Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi

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Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi
Born (1955-07-13) July 13, 1955 (age 69)
Johor Baru
Alma mater University College London
Scientific career
Thesis Chromosome mapping of 'Pseudomonas aeruginosa' PAC  (1983)

Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi (born July 13, 1955) is a Malaysian biochemist and scientific researcher at the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. She established the Advanced Biotechnology and Breeding Centre, which were the first to decode the genome of oil palm. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2025.

Contents

Early life and education

Sambanthamurthi was born in Johor Bahru. [1] She studied biochemistry at the University of Malaya, and moved to the United Kingdom in 1979. Sambanthamurthi completed her doctoral research at University College London, where she performed chromosome mapping of pseudomonas aeruginosa. [2]

Research and career

Sambanthamurthi is the Founding Director of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board Advanced Biotechnology and Breeding Centre. Here she established the Oil Palm Genome Project, which looked to enhance the profitability of oil palm plantations. [3] The Oil Palm Genome Project decoded the genome of oil palm. [3] She identified the SHELL gene, which regulates thickness of the fruit shell, which impacts oil yield. [4] By testing for SHELL DNA,

By performing epigenome-wide association studies of Elaeis guineensis , Sambanthamurthi described the 'mantled' abnormality oil palm fruit, where differentiated somatic cells (somaclonal variation) result in reduced yields. [5]

Sambanthamurthi was the first researcher based in Malaysia to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. [1]

Awards and honours

Select publications

References

  1. 1 2 Times, New Straits (2025-05-21). "Malaysian scientist elected to prestigious Royal Society in UK | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  2. ↑ "Chromosome mapping of 'Pseudomonas aeruginosa' PAC | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  3. 1 2 "Bittersweet Harvest : The Oil Palm as a Source of Controversy and Sustainability". akademisains.gov.my. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  4. ↑ Singh, Rajinder; Low, Eng-Ti Leslie; Ooi, Leslie Cheng-Li; Ong-Abdullah, Meilina; Ting, Ngoot-Chin; Nagappan, Jayanthi; Nookiah, Rajanaidu; Amiruddin, Mohd Din; Rosli, Rozana; Manaf, Mohamad Arif Abdul; Chan, Kuang-Lim; Halim, Mohd Amin; Azizi, Norazah; Lakey, Nathan; Smith, Steven W. (2013-08-15). "The oil palm SHELL gene controls oil yield and encodes a homologue of SEEDSTICK". Nature. 500 (7462): 340–344. Bibcode:2013Natur.500..340S. doi:10.1038/nature12356. ISSN   1476-4687. PMC   4209285 . PMID   23883930.
  5. ↑ Ong-Abdullah, Meilina; Ordway, Jared M.; Jiang, Nan; Ooi, Siew-Eng; Kok, Sau-Yee; Sarpan, Norashikin; Azimi, Nuraziyan; Hashim, Ahmad Tarmizi; Ishak, Zamzuri; Rosli, Samsul Kamal; Malike, Fadila Ahmad; Bakar, Nor Azwani Abu; Marjuni, Marhalil; Abdullah, Norziha; Yaakub, Zulkifli (2015-09-24). "Loss of Karma transposon methylation underlies the mantled somaclonal variant of oil palm". Nature. 525 (7570): 533–537. Bibcode:2015Natur.525..533O. doi:10.1038/nature15365. ISSN   1476-4687. PMC   4857894 . PMID   26352475.
  6. 1 2 3 "Honours & Awards". Mysite. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  7. ↑ Lao, Nazmi (2024-12-30). "ASM Fellows Elected as TWAS 2025 Fellows - ASM FOCUS". akademisains.gov.my. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  8. ↑ Lao, Nazmi (2023-07-20). "ASM FAScinate Series 2/2023 - ASM FOCUS". akademisains.gov.my. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  9. ↑ "Fellow Detail Page | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
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