SKM's MetSysBio Lab

Group Leader

Prof. Shyam Kumar Masakapalli

Professor, School of Biosciences and Bioengineering (SBB),

Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi

PhD (University of Oxford), MTech (IIT Kharagpur)

Dr Shyam K. Masakapalli is a passionate academician with research interest in Metabolic Systems Biology of Plants and microbes using Metabolomics and 13C Metabolic Flux Analysis. He applies his expertise in the areas of Cellular Bioprocessing, Plant metabolism, Smart Agriculture and Phytochemistry. His research led to deciphering metabolic features, mapping of key pathways and metabolic flux maps of plants and microbes of relevance to industrial and agricultural applications. He developed SynCONS bioprocessing technology and demonstrated integration of flocculation as an efficient bioprocessing strategy for waste to value. He has several scientific publications and patents. He served as reviewer and as editor for few scientific journals. He currently serves on the editorial board in mSystems, an ASM journal of high repute.

Dr Masakapalli is currently affiliated to IIT Mandi, where he serves as an Associate professor in the School of Biosciences and Bioengineering. He served as the pioneering Chairperson in the School of Biosciences and Bioengineering (2022-2024), pioneering Course coordinator of MTech in Biotechnology (2016-2021). He supervises PhD, MTech and BTech scholars at Metabolic Systems Biology Lab, IIT Mandi (https://sites.google.com/view/metsysbiolab). He hosted and mentored a few Postdoctoral researchers and women scientists. He received “Distinguished Teacher Award 2017” and executed prestigious projects funded by ECR-SERB, DBT-BMBF (Indo-German), IMPRINT, SPARC (Indo-UK), SaIAFarm (DST, Indo-Danish) and DBT-FarmerZone.

Dr Masakapalli received PhD in Plant Sciences from the University of Oxford (with Prof. R. George Ratcliffe and Dr. Nicholas J. Kruger) in 2012. He worked as a Postdoctoral researcher (2011-2015) first at the University of Oxford (with Dr. Lee Sweetlove) and later at the University of Bath, UK (with Prof. David Leak and Prof. Michael Danson). He did his M. Tech from IIT Kharagpur in the department of Agriculture and Food Engineering in 2007.

Prem Chand

(PhD Scholar, SRF)

Systems-level characterization of Himalayan Apple cultivars: Linking morphology, physicochemistry, metabolomics, and nutritional attributes

I work at the intersection of fruit nutrition, metabolomics, and sustainable value addition, with a focus on understanding the biochemical and nutritional diversity of Himalayan apple varieties. My research explores innovative post-harvest processing strategies to enhance functionality and create value-added apple products.

Skills: Skilled in advanced analytical and processing methodologies, including GC-MS, NMR, FTIR, TGA/DSC, spectroscopic techniques, and bioprocessing and fermentation technologies.

Hobbies: Outside the lab, I am passionate about mountain climbing and outdoor exploration, highly skilled in gardening.

Ashutosh Sahoo

(PhD Scholar, SRF)

Systems biology of antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic and drug producing Actinomycetes

My work focused on identifying unique metabolic targets in MDR pathogens using their genomic data and screen potential inhibitors from bacterial and plant sources.

Skills: Comparative genomics, Genome assembly, Genome annotation, Antimicrobial resistance testing, Transcriptomics data analysis

Hobbies: Digital photography, watching movies and series, cooking and testing different food cuisines.

Akalya Sendrayakannan

(PhD Scholar, SRF)

Systems biology of antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic and drug producing Actinomycetes

My work decodes how nonessential amino acid deprivation affects the overall cell metabolism and dives into the mechanistic insight of what is happening upon deprivation of them from the media of animal cell. The final motive of the project is to design food as a supplement for cancer patients with the removal of the specific amino acids.

Skills: GC-MS, 13C mapping, Transcriptomics,

Hobbies: Reading Tamil novels and listening to Tamil stories.

Ashish Chauhan

(PhD Scholar, SRF)

Nutri-metabolomics of Different Leafy Greens under Climate Controlled Conditions

I am working on the optimisation of indoor farming setups for different leafy greens, including lettuce, spinach, etc. and exploring the effects of different light regimes (wavelength) on their physiology, nutritional, and metabolic profiles.

Skills: Plant phenotyping and morphological analysis, nutri-metabolomics techniques (biochemical analysis, 1H-NMR, GC-MS, ICP-MS), graphics and photo editing (ImageJ/FiJi, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Affinity)

Hobbies: Passionate about watching Liverpool Football Club matches.

Navya

(PhD Scholar, SRF)

Cellulose production to energy metabolism: Comparative insights in komagataibacter

Looking for ways to detect and quantify polyamines in different systems and understanding their evolution across kingdoms.

Skills: RNA seq data analysis, comparative genomics, 1H-NMR, FTIR.

Hobbies: Navya loves watching movies, reading novels, and roaming around to discover new places.

Shweta S. Pawar

(PhD Scholar, JRF)

Deciphering plant metabolic responses exposed to varying light regimes and exogenous metabolites using Metabolomics and 13C analysis

Using Metabolomics and pathway analysis I aim to improve our understanding of plant adaptation and its applications in agricultural stress management.

Hobbies: Passionate about culinary exploration, reading, and fostering connections, I blend creativity, curiosity, and well-being into my approach to life.

Ramnath Nayak

(M.Tech by Research + PhD Scholar)

Metabolism-guided-developmental transitions in Pisum sativum

My research is focused on developing a fundamental understanding of the alterations in carbon-nitrogen allocation and usage in pea, based on the cellular energy budget, during germination and nodulation.

Skills: Metabolomics (GC-MS, 1H-NMR), Metabolic modelling, and Network Analysis.

Hobbies: Watching movies, anime, playing basketball and guitar.

Yogita Thakur

(PhD Scholar, SRF)

Defining plant metabolic phenotypes using 13CO2 mapping

My research aims to elucidate stress-induced metabolic phenotypes in plants using GC-MS-based stable isotope (¹³C) tracing to resolve dynamic carbon allocation and metabolic fluxes.

Skills: 13CO2 mapping, isotopic data correction, plant metabolomics, GC-MS, plant stress biochemistry

Hobbies: Outside the lab, I enjoy music, creative science communication, and engaging in meaningful conversations that extend beyond the lab bench.

Vandana Sahu

(M.Tech Scholar)

Central metabolic pathways and transcriptome analysis of ESKAPE pathogens to identify potential drug targets

My research focuses on identifying essential metabolic genes involved in pathogens survival during infection.

Skills: Comparative genomics, RNA-seq analysis, HPLC analysis .

Hobbies: Travelling, cooking.

Shalu Panwar

(M.Tech Scholar)

Kinetic Evaluation and Optimization of Xylanase Activity Using Varying Xylan Concentrations

My research focuses on optimizing xylanase enzyme activity produced by Thermobifida fusca. I am studying the effect of varying xylan concentrations on enzyme production and activity to identify optimal conditions for maximum yield. This work aims to enhance the efficiency of xylanase for potential industrial applications, particularly in biomass degradation and bioprocessing.

Skills: Enzyme assay and optimization, Microbial cultivation, Media optimization, Enzyme activity analysis, Data analysis.

Hobbies: Reading, cooking and dancing.

Mubeena Noor

(M.Tech Scholar)

Impact of germination and drying methods on the metabolomic and nutritional quality of sunflower microgreens.

My research investigates germination induced metabolic changes in sunflower seeds, sprouts, and microgreens, and evaluates how post-harvest drying affects their nutritional and metabolic quality using metabolomic techniques.

Skills: GC-MS, ICP-MS, Statistical analysis.

Hobbies: I enjoy singing, listening to music, writing, and photography.

Shiuli Das

(M.Tech Scholar)

Bioprocess assisted metabolic insights into selected industrial actinomycete

My research is focused on integrating microbial fermentation with metabolic pathway analysis and ¹³C tracer based metabolic flux analysis to generate process-level insights for industrial bioprocess optimization. The work emphasizes understanding central carbon metabolism, flux redistribution, and culture performance to support improved productivity, robustness and scalability of the antibiotic. In the coming months, I will be developing skills in the analysis and interpretation of GC-MS and LC-MS data for metabolite profiling and process analytics.

Skills: Microbial fermentation, Fermenter operation, Upstream process development, Media optimization, ¹³C tracer experiments, Metabolic Flux Analysis (MFA), BLAST, KEGG, RAST.

Hobbies: Singing (Classical singer), Travelling and exploring cuisines.

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