RRD Naga Charan Konakalla

My interest is in studying host-pathogen interactions focusing on developing new and sustainable ways to control plant diseases. I am currently working at the Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp. My research focuses on to use of bio-nanoparticles engineered from harmless plant virus proteins to precisely target and deliver fungicides and biological substances against plant pathogens.

Spray-induced gene silencing technology to control plant diseases.

Development of Bio-nanocarriers for the targeted delivery of pesticides/ fungicides and biologicals for precision farming (FORMAS Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development). 

• 2018 December- Ph.D. from the Department of Virology, Sri Venkateswara University, India. Erasmus Mundus Doctoral researcher: Agricultural University of Athens, Greece
• 2016 E-COST STSM Researcher, Plantenbiotechniek, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
• 2019 August-Postdoctoral research associate at the Plant Virology lab, CAES, University of Georgia (UGA), Tifton, GA, USA.
• 2020 September- Postdoctoral fellow with Carl Triggers scholarship, Plant Protection Biology group, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden.
• 2022 September-Till date- Postdoctoral Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden

Lara Rosemarie Palatinus; Masters thesis supervisor

Bharati Boddu; Masters thesis supervisor

•  Zahid MA, Kieu NP, Carlsen FM, Lenman M, Naga Charan Konakalla, Yang H, Jyakhwa S, Mravec J, Vetukuri R, Petersen BL, Resjö S, Andreasson E. Enhanced stress resilience in potato by deletion of Parakletos. Nature communications. 2024 Jun 18;15(1):5224  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49584-4
• Zhijie Yang, Yijun Qiao, Naga Charan Konakalla, Emil Strøbech, Pernille Harris, Gundela Peschel, Miriam Agler-Rosenbaum, Tilmann Weber, Erik Andreasson & Ling Diing. 2023 . Streptomyces alleviate abiotic stress in plant by producing pteridic acids. Nature Communications 14, 7398. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43177-3
• Naga Charan Konakalla., Nitin, M., Kaldis, A., Masarapu, H., Carpentier, S. and Voloudakis, A., 2021. dsRNA Molecules From the Tobacco Mosaic Virus p126 Gene Counteract TMV-Induced Proteome Changes at an Early Stage of Infection. Frontiers in plant science, p.736. https://doi.org/10.3389%2Ffpls.2021.663707
• Naga Charan Konakalla, Bag, S., Deraniyagala, A.S., Culbreath, A.K. and Pappu, H.R., 2021. Induction of plant resistance in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) against tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus through foliar application of dsRNA. Viruses, 13(4), p.662. https://doi.org/10.3390/v13040662
• Naga Charan Konakalla, Kaldis, A., Masarapu, H. and Voloudakis, A.E., 2019. Topical application of double-stranded RNA molecules deriving from Sesbania mosaic virus (SeMV) CP and MP genes protects Sesbania plants against SeMV. European Journal of Plant Pathology, 155(4), pp.1345-1352. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10658-019-01821-z
• Naga Charan Konakalla, Kaldis, A., Berbati, M., Masarapu, H. and Voloudakis, A.E., 2016. Exogenous application of double-stranded RNA molecules from TMV p126 and CP genes confers resistance against TMV in tobacco. Planta, 244(4), pp.961-969. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-016-2567-6
• Kavalappara, S.R., Milner, H., Naga Charan Konakalla, Morgan, K., Sparks, A.N., McGregor, C., Culbreath, A.K., Wintermantel, W.M. and Bag, S., 2021. High throughput sequencing-aided survey reveals widespread mixed infections of whitefly-transmitted viruses in cucurbits in Georgia, USA. Viruses, 13(6), p.988. https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fv13060988

https://internt.slu.se/en/news-originals/2024/6/naga-charan-konakalla-receives-royal-award-for-research-on-nano-carriers-for-targeted-pesticide-delivery/

https://www.kungahuset.se/arkiv/pressmeddelanden/2024-04-30-utdelning-av-stipendier-ur--stiftelsen-konung-carl-xvi-gustafs-50-arsfond-for-vetenskap-teknik-och-miljo