Dr. Vignesh Mohanavel | Plant Biotechnology | Best Researcher Award
Research Fellow at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India
π Education
πΌ Experience
Dr. Vignesh Mohanavel has substantial research experience in plant biotechnology, particularly in rice stress tolerance. Since October 2023, he has been working as a Senior Research Fellow at TNAU in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-sponsored project on biostimulant efficacy. His Ph.D. research, supervised by Dr. M. Raveendran at TNAU, focused on marker-assisted breeding for multiple stress tolerance in rice. During his postgraduate studies, he conducted salinity screening research under the guidance of Dr. S. Murugan. His skill set includes molecular techniques such as DNA and RNA extraction, PCR, SDS-PAGE, gene cloning, plant transformation, and tissue culture. He is also experienced in phenotyping rice under various biotic and abiotic stresses. In addition, Dr. Vignesh is proficient in bioinformatics tools, genome-wide association studies, and metabolomic and proteomic techniques such as HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS, and MALDI-TOF. His work bridges field research and lab-based molecular approaches for improving crop resilience.
π Awards and Honors
Dr. Vignesh Mohanavel has received multiple awards in recognition of his research contributions. He won the Best Poster Presentation Award in 2018 for his work on salinity tolerance in sesame genotypes during a UGC-sponsored seminar at Annamalai University. He was honored again with the Best Poster Award in 2024 at TNAU for his work on marker-assisted pyramiding of drought, submergence, and blast resistance genes in rice. He received a similar award during National Science Day 2025 at TNAU. In 2024, he was conferred the Young Researcher Award by the Institute of Scholars. Dr. Vignesh has also been recognized with Reviewer Recognition Awards from both Elsevier and Springer Nature for his valuable contributions to scientific peer review. His honors reflect a consistent record of excellence in agricultural biotechnology and his active engagement in scholarly communication and research dissemination at both national and institutional levels.
π¬ Research Focus
Dr. Vignesh Mohanavelβs research focuses on the genetic improvement of rice through molecular plant breeding and marker-assisted selection. He works on identifying and integrating resistance genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for key biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, submergence, bacterial leaf blight, blast, and brown plant hopper. His goal is to develop elite rice lines with improved resilience and productivity. His expertise includes phenotyping, DNA and RNA isolation, PCR, gene cloning, plant tissue culture, and transformation techniques. In addition to wet lab techniques, he uses advanced bioinformatics tools for genome-wide association studies, haplotype analysis, and trait mapping. He also applies metabolomics and proteomics approaches, including HPLC, GC-MS, LC-MS, MALDI-TOF, and two-dimensional protein profiling. Dr. Vigneshβs interdisciplinary research integrates genomics, phenomics, and biochemical profiling, aiming to develop climate-resilient crops and support sustainable agriculture in the face of global food security challenges.
πPublications
-
Marker assisted pyramiding of major brown plant hopper resistance genes in an elite culture CBMAS14065
Year: 2023
Authors: M Vignesh, M Valarmathi, P Rakshana, A Bharathi, KR Dilip, M Sudha, β¦
Citations: 14 -
Evaluation of black gram genotypes for saline tolerance at seedling stage
Year: 2019
Authors: B Priyadharshini, M Vignesh, M Prakash, R Anandan
Citations: 14 -
Marker-assisted breeding accelerates the development of multiple-stress-tolerant rice genotypes adapted to wider environments
Year: 2024
Authors: V Mohanavel, V Muthu, R Kambale, R Palaniswamy, P Seeli, B Ayyenar, β¦
Citations: 8 -
Relationship between biometric and biophysical parameters with yield in traditional rice varieties in coastal saline belts of Tamil Nadu
Year: 2019
Authors: M Prakash, M Vignesh
Citations: 8 -
Developing early morning flowering version of rice variety CO 51 to mitigate the heat-induced yield loss
Year: 2023
Authors: B Ayyenar, R Kambale, S Duraialagaraja, S Manickam, V Mohanavel, β¦
Citations: 6 -
Comparison of Methods for Genomic Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Extraction Suitable for Whole-Genome Genotyping in Traditional Varieties of Rice
Year: 2019
Authors: B Priyadharshini, M Vignesh, M Prakash, R Anandan
Citations: 6 -
Haplotype and diversity analysis of indigenous rice for salinity tolerance in early-stage seedling using simple sequence repeat markers
Year: 2021
Authors: V Mohanavel, A Selvam Yesudhas, A Sharma, A Ramasamy, PMA Samy, β¦
Citations: 5 -
Estimation of morphological and molecular genetic diversity in blackgram [Vigna mungo (L.) Hepper] under YMV hotspot regime
Year: 1970 (likely an error; possibly meant to be recent)
Authors: S Jeevitha, R Karthikeyan, M Vignesh, A Malarkodi, R Tirumalai, AJ Nainu, β¦
Citations: 5