Group Leader

M.Sc., Biotechnology, Madurai Kamaraj University.
Ph.D., Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (2003)

After post graduation in Biotechnology Dr. R Harinarayanan joined the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad for Ph.D. He worked in the area of bacterial physiology with the model organism Escherichia coli under the guidance of Dr. J. Gowrishankar. Using primarily a genetic approach his work highlighted a new function for transcription termination factors Rho and NusG. This involves the ability of these proteins to preclude the formation of DNA-RNA hybrid structures called the R-Loops. After his Ph.D. (2003) he joined the laboratory of Dr. Michael Cashel at the National Institutes of Health where with the aid of a synthetic-lethal genetic screen the physiological roles of the regulatory nucleotide analogues (p)ppGpp and a functionally associated protein factor DksA was interrogated. This led to the identification of (p)ppGpp-mediated transcriptional regulation of Transketolse B and brings an important enzyme of the central carbon metabolism within the gamut of the (p)ppGpp regulon. He is presently group head in the Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology and Genetics and his interests include understanding the role of (p)ppGpp and DksA in the regulation of fatty acid metabolism and cell division".

Current Research Interest