I was brought up on a small farm in Southern part of India, and I have come to find scientific research in Agricultural science as fascinating and rewarding. In particular, genetics and breeding of disease resistance have captured my interest, given that plant disease is a major threat to global food security. With a PhD from the University of Sydney, I started my scientific career as Postdoctoral fellow at the Cereal Rust Resistance team of CSIRO Agriculture & Food, Canberra and as a lead researcher and team member cloned five rust disease resistance genes in wheat. Further in collaboration with JIC, UK, identified a rapid resistance gene isolation technology called “MutRenSeq”. Currently, using the platform to isolate additional rust resistances aimed towards the development of gene cassettes for durable rust resistance. Through my Adjunct position at QAAFI, University of Queensland I actively take part in training next-generation researchers on the molecular genetics of cereal disease resistance.
Plant disease have emerged as a major threat to global food security particularly the rust disease that cause severe epidemics in the world food crop wheat. Through molecular genetic analysis, our research delivers molecular markers for rapid breeding of rust disease resistant wheat lines. Subsequently, the isolation of rust resistance genes using conventional and modern genetic approaches enable the understanding of the fundamental biology behind rust and wheat interaction.
Journal Article: A pathogen-induced putative NAC transcription factor mediates leaf rust resistance in barley
Chen, Chunhong, Jost, Matthias, Outram, Megan A., Friendship, Dorian, Chen, Jian, Wang, Aihua, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Bartoš, Jan, Holušová, Kateřina, Doležel, Jaroslav, Zhang, Peng, Bhatt, Dhara, Singh, Davinder, Lagudah, Evans, Park, Robert F. and Dracatos, Peter M. (2023). A pathogen-induced putative NAC transcription factor mediates leaf rust resistance in barley. Nature Communications, 14 (1) 5468. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41021-2
Journal Article: Editorial: Plant genetic and genomic resources for sustained crop improvement
Rangan, Parimalan, Henry, Robert, Wambugu, Peterson and Periyannan, Sambasivam (2023). Editorial: Plant genetic and genomic resources for sustained crop improvement. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1266698
Journal Article: The Keys to Controlling Wheat Rusts: Identification and Deployment of Genetic Resistance
Norman, Michael, Bariana, Harbans, Bansal, Urmil and Periyannan, Sambasivam (2023). The Keys to Controlling Wheat Rusts: Identification and Deployment of Genetic Resistance. Phytopathology®, 113 (4), 667-677. doi: 10.1094/phyto-02-23-0041-ia
Protecting wheat from rust diseases through transfer of genetic resistance from landraces
Doctor Philosophy
Molecular genetic characterisation of stripe rust resistance genes from Vavilov's wheat collection
(2020) Doctor Philosophy
Molecular genetic characterisation of triple rust resistance in Aegilops tauschiii
(2019) Doctor Philosophy
Generation of loss-of-function mutants for wheat rust disease resistance gene cloning
Mago, Rohit, Till, Bradley, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Yu, Guotai, Wulff, Brande B. H. and Lagudah, Evans (2017). Generation of loss-of-function mutants for wheat rust disease resistance gene cloning. In Sambasivam Periyannan (Ed.), Wheat rust diseases: methods and protocols (pp. 199-205) New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-7249-4_17
Isolation of wheat genomic DNA for gene mapping and cloning
Yu, Guotai, Hatta, Asyraf, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Lagudah, Evans and Wulff, Brande B. H. (2017). Isolation of wheat genomic DNA for gene mapping and cloning. In Sambasivam Periyannan (Ed.), Wheat rust diseases: methods and protocols (pp. 207-213) New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-7249-4_18
Periyannan, Sambasivam (2017). Preface. Wheat rust diseases: methods and protocols. (pp. V-V) edited by Sambasivam Periyannan. New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7249-4
A pathogen-induced putative NAC transcription factor mediates leaf rust resistance in barley
Chen, Chunhong, Jost, Matthias, Outram, Megan A., Friendship, Dorian, Chen, Jian, Wang, Aihua, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Bartoš, Jan, Holušová, Kateřina, Doležel, Jaroslav, Zhang, Peng, Bhatt, Dhara, Singh, Davinder, Lagudah, Evans, Park, Robert F. and Dracatos, Peter M. (2023). A pathogen-induced putative NAC transcription factor mediates leaf rust resistance in barley. Nature Communications, 14 (1) 5468. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-41021-2
Editorial: Plant genetic and genomic resources for sustained crop improvement
Rangan, Parimalan, Henry, Robert, Wambugu, Peterson and Periyannan, Sambasivam (2023). Editorial: Plant genetic and genomic resources for sustained crop improvement. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1266698
The Keys to Controlling Wheat Rusts: Identification and Deployment of Genetic Resistance
Norman, Michael, Bariana, Harbans, Bansal, Urmil and Periyannan, Sambasivam (2023). The Keys to Controlling Wheat Rusts: Identification and Deployment of Genetic Resistance. Phytopathology®, 113 (4), 667-677. doi: 10.1094/phyto-02-23-0041-ia
Editorial: Advances in crop resistance breeding using modern genomic tools
Huang, Lin, Li, Yinghui, Chen, Shisheng, Periyannan, Sambasivam and Fahima, Tzion (2023). Editorial: Advances in crop resistance breeding using modern genomic tools. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14 1143689, 1-3. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1143689
Harnessing adult-plant resistance genes to deploy durable disease resistance in crops
Dinglasan, Eric, Periyannan, Sambasivam and Hickey, Lee T. (2022). Harnessing adult-plant resistance genes to deploy durable disease resistance in crops. Essays in Biochemistry, 66 (5), 571-580. doi: 10.1042/ebc20210096
Haplotype variants of the stripe rust resistance gene Yr28 in Aegilops tauschii
Athiyannan, Naveenkumar, Zhang, Peng, McIntosh, Robert, Chakraborty, Soma, Hewitt, Timothy, Bhatt, Dhara, Forrest, Kerrie, Upadhyaya, Narayana, Steuernagel, Burkard, Arora, Sanu, Huerta, Julio, Hayden, Mathew, Wulff, Brande B. H., Ayliffe, Michael, Hickey, Lee T., Lagudah, Evans and Periyannan, Sambasivam (2022). Haplotype variants of the stripe rust resistance gene Yr28 in Aegilops tauschii. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 135 (12), 4327-4336. doi: 10.1007/s00122-022-04221-w
Haplotype variants of Sr46 in Aegilops tauschii, the diploid D genome progenitor of wheat
Athiyannan, Naveenkumar, Long, Yunming, Kang, Houyang, Chandramohan, Sutha, Bhatt, Dhara, Zhang, Qijun, Klindworth, Daryl L., Rouse, Matthew N., Friesen, Timothy L., McIntosh, Robert, Zhang, Peng, Forrest, Kerrie, Hayden, Mathew, Patpour, Mehran, Hovmøller, Mogens S., Hickey, Lee T., Ayliffe, Michael, Cai, Xiwen, Lagudah, Evans S., Periyannan, Sambasivam and Xu, Steven S. (2022). Haplotype variants of Sr46 in Aegilops tauschii, the diploid D genome progenitor of wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 135 (8), 2627-2639. doi: 10.1007/s00122-022-04132-w
Mining the Vavilov wheat diversity panel for new sources of adult plant resistance to stripe rust
Jambuthenne, Dilani T., Riaz, Adnan, Athiyannan, Naveenkumar, Alahmad, Samir, Ng, Wei Ling, Ziems, Laura, Afanasenko, Olga, Periyannan, Sambasivam K., Aitken, Elizabeth, Platz, Greg, Godwin, Ian, Voss-Fels, Kai P., Dinglasan, Eric and Hickey, Lee T. (2022). Mining the Vavilov wheat diversity panel for new sources of adult plant resistance to stripe rust. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 135 (4), 1355-1373. doi: 10.1007/s00122-022-04037-8
Hewitt, Tim, Müller, Marion C., Molnár, István, Mascher, Martin, Holušová, Kateřina, Šimková, Hana, Kunz, Lukas, Zhang, Jianping, Li, Jianbo, Bhatt, Dhara, Sharma, Raghvendra, Schudel, Seraina, Yu, Guotai, Steuernagel, Burkhard, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Wulff, Brande, Ayliffe, Mick, McIntosh, Robert, Keller, Beat, Lagudah, Evans and Zhang, Peng (2021). A highly differentiated region of wheat chromosome 7AL encodes a Pm1a immune receptor that recognizes its corresponding AvrPm1a effector from Blumeria graminis. New Phytologist, 229 (5), 2812-2826. doi: 10.1111/nph.17075
Hatta, M. Asyraf Md., Ghosh, Sreya, Athiyannan, Naveenkumar, Richardson, Terese, Steuernagel, Burkhard, Yu, Guotai, Rouse, Matthew N., Ayliffe, Michael, Lagudah, Evans S., Radhakrishnan, Guru V., Periyannan, Sambasivam K. and Wulff, Brande B. H. (2020). Extensive genetic variation at the sr22 wheat stem rust resistance gene locus in the grasses revealed through evolutionary genomics and functional analyses. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 33 (11), 1286-1298. doi: 10.1094/MPMI-01-20-0018-R
Resistance gene cloning from a wild crop relative by sequence capture and association genetics
Arora, Sanu, Steuernagel, Burkhard, Gaurav, Kumar, Chandramohan, Sutha, Long, Yunming, Matny, Oadi, Johnson, Ryan, Enk, Jacob, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Singh, Narinder, Asyraf Md Hatta, M., Athiyannan, Naveenkumar, Cheema, Jitender, Yu, Guotai, Kangara, Ngonidzashe, Ghosh, Sreya, Szabo, Les J., Poland, Jesse, Bariana, Harbans, Jones, Jonathan D. G., Bentley, Alison R., Ayliffe, Mick, Olson, Eric, Xu, Steven S., Steffenson, Brian J., Lagudah, Evans and Wulff, Brande B. H. (2019). Resistance gene cloning from a wild crop relative by sequence capture and association genetics. Nature Biotechnology, 37 (2), 139-143. doi: 10.1038/s41587-018-0007-9
Periyannan, Sambasivam (2017). Sustaining global agriculture through rapid detection and deployment of genetic resistance to deadly crop diseases. New Phytologist, 219 (1), 45-51. doi: 10.1111/nph.14928
Unlocking new alleles for leaf rust resistance in the Vavilov wheat collection
Riaz, Adnan, Athiyannan, Naveenkumar, Periyannan, Sambasivam K., Afanasenko, Olga, Mitrofanova, Olga P., Platz, Gregory J., Aitken, Elizabeth A. B., Snowdon, Rod J., Lagudah, Evans S., Hickey, Lee T. and Voss-Fels, Kai P. (2017). Unlocking new alleles for leaf rust resistance in the Vavilov wheat collection. TAG. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 131 (1), 127-144. doi: 10.1007/s00122-017-2990-5
Mining Vavilov’s treasure chest of wheat diversity for adult plant resistance to Puccinia triticina
Riaz, Adnan, Athiyannan, Naveenkumar, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Afanasenko, Olga, Mitrofanova, Olga, Aitken, Elizabeth A. B., Lagudah, Evans and Hickey, Lee T. (2017). Mining Vavilov’s treasure chest of wheat diversity for adult plant resistance to Puccinia triticina. Plant Disease, 101 (2), 317-323. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-05-16-0614-RE
Cytosolic activation of cell death and stem rust resistance by cereal MLA-family CC-NLR proteins
Cesari, Stella, Moore, John, Chen, Chunhong, Webb, Daryl, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Mago, Rohit, Bernoux, Maud, Lagudah, Evans S. and Dodds, Peter N. (2016). Cytosolic activation of cell death and stem rust resistance by cereal MLA-family CC-NLR proteins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113 (36), 10204-10209. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1605483113
Rapid cloning of disease-resistance genes in plants using mutagenesis and sequence capture
Steuernage, Burkhard, Periyannan, Sambasivam K., Hernandez-Pinzon, Inmaculada, Witek, Kamil, Rouse, Matthew N., Yu, Guotai, Hatta, Asyraf, Ayliffe, Mick, Bariana, Harbans, Jones, Jonathan D. G., Lagudah, Evans S. and Wulff, Brande B. H. (2016). Rapid cloning of disease-resistance genes in plants using mutagenesis and sequence capture. Nature Biotechnology, 34 (6), 652-655. doi: 10.1038/nbt.3543
A rapid phenotyping method for adult plant resistance to leaf rust in wheat
Riaz, Adnan, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Aitken, Elizabeth and Hickey, Lee (2016). A rapid phenotyping method for adult plant resistance to leaf rust in wheat. Plant Methods, 12 (17) 17, 1-10. doi: 10.1186/s13007-016-0117-7
A recently evolved hexose transporter variant confers resistance to multiple pathogens in wheat
Moore, John W., Herrera-Foessel, Sybil, Lan, Caixia, Schnippenkoetter, Wendelin, Ayliffe, Michael, Huerta-Espino, Julio, Lillemo, Morten, Viccars, Libby, Milne, Ricky, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Kong, Xiuying, Spielmeyer, Wolfgang, Talbot, Mark, Bariana, Harbans, Patrick, John W., Dodds, Peter, Singh, Ravi and Lagudah, Evans (2015). A recently evolved hexose transporter variant confers resistance to multiple pathogens in wheat. Nature Genetics, 47 (12), 1494-1498. doi: 10.1038/ng.3439
The wheat Sr50 gene reveals rich diversity at a cereal disease resistance locus
Mago, Rohit, Zhang, Peng, Vautrin, Sonia, Simkova, Hana, Bansal, Urmil, Luo, Ming-Cheng, Rouse, Matthew, Karaoglu, Haydar, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Kolmer, James, Jin, Yue, Ayliffe, Michael A., Bariana, Harbans, Park, Robert F., McIntosh, Robert, Dolezel, Jaroslav, Berges, Helene, Spielmeyer, Wolfgang, Lagudah, Evans S., Ellis, Jeff G. and Dodds, Peter N. (2015). The wheat Sr50 gene reveals rich diversity at a cereal disease resistance locus. Nature Plants, 1 (12) 15186. doi: 10.1038/NPLANTS.2015.186
Periyannan, Sambasivam, Bansal, Urmil, Bariana, Harbans, Deal, Karin, Luo, Ming-Cheng, Dvorak, Jan and Lagudah, Evans (2014). Identification of a robust molecular marker for the detection of the stem rust resistance gene Sr45 in common wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 127 (4), 947-955. doi: 10.1007/s00122-014-2270-6
Periyannan, Sambasivam K., Qamar, Zia U., Bansal, Urmil K. and Bariana, Harbans S. (2014). Development and validation of molecular markers linked with stem rust resistance gene Sr13 in durum wheat. Crop & Pasture Science, 65 (1), 74-79. doi: 10.1071/CP13325
The gene Sr33, an ortholog of barley Mla genes, encodes resistance to wheat stem rust race Ug99
Periyannan, Sambasivam, Moore, John, Ayliffe, Michael, Bansal, Urmil, Wang, Xiaojing, Huang, Li, Deal, Karin, Luo, Mingcheng, Kong, Xiuying, Bariana, Harbans, Mago, Rohit, McIntosh, Robert, Dodds, Peter, Dvorak, Jan and Lagudah, Evans (2013). The gene Sr33, an ortholog of barley Mla genes, encodes resistance to wheat stem rust race Ug99. Science, 341 (6147), 786-788. doi: 10.1126/science.1239028
A simple method for comparing fungal biomass in infected plant tissues
Ayliffe, Michael, Periyannan, Sambasivam K., Feechan, Angela, Dry, Ian, Schumann, Ulrike, Wang, Ming-Bo, Pryor, Anthony and Lagudah, Evans (2013). A simple method for comparing fungal biomass in infected plant tissues. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, 26 (6), 658-667. doi: 10.1094/MPMI-12-12-0291-R
Lr68: a new gene conferring slow rusting resistance to leaf rust in wheat
Herrera-Foessel, Sybil A., Singh, Ravi P., Huerta-Espino, Julio, Rosewarne, Garry M., Periyannan, Sambasivam K., Viccars, Libby, Calvo-Salazar, Violeta, Lan, Caixia and Lagudah, Evans S. (2012). Lr68: a new gene conferring slow rusting resistance to leaf rust in wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 124 (8), 1475-1486. doi: 10.1007/s00122-012-1802-1
Periyannan, Sambasivam K., Bansal, Urmil K., Bariana, Harbans S., Pumphrey, Michael and Lagudah, Evans S. (2011). A robust molecular marker for the detection of shortened introgressed segment carrying the stem rust resistance gene Sr22 in common wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 122 (1), 1-7. doi: 10.1007/s00122-010-1417-3
Protecting wheat from rust diseases through transfer of genetic resistance from landraces
Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Accelerating rust disease resistance gene discovery in wheat through comparative genomics
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Molecular genetic analysis of rust disease resistance in wheat using cutting-edge technologies
Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors:
Molecular genetic characterisation of stripe rust resistance genes from Vavilov's wheat collection
(2020) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Molecular genetic characterisation of triple rust resistance in Aegilops tauschiii
(2019) Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor
Other advisors:
Unlocking new sources of adult plant resistance to wheat leaf rust
(2018) Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor
Other advisors: