Dr. Haritha Bollinedi
Name: Dr. Haritha Bollinedi
Qualification: Ph.D
Designation : Scientist
Department: Division of Genetics
Institute name : Indian Agricultural Research Institute
College address : Pusa Campus, IARI
Publication title: Journal
Paper Title : Kinetics of β-carotene degradation under different storage conditions in transgenic Golden Rice® lines
Journal Name : Food Chemistry
Volume : 278
Month of publication : 25 April
Year : 2019
Page no. : 773-779
ISSN : 0308-8146
About Haritha Bollinedi
Dr. Haritha Bollinedi, Scientist, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, has been working in the field of Genetics and Plant Breeding specifically focussed on rice grain quality improvement and biofortification through application of various genetic, genomic and molecular breeding approaches. She has Undertook comprehensive characterization of transgenic Golden Rice lines based on GR2-R1 event, in the background of mega rice variety Swarna and deciphered that the transgene integration disrupted the endogenous auxin transporter gene OsAux1, disturbed the hormonal homeostasis and reflected in the inferior agronomic performance of transgene homozygous plants. The study led to the withdrawal of GR2-R1 event as an event of de-regulation by the Golden Rice Network. Further, the degradation of β-carotene upon storage and the affect of different storage conditions on its retention were studied and it was observed that vacuum packing resulted in higher retention of β-carotene upon storage. For this contribution she was awarded with Assam Govt. Gold Medal.Profiling of mineral micronutrients like iron and zinc and protein in diverse collection of rice germplasm accessions has been carried out and identified promising donors for biofortification. Efforts are underway for the mapping as well as introgression of the high Zn trait from donors into popular rice varieties. She is also working towards the development of low glycemic index (GI) rice genotypes to address the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases among rice eating population. She has also been awarded with Early Career Research Award by Department of Science and Technology (DST) and provided with a research grant of 33L. Under the project she has profiled the fatty acid composition of rice bran in rice germplasm and identified accessions with high oleic acid content which is essential for a healthy heart by reducing LDL cholesterol and increasing HDL cholesterol. Dr. Haritha has several publications in journals of national and international reputation including Food Chemistry, Frontiers in plant science etc. She had been the University topper during her under-graduation and post-graduation programmes and awarded with University Gold Medals. He has also been honoured with Plantae Fellow by the American Society of Plant Biology.