Boominathan Mohanasundaram: Plant Physiology First Author

Boominathan Mohanasundaram, first author of “The unique bryophyte-specific repeat-containing protein SHORT-LEAF regulates gametophore development in moss”

Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate at Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, MO, USA

Education: PhD in Biology at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER-Pune),

Non-scientific Interests: Hiking, moss hunting and terrarium maintenance

Brief bio: My passion for plants led me to the Bachelor’s degree program at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), India, where I got first-hand experience with many crop plants and their cultivation practices. With a competitive fellowship from CSIR, India, I worked under the guidance of Prof. Anjan K Banerjee, IISER-Pune, India. With all the freedom from Anjan, we performed a forward genetics screen on the model moss Physcomitrium patens and scored for many phenotypes, which introduced me to the extraordinary abilities of plants to respond to complex environments. This led to the identification of a unique protein family “SHORT LEAF” (discussed in this paper), which never ceases to amaze me. After graduation, I moved to Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, USA, where I am currently working as a Postdoctoral Associate with Dr. Sona Pandey to further explore the phenotypic responses of mosses to different abiotic factors.