Vittal Prakash

My research interest hovers around genetics, genomics, and Molecular pathogenesis of Gram-positive bacteria. My Ph.D research work was on "Clinical Prevalence, Indentification and Molecular Characterization of Aminoglycoside resistant Enterococci". During my postdoctoral research at the University of Texas Medical School, Houston (Dr. Barbara Murray's lab) I used bioinformants and genetics approach to identify MSCRAMMs and knock-out the genes encoding pilus like proteins to study their role in adhesion and pathogenesis of the nosocomial pathogen enterococci.

Subsequently, my research at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston (Dr. James Versalovic’s lab) was focused on the comparative genomics approach, complemented by a functional genomics study using whole genome microarrays to investigate the probiotic properties of Lactobacillus reuteri strains, alongside the Human Microbiome project studying the microbiota of healthy and diseased (GI) pediatric population.

My current research at Rice University focuses on identification and characterization of genomic changes in Gram negative (E. coli) and Gram positive (E. faecalis) bacteria, by laboratory scale domestication of bacteria from a natural population (human commensals) under different growth conditions. A combination of experimental evolution, genomic data and population analysis will be used to identify the order and frequency of genomic changes necessary to reconstruct the successful adaptive networks to domestication, such as adaptation to antibiotics to study the forces of natural selection.

Vittal Prakash Ponraj, Ph. D.
POSTDOCTORAL ASSOCIATE	<missing picture>
Keck Hall, Room 327
Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 6100 Main Street Houston, TX 77005
vp5@rice.edu
713-348-2492
My research interest hovers around genetics, genomics, and Molecular pathogenesis of Gram-positive bacteria. My Ph.D research work was on "Clinical Prevalence, Indentification and Molecular Characterization of Aminoglycoside resistant Enterococci". During my postdoctoral research at the University of Texas Medical School, Houston (Dr. Barbara Murray's lab) I used bioinformants and genetics approach to identify MSCRAMMs and knock-out the genes encoding pilus like proteins to study their role in adhesion and pathogenesis of the nosocomial pathogen enterococci. Subsequently, my research at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston (Dr. James Versalovic’s lab) was focused on the comparative genomics approach, complemented by a functional genomics study using whole genome microarrays to investigate the probiotic properties of Lactobacillus reuteri strains, alongside the Human Microbiome project studying the microbiota of healthy and diseased (GI) pediatric population. My current research at Rice University focuses on identification and characterization of genomic changes in Gram negative (E. coli) and Gram positive (E. faecalis) bacteria, by laboratory scale domestication of bacteria from a natural population (human commensals) under different growth conditions. A combination of experimental evolution, genomic data and population analysis will be used to identify the order and frequency of genomic changes necessary to reconstruct the successful adaptive networks to domestication, such as adaptation to antibiotics to study the forces of natural selection.
RESEARCH/TEACHING EXPERIENCE Post Doctoral Associate, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, May 2008- May 2010 Post Doctoral Fellow, Univ. of Texas Medical School, Houston, May 2006- May 2008 Lecturer, Department of Microbiology, ASRAM Medical College, Eluru, AP, India, Sept. 2005 - April 2006 Ph.D in Medical Microbiology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry University, India, April 2006 Post Graduate Diploma in Bio-Information technology, Pondicherry University, India, 2002
PUBLICATIONS Prakash VP, Qin X, Saulnier DMA, Jennifer K. Spinler, Donna M. Muzny, Richard A. Gibbs, James Versalovic. Comparative Genomics of Human-Derived Probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri (2010) (Manuscript under proof-reading). Saulnier DMA,, Santos Filipe, Prakash VP, Molenar Douwe, Teusink Bas, James Versalovic. Metabolic models and whole-transcriptome comparison of two classes of human derived probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri (2010) (Manuscript under proof-reading). Sillanpää J, Nallapareddy SR, Singh KV, Prakash VP, Fothergill T, Ton-That H, Murray BE. Characterization of the ebpfmpilus-encoding operon of Enterococcus faecium and its role in biofilm formation and virulence in a murine model of urinary tract infection. Virulence. Vol 1, Issue 4; July/August 2010. Sillanpää J, Prakash VP, Nallapareddy SR, Murray BE. Distribution of genes encoding MSCRAMMs and Pili in clinical and natural populations of Enterococcus faecium. J Clin Microbio. 2009 Apr;47(4):896-901. Sillanpää J, Nallapareddy SR, Prakash VP, Qin X, Höök M, Weinstock GM, Murray BE. Identification and phenotypic characterization of a second collagen adhesin, Scm, and genome-based identification and analysis of 13 other predicted MSCRAMMs, including four distinct pilus loci, in Enterococcus faecium. Microbiology. 2008 Oct;154(Pt 10):3199-211. Bourgogne A, Garsin DA, Qin X, Singh KV, Sillanpaa J, Yerrapragada S, Ding Y, Dugan-Rocha S, Buhay C, Shen H, Chen G, Williams G, Muzny D, Maadani A, Fox KA, Gioia J, Chen L, Shang Y, Arias CA, Nallapareddy SR, Zhao M, Prakash VP, Chowdhury S, Jiang H, Gibbs RA, Murray BE, Highlander SK, Weinstock GM. Large scale variation in Enterococcus faecalis illustrated by the genome analysis of strain OG1RF. Genome Biol. 2008;9(7):R110. Prakash VP, Rao SR, Parija SC. Emergence of unusual species of enterococci causing infections, South India. BMC Infect Dis. 2005 Mar 17;5(1):14.