. Prem Singh Samuel, M. Balamurali, V.Murugan, S. Meenakshisundaram, "“Single step intein-mediated purification of hGMCSF expressed in salt-inducible E. coli”", Biotechnol Letters, published by Springer. Vol.31, Issue 5, pp. 659-664 (2009).
  • Krishnan Subramanian, Chinnasamy Selvakkumar, Kontham Sanathkumar Vinaykumar, Nabajyoti Goswami, Sankaranarayanan Meenakshisundaram, Arun Balakrishnan, Baddireddi Subhadra Lakshmi, "“Tackling multiple antibiotic resistance in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) clinical isolates: a diarylheptanoid from Alpinia officinarum shows promising antibacterial and immunomodulatory ac", International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, published by Elsevier. Vol. 33, pp. 244-250 (2009).
  • Vinayagam Vasu, Jayaraman Kumaresan, Manoharan Ganesh Babu and Sankaranarayanan Meenakshisundaram, " “Active site analysis of cis-epoxysuccinate hydrolase from Nocardia tartaricans using homology modeling and site-directed mutagenesis”", Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, published by Springer. Vol. 93, pp. 2377-2386 (2012)
  • Ashok Kumar Prasanna Vadhana, Premsingh Samuel, Ronald M Berin, Jeyachandran Krishna, Kavitha Kamatchi, Meenakshisundaram Sankaranarayanan, "“Improved secretion of Candida antarctica lipase B with its native signal peptide in Pichia pastoris” ", Enzyme and Microbial Technology, published by Elsevier. Vol. 52, pp. 177-183 (2013).
  • Murugan Surendarbabu and Sankaranarayanan Meenakshisundaram, "Human Ubiquitin C Promoter Based Expression of Erythropoietin in CHO K1 Cell Lines: A Simple Transfectants Screening Approach", Animal Biotechnology, published by Taylor and Francis. Vol. 24, pp.198-209 (2013).
  • Premsingh Samuel, Ashok Kumar Prasanna Vadhana, Ramakrishnan Kamatchi,Aju Antony, Sankaranarayanan Meenakshisundaram, "Effect of molecular chaperones on the expression of Candidaantarctica lipase B in Pichia pastoris", Microbiological Research, (2013).
  • JB Ndayambaje, S Meenakshisundaram, "Co-feeding strategy to enhance phytase production in Pichia pastoris", African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13, pp. 2181 - 2187 (2014).
  • Harit Ravi Kanth, M Balamurali, S Meenakshisundaram, "Enhancing Precursors Availability in Pichia pastoris For the Overproduction of S-Adenosyl-L-methionine Employing Molecular Strategies with Process Tuning", Journal of Biotechnology, published by Elsevier. Vol. 188, pp. 112 - 121 (2014).
  • R. Ravishankaran, N.S. Radhika, L. Ansel Vishal, S. Meenakshisundaram, A.A. Karande and P. Kaliraj, "An evaluation of antigen capture assays for detecting active filarial antigens", Journal of Helminthology , published by Cambridge. pp. doi:10.1017/S0022149X14000157 (2014).
  • Balakumaran Palanisamy Athiyaman and Meenakshisundaram Sankaranarayanan, "Modelling of process parameters for enhanced production of Coenzyme Q10 from Rhodotorula glutinis", Preparative Biochemistry & Biotechnology, published by Taylor and Francis Group. Vol. 45, pp. 398 - 410 (2015).
  • R. Kamatchi, J. Charumathi, R. Ravishankaran, P. Kaliraj and S. Meenakshisundaram, "Construction and bacterial expression of a recombinant single-chain antibody fragment against Wuchereria bancrofti SXP-1 antigen for the diagnosis of lymphatic filariasis", Journal of Helminthology, published by Cambridge. (2015).
  • Palanisamy Athiyaman Balakumaran, Jan Förster, Martin Zimmermann, Jayachandran Charumathi, Andreas Schmitz, Eik Czarnotta, Mathias Lehnen, Suresh Sudarsan, Birgitta E.Ebert, Lars Mathias Blank and Sa, "The trade-off of availability and growth inhibition through copper for the production of copper-dependent enzymes by Pichia pastoris", BMC Biotechnology, published by BioMed Central. (2016).
  • Charumathi Jayachandran, Balakumaran Palanisamy Athiyaman, Meenakshisundaram Sankaranarayanan, "Cofactor engineering improved CALB production in Pichia pastoris through heterologous expression of NADH oxidase and adenylate kinase", PLOS ONE,(2017).
  • Mahesh Prattipati, Kamatchi Ramakrishnan, MeenakshisundaramSankaranarayanan, " Pichia pastoris Protein Disulfide Isomerase (PDI1) promoter for heterologous protein production and its sequence characterization", Enzyme and Microbial Technology, published by Elsevier.(2020).
  • Kamatchi Ramakrishnan, Mahesh Prattipati, Premsingh Samuel, MeenakshisundaramSankaranarayanan, "Transcriptional control of gene expression in Pichia pastoris by manipulation of terminators", Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, published by Springer.(2020).
  • Arun Baskaran Jayaraman, ThirukumaranKandasamy ,Dilip Venkataraman, S. Meenakshisundaram, "Rational design of Shewanella sp. L-arabinose isomerase for D-galactose isomerase activity under mesophilic conditions", Enzyme and Microbial Technology, published by Elseveir. Vol. 147, (2021).


Research Papers Published in National Journals : 1


  • Janardhan S, Srinivasa Babu K, Kaliraj P and Meenakshisundaram S, "“Optimization of media for expression and economic production of recombinant proteins of therapeutic and diagnostic interest in a novel osmotically inducible E.coli GJ 1158”", Research Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 2, pp. 49-55 (2007).


Papers Presented in Programmes


Research Papers Presented in International Programmes : 1

Research Papers Presented in National Programmes : 0

  • S.Meenakshisundaram M.Balamurali , "High yield production of pharmaceutically important S-Adenosyl L-methionine in P.pastoris-molecular and process approach" presented in a level conference on 3rd international congress on Bioprocess in Food Industries & 5th convention of the Biotech Research Society of India, organised by Osmania University, Hyderabad, India from 06-Nov-2008 to 08-Nov-2008.
  • S.Meenakshisundaram M.Balamurali and Ravikanth Harit, "Optimized Bioprocess for the fermentation production of nutritive metabolites" presented in a International level conference on 4th International congress on Bioprocess in Food Industries, organised by Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil from 05-Oct-2010 to 08-Oct-2010.


Programme Organized


  • Organiser, International level seminar on "Indo-UK seminar on Biotechnology Perspectives" from 13-Oct-2011 to 14-Oct-2011.
  • Chairman, National level conference on "Bioprocessing India 2015" from 17-Dec-2015 to 19-Dec-2015.


Programme Attended


  • Participated in a level conference on "4th BRSI Convention & International Conference on New Horizons in Biotechnology" organized by National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Trivandrum, India from 26-Nov-2007 to 29-Nov-2007.
  • Participated in a level workshop on "Workshop on Tools beyond the laboratory bench: International workshop on Scientific writing, IPR productization and research ethics " organized by Centre for Biotechnology, Anna University, India from 14-Dec-2009 to 19-Dec-2009.
  • Participated in a level conference on "IX Convention of BRSI & International Conference on Industrial Biotechnology" organized by Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India from 21-Nov-2012 to 23-Nov-2012.


Honours


  • "Technology Transfer Award" given by Anna University from India (2015).






Contact


Professor, Centre for Biotechnology

Anna University, Chennai 600025

1/2, Rams Flat, 35, Vijayaragava Road, T.Nagar, Chennai

meenakshi@annauniv.edu

044-22358365 / 09840348173

  •