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 Faculty Details
 Central University of Kerala
04 July 2026

Dr. K Sowjanya Sree


Brief Profile

Dr. K. Sowjanya Sree earned her Master’s degree (M.Sc. Plant Sciences) from University of Hyderabad in 2004 with a gold medal and Ph.D. from Andhra University in 2009 with Best Thesis Award. She is a recipient of the prestigious Max Planck- India mobility grant (2015-19). Dr. Sree’s research interests are focused on Duckweed research and applications and Integrated crop management. Basic research on duckweed molecular systematics, biodiversity, ecology and physiology (growth, flowering and stress) are the key areas.

77

Publications

3

Projects

2

Students

7

Courses Taught


...
Dr. K Sowjanya Sree
Assistant Professor
Department of Environmental Science
  04672309205
  [email protected]
 Personal Website
 Vidwan Profile
Academic Identity
 Google Scholar ID
 ORCID
 Scopus ID
 Researcher ID

 Research

Duckweed Research and Applications & Integrated crop management

Duckweed Research and Applications
Integrated crop management

 Education

DegreeCollege NameYear Of Passing
Ph.D.Andhra University2009

 Teaching & Research Guidance

    Level Of TeachingSubjects
    Post GraduateBiodiversity
    Post GraduateInstrumentation techniques
    Post GraduateFundamentals of Ecology and Environmental Science
    Post GraduateEnvironmental Microbiology
    Post GraduateEcotourism
    Post GraduateForestry
    Post GraduateNatural Resource Management

 Recent and Major Publications

    1. Manuela Bog, Klaus-Juergen Appenroth, Philipp Schneider, K Sowjanya Sree (2022). "Intraspecific Diversity in Aquatic Ecosystems: Comparison between Spirodela polyrhiza and Lemna minor in Natural Populations of Duckweed". Plants, 11, 7, 968

    2. K Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-J Appenroth (2022). "Starch accumulation in duckweeds (Lemnaceae) induced by nutrient deficiency.". Emirates Journal of Food & Agriculture (EJFA), 34, 3

    3. Nicholas P Tippery, Donald H Les, Klaus J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree, Daniel J Crawford, Manuela Bog (2021). "Lemnaceae and Orontiaceae are phylogenetically and morphologically distinct from Araceae". Plants, 10, 12, 2639

    4. Klaus-J Appenroth, Paul Ziegler, K Sowjanya Sree (2021). "Accumulation of starch in duckweeds (Lemnaceae), potential energy plants". Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants, 1-13

    5. Acosta K, Appenroth K-J, Borisjuk L, Edelman M, Heinig U, Jansen MAK, Oyama T, Pasaribu B, Schubert I, Sorrels S, Sree KS, Xu S, Michael TP and Lam E (2021). "Return of the Lemnaceae: Duckweed as a Model Plant System in the Genomics and Post-genomics Era". The Plant Cell, 33: 3207-3234

    6. Sree KS, Maheshwari SC, Appenroth K-J and Khurana JP (2021). "History of discovery of the fastest growing angiosperm, Wolffia microscopica (Griff.) Kurz, entwined with British India". Current Science, 121: 724-726

    7. Michael TP, Ernst E, Hartwick N, Chu P, Bryant D, Gilbert S, Ortleb S, Baggs EL, Sree KS, Appenroth K-J, Fuchs J, Jupe F, Sandoval JP, Krasileva KV, Borisjuk L, Mockler TC, Ecker JR, Martienssen RA and Lam E (2021). "Genome and time-of-day transcriptome of Wolffia australiana link morphological minimization with gene loss and less growth control". Genome research, 31: 225-238

    8. Klaus-J. Appenroth, Manuela Bog, K. Sowjanya Sree (2021). "Update of the morphological key for identification of duckweed species". Duckweed Forum, 9, 1, 2-4

    9. K. Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-J. Appenroth (2021). "Useful methods: International survey for duckweed stock cultivation". Duckweed Forum, 9, 2, 43-45

    10. K. Sowjanya Sree, Jitendra P. Khurana, Klaus-J. Appenroth (2021). "Research on Wolffia microscopica strengthened by Indo-German linkages". Duckweed Forum, 9, 3, 77-79

    11. Tejaswini Dash, Klaus-J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree (2021). "Microbial Symbionts of Aquatic Plants". Symbiotic Soil Microorganisms, 229-240

    12. Marvin Edelman, Klaus J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree (2020). "Duckweed: Biological Chemistry and Applications". Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 4, 615135

    13. Manuela Bog, Klaus J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree (2020). "Key to the determination of taxa of Lemnaceae: an update". Nordic Journal of Botany, 38, 8

    14. Ashwani Pareek, Vineet Soni, Sudhir K Sopory, Jitendra P Khurana, K Sowjanya Sree, Akhilesh K Tyagi, Sushila Narsimhan, Govindjee Govindjee (2020). "Satish Chandra Maheshwari (1933–2019)—a brilliant, passionate and an outstanding shining light for all of plant biology". Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants, 26, 6, 1087-1098

    15. Manuela Bog, K Sowjanya Sree, Joerg Fuchs, Phuong TN Hoang, Ingo Schubert, Jan Kuever, Andreas Rabenstein, Simona Paolacci, Marcel AK Jansen, Klaus‐J Appenroth (2020). "A taxonomic revision of Lemna sect. Uninerves (Lemnaceae)". Taxon, 69,1, 56-66

    16. KS Sree, K-J Appenroth (2020). "Worldwide genetic resources of duckweed: stock collections". The duckweed genomes, 39-46

    17. M Bog, S Xu, A Himmelbach, R Brandt, F Wagner, K-J Appenroth, KS Sree (2020). "Genotyping-by-Sequencing for Species Delimitation in Lemna Section Uninerves Hegelm. (Lemnaceae)". The duckweed genomes, 115-123

    18. Eric Lam, Klaus J. Appenroth, Yubin Ma, Tsipi Shoham, K. Sowjanya Sree (2020). "Registration of duckweed clones/strains-Future Approach". Duckweed Forum, 8, 2, 35-37

    19. Eric Lam, Klaus J. Appenroth, Yubin Ma, Tsipi Shoham, K. Sowjanya Sree (2020). "Discussion Forum: Registration of duckweed clones/strains-Suggestions by the ISCDRA". Duckweed Forum, 8, 1, 6-7

    20. K. Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-J. Appenroth (2020). "Useful methods: Herbarium of duckweed specimens". Duckweed Forum, 8, 1, 4-5

    21. Manuela Bog, Klaus J. Appenroth, K. Sowjanya Sree (2020). "What is the presently accepted constitution of family Lemnaceae?". Duckweed Forum, 8, 1, 2-3

    22. Klaus-J. Appenroth, Manuela Bog, K. Sowjanya Sree (2020). "Opinion: Taxonomic position of Wolffia brasiliensis within the family Lemnaceae remains unresolved". Duckweed Forum, 8, 3, 70-71

    23. Klaus-J. Appenroth, K. Sowjanya Sree (2020). "Historical Account: Lemna minor, clone 9441 – the oldest living duckweed clone in culture". Duckweed Forum, 8, 4, 100-101

    24. Manuela Bog, Klaus-J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree (2019). "Duckweed (Lemnaceae): its molecular taxonomy". Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 3,117

    25. Gerhard Jahreis, Klaus-J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree, Christine Dawczynski (2019). "Letter to original article by Kaplan et al. 2018-Protein bioavailability of Wolffia globosa duckweed, a novel aquatic plant, A randomized controlled trial". Clinical Nutrition, 38, 5, 2463

    26. K Sowjanya Sree, Hans-Martin Dahse, Jima N Chandran, Bernd Schneider, Gerhard Jahreis, Klaus J Appenroth (2019). "Duckweed for human nutrition: no cytotoxic and no anti-proliferative effects on human cell lines". Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 74, 2, 223-224

    27. Paul Ziegler, Kandregula Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-Jürgen Appenroth (2019). "Duckweed biomarkers for identifying toxic water contaminants?". Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26, 15, 14797-14822

    28. Shuqing Xu, Jessica Stapley, Saskia Gablenz, Justin Boyer, Klaus J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree, Jonathan Gershenzon, Alex Widmer, Meret Huber (2019). "Low genetic variation is associated with low mutation rate in the giant duckweed". Nature communications, 10,1, 1-6

    29. K. Sowjanya Sree, Satish C. Maheshwari (2019). "Historical account: William Griffith, Esq., F.L.S. (1810-1845)". Duckweed Forum, 7, 1, 8-12

    30. K. Sowjanya Sree, Satish C. Maheshwari, Klaus-J. Appenroth (2019). "Historical account: Christoph Friedrich Hegelmaier (1833-1906)". Duckweed Forum, 7, 3, 79-81

    31. Sudhir K. Sopory, Jitendra P. Khurana, Akhilesh K. Tyagi, K. Sowjanya Sree (2019). "Professor Satish C. Maheshwari (1933-2019)". Duckweed Forum, 7, 3, 76-78

    32. Klaus-J. Appenroth, K. Sowjanya Sree (2019). "Discussion Corner: What do we need in the near future?". Duckweed Forum, 7, 2, 57-58

    33. Klaus-J. Appenroth, K. Sowjanya Sree, Eric Lam (2019). "Discussion Forum: Registration of duckweed clones/strains". Duckweed Forum, 7, 4, 163-164

    34. Klaus-J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree, Manuela Bog, Josef Ecker, Claudine Seeliger, Volker Böhm, Stefan Lorkowski, Katrin Sommer, Walter Vetter, Karla Tolzin-Banasch, Rita Kirmse, Matthias Leiterer, Christine Dawczynski, Gerhard Liebisch, Gerhard Jahreis (2018). "Nutritional Value of the Duckweed Species of the Genus Wolffia (Lemnaceae) as Human Food". Frontiers in chemistry, 6, 483

    35. Manuela Bog, Maria F Landrock, Diana Drefahl, K Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-J Appenroth (2018). "Fingerprinting by amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and barcoding by three plastidic markers in the genus Wolffiella Hegelm". Plant Systematics and Evolution, 304, 3, 373-386

    36. Lili Fu, Meng Huang, Bingying Han, Xuepiao Sun, K Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-J Appenroth, Jiaming Zhang (2017). "Flower induction, microscope-aided cross-pollination, and seed production in the duckweed Lemna gibba with discovery of a male-sterile clone". Scientific reports, 7,1, 1-13

    37. Klaus-J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree, Volker Böhm, Simon Hammann, Walter Vetter, Matthias Leiterer, Gerhard Jahreis (2017). "Nutritional value of duckweeds (Lemnaceae) as human food". Food chemistry, 217, 266-273

    38. Paul Ziegler, Kandregula Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-Juergen Appenroth (2017). "The uses of duckweed in relation to water remediation.". Desalination and water treatment, 63, 327-342

    39. K. Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-J. Appenroth (2017). "Useful Methods 7: Cultivation, sterilization and stock cultivation of duckweeds; an update". Duckweed Forum, 5, 1, 42-44

    40. Klaus-J. Appenroth, K. Sowjanya Sree (2017). "Highlights in molecular biology of duckweeds (Lemnaceae)". Duckweed Forum, 5, 4, 86-89

    41. P Ziegler, KS Sree, K-J Appenroth (2016). "Duckweeds for water remediation and toxicity testing". Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry, 98, 10, 1127-1154

    42. K Sowjanya Sree, Manuela Bog, Klaus Juergen Appenroth (2016). "Taxonomy of duckweeds (Lemnaceae), potential new crop plants". Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, 291-302

    43. KJ Appenroth, P Ziegler, KS Sree (2016). "Duckweed as a model organism for investigating plant-microbe interactions in an aquatic environment and its applications". Endocytobiosis Cell Res, 27, 94, 106

    44. Klaus-J. Appenroth, K. Sowjanya Sree (2016). "Duckweed for human nutrition". Duckweed Forum, 4, 4, 313-314

    45. KS Sree, KJ Appenroth (2016). "Duckweed science and food excursion in Thailand". Duckweed Forum, 4, 3, 274-275

    46. Klaus-J Appenroth, K Sowjanya Sree, Tamra Fakhoorian, Eric Lam (2015). "Resurgence of duckweed research and applications: Report from the 3rd International Duckweed Conference". Plant molecular biology, 89, 6, 647-654

    47. K Sowjanya Sree, Sailendharan Sudakaran, Klaus-J Appenroth (2015). "How fast can angiosperms grow? Species and clonal diversity of growth rates in the genus Wolffia (Lemnaceae)". Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, 37, 10, 1-7

    48. K Sowjanya Sree, Áron Keresztes, Bernd Mueller-Roeber, Ronny Brandt, Matthias Eberius, Wolfgang Fischer, Klaus-J Appenroth (2015). "Phytotoxicity of cobalt ions on the duckweed Lemna minor–Morphology, ion uptake, and starch accumulation". Chemosphere, 131, 149-156

    49. K Sowjanya Sree, Kai Adelmann, Cyrus Garcia, Eric Lam, Klaus-J Appenroth (2015). "Natural variance in salt tolerance and induction of starch accumulation in duckweeds". Planta, 241, 6, 1395-1404

    50. Manuela Bog, Ulrich Lautenschlager, Maria F Landrock, Elias Landolt, Joerg Fuchs, K Sowjanya Sree, Christoph Oberprieler, Klaus-J Appenroth (2015). "Genetic characterization and barcoding of taxa in the genera Landoltia and Spirodela (Lemnaceae) by three plastidic markers and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP)". Hydrobiologia, 749, 1, 169-182

    51. K Sowjanya Sree, Satish C Maheshwari, Karoly Boka, Jitendra P Khurana, Áron Keresztes, Klaus-J Appenroth (2015). "The duckweed Wolffia microscopica: A unique aquatic monocot". Flora-Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants, 210, 31-39

    52. Yaliang Xu, Shuai Ma, Meng Huang, Ming Peng, Manuela Bog, K Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-J Appenroth, Jiaming Zhang (2015). "Species distribution, genetic diversity and barcoding in the duckweed family (Lemnaceae)". Hydrobiologia, 743,1, 75-87

    53. N Borisjuk, P Chu, R Gutierrez, H Zhang, K Acosta, N Friesen, KS Sree, C Garcia, KJ Appenroth, E Lam (2015). "Assessment, validation and deployment strategy of a two‐barcode protocol for facile genotyping of duckweed species". Plant Biology, 17, 42-49

    54. K Sowjanya Sree, Manchikatla Venkat Rajam (2015). "Genetic engineering strategies for biotic stress tolerance in plants". Plant Biology and Biotechnology, 611-622

    55. K Sowjanya Sree, Ajit Varma (2015). "Biocontrol of lepidopteran pests". Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, x

    56. K Sowjanya Sree, Hemesh Joshi (2015). "Comparative Account of Generalist and Specialist Species of the Entomopathogenic Fungus, Metarhizium". Biocontrol of Lepidopteran Pests, 161-167

    57. K Sowjanya Sree, V Padmaja (2015). "Optimization of the Cyclodepsipeptidic Destruxin Recovery from Broth Culture of Metarhizium anisopliae and Its Augmentation by Precursor Supplementation". Biocontrol of Lepidopteran Pests, 207-218

    58. K. Sowjanya Sree, Klaus-J. Appenroth (2015). "Useful methods 4: Stock cultivation of duckweed". Duckweed Forum, 4, 1, 216-217

    59. K Sowjanya Sree, Ajit Varma (2015). "An Overview of Some Culture Collections of Entomopathogenic Microorganisms in the World". Biocontrol of Lepidopteran Pests, 329-334

    60. K Sowjanya Sree, Ajit Varma (2015). "An Introduction to Entomopathogenic Microorganisms". Biocontrol of Lepidopteran Pests, 1-10

    61. Abhishek Ojha, K Sowjanya Sree, Bindiya Sachdev, MA Rashmi, KC Ravi, PJ Suresh, Komarlingam S Mohan, Raj K Bhatnagar (2014). "Analysis of resistance to Cry1Ac in field-collected pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), populations". GM crops & food, 5,4, 280-286

    62. K. SOWJANYA SREE, KLAUS-J. APPENROTH (2014). "Duckweed – a future crop plant for India? Part 2; http://post.jagran.com/duckweed-a-future-crop-plant-for-india-1396257399". x, x

    63. K. SOWJANYA SREE, KLAUS-J. APPENROTH (2014). "Duckweed – a future crop plant for India? Part 1; http://post.jagran.com/duckweed-a-future-crop-plant-for-india-1395487195". x, x

    64. K. SOWJANYA SREE, KLAUS-J. APPENROTH (2014). "Rediscovery of Wolffia microscopica (Griff.) Kurz; http://www.ruduckweed.org/uploads/1/0/8/9/10896289/iscdra_letter_3.pdf". x, x

    65. K Sowjanya Sree, Manjita Mishra, Aditya Saran, SK Singh, RK Sharma, KVSS Ram, Ajit Varma (2014). "Functions of Root Fungal Endophytes". Root Engineering, 193-201

    66. Binggan Lou, Bing Peng, Nianhang Rong, Yunqin Li, Hanmin Chen, K Sowjanya Sree, Qikang Gao, Ajit Varma (2014). "Root and root endophytes from the eyes of an electron microscopist". Root Engineering, 469-486

    67. K. SOWJANYA SREE, KLAUS-J. APPENROTH (2014). "Increase of starch accumulation in the duckweed Lemna minor under abiotic stress". Albanian journal of agricultural science, x

    68. Varma A, Sree KS, Arora M, Bajaj R, Prasad R, Kharkwal AC (2014). "Functions of novel symbiotic fungus Piriformospora indica". Proc Indian Nat Sci Acad., 80, 429-441

    69. KR Unnikumar, K Sowjanya Sree, Ajit Varma (2013). "Piriformospora indica: a versatile root endophytic symbiont". Symbiosis, 60,3, 107-113

    70. Neema Agrawal, Bindiya Sachdev, Janneth Rodrigues, K Sowjanya Sree, Raj K Bhatnagar (2013). "Development associated profiling of chitinase and microRNA of Helicoverpa armigera identified chitinase repressive microRNA". Scientific reports, 3,1, 1-6

    71. A Varma, I Sherameti, S Tripathi, R Prasad, A Das, M Sharma, M Bakshi, JM Johnson, S Bhardwaj, M Arora, K Rastogi, A Agrawal, AC Kharkwal, S Talukdar, US Bagde, VS Bisaria, CP Upadhyaya, PS Won, Y Chen, J Ma, B Lou, A Adya, L Zhang, MK Meghvansi, KS Sree, SK Gosal, RB Srivastava, AK Johri, M Kumar, M Dua, C Cruz, R Oelmüller (2012). "13 The Symbiotic Fungus Piriformospora indica". Fungal associations, 231-254

    72. Raj K Bhatnagar, K. Sowjanya Sree, Bindiya Sachdev (2011). "Going full circle". Biotech news, 6, 4-6, 140-142

    73. K Sowjanya Sree, Bindiya Sachdev, V Padmaja, Raj K Bhatnagar (2010). "Electron spin resonance spectroscopic studies of free radical generation and tissue specific catalase gene expression in Spodoptera litura (Fab.) larvae treated with the …". Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, 97, 3, 168-176

    74. K Sowjanya Sree, V Padmaja (2008). "Oxidative stress induced by destruxin from Metarhizium anisopliae (Metch.) involves changes in glutathione and ascorbate metabolism and instigates ultrastructural changes in …". Toxicon, 51, 7, 1140-1150

    75. K Sowjanya Sree, Vadlamani Padmaja, Yellajyohula LN Murthy (2008). "Insecticidal activity of destruxin, a mycotoxin from Metarhizium anisopliae (Hypocreales), against Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) larval stages". Pest Management Science: formerly Pesticide Science, 64, 2, 119-125

    76. K Sowjanya Sree, V Padmaja (2008). "Destruxin from Metarhizium anisopliae induces oxidative stress effecting larval mortality of the polyphagous pest Spodoptera litura". Journal of Applied Entomology, 132, 1, 68-78

    77. V. Padmaja, K. Sowjanya Sree (2008). "Role of mycotoxin from the entomopathogenic fungus, Metarhizium anisopliae for insect pest management- current status; In: Recent trends in insect pest management, Ignacimuthu …". x, 146-154


 Group Members

 Research Projects Undertaken

Project TitleProject TypeCommencement YearCompletion YearFunding Agency
UGC Start up grantMajor20172019UGC
Max Planck India Mobility GrantMajor20152019IGSTC and MPG, Germany
SERB Fast Track Young Scientist ProjectMajor20122015SERB

 Awards & Honours

 Patents

    None

 Miscellaneous

 Membership/Fellowship of other institutions/professionals societies :
 Student related co-curricular, extension and field based activities and counseling.
 Contribution to corporate sector-management of the department and institution through participation in academic and administration,committees and responsibilities.
 Other activities/Responsibilities :
 Any other relevant information, if not given above :

 Contact

Full Name
 Dr. K Sowjanya Sree
Address
 Room No. 311, Narmada Building, Department of Environmental Science, Central University of Kerala, Tejaswini Hills, Periye- 671320, Kerala, India
Telphone Number
(With STD Code)
 04672309205
PinCode
 671320