Focus of Research :
- Marine fish microbiome
- Marine microbiology and immunology
- Aquatic animal health and disease management
Background :
I have a professional experience in microbiology for more than 10 years. I have been working on various aspects of fish health, marine pathogen characterization, and developing aquatic health management strategies to augment mariculture production since 2016. Detailed profiling of many economically important bacterial, viral and parasitic pathogens causing mortalities in cultured marine fishes has been documented in several peer-reviewed international journals. Further, we are analysing and functional profiling the symbiotic microbes associated with commercially significant marine animals. We have optimized the methods for profiling the microbiome, and various biochemical and immunological functions in marine animals and routinely using them to evaluate different stressors in cultural practices. In addition, integrated research exploring microbiome-immunity-genome interactions for the precise identification of the critical microbes and development of the optimal microbial/immunity manipulation strategies for marine fish larvae is one of the major works involved by our team presently.
Education :
- PhD 2013 Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar, UP
- MVSc 2010, Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar, UP
- BVSc & AH 2008 Kerala Agricultural University
Current Research Projects :
| No. | Title | Funded by |
| 1. | Health management in selected finfish and shellfish & bio-prospecting from marine resources (MBT/HLT/23) | ICAR-CMFRI |
| 2. | All India Network Project on Fish Health | ICAR |
| 3. | Network project on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in microorganisms associated with fisheries and aquaculture in India | ICAR |
| 4. | Nutrition and Nutrigenomic Research for Mariculture and Marine Fisheries | ICAR-CMFRI |
| 5. | Development of hatchery technologies for commercially important species in mariculture | ICAR-CMFRI |
| 6. | National Surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases Phase II | DAHDF & NFDB |
| 7. | Dr. E. G. Silas Centre of Excellence and Innovations (EGS - CoEI) in Marine Fish Microbiome and Nutrigenomics" | DBT |
Awards & Recognitions :
- Best student award (Gold medal) for PhD in IVRI, Izatnagar during 2012-2013
- Best student award (Silver medal) for MVSc in IVRI during 2009-2010
- Gold Medal of KAU for BVSc & A.H. Degree Programme
- Academic Excellence Award (X-CEFT Merit Award) and T. T. Varghese Memorial Award for BVSc & A.H.
- Selected as ICAR-JRF, ICAR-SRF, ICMR-JRF, ICMR-SRF and CSIR-JRF
- CM Singh award for the best PhD scholar among PhD students of all divisions in the University (Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar) of the year 2013 (award in 2022)
Publications:
- Sumithra TG, Sharma SRK, Suresh G, Gop AP, Surya S, Gomathi P, Anil MK, Sajina KA, Reshma KJ, Ebeneezar S, Narasimapallavan I and Gopalakrishnan A (2024) Mechanistic insights into the early life stage microbiota of silver pompano (Trachinotus blochii). Microbiol. 15:1356828. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1356828
- V P Lailaja, Vishnu Hari, T G Sumithra, V N Anusree, Gayathri Suresh, N K Sanil, Krupesha Sharma S.R, A Gopalakrishnan (2024) In vitroand in silico analysis unravelled clinically desirable attributes of Bacillus altitudinis L-asparaginase, Journal of Applied Microbiology, 135 (3), lxae062, https://doi.org/10.1093/jambio/lxae062
- TG Sumithra, SR Krupesha Sharma, Gayathri Suresh, Sanal Ebeneezar, KK Anikuttan, P Rameshkumar, KA Sajina, G Tamilmani, M Sakthivel, Tinto Thomas, A Gopalakrishnan (2024) Deciphering the microbial landscapes in the early life stages of a high-value marine fish, cobia (Rachycentron canadum, Rachycentridae) through high-resolution profiling by PacBio SMRT sequencing. Aquaculture https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2023.740503
- Amala PV, Sumithra TG, Reshma KJ, Sayooj P, Sneha S, Nair AV, Raveendran RK, Suresh G, Subramanian S, Vijayagopal P. (2023) Degradation of marine crustacean shell wastes through single-stage co-fermentation using proteolytic and chitinolytic bacteria. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-30355-5
- Ros Kooren, TG Sumithra, KR Sreenath, V. N. Anusree, P. V. Amala, R. Vishnu, KV Jaseera, P. Kaladharan (2023) Exploration of seaweed degradation potential of the prioritized microbes as a green saccharification technology. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-023-04673-0
