Manjula Reddy

Manjula Reddy (born 1965)[1] is an Indian bacterial geneticist. She is the chief scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, India. In 2019, she won the Infosys Prize in Life Sciences for her work on bacterial cell wall structure and synthesis. She is a Fellow of the Telangana Academy of Sciences and the Indian Academy of Sciences.

Manjula Reddy
NationalityIndian
Alma materSt Francis College for Women (BSc)

University of Hyderabad (MSc)

Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (PhD)
Known forDiscovery of a key hydrolytic enzyme involved in bacterial cell wall growth
AwardsInfosys Prize in Life Sciences (2019)
Scientific career
FieldsMicrobiology, Bacterial Genetics
Doctoral advisorJayaraman Gowrishankar

Education and career

Manjula Reddy earned her PhD from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2002. She started her own lab at the institution in 2007.[2]

Research

Manjula Reddy conducts research on bacterial cell walls.[2]

She identified a novel "spacemaker" enzyme encoded by the open reading frame called MepK in Escherichia coli. She found that this enzyme hydrolyses certain cross-links in peptidoglycan thereby allowing the bacterial cell wall to expand.[3] She aims to develop novel antimicrobials that can target the peptidoglycan synthesis pathway.[4] She uses the model organisms Mycobacterium smegmatis and Escherechia coli.[5]

She was part of the team of scientists who patented the process for identifying mutagens and anti-mutagens. This process was patented from 1999 to 2018 in the United States. The other scientists in the team were Jayaraman Gowrishankar and Shanti M. Bharatan.[6][7]

Awards and honors

Personal life

She has stated in an interview that her father, Mohan Reddy, and her mother were supportive of her career as a scientist.[11] She is married to a cardiologist and has two sons.[11]

Selected publications
External video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlaqsjhsWuo Dr.Manjula Reddy presents her research at the first edition of the Infosys Prize 2019 Winners’ Symposium
  • Chodisetti, Pavan Kumar, and Manjula Reddy. "Peptidoglycan hydrolase of an unusual cross-link cleavage specificity contributes to bacterial cell wall synthesis." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116.16 (2019): 7825-7830.[3]
  • Singh, Santosh Kumar, et al. "Regulated proteolysis of a cross-link–specific peptidoglycan hydrolase contributes to bacterial morphogenesis." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112.35 (2015): 10956-10961.[12]
  • Reddy, Manjula. "Role of FtsEX in cell division of Escherichia coli: viability of ftsEX mutants is dependent on functional SufI or high osmotic strength." Journal of bacteriology 189.1 (2007): 98-108.[13]

References
  1. "Fellowship | Indian Academy of Sciences". www.ias.ac.in. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  2. Jayaraj, Nandita; Shah, Mrinal (2020-02-07). "Meet the two women scientists who won the Infosys Prize this year". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  3. Chodisetti, Pavan Kumar; Reddy, Manjula (2019-04-16). "Peptidoglycan hydrolase of an unusual cross-link cleavage specificity contributes to bacterial cell wall synthesis". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (16): 7825–7830. doi:10.1073/pnas.1816893116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 30940749.
  4. "Infosys Prize - Laureates 2019 - Manjula Reddy". www.infosys-science-foundation.com. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  5. "CCMB | Research-Group". www.ccmb.res.in. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  6. , "Process for identifying mutagens and antimutagens", issued 1998-10-19
  7. "CCMB | Patents". www.ccmb.res.in. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  8. "CCMB scientist Manjula Reddy wins 2019 Infosys Prize for Life Sciences". www.indiatvnews.com. 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  9. "Telangana Academy of Sciences (TAS) Hyderabad". www.tasc.org.in. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  10. "Editorial Board | Journal of Bacteriology". jb.asm.org. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  11. Interview with Infosys Award 2019 Winner - Smt. Manjula Reddy - CCMB - Trishakti - Acchamga Telugu, retrieved 2020-06-07
  12. Singh, Santosh Kumar; Parveen, Sadiya; SaiSree, L.; Reddy, Manjula (2015-09-01). "Regulated proteolysis of a cross-link–specific peptidoglycan hydrolase contributes to bacterial morphogenesis". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (35): 10956–10961. doi:10.1073/pnas.1507760112. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 26283368.
  13. Reddy, Manjula (2007-01-01). "Role of FtsEX in Cell Division of Escherichia coli: Viability of ftsEX Mutants Is Dependent on Functional SufI or High Osmotic Strength". Journal of Bacteriology. 189 (1): 98–108. doi:10.1128/JB.01347-06. ISSN 0021-9193. PMID 17071757.
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