Dr. Sileesh M. S. joins the faculty of St. Albert’s College (Autonomous), Zoology Department in Ernakulam, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of marine biology. His educational background includes a doctoral degree from Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Cochin, where he had the privilege of being mentored by none other than the renowned Professor B. Madhusoodana Kurup, the founder Vice-Chancellor of the institution. Dr. Sileesh’s research endeavors have been primarily focused on deep-sea distant water fishery projects, which have been graciously funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. His extensive sailing experience onboard the Fisheries Oceanographic Research Vessel Sagar Sampada has afforded him the opportunity to explore the vastness of the southeastern Arabian Sea, the Laccadive Islands, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands of the Indian EEZ, totaling over 100 days at sea.
Dr. Sileesh’s passion for research and academia has not only fueled his desire to publish numerous articles in esteemed international journals but has also led him to present papers at various national and international conferences. His dedication to sharing knowledge extends beyond the realm of research, as he has taken on the role of a reviewer for prestigious publications such as Thalassas (Springer Nature Switzerland AG), Applied Journal of Ichthyology, Wiley, Marine Biology Research, Taylor & Francis, and The Cureus Journal of Medical Science. Additionally, he serves as a review editor for Frontiers in Plant Science.
In addition to his impressive list of credentials, Dr. Sileesh has demonstrated a remarkable flair for writing, showcasing his ability to communicate complex scientific concepts in a clear and concise manner. This talent has led to his involvement in writing news articles for the Current Science column, “Current Science Reports,” contributing over 150 articles to date. Furthermore, he has penned articles for Kerala Karshakan, an e-journal, Aranyam, a wildlife magazine published by the Kerala Forest Department, and STEAMindiaReports, a science blog.
Dr. Sileesh’s research interests encompass a broad spectrum, ranging from diversity, biology, and ecology to the intricate molecular aspects of life, including epigenetics, epitranscriptomics, and protein modifications. Specifically, he has honed in on RNA, DNA, and protein modifications, transposons, and their potential applications in disease mitigation and plant breeding. To further enhance his research, Dr. Sileesh has established valuable collaborations with eminent scientists hailing from top-tier institutions worldwide, such as Nanjing Forestry University, China, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, and Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, China.
Dr. Sileesh boasts proficiency in programming languages like Python and R, making him a skilled statistician and programmer for data analysis. In fact, he has successfully conducted workshops as a resource person, imparting his knowledge of R programming to fellow researchers.
Dr. Sileesh M. S have blend of intellectual prowess, unwavering dedication, and contagious enthusiasm will undoubtedly inspire students and colleagues alike. With his relentless pursuit of excellence, Dr. Sileesh embodies the essence of what it means to be a true scholar, and his contributions to the world of science are bound to leave a lasting impact.
List of Publications
Muthusamy Ramakrishnan, Pradeep K Papolu, Sileesh Mullasseri, Mingbing Zhou, Anket Sharma, Zishan Ahmad, Viswanathan Satheesh, Ruslan Kalendar, Qiang Wei. The role of LTR retrotransposons in plant genetic engineering: How to control their transposition in the genome, Plant Cell Reports, 2022.
Muthusamy Ramakrishnan; K. Shanmugha Rajan; Sileesh Mullasseri; Krishnan Kalpana; Sarin Palakkal; Anket Sharma; Mingbing Zhou; Kunnummal K. Vinod; Subbiah Ramasamy; Qiang Wei (2022). The plant epitranscriptome: revisiting the most abundant RNA modifications. Plant Biotechnology Journal. DOI: 10.1111/pbi.13829
Papolu, Pradeep K., Muthusamy Ramakrishnan, Sileesh Mullasseri, Ruslan Kalendar, Qiang Wei, Long-Hai Zou, Zishan Ahmad, Kunnummal Kurungara Vinod, Ping Yang, and Mingbing Zhou. “Retrotransposons: How the continuous evolutionary front shapes plant genomes for response to heat stress.” (2022) Frontiers in plant science.
Ramakrishnan, Muthusamy, Zhijun Zhang, Sileesh Mullasseri, Ruslan Kalendar, Zishan Ahmad, Anket Sharma, Guohua Liu, Mingbing Zhou, and Qiang Wei. “Epigenetic stress memory: A new approach to study cold and heat stress responses in plants.” Frontiers in plant science 13 (2022).
Sileesh, M. S, Madhusoodana Kurup, B & Korath, A. (2022). Bathymetric variation on the quantitative diversity in the deep-sea fish assemblage of Southwest India, Arabian Sea. Thalassas: An International Journal of Marine Sciences,
Sileesh, M. S., Alphi, K., Harish, K. C., & Viji, V. (2017). Species assemblages and community structure of deep-sea demersal ichthyofauna of the South-eastern Arabian Sea (SEAS). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 1–7. Doi:10.1017/S0025315417001151
Sileesh M, Kurup BM, Korath A (2020). Length at maturity and relationship between weight and the total length of five deep sea fishes from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India, North-eastern Indian Ocean. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025315420000478.
Sileesh, M. S, Madhusoodana Kurup, B., Viji, V., & Korath, A. (2021). Length-weight Relationships of Six Rare Deep‐ Sea fishes from the Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago, India. Thalassas: An International Journal of Marine Sciences. doi:10.1007/s41208-021-00286-4
Sileesh, M. S, Madhusoodana Kurup, B., & Korath, A. (2020). Length-weight relationship of deep-sea demersal finfishes from the South-eastern Arabian Sea. Journal of Applied Ichthyology, 36, 855– 857. doi:10.1111/jai.14088.
Sileesh, M. S., Alphi, K., Fricke, R., Viji, V., Amritha, K.S., & Harish, K. C. (2017). First record of Paratriacanthodes retrospinis Fowler, 1934 (Tetraodontiformes: Triacanthodidae) from the Andaman Islands, northeastern Indian Ocean. FishTaxa. http://www.fishtaxa.com/index.php/ft/article/view/2-2-3
Sileesh, M. S., Alphi, K., Harish, K. C., Viji, V., Aswathy, M.S., & Fricke, R. (2017). First record of Uranoscopus crassiceps (Alcock, 1890) (Perciformes: Uranoscopidae) from off the Arabian Sea coast, south-western India. FishTaxa, 2(1), 28–32. http://www.fishtaxa.com/index.php/ft/article/view/2-1-2/75
Viji, V., Harish, K. C., Korath, A., & Sileesh, M. S. (2017). A critical analysis of diet in seventeen deep-sea fishes along the South-eastern Arabian Sea. Indian Journal of Fisheries, 64(2), 17–21. doi:10.21077/ijf.2017.64.2.67233-03
Kiranya, B., Pramila, S. & Sileesh Mullasseri, The diversity of finfish population in Poonthura estuary, south-west coast of India, Kerala Environ Monit Assess (2018) 190: 743. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-018-7094-4.
Aneesh Kumar K. V., Sileesh Mullasseri., M P Rajeeshkumar., K.K. Bineesh., Hashim Manjebrayakath., Ronald Fricke (2018). New record of Bembradium magnoculum (Actinopterygii: Scorpaeniformes: Plectrogeniidae) from the north-eastern Indian Ocean- Acta Ichthyologica Et Piscatoria. DOI: 10.3750/AIEP/02573.
R Nikki, Aneesh Kumar K V, Kottnis Oxona, Sileesh Mullasseri, K P Deepa, M Rajeeshkumar, M Hashim, Maruthadu Sudhakar (2018). A range extension of Diretmoides veriginae Kotlyar, 1987 (Beryciformes: Diretmidae) from the Nicobar Island, India FishTaxa (2018) 3(2): 460-465. http://www.fishtaxa.com/index.php/ft/article/view/3-2-3/107.
Oxona Kottnis, Aneesh Kumar KV, Sileesh M.S, Nikki R, Rajeesh Kumar M. P, Hashim M, Sudhakar M (2019). New record of Owstonia kamoharai endo, liao and matsuura 2016 (Perciformes: cepolidae) from the northeastern Indian ocean. Journal of Regional Studies in Marine Science. 33 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rsma.2019.100946.