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Floral Border Design

Research interests

  • Plant sciences and bioinformatics
  • Bioinformatics software development
  • Bioprocess design and optimization
  • Sustainable bioprocessing                       
  • Science communication and policy making

Publications

  • Natarajan, S., Gehrke, J. & Pucker, B. Mapping-based genome size estimation. BMC Genomics 26, 482 (2025). doi: 10.1186/s12864-025-11640-8

  • Natarajan, S., Pucker, B. and Srivastava, S. (2023) ‘Genomic and transcriptomic analysis of camptothecin producing novel fungal endophyte: Alternaria burnsii NCIM 1409’, Scientific Reports, 13(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-023-41738-6.

  • A., Nagappan, S., Bhosale, R. R., Tsai, P., Natarajan, S., Devendran, S., Al-Haj, L., Ponnusamy, V.K. and Kumar, G. Various potential techniques to reduce the water footprint of microalgal biomass production for biofuel—A review. Science of The Total Environment 749, 142218 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142218

  • Natarajan, S., Nachu, N., Revanna, A. & Bagyaraj, D.J., Influence of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria on growth of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) raised in pro trays. Journal of Soil Biology and Ecology 32-38 (2019). https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Shakunthala_Natarajan2

Teaching endeavours

  • Teaching assistant for the NPTEL MOOC course on 'Introduction to Biomimicry' offered by IIT Madras: Teaching video link

  • Handled a course on 'Sustainable Future of Rural India – Marching forward with the UNSDGs' as a part of the IIT for Villages (ivil) initiative of IIT Madras 

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Projects Completed

  • Elucidation Of Camptothecin Biosynthesis Pathway in the Novel Plant Endophyte ‘Alternaria burnsii NCIM 1409’ – A Bioinformatics & Targeted Multiomics Approach

       (Master's thesis work as a DAAD KOSPIE scholar, TU Braunschweig,   Germany; Duration - July 2022 - May 2023)

  • Leveraging Reactive Species for Sustainable Next-Generation Agriculture (Course based Research project)

  • Controller Design for a Bioprocess using Override Control Strategy (Course based Research Project)

  • Estimation of Replacement time of Surgical mask – An Engineering Approach for Sustainability

  • Analysis of suitable waste to energy conversion systems for developing a circular bio-economy (Group project undertaken as a part of the Indo German Centre for Sustainability Winter School 2022)

  • Agro-pack - A nature-inspired Biodegradable packaging alternate for Plastic packaging materials (Course based Research Project on Biomimicry aspects)

  • Design and Construction of a Photobioreactor for Production of Biosurfactants from Microalgae (Bachelor's thesis Project)

  • Novel biodegradable cups and straws from corn husks (Independent Group Project undertaken for participating in "Engineering a Healthy World" challenge organized by Pan Alumni Lecture Series IIT Madras)

  • Removal of heavy metals from river water using bio-filter (Independent Short-term Research Project)

  • Ideation for development of value-added products from agro-wastes (Independent Group-based Short-term Research Project)

  • A Novel remedy for degradation of heavy metals from electronic waste (Independent Group-based Short-term Research Project)                                

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