Dr Ramesh Venkata Sonti is the new Director of ICGEB

New Delhi: Renowned plant scientist, Prof. Ramesh Venkata Sonti has joined the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) as the new Director on January 01, 2023. He succeeds Dr Dinakar M. Salunke who was at the helm for over six years.

Well known for his deep research in agriculture biotechnology, Dr Sonti’s research has focused on understanding plant-pathogen interactions using, as a model, rice and the bacterial pathogen, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). His work has led to the identification of novel Xoo virulence functions. These include: an adhesin like protein that plays an important role in attachment to and entry into rice leaves; an extra cellular signaling molecule that facilitates virulence by promoting iron uptake; a bacterial secretion system and its secreted proteins which are involved in degrading rice cell walls; lipolysaccharide and extracellular polysaccharide; and a phytase like secreted protein.

Dr Sonti has led a team of scientists of CCMB and the Directorate of Rice Research, Hyderabad that together developed a rice variety called ‘Improved Samba Mahsuri’ which has been released for commercial cultivation. This variety is resistant to the serious bacterial blight disease that is caused by Xoo. He has been a Member of the International Organizing Committee for two International Conferences on bacterial blight of rice that have been held in Japan and China.

Dr Ramesh Sonti is a recipient of the SS Bhatnagar Prize in Biological Sciences and the National Bioscience Award for Career Development of the Department of Biotechnology. He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi and Andhra Pradesh Akademi of Sciences, Hyderabad.

Dr Sonti earned his BSc degree from Andhra University and MSc and MPhil degrees from University of Hyderabad. His MPhil dissertation was under the guidance of Professor Arjula Reddy. He worked in the Department of Biology, University of Utah, USA (1983-90) where he obtained his PhD in bacterial genetics under the supervision of Professor John R Roth. He worked as Postdoctoral Fellow (1991-93) in the Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the supervision of Professor Ethan Signer. Since 1993, he has been working at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad.