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I received my PhD in Bioorganic Science from The United Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Iwate University, Japan in 2002 and my MPhil in Molecular Biology from the University of Wales, U.K. in 1994.
Prior to joining Laurier, I worked in the Department of Agricultural Biology, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka for over 15 years advancing from senior lecturer to associate professor. During the same time, I served as a visiting lecturer at the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (2004-2012) and director, Agricultural Biotechnology Center, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka (2010-2012). I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Environmental Biochemistry, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan during my sabbatical leave (2002-2004).
My research interests are focused on studying chloroplastidic isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways in plants, which can be exploited to develop of herbicides and anti-bacterial drugs targeting methylerythritol phosphate pathway that is localized to chloroplasts. I am also interested in studying on plasmid genes of Rhizobium to understand the microsymbiont of the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis. Further, I am keen on studying expression of genes involved in glycolipid biosynthesis in mouse embryonic stem cells and teratocarcinoma cells, in order to use them molecular markers. I am also fascinated in characterizing plants using molecular methods that will help understand their evolutionary relationships and finding biochemical properties of plants that enables them to be used as potential pharmaceuticals.
- Best presentation- Session Biotechnology and Biochemistry, Annual Congress, Postgraduate Institute, of Agriculture, Sri Lanka (2011).
- Best presentation- Session Biochemistry and Plant biology, Annual Congress, Postgraduate Institute, of Agriculture, Sri Lanka (2004).
- Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Obihiro University, Japan (2002).
- Postgraduate Research Award from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology in Japan (1998).
- J.D. Kottawa-Arachchi, M.T.K. Gunasekare, M.A.B. Ranatunga, P.A.N. Punyasiri, R. P. Karunagoda “Evaluation of Biochemical Compounds and Organoleptic Properties of Black Tea of Germplasm Accessions in Sri Lanka” Food Research International – Special Issue: Tea (2012).
- Bandara, P.K.G.S.S., Karunagoda, R.P., Takahashi, K. and Nabeta, K. “Cloning and functional characterization of key enzymes in putative octadecanoid pathway of Physcomitrella patens” Tropical Agriculture Research (2012).
- Kottawa Arachchi, J.D., Gunasekare, M.T.K., Ranatunga, M.A.B., Jayasinghe, L. and Karunagoda, R.P. “Analysis of biochemical constituents in black tea for predicting the quality of tea cultivars in Sri Lanka” Tropical Agriculture Research (2011).
- Karunagoda, R.P. “Analysis of prenyllipids in the chloroplasts of the liverwort Heteroscyphus planus” Ceylon Journal of Science (Biological Science) (2010).
- Karunagoda, R.P. and Vijayakumari, M.R. “Differentiation of two morphologically distinct forms of Pandanus amaryllifolius Roxb. at molecular level” Sri Lankan Journal of Agricultural Sciences (2009).
- Karunagoda, R.P., Bandara, C.S. and Rukshanthi, J.P.D. “Molecular characterization of some consumer-preferred rice varieties using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPD)s” Sri Lankan Journal of Agricultural Sciences (2005).
- Karunagoda, R.P., and Nabeta, K. “Biosynthesis of chloroplastidic isoprenoids in liverworts: Uptake of Farnesyl diphosphate by the chloroplasts of Heteroscyphus planus and Ptychanthus striatus” Tropical Agricultural Research (2004).
- Karunagoda, R. P., D. Itoh, K. Katoh and K. Nabeta. Labeling patterns of chloroplastidic isoprenoids in cultured cells of liverwort, Ptychanthus striatus, Bioscience Biotechnology and Biochemistry (2001).
- Itoh, D., Karunagoda, R.P., Fushie, T., Katoh, K. and Nabeta, K. “Non-equivalent labeling of the phytyl side-chain of chlorophyll a in callus of the hornwort, Anthoceros punctatus” Journal of Natural Products (2000).
Contact Info:
Office location: KB32, 232 King St.
Office hours:
By appointment.
Languages spoken: English, Japanese, Sinhalese