Brief Profile
Prof. Aswati joined the Central University of Kerala (CUK) in 2016, bringing with her nearly a decade of teaching and research experience (2007–2016) from national institutions, including as CSIR-Research Associate at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) and regular faculty positions at Goa University and National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut. She holds an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Cochin University of Science and Technology (II rank) and a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram. Recipient of national fellowships including CSIR-JRF (amongst top 20% of qualifiers), GATE and ARS-NET, her Ph.D. research earned the Young Scientist Award (Kerala Science Congress, 2005), the Dr. T.R. Sahu Award (IAAT, 2004) besides also making presentation at international symposium (Singapore, 2006) supported by a bursary grant.
Since joining CUK, she has been awarded the INSA-RSE (Royal Society of Edinburgh) bilateral exchange program (2018) for a research visit to the University of Dundee and was also invited to present her work at a CEFIPRA-sponsored Indo-French workshop at INSA, Lyon (2025). She has successfully completed six research projects as Principal Investigator, funded by DBT, DST, NITC-FRG and KSCSTE; with the DBT- and KSCSTE-sponsored projects being multi-institutional, in collaboration with RGCB and JNTBGRI, respectively.
Prof. Aswati’s research focuses on plant–microbe interactions to develop sustainable strategies for disease management, including:
• Investigating molecular defense mechanisms against necrotrophic pathogens
• Characterizing endophyte and host metabolite diversity to identify safe alternatives
• Evaluating cytotoxicity of broad-spectrum fungicides to develop ameliorative strategies
Prof. Aswati’s translational research earned her the Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG-12) from BIRAC for developing a novel biopesticide, resulting in a granted patent and trademark. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers and mentored six Ph.D. scholars, along with supervising numerous B.Tech and postgraduate dissertations. She has coordinated multiple international and national conferences and contributed to academic leadership at CUK, including roles as Presiding Officer of the Internal Complaints Committee (2018–21) and Head of Department (2022–25).
Recent and Major Publications
- Aswati Nair R*, Geethu C [*Corresponding Author],"Improving operational stability of thermostable Pythium myriotylum secretory serine protease by preparation of cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs).",Preparative Biochemistry and Biotechnology,50(2): 107- 115
- Aswati R Nair*, Sharmila R [*Corresponding Author],"Anti-Pythium activity of ZzAMP, a serine protease inhibitor (SPI) from Zingiber zerumbet rhizome mediated by zoospore binding and oxidative stress.",European Journal of Plant Pathology,https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-022-02549-z
- Keerthi D, Harsha K, Harshitha K, Aswati R Nair* [*Corresponding Author],"Potential of Zingiber zerumbet endophytic Fusarium oxysporum as biopriming agents to control Pythium mediated soft-rot and optimization of fermentation conditions for cytotoxic metabolite(s) production.",Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology,doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13562-022-00793-2
- Sharmila R, Harshitha K, Aswati R Nair* [*Corresponding Author],"Anti-microbial and cytotoxic activity of ZzAMP, a serine protease inhibitor (SPI) with nutraceutical potential from rhizomes of medicinal plant, Zingiber zerumbet.",Natural Product Research,doi: 10.1080/14786419.2022.2032046
- Saranya G, Sruthi D, Jayakumar KS, Jiby MV, Aswati R Nair, Padmesh Pillai P, Jayabaskaran C,"Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) arm of catecholamine pathway catalyzes the conversion of L-tyrosine to L-DOPA in Mucuna pruriens (L) DC var. pruriens: An integrated pathway analysis using field grown and in vitro callus cultures.",Plant Physiology and Biochemistry,166: 1032- 1043
- Aswati Nair R*, Ganapathy G, Harshitha K [*Corresponding Author],"Polyphenolic characteristics, antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of Zingiber neesanum (Graham) Ramamoorthy rhizomes and identification of volatile metabolites by GC-MS analysis.",Natural Product Research,35(17): 2947- 2951
- Princy P, Keerthi D, Harsha K, Aswati Nair R* [*Corresponding Author],"Endophytic Bacillus spp. from Zingiber zerumbet rhizome, rhizosphere and axenic cultures: Characterization and identification of isolates with plant growth promoting activities and antagonism to soft-rot causative Pythium myriotylum.",Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection,54(19): 2007- 2022
- Harsha K, R. Aswati Nair* and Tejaswini G [*Corresponding Author],"Identification of Fusarium oxysporum as causative agent of rhizome rot disease in seed ginger rhizomes in Wayanad, Kerala",Indian Phytopathology,74 (1): 253- 256
- Harsha K, R. Aswati Nair* [*Corresponding Author],"Volatile metabolites of endophytic Klebsiella aerogenes from Zingiber zerumbet rhizome and its antagonistic effect on soft rot causative Pythium myriotylum.",J Spices and Aromatic Crops,29(2): 122-132
- Meghana NK, Navya R, Harsha K and R. Aswati Nair* [*Corresponding Author],"Isolation and characterization of extracellular L-Asparaginase producing Bacillus species from Morinda citrifolia phyllosphere.",J of Plant Science and Research,7(2): 1- 5
- Aswati R Nair*, Ganapathy G [*Corresponding Author],"Untargeted Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry analysis and evaluation of antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of Zingiber nimmonii (J. Graham) Dalzell rhizome extracts.",Pharmacognosy Research,12(4): 466- 470
- Harshitha K, Aswati Nair R* [*Corresponding Author],"Evaluation of DNA methylation changes by CRED–RA analysis following Prednisone treatment of endophyte, Fusarium oxysporum.",Indian J Microbiol,60: 254- 258
- Sharmila Raj, Aswati R Nair*, Princy P [*Corresponding Author],"Antimicrobial peptide (AMP) from Zingiber zerumbet rhizomes with inhibitory effect on Pythium myriotylum secretory proteases and zoospore viability.",World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology,36: 77
- Aswati Nair R*, Keerthi D, Padmesh P [*Corresponding Author],"Evidence for Methylerythritol pathway (MEP) contributions to zerumbone biosynthesis as revealed by expression analysis of regulatory genes and metabolic inhibitor studies.[Cover Page Article]",Plant Molecular Biology Reporter,38: 370- 379
- Princy P, Aswati Nair R*, Keerthi D, Ganapathy G [*Corresponding Author],"Evaluating type III polyketide synthase (PKS) and terpene synthase (TPS) expression in incompatible interactions of Zingiber zerumbet to Pythium myriotylum Drechsler.",Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection,52(15-16): 1161- 1176
- Ganapathy G, Aswati Nair R* [*Corresponding Author],"Curcuminoids in Zingiber zerumbet rhizomes: Bioguided fractionation and chromatographic identification of antimicrobial and antioxidant metabolites.",Journal of Herbs, Spices & Medicinal Plants,23(2): 169-181
- Keerthi D, Aswati Nair R* and Prasath D [*Corresponding Author],"Molecular phylogenetics and anti-Pythium activity of endophytes from rhizomes of wild ginger congener, Zingiber zerumbet Smith.",World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology,32(3):41
- Resmi L, Aswati Nair R and Ashalatha S Nair,"Population genetic structure and diversity analysis of South Indian banana cultivars.",J of Plant Breeding and Crop Science,8(1): 1-12
- Ganapathy G, Keerthi D, Aswati Nair R*and Padmesh Pillai [*Corresponding Author],"Correlation of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and tyrosine ammonia lyase (TAL) activities to phenolics and curcuminoid content in ginger and its wild congener, Zingiber zerumbet following Pythium myriotylum infection.",European Journal of Plant Pathology,145(4): 777- 785
- Aswati Nair R*, Geethu C, Amit Sangwan and Padmesh P [*Corresponding Author],"Sequence and bioinformatic analysis of family 1 glycoside hydrolase (GH) 1 gene from the oomycete, Pythium myriotylum Drechsler.",Appl Biochem Biotechnol,176(3): 772- 781
- Aswati Nair R* and Geethu C [*Corresponding Author],"Purification and characterization of secretory serine protease from necrotrophic oomycete, Pythium myriotylum Dreschler.",World J Microbiol. Biotechnol.,31: 85- 94
- Jayakumar KS, Sajan JS, Aswati Nair R, Padmesh Pillai P, Deepu S, Padmaja R, Agarwal A and Pandurangan AG,"Corosolic acid content and SSR markers in Lagerstroemia speciosa L. Pers: a comparative analysis among populations across the Southern Western Ghats of India.",Phytochemistry,106: 94-103
- Padmesh Pillai P and Aswati Nair R,"Hypericin biosynthesis in Hypericum hookerianum- Investigation on biochemical pathways using metabolite inhibitors and suppression subtractive hybridization.",Comptes Rendus Biologies,337: 571–580
- Geetu C and Aswati Nair R* [*Corresponding Author],"Purification and biochemical characterization of an extracellular endoglucanase from the necrotrophic oomycete, Pythium myriotylum Dreschler.",J Basic Microbiology,54(12):1322-30
- Keerthi D, Geethu C, Aswati Nair R*, Padmesh Pillai [*Corresponding Author],"Metabolic profiling of Zingiber zerumbet following Pythium myriotylum infection: Investigations on the defensive role of the principal secondary metabolite, Zerumbone.",Appl Biochem Biotechnol,172(5): 2593-2603
- Geethu C, Resna AK and Aswati Nair R* [*Corresponding Author],"Characterization of major hydrolytic enzymes secreted by Pythium myriotylum, causative agent for soft rot disease.",Antonie van Leeuwenhoek J of Microbiology,104(5): 749-757
- Aswati Nair R* and George Thomas [*Corresponding author],"Molecular characterization of ZzR1 resistance gene from Zingiber zerumbet with potential for imparting Pythium aphanidermatum resistance in ginger.",Gene,516(1), 58-65
- Geethu C, Sumna S, Resna AK and Aswati Nair R* [*Corresponding Author],"Hyphal and zoospore lysis underlies the mechanistic basis for inhibitory effect of paromomycin on Pythium myriotylum.",Fungal Genomics and Biology,3: 1
- Aswati Nair R* and George Thomas [*Corresponding author],"Functional genetic diversity at nucleotide binding site (NBS) loci: Comparisons among soft rot resistant and susceptible Zingiber taxa.",Biochemical Systematics and Ecology,44, 196-201
- Geethu Elizabeth Thomas, Aswati Nair R*, Sabu M and George Thomas [*Corresponding author],"Molecular evolution of a PR-5 protein gene in Zingiber species with contrasting breeding systems.",ACM Digital Library,Article No.45: pp: 1-4
- Aswati Nair R, Kiran AG, Sivakumar KC and George Thomas,"Molecular Characterization of an Oomycete-Responsive PR-5 Protein Gene from Zingiber zerumbet.",Plant Molecular Biology Reporter,28, 128- 135
- Aswati Nair R* and George Thomas [*Corresponding author],"Isolation, characterization, diversity analysis and expression studies of resistance gene candidates (RGCs) from Zingiber spp.",Theoretical and Applied Genetics,116, 123- 134
- Aswati Nair R and George Thomas,"Evaluation of resistance gene (R-gene) specific primer sets and characterization of resistance gene candidates in ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.).",Current Science,93(1) 61-66
- Shaffiqu TS., Jegan Roy R, Aswati Nair R, Emilia Abraham T,"Degradation of textile dyes mediated by plant peroxidases.",Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology,102-103, Issue 1-6, 315-326
- Aswati Nair R, Biju MP, Paulose CS,"Effect of pyridoxine and insulin on brain glutamate dehydrogenase activity in streptozotocin - induced diabetic rats.",Biochimica et Biophysica Acta- General Subjects,1381, 351-354
Research Projects Undertaken
Expression studies of resistance gene candidate sequences (RGCs) identified from Zingiber spp.
KSCSTE- Short Research Scheme (SRS)
KSCSTE- Short Research Scheme (SRS) (PI)
Molecular cloning and characterization of terpene synthase involved in zerumbone biosynthesis from Zingiber zerumbet.
DST- Fast Track
Elicitor identification from Pythium aphanidermatum, a causative agent of soft rot disease and antifungal mechanism of the sesquiterpene, zerumbone.
Faculty Research Grant (FRG)- NITC
Molecular and functional characterization of putative ZzR1 resistance gene from Zingiber zerumbet, a wild relative of ginger.
Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
Transcript profiling of differentially expressed gene(s) involved in the downstream step(s) leading to artemisinin biosynthesis on GA3 induction.
KSCSTE- KBC (Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment- Kerala Biotechnology Commission)
Metabolic and transcriptional responses in endophytic fungus Fusarium oxysporum to epigenetic modulations: Exploring pleiotropic biosynthesis of natural products.
DST-ECR
DST-ECR (PI)- couldn't initiate due to DST-EMR project in operation
Endophytes and hairy root culture: a concerted effort for biosprospecting novel sources for the anticancer sesquiterpenoid, zerumbone.
DST-SERB
Development of biopesticides for soft-rot disease management
Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)- BIG-12
Biotechnology Ignition Grant-12 (Innovator) [BIRAC]
Profiling of beneficial rhizobacteria-induced epigenetic response and genomic stability in plants.
DST-SERB
Isolation and characterization of cyclotides from flowering plants of Western Ghats, Kerala
Department of Science and Technology (DST)-TARE
Books / Chapters
Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2020). Plant Metabolites- Methods, Applications and Prospects, Springer, 978-981-15-5135-2Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2020). Transgenic Technology Based Value Addition in Plant Biotechnology, Academic Press, 978-0-12-818632-9Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2017). Bioresources and Bioprocesses in Biotechnology, Springer, 978-981-10-3571-5Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2013). Prospects in Bioscience: Addressing the issues., Springer, 978-81-322-0809-9Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2013). Modern Biotechnology and its Applications, New India Publishing, 9789381450833Chapter(s) - Co-Author, (2007). Recent Trends in Horticultural Biotechnology, New India Publishing Agency, New Delhi, 81-89422-59-6
Awards & Honours
- Honour - Editorial Board: Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Pathology [Publisher: Taylor and Francis]
- Honour - Featured in Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), Govt. of Kerala, Compendium [1989- 2011] on "Women Achievers in Science" in Biotechnology
- Awards - University II Rank; M. Sc Biotechnology [1998]
- Awards - Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board/National Eligibility Test (ASRB/NET) for Lectureship /Assistant Professorship [1998]
- Awards - Lectureship (University Grant Commission) [1998, 1999]
- Awards - GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering), MHRD, Govt. of India, 91.61 percentile score [1999]
- Awards - CSIR– Junior Research Fellowship (selected in top 20% of the qualifiers) [2000]
- Awards - Dr. T. R. Sahu award for best paper (oral presentation) in Medicinal Plant Systematics in XIV Annual Conference of IAAT [2004]
- Awards - Young Scientist Award (Biotechnology) in XVII Kerala Science Congress, Govt. of Kerala [2005]
- Awards - CSIR Travel grant (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, GoI) for attending 4th International Symposium on the family Zingiberaceae, Singapore [2006]
- Awards - Indian National Science Academy- Royal Society of Edinburgh (INSA-RSE) Bilateral exchange program for visiting University of Dundee, Scotland [2018]
- Awards - BIG-12 grant as BIG Innovator (with funding from BIRAC, Govt. of India) [2019]
Miscellaneous
| Membership/Fellowship of other institutions/professionals societies : |
Society for Biotechnologists, India
Biotech Research Society, India (BRSI)
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| Student related co-curricular, extension and field based activities and counseling. |
NSS Program Officer [2016-18]
Presiding officer, Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) [2018-21]
Cultural Coordinator [2018- till date]
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| Contribution to corporate sector-management of the department and institution through participation in academic and administration,committees and responsibilities.
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Member, Academic Council, CUK
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| Other activities/Responsibilities : |
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| Any other relevant information, if not given above : |
A patent granted from Indian Patent Office (with CUK affiliation) on Development of a Biopesticide formulation
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Teaching & Research Guidance
- Biotechnology:Under Graduate
- Intermediary Metabolism:Post Graduate
- Genomics:Post Graduate
- Structural Biology:Post Graduate
- Microbiology:Post Graduate
- Plant Biochemistry:Post Graduate
- Industrial Enzymes:Post Graduate
- Metabolism II:Post Graduate
- MSc Dissertation:Research Guidance