Profile Details

Create Project

★★★★★

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

☆☆☆☆☆

Hire Dr. Lakshmeesha K.

India

Scientist passionate about metabolism, metabolic engineering and protein biochemistry.

Profile Summary

I have handled and performed genetic manipulation in various model systems (E. coli, Saccharomyces, Pichia and Plasmodium) and gained expertise in multiple biochemical, biophysical, molecular and cell biology techniques. This involves various cloning techniques such as conventional restriction-digestion based cloning, ligase-independent assembly cloning (AQUA cloning - Advanced QUick Assembly cloning), cloning using In-fusion assembly kit, cloning by employing phage derived lambda red-recombinase in compatible E. coli strains, and in vitro gateway LR clonase method. I have also generated knockout, conditional degron and epitope-tagged strains in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Plasmodium berghei. In addition to these molecular biology skills, I have extensive training in protein expression and purification (by ammonium sulphate precipitation, Ni-NTA-chromatography, ion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography), western blotting, antibody generation and enzyme characterization by continuous and end-point measurement assays as well as in vivo functional complementation assay. Since P. berghei is a murine malaria model my work also involved performing retro-orbital injections in mice, and blood smear preparations from tail snips, routinely. I have also been part of projects which have given me ample exposure and hands-on experience in CD, fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy, pre-steady-state kinetics, NMR and mass spectrometry. I have worked on collaborative projects within and outside our institute with ease and this has resulted in publications where I have contributed as a lead author as well as a significant co-author.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ★ Molecular Biology
• ★ Recombinant Protein Expression
• ★ Metabolism & Metabolic Disease

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI

Writing Technical Writing

Research Secondary Data Collection

Consulting Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Statistical Analysis

Work Experience

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Kent

September 2021 - Present

Scientist I

String Bio Pvt, Ltd.

November 2019 - February 2021

Scientist (I - Senior Scientist)

String bio

November 2019 - February 2021

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Molecular biology and Genetic Unit)

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

May 2014 - October 2019

Master of Science (Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit)

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research

August 2011 - April 2014

Bachelor of Science (Lifes ciences)

Yuvaraja's College, University of Mysore

June 2007 - May 2010

Certifications

• Algae Biotechnology

  coursera

  https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/certificate/9AJXMJL36BVB

  March 2021 - Present

• Understanding Plants - Part II: Fundamentals of Plant Biology

  coursera

  https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/verify/KPQ4QTEXZ2HR

  May 2018 - Present

• PH425x: MalariaX: Defeating Malaria from the Genes to the Globe

  edX

  https://courses.edx.org/certificates/8d95702790784c92a239414fba30d28e

  May 2018 - Present

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Lakshmeesha Kempaiah Nagappa, Sundaram Balasubramanian, Hemalatha Balaram(2019). How a purine salvage enzyme singles out the right base . Journal of Biological Chemistry. 294. (32). p. 11992--11993. Elsevier {BV}

(2019). Biochemical and physiological investigations on adenosine 5’ monophosphate deaminase from Plasmodium spp . Molecular Microbiology.

Lakshmeesha Kempaiah Nagappa, Pardhasaradhi Satha, Thimmaiah Govindaraju, Hemalatha Balaram(2019). Phosphoglycolate phosphatase is a metabolic proofreading enzyme essential for cellular function in Plasmodium berghei . Journal of Biological Chemistry. 294. (13). p. 4997--5007. Elsevier {BV}

(2018). Septins are involved at the early stages of macroautophagy in S. cerevisiae. J Cell Sci.

(2016). Role of W181 in modulating kinetic properties of Plasmodium falciparum hypoxanthine guanine xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics.

(2015). Prediction of substrate specificity and preliminary kinetic characterization of the hypothetical protein PVX_123945 from Plasmodium vivax. Experimental parasitology.

(2015). Slow ligand-induced conformational switch increases the catalytic rate in Plasmodium falciparum hypoxanthine guanine xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase. Molecular Biosystems.

(2015). Kinetic mechanism of Plasmodium falciparum hypoxanthine-guanine-xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase. Molecular and biochemical parasitology.