Prof Sambasivam Periyannan

Prof Sambasivam Periyannan
NameProf Sambasivam Periyannan
Email Addresssambasivam.periyannan@unisq.edu.au
Job TitleProfessor (Crop Molecular Genetics)
QualificationsPhD Sydney
DepartmentSchool of Science, Engineering and Digital Technologies
AffiliationsCentre for Crop Health
ORCIDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5421-2872
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Biography

After completing PhD at the University of Sydney in 2011, I started as a postdoctoral fellow (2011-2016) at CSIRO, where I eventually became an independent scientist in 2016. Between 2017-2019, I took a secondment position at the Australian National University to complete ARC DECRA Fellowship. On return to CSIRO, I served as “Crop Resistance Genes” team leader from 2019 to 2021. My research interest includes plant molecular genetics and pathology, focusing on cereal crops and its diseases. Currently I also serve as a Senior Editor for Plant Disease and Associate Editor for BMC Biology and Frontiers in Plant Science journals.

Employment

PositionOrganisationFromTo
Associate Professor (Crop Molecular Genetics)School of Agriculture and Environmental Science and Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland2022

Expertise

Crop Genetics, Pathology, Molecular Breeding, Biotechnology

Teaching

Genetics

Fields of Research

  • 300103. Agricultural molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins
  • 300105. Genetically modified field crops and pasture
  • 300110. Transgenesis
  • 300406. Crop and pasture improvement (incl. selection and breeding)
  • 300409. Crop and pasture protection (incl. pests, diseases and weeds)

Professional Membership

Professional MembershipYear
Board Member of the European and Mediterranean Cereal Rusts Foundation
Life Member of the International Society for Plant Pathology
Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, UK
PhD
Sydney
2011

Current Supervisions

Research TitleSupervisor TypeLevel of StudyCommenced
Impact of Crop Rotation on the Incidence of Black Root Rot and Verticillium Wilt in CottonAssociate SupervisorDoctoral2025
Spatial Data Analytics and Advanced Modelling for Disease Prediction and Management in AustraliaAssociate SupervisorDoctoral2025
Deep learning for early detection and discrimination of verticillium and fusarium wilt in cottonAssociate SupervisorDoctoral2025
Characterisation of the Eutypella species causing reoccurring wilt disease in cottonAssociate SupervisorDoctoral2025
Identification and characterization of novel resistance genes for wheat stripe rust from Watkins - landrace collectionPrincipal SupervisorDoctoral2024
Identification and characterisation of Pratylenchus thornei resistance in hexaploid wheatPrincipal SupervisorDoctoral2023
Exploiting the Watkins wheat landrace collection for novel resistance to crown rot diseasePrincipal SupervisorDoctoral2023
Diversity analysis of Berkeleyomyces rouxiae, causing black root rotPrincipal SupervisorDoctoral2023
Project titleDetailsYear
Australian Research Council Discovery ProjectDecoding an ancient, iconic tree species to save it from disease2025
Future Drought FundLong-term Drought Resilient Practices for Climate-Smart Cropping Systems2025
Australian Cotton Disease CollaborationA national initiative worth 13 million funded by Cotton Research and Development Corporation, University of Southern Queensland and Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries2024
DateNameAwarding organisationUnderpinning research
2024China Academy of Science Visiting FellowshipChina Academy of Science

Haplotype stacking to improve stability of stripe rust resistance in wheat

Tong, Jingyang, Tarekegn, Zerihun T., Jambuthenne, Dilani, Robinson, Hannah, Pandit, Madhav, Villiers, Kira, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Hickey, Lee, Dinglasan, Eric and Hayes, Ben J.. 2025. "Haplotype stacking to improve stability of stripe rust resistance in wheat." Theoretical and Applied Genetics: international journal of plant breeding research. 138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-025-05045-0

Genomic analysis of two all stage stripe rust resistance genes in the Vavilov wheat landraces AGG40807WHEA1

Sharma, Raghvendra, Chen, Chunhong, Zhang, Peng, Bharti, Hemlata, Vikas, Venu Kumaran, Norman, Michael, Dibley, Katherine, Riaz, Adnan, Hewitt, Tim, Hoxha, Sami, Forrest, Kerrie, Lagudah, Evans, Bariana, Harbans, Bansal, Urmil, Hickey, Lee and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2025. "Genomic analysis of two all stage stripe rust resistance genes in the Vavilov wheat landraces AGG40807WHEA1." Theoretical and Applied Genetics: international journal of plant breeding research. 138. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-025-04965-1

Long-read genomics reveal extensive nuclear-specific evolution and allele-specific expression in a dikaryotic fungus

Tam, Rita, Möller, Mareike, Luo, Runpeng, Luo, Zhenyan, Jones, Ashley, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Rathjen, John P. and Schwessinger, Benjamin. 2025. "Long-read genomics reveal extensive nuclear-specific evolution and allele-specific expression in a dikaryotic fungus." Genome Research. 35 (6), pp. 1364-1376. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.280359.124

Aflatoxin evaluation and integrated management strategies to minimize toxin contamination in maize and peanuts

Karthikeyan, Muthusamy, Dhanabalan, Shanmuga Priya, Shanmugavel, Bavish, Jaffer, Shajith Basha, Marimuthu, Subbaiyan, Radhika, Krishnan, Nagappan, Elakkiya, Johnson, Iruthayasamy and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2025. "Aflatoxin evaluation and integrated management strategies to minimize toxin contamination in maize and peanuts." Journal of Agriculture and Food Research. 21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2025.101809

First Report of Alternaria alternata Causing Brown Leaf Spot of Potato in South India

Jaffer, Shajith Basha, Kumaresan, Parthiban V., Johnson, Iruthayasamy, Periyannan, Sambasivam and Karthikeyan, Muthusamy. 2025. "First Report of Alternaria alternata Causing Brown Leaf Spot of Potato in South India." Plant Disease: an international journal of applied plant pathology. 109 (5), pp. 1182-1182. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-24-2065-PDN

Global transcriptome changes during growth of a novel Penicillium coffeae isolate on the wheat stripe rust fungus, Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici

Wess, Jack, Hu, Yiheng, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Jones, Ashley and Rathjen, John P.. 2025. "Global transcriptome changes during growth of a novel Penicillium coffeae isolate on the wheat stripe rust fungus, Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici." Fungal Genetics and Biology. 176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fgb.2024.103956

First Report of Colletotrichum truncatum Causing Anthracnose of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) in India

Natesan, Boopathi, Palanichamy, Gopinath, Ponnuchamy, Manivel, Thiruvenkatasamy, Saraswathi, Johnson, Iruthayasamy, Periyannan, Sambasivam and Karthikeyan, Muthusamy. 2025. "First Report of Colletotrichum truncatum Causing Anthracnose of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) in India." Plant Disease: an international journal of applied plant pathology. 109 (4), pp. 941-941. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-09-24-1898-PDN

Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and suction spore trap-based assay for detection of mildew pathogens Podosphaera xanthii and Pseudoperonospora cubensis in cucurbits

Palanisamy, Ananthi, Karthikeyan, Muthusamy, Jaffer, Shajith Bash, Dhanabalan, Shanmuga Priya, Shanmugavel, Bavish, Johnson, Iruthayasamy, Revathy, Natarajan, Boopathi, Narayanan Manikanda, Santosh, Ganapati Patil and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2025. "Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and suction spore trap-based assay for detection of mildew pathogens Podosphaera xanthii and Pseudoperonospora cubensis in cucurbits." Crop Protection. 187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro.2024.106964

Characterization and Pathogenicity of Soilborne Pathogens in Gloriosa superba: Effects of Single- and Multiple-Pathogen Coinfection on Disease Responses

Dhanabalan, Shanmuga Priya, Johnson, Iruthayasamy, Kumaresan, Parthiban V., Kandasamy, Rajamani, Natesan, Senthil, Periyannan, Sambasivam and Muthusamy, Karthikeyan. 2024. "Characterization and Pathogenicity of Soilborne Pathogens in Gloriosa superba: Effects of Single- and Multiple-Pathogen Coinfection on Disease Responses." Plant Disease: an international journal of applied plant pathology. 108 (11), pp. 3279-3287. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-24-0496-RE

Stacking beneficial haplotypes from the Vavilov wheat collection to accelerate breeding for multiple disease resistance

Tong, Jingyang, Tarekegn, Zerihun T., Jambuthenne, Dilani, Alahmad, Samir, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Hickey, Lee, Dinglasan, Eric and Hayes, Ben. 2024. "Stacking beneficial haplotypes from the Vavilov wheat collection to accelerate breeding for multiple disease resistance." Theoretical and Applied Genetics: international journal of plant breeding research. 137 (12). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-024-04784-w

Wheat improvement through advances in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection and genotyping with a special emphasis on rust resistance

Subramaniam, Geethanjali, Kadirvel, Palchamy and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2024. "Wheat improvement through advances in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) detection and genotyping with a special emphasis on rust resistance." Theoretical and Applied Genetics: international journal of plant breeding research. 137 (10). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-024-04730-w

Genome-wide atlas of rust resistance loci in wheat

Tong, Jingyang, Zhao, Cong, Liu, Dan, Jambuthenne, Dilani T., Sun, Mengjing, Dinglasan, Eric, Periyannan, Sambasivam K., Hickey, Lee T. and Hayes, Ben J.. 2024. "Genome-wide atlas of rust resistance loci in wheat." Theoretical and Applied Genetics: international journal of plant breeding research. 137 (8). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-024-04689-8

Origin and evolution of the bread wheat D genome

Cavalet-Giorsa, Emile, González-Muñoz, Andrea, Athiyannan, Naveenkumar, Holden, Samuel, Salhi, Adil, Gardener, Catherine, Quiroz-Chávez, Jesús, Rustamova, Samira M., Elkot, Ahmed Fawzy, Patpour, Mehran, Rasheed, Awais, Mao, Long, Lagudah, Evans S., Periyannan, Sambasivam K., Sharon, Amir, Himmelbach, Axel, Reif, Jochen C., Knauft, Manuela, Mascher, Martin, ..., Krattinger, Simon G.. 2024. "Origin and evolution of the bread wheat D genome." Nature. 633, pp. 848-855. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07808-z

Comprehensive analysis of little leaf disease incidence and resistance in eggplant

Muthusamy, Karthikeyan, Yogiraj, Gawande Priya, Elaiyabharath, Thiyagarajan, Jesu, Bonipas Antony John, Johnson, Iruthayasamy, Jaffer, Shajith Basha, Dhanabalan, Shanmuga Priya, Boopathi, Narayanan Manikanda, Marimuthu, Subbaiyan, Shobeiri Nejad, Hamid, Adorada, Dante L. and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2024. "Comprehensive analysis of little leaf disease incidence and resistance in eggplant." BMC Plant Biology. 24, p. 576. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-024-05257-4

Unveiling Genetic Resistance to Crown Rot in Watkins Wheat Landrace Diversity Panel

Garg, Bharat, Rubayet, Md. Tanbir, Muthusamy, Karthikeyan, Subramaniam, Geethanjali, McDonald, Stephen, Balotf, Sadegh, Gardiner, Donald, Percy, Cassy and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2024. "Unveiling Genetic Resistance to Crown Rot in Watkins Wheat Landrace Diversity Panel." 12th Australasian Soilborne Diseases Symposium (ASDS 2024). Kingscliff, Australia 26 - 30 Aug 2024 Australia.

Unleashing Bacillus species as versatile antagonists: Harnessing the biocontrol potentials of the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to combat Macrophomina phaseolina infection in Gloriosa superba

Dhanabalan, Shanmugapriya, Muthusamy, Karthikeyan, Iruthayasamy, Johnson, Kumaresan, Parthiban V., Ravikumar, Caroline, Kandasamy, Rajamani, Natesan, Senthil and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2024. "Unleashing Bacillus species as versatile antagonists: Harnessing the biocontrol potentials of the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria to combat Macrophomina phaseolina infection in Gloriosa superba." Microbiological Research. 283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micres.2024.127678

Sr65: a widely effective gene for stem rust resistance in wheat

Norman, Michael, Chen, Chunhong, Miah, Hanif, Patpour, Mehran, Sørensen, Chris, Hovmøller, Mogens, Forrest, Kerrie, Kumar, Subodh, Prasad, Pramod, Gangwar, Om Prakash, Bhardwaj, Subhash, Bariana, Harbans, Periyannan, Sambasivam and Bansal, Urmil. 2024. "Sr65: a widely effective gene for stem rust resistance in wheat." Theoretical and Applied Genetics: international journal of plant breeding research. 137 (1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-023-04507-7

Wheat stripe rust resistance locus YR63 is a hot spot for evolution of defence genes – a pangenome discovery

Mackenzie, Amy, Norman, Michael, Gessese, Mesfn, Chen, Chunhong, Sørensen, Chris, Hovmøller, Mogens, Ma, Lina, Forrest, Kerrie, Hickey, Lee, Bariana, Harbans, Bansal, Urmil and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2023. "Wheat stripe rust resistance locus YR63 is a hot spot for evolution of defence genes – a pangenome discovery." BMC Plant Biology. 23 (1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-023-04576-2

Nuclear exchange generates population diversity in the wheat leaf rust pathogen Puccinia triticina

Sperschneider, Jana, Hewitt, Tim, Lewis, David C., Periyannan, Sambasivam, Milgate, Andrew W., Hickey, Lee T., Mago, Rohit, Dodds, Peter N. and Figueroa, Melania. 2023. "Nuclear exchange generates population diversity in the wheat leaf rust pathogen Puccinia triticina." Nature Microbiology. 8 (11), pp. 2130 - 2141. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01494-9

A pathogen-induced putative NAC transcription factor mediates leaf rust resistance in barley

Chen, Chunhong, Jost, Matthias, Outram, Megan A., Friendship, Dorian, Chen, Jian, Wang, Aihua, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Bartos, Jan, Holusova, Katerina, Dolezel, Jaroslav, Zhang, Peng, Bhatt, Dhara, Singh, Davinder, Lagudah, Evans, Park, Robert F. and Dracatos, Peter M.. 2023. "A pathogen-induced putative NAC transcription factor mediates leaf rust resistance in barley." Nature Communications. 14 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41021-2

Editorial: Plant genetic and genomic resources for sustained crop improvement

Rangan, Parimalan, Henry, Robert, Wambugu, Peterson and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2023. "Editorial: Plant genetic and genomic resources for sustained crop improvement." Frontiers in Plant Science. 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1266698

The Keys to Controlling Wheat Rusts: Identification and Deployment of Genetic Resistance

Norman, Michael, Bariana, Harbans, Bansal, Urmil and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2023. "The Keys to Controlling Wheat Rusts: Identification and Deployment of Genetic Resistance." Phytopathology: International Journal of the American Phytopathological Society. 113 (4), pp. 667-677. https://doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-02-23-0041-IA

Editorial: Advances in crop resistance breeding using modern genomic tools

Huang, Lin, Li, Yinghui, Chen, Shisheng, Periyannan, Sambasivam and Fahima, Tzion. 2023. "Editorial: Advances in crop resistance breeding using modern genomic tools." Frontiers in Plant Science. 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1143689

Exploiting Paraphaeosphaeria minitans and Its Antifungal Metabolites as Bio‐Fungicides for Eco‐Friendly Management of Head Rot Disease in Cabbage

Ruppavali, Meena V., Karthikeyan, Muthusamy, Johnson, Iruthayasamy, Jeevanantham, Sivaji, Kumaresan, Parthiban V., Prithiviraj, Balakrishnan and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2026. "Exploiting Paraphaeosphaeria minitans and Its Antifungal Metabolites as Bio‐Fungicides for Eco‐Friendly Management of Head Rot Disease in Cabbage." Microbial Biotechnology. 19 (2). https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.70309

Exploring standing genetic variation for barley leaf rust resistance in Australian breeding panel

Pandit, Madhav, Dracatos, Peter, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Lam, Sambasivam, Brunner, Stephanie M., Honse, Takaaki, Tong, Jingyang, Dinglasan, Eric, Ganesalingam, Dini, Moody, David, Baraibar, Silvina, Hickey, Lee, Alahmad, Samir and Robinson, Hannah. 2026. "Exploring standing genetic variation for barley leaf rust resistance in Australian breeding panel." Theoretical and Applied Genetics: international journal of plant breeding research. 139 (1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-025-05122-4

Genome-wide identification, expression, and regulatory network analysis of wheat microRNAs responsive to Bipolaris sorokiniana

Kashyap, Natasha, Singh, Malkhan, Basak, Poulami, Sun, Xizhe, Ma, Lisong, Kumar, Aundy, Kumari, Jyoti, Aggarwal, Rashmi, Singh, Mahender and Periyannan, Sambasivam. 2025. "Genome-wide identification, expression, and regulatory network analysis of wheat microRNAs responsive to Bipolaris sorokiniana." Frontiers in Plant Science. 16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2025.1640327/full

Clonostachys Genus as a Source of Metabolites for Agricultural Applications

Ruppavali, Meena Venkatesan, Johnson, Iruthayasamy, Periyannan, Sambasivam and Muthusamy, Karthikeyan. 2025. "Clonostachys Genus as a Source of Metabolites for Agricultural Applications." Poveda, Jorge, Santamaría, Óscar and Martín-García, Jorge (ed.) Fungal Metabolites for Agricultural Applications: Biostimulation and Crop Protection by Fungal Biotechnology. Switzerland . Springer Nature Switzerland. pp. 233-248