Ms. R. Madhubala

1. M.Sc.(Agriculture) in Plant Pathology from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore
2. Qualified National Eligibility Test (NET) in the professional subject Plant Pathology for Lectureship/Assistant Professorship conducted by Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board, ICAR, New Delhi 

1. Seed Health Testing methods for detection of plant pathogens
2. Plant Pest Risk Analysis
3. Isolation of nucleic acids and plasmids
4. Polymerase Chain Reaction
5. Gel electrophoresis
6. Molecular cloning
7. Biological and serological detection of plant viruses
8. Purification and antiserum production of plant viruses
9. Meristematic tissue culture
10. Characterization of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria

1. Presently working as Assistant Scientific Officer (Plant Pathology) at NIPHM, Rajendra Nagar, Hyderabad
2. Worked as Senior Research Fellow at Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad.
3. Worked as Project Junior Research Fellow at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.
4. Worked as Senior Research Fellow at Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
5. Worked as Junior Research Fellow at Indian Institute of Spices Research, Calicut, Kerala

1. Irradiation as phytosanitary treatment for cut flowers
2. Detection and diagnosis of plant pathogens
3. Molecular characterization of plant viruses
4. Plant pest risk analysis

I. Research articles:

1. Susheela. K, Madhubala. R and Alice R. P. Sujeetha. 2019. Market Access and Plant Biosecurity Initiatives and Strategies for making Indian Farming Remunerative. Indian Journal of Plant Protection.47 (3&4):128-139
2. Minakshi Grover, R. Madhubala, Sk. Z. Ali, S. K. Yadav and B. Venkateswarlu. 2013. Influence of Bacillus spp. strains on seedling growth and physiological parameters of sorghum under moisture stress conditions. J. Basic Microbiol. 53: 1-11
3. S.Siju, R. Madhubala and A.I. Bhat. 2007. Sodium sulphite enhances RNA isolation and sensitivity of Cucumber Mosaic Virus detection by RT – PCR in black pepper. J. Virological Methods 141: 107-110.
4. A.I. Bhat, R. Madhubala, P.S. Hareesh and M. Anandaraj. 2006. Detection and characterization of the phytoplasma associated with a phyllody disease of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in India. Scientia Horticulture 107: 200-204
5. P.S. Hareesh, R. Madhubala and A.I. Bhat. 2006. Characterization of Cucumber mosaic virus infecting Indian long pepper (Piper longum L.) and betel vine (Piper betle L.) in India. Indian Journal of Biotechnology 5:89-93
6. V. Bhadramurthy, S. T. Retheesh, A.I. Bhat, R. Madhubala, P.S. Hareesh and R. P. Pant. 2005. Development of ELISA based technique for the detection of a putative badnavirus infecting black pepper (Piper nigrum L.). Indian Phytopathol. 58(3):314-318
7. R. Madhubala, V. Bhadramurthy, A.I. Bhat, P.S. Hareesh, S. T. Retheesh and R. S. Bhai. 2005. Occurrence of Cucumber mosaic virus on vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Andrews ) in India. J. Biosci. 30:339-350
8. A.I. Bhat,   P.S. Hareesh and  R. Madhubala. 2005. Sequencing of coat protein gene of an isolate of cucumber mosaic virus infecting black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in India. J. Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology 14:1-4
9. A.I. Bhat, T. H. Faisal, R. Madhubala and P.S. Hareesh. 2004. Purification, production of antiserum and development of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay-based diagnosis for cucumber mosaic virus infecting black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in India. J. Spices and Aromatic crops 13(1):16-21

II. Book Chapters

1. D. Ladhalakshmi, R. Madhubala, S. Sundravadana, G.S.Laha, D. Krishnaveni, Sangeetha, G and G. Ragothuman. 2015. Bio-fumigation in crop disease management. In: Sangeetha Ganesan, Kurucheve Vadivel and Jayaraj Jayaraman (eds) Sustainable Crop Disease Management using Natural Products. CAB International, pp. 389-402

III. Theme article:

1. R. Madhubala, C. S. Gupta and Alice R. P. Sujeetha. 2017 Invasive alien species in relation to plants as pests.  Plant Health Newsletter, NIPHM. Pg. 2-7

IV. Popular article:

1. Madhubala R., B Bhagyalahari and J Alice R P Sujeetha. 2018. Wheat blast - a threat to wheat cultivation. Indian Farming, Volume No. 68 Issue 4.

Life member for Indian Journal of Plant Protection

1. Received Dr. P. R. Mehta Award from Pesticide Association of India, New Delhi.
2. Received National Scholarship Scheme from Ministry of Human Resource Development, GOI.

Present Institute:

1. Organized more than 60 trainings/workshops/webinars as course coordinator/associate/assistant course coordinator in Plant Biosecurity Division. 
2. As a faculty, handled theory and practical classes in the areas of plant biosecurity, plant quarantine, pest risk analysis, detection and identification of quarantine pathogens, seed health testing methods, serological and molecular detection of plant pathogens, phytosanitary treatments, pest surveillance, pest incursion management and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria for International and national trainings and educational programs organized by NIPHM.
3. Reviewed the import conditions of commodities mentioned in Plant Quarantine Order, 2003 and its amendments.
4. Prepared the course outline, co-ordinated 24 video lectures recording and compiled the lecture notes for MOOCs in Plant Biosecurity course.
5. Organized 4 batches of MOOCs in Plant Biosecurity course.
6. As one of the Investigator, handled the following research projects:

• “Development of gamma Irradiation protocols as Phytosanitary measure for export of selected flowers (Loose & Cut flowers)”.
• “Seed health testing methods for detection of seed-borne pathogens including nucleic acid based detection”.
• Studies on shelf life and packing material for export of major green leafy vegetables

• Guided 6 PGDPHM students as guide, 2 PGDPHM and 6 K-PGDPHM students as minor guide in the area of plant biosecurity and microbial bio-control agents against plant disease management.

Previous Institutes:

1. Developed the microbial consortium having plant growth promotion properties for abiotic stress management in sorghum crop.
2. Characterized the DNA markers associated with pest and disease resistance in mulberry (Morus spp.)
3. Characterized Sugarcane Mosaic Virus (SCMV) infecting Sugarcane based on coat protein gene sequence.
4. Characterized Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV) infecting black pepper, Indian long pepper and betel vine based on coat protein gene sequence.
5. Characterized phytoplasma infecting black pepper based on 16S r DNA.
6. Submitted 11 sequence data to GenBank and got the accession numbers.

Ms. R. Madhubala,

Assistant Scientific Officer (Plant Pathology),

Plant Biosecurity Division,

National Institute of Plant Health Management,

Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030

email: asoppniphm1-ap@gov.in