•   gopalan.5@osu.edu

Visiting Scientist – Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (Cambridge, UK)

•   Advisor: Sir Aaron Klug
•   Conducted crystallographic studies of bacterial RNase P

Postdoctoral Research Associate – Yale University (New Haven, CT)

•   Advisor: Dr. Sidney Altman
•   Mapped RNA-protein interactions in Escherichia coli RNase P

Ph.D. – University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM)

•   Program: Biochemistry
•   Advisor: Dr. Robert H. Glew
•   Dissertation: Mechanism of action of mammalian cytosolic ß-glucosidase: implications for biotransformation of toxic plant glucosides

B.S. – University of Madras (Madras, India)

•   Major: Chemistry

•   lai.104@osu.edu

•   Supervisor: Dr. Mark P. Foster
•   Determine how a mutation in a central nervous system (CNS)-specific tRNA-Arg, which has been linked to neurodegeneration in mice, impacts tRNA biogenesis [collaboration with Dr. Susan L. Ackerman (UCSD)]
•   Utilize sequence analyses, hydroxyl radical-mediated footprinting experiments, and native mass spectrometry to identify novel structural elements in halophilic archaeal RNase P RNAs [collaboration with Drs. Charles J. Daniels and Vicki H. Wysocki (OSU)]

Postdoctoral Researcher – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Department: Biochemistry
•   Advisor: Dr. Venkat Gopalan
•   Purified and characterized plant RNase P
•   Assessed the efficacy of external guide sequences (EGS) and M1GS for targeted RNA degradation in plants

Postdoctoral Researcher – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Department: Plant Biology
•   Advisor: Dr. Fred D. Sack
•   Identified and characterized the Arabidopsis thaliana FOUR LIPS gene that restricts the number of divisions by the guard mother cell to one, thereby preventing the appearance of “four lips”, which arise from two (or more) cell divisions

Ph.D. – Yale University (New Haven, CT)

•   Program: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB)
•   Advisor: Dr. Timothy M. Nelson
•   Dissertation: Regulation of cell-specific expression of C4 photosynthetic genes in Flaveria: a comparative study

B.S. – University of New Mexico (Albuquerque, NM)

•   Major: Biochemistry
•   Advisor: Dr. Robert H. Glew
•   Thesis: Continuous spectrophotometric assays for ß-glucosidases acting on the plant glucosides L-picein and prunasin

•   Daniels CJ*, Lai LB, Chen T-H, and Gopalan V. (2019) Both kinds of RNase P in all domains of life: Surprises galore. RNA, 25: 286-291.
•   Lai LB*, Tanimoto A^, Lai SM^, Chen W-Y, Marathe IA, Westhof E, Wysocki VH, and Gopalan V*. (2017) A novel double kink-turn module in euryarchaeal RNase P RNAs. Nucleic Acids Res., 45: 7432-7440. [SI] ^joint second authors
•   Lei Q, Lee E, Keerthisinghe S, Lai L, Li M, Lucas JR, Wen X, Ren X*, and Sack FD. (2015) The FOUR LIPS and MYB88 transcription factor genes are widely expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana during development. Am. J. Bot., 102: 1521-1528.
•   Manivannan SN, Lai LB, Gopalan V*, and Simcox A*. (2015) Transcriptional control of an essential ribozyme in Drosophila reveals an ancient evolutionary divide in animals. PLoS Genet., 11: e1004893. [SI 1, 2]
•   Lai SM, Lai LB, Foster MP*, and Gopalan V*. (2014) The L7Ae protein binds to two kink-turns in the Pyrococcus furiosus RNase P RNA. Nucleic Acids Res., 42: 13328-13338. [SI]
•   Ma X°, Lai LB°, Lai SM°, Tanimoto A, Foster MP, Wysocki VH*, and Gopalan V*. (2014) Uncovering the stoichiometry of Pyrococcus furiosus RNase P, a multi-subunit catalytic ribonucleoprotein complex, by surface-induced dissociation and ion mobility mass spectrometry. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl., 53: 11483-11487. [SI] °joint first authors
•   Govinda Rajulu MB°, Lai LB°, Murali TS, Gopalan V*, and Suryanarayanan TS*. (2014) Several fungi from fire-prone forests of southern India can utilize furaldehydes. Mycol. Prog., 13: 1049-1056. °joint first authors
•   Han B°, Ujor V°, Lai LB, Gopalan V, and Ezeji TC*. (2013) Use of proteomic analysis to elucidate the role of calcium in acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation by Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052. Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 79: 282-293. [SI] °joint first authors
•   Chen W-Y, Singh D, Lai LB, Stiffler MA, Lai HD, Foster MP, and Gopalan V*. (2012) Fidelity of tRNA 5′-maturation: a possible basis for the functional dependence of archaeal and eukaryal RNase P on multiple protein cofactors. Nucleic Acids Res., 40: 4666-4680. [SI]
•   Lai LB, Bernal-Bayard P, Mohannath G, Lai SM, Gopalan V*, and Vioque A*. (2011) A functional RNase P protein subunit of bacterial origin in some eukaryotes. Mol. Genet. Genomics, 286: 359-369.
•   Lai LB°, Chan PP°, Cozen AE, Bernick DL, Brown JW, Gopalan V*, and Lowe TM*. (2010) Discovery of a minimal form of RNase P in Pyrobaculum. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 107: 22493-22498. [SI] (Highlighted on the cover and in a commentary) °joint first authors
•   Cho I-M, Lai LB, Susanti D, Mukhopadhyay B, and Gopalan V*. (2010) Ribosomal protein L7Ae is a subunit of archaeal RNase P. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 107: 14573-14578. [SI]
•   Lai LB, Cho I-M, Chen W-Y, and Gopalan V*. (2010) Archaeal RNase P: a mosaic of its bacterial and eukaryal relatives. In F Liu and S Altman (Eds.), Ribonuclease P (Protein Reviews, vol. 10; pp. 153-172). New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.
•   McClain WH*, Lai LB, and Gopalan V. (2010) Trials, travails, and triumphs: an account of RNA catalysis in RNase P. J. Mol. Biol., 397: 627-646.
•   Lai LB, Vioque A, Kirsebom LA*, and Gopalan V*. (2010) Unexpected diversity of RNase P, an ancient tRNA processing enzyme: challenges and prospects. FEBS Lett., 584: 287-296. (Invited article for a special issue)
•   Gopichandran V, Lai LB, and Gopalan V*. (2006) Protein-energy malnutrition. In RH Glew and MD Rosenthal (Eds.), Clinical Studies in Medical Biochemistry, (3rd edition; pp. 255-265). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
•   Lai LB, Gopichandran V, and Gopalan V*. (2006) Tangier disease: a disorder in the reverse cholesterol transport pathway. In RH Glew and MD Rosenthal (Eds.), Clinical Studies in Medical Biochemistry, (3rd edition; pp. 159-166). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
•   Lai LB, Nadeau JA, Lucas J, Lee E-K, Nakagawa T, Zhao L, Geisler M, and Sack FD*. (2005) The Arabidopsis R2R3 MYB proteins FOUR LIPS and MYB88 restrict divisions late in the stomatal cell lineage. Plant Cell, 17: 2754-2767.
•   Pulukkunat DK, Stephen Raj ML, Pattanayak D, Lai LB, and Gopalan V*. (2003) Exploring the potential of plant RNase P as a functional genomics tool. In E. Grotewold (Ed.), Plant Functional Genomics (Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 236; pp. 295-309). Totowa, NJ: Humana Press, Inc.
•   Tsai H-Y°, Lai LB°, and Gopalan V*. (2002) A modified pBluescript-based vector for facile cloning and transcription of RNAs. Anal. Biochem., 303: 214-217. °joint first authors
•   Lai LB, Tausta SL, and Nelson TM*. (2002) Differential regulation of transcripts encoding cytosolic NADP-malic enzyme in C₃ and C₄ Flaveria species. Plant Physiol., 128: 140-149.
•   Lai LB, Wang L, and Nelson TM*. (2002) Distinct but conserved functions for two chloroplastic NADP-malic enzyme isoforms in C₃ and C₄ Flaveria species. Plant Physiol., 128: 125-139.
•   McGonigle B, Lai LB, and Nelson T. (1996) Sequences of seven cDNAs (Accession Nos. U29933 to U29939) encoding the rubisco small subunit from Flaveria pringlei. Plant Physiol., 111: 1354 (Plant Gene Register PGR96-057).
•   Lai LB, Gopalan V, and Glew RH*. (1992) Continuous spectrophotometric assays for ß-glucosidases acting on the plant glucosides L-picein and prunasin. Anal. Biochem., 200: 365-369.

•   zahurancik.2@osu.edu

•   Investigate the functional contributions of protein subunits to substrate recognition by archaeal RNase P RNA using single-molecule fluorescence-based techniques [collaboration with Dr. Michael G. Poirier (OSU)]

Postdoctoral Researcher – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   2019-2020 OSU Center for RNA Biology (CRB) Researcher
•   2020-2022 Pelotonia Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Ph.D. – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Program: Ohio State Biochemistry Program
•   Advisor: Dr. Zucai Suo
•   Dissertation: Kinetic characterization of human DNA polymerase Ε

B.S. – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Major: Biochemistry
•   Advisor: Dr. Zucai Suo
•   Thesis: Characterization of replicative and error-prone DNA polymerases

Undergraduate Research Assistant – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Department: Biochemistry
•   Advisor: Dr. Zhengrong Wu
•   Cloned, overexpressed, and purified mutants of a nucleotide hydrolase (RCL) for biochemical studies aimed at defining its mechanism of action

•   thirugnanasambantham.3@osu.edu

•   Dissect the basis for sugar-phosphate stress in Salmonella enterica

Principal Investigator – Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women (Coimbatore, India)

•   Department: Biochemistry, Biotechnology, and Bioinformatics
•   Advisor: Dr K. Kalaiselvi
•   Compared the expression patterns of select pathway genes involved in withanolide biosynthesis, a principal bioactive metabolite of Withania somnifera, a traditional medicinal herb, at different ontogenetic stages when plants were grown under greenhouse and growth chamber conditions

Ph.D. – Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women (Coimbatore, India)

•   Program: Biotechnology
•   Advisor: Dr K. Kalaiselvi
•   Dissertation: Dynamics of withanolide biosynthesis and accumulation in relation to temporal expression pattern of pathway genes in Withania somnifera: a comparative study between in vitro and in vivo tissues

M.S. – Sengunthar Arts and Science College (affiliated with Periyar University) (Tiruchengode, India)

•   Program: Biotechnology
•   Advisor: Dr. M.G. Ebbie
•   Thesis: Efficacy of ECF of endophytes in combating Candida albicans of type strain and clinical isolates

B.S. – Vel’s College of Science (affiliated with the University of Madras) (Chennai, India)

•   Major: Biochemistry

•   kovvali.3@osu.edu

•   Elucidate the mechanism of 6-phosphofructose lysine (FrlB) deglycase to gain insight into fructose-lysine metabolism in bacteria
•   Study the mechanisms of kinases that process Amadori compounds

Graduate Student – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Program: Microbiology Graduate Program

B.Tech. – D.Y. Patil University (Mumbai, India)

•   Major: Biotechnology

Student Researcher – Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay (Mumbai, India)

•   Department: Biosciences and Bioengineering
•   Advisor: Dr. Kiran Kondabagil
•   Purified and characterized a phage N4 endonuclease that is believed to be a component of the phage genome packaging system

Student Researcher – D.Y. Patil University (Mumbai, India)

•   Department: Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
•   Advisors: Mustansir Bhori and Dr. Kanchanlata Singh
•   Genotyped the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) involved in type 2 diabetes

•   law.199@osu.edu

•   Crystallize Salmonella deglycase FraB to determine its structure, elucidate its enzymatic mechanism, and identify potential inhibitors

Graduate Student – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Program: Ohio State Biochemistry Program (OSBP)

Research Assistant and Lab Manager – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Department: Chemistry and Biochemistry
•   Advisor: Dr. Venkat Gopalan
•   Purified Homo sapiens RNase P protein subunit RPP21 for antibody production and determined via Western blot analysis that the resultant antibodies were RPP21-specific

M.S. – Purdue University Fort Wayne (Fort Wayne, IN)

•   Program: Biological Sciences
•   Advisor: Dr. Jaiyanth Daniel
•   Thesis: The mycobacterial Rv1551 glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase enhances phospholipid biosynthesis in cell lysates of Escherichia coli

B.S. – Purdue University Fort Wayne (Fort Wayne, IN)

•   Major: Biological Sciences
•   Advisor: Dr. Jaiyanth Daniel

•   sidharthan.1@osu.edu

•   Reconstitute and characterize RNase P from mesophilic archaea
•   Test novel cyclic polypeptides as ribozyme delivery vehicles for developing a potential anti-cancer drug [collaboration with Dr. Dehua Pei (OSU)]

Graduate Student – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Program: Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Program (Biological Division)

B.S. and M.S. – Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (Mohali, India)

•   Program: Chemistry (BS-MS Dual Degree Program)
•   Advisor: Dr. Santanu Kumar Patel
•   Thesis: Detection of As(III) ions using liquid crystal-based sensing system

•   datta.79@osu.edu

•   Optimizing chemoenzymatic synthesis of tRNAs and exploring the role of point mutations on tRNAs in onset of disease

Graduate Student – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Program: Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) Program

M.S. – Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai, India)

•  Program: Biotechnology
•  Advisor: Dr. Anirban Banerjee

B.S. – St. Xavier’s College (Kolkata, India)

•   Major: Microbiology

•   hemmerlin.1@osu.edu

Graduate Student – The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)

•   Program: Chemistry and Biochemistry Graduate Program (Biological Division)

B.S. – Slippery Rock University (Slippery Rock, PA)

•   Major: Chemistry (Concentration in Biochemistry)
•   Advisor: Dr. Ashley M. Loe