“
“Dr. J. Nagaraju passed away on the 31st of December 2012. All

those who knew him are devastated by his sudden death. Dr. Nagaraju was a passionate, inspired and imaginative scientist and a beloved friend. He brought a vast contribution to silkworm biology, in many distinct areas. His curiosity was endless, with a permanent attention that scientific progress be useful to society. Dr. J. Nagaraju started his career at the Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute in Mysore (Karnataka), as a Central Silk Board (CSB) employee. In 1989, he came to Lyon (France) for a two-year stay at the CNRS to work on the cellular and molecular genetics of the silkworm. This is when we started to work in collaboration. Back to India, he was invested by the CSB with the mission of running Seribiotech, a brand new research laboratory

in Bangalore in the fast emerging field of biotechnology, aiming at blending fundamental Dasatinib and applied research. After the Seribiotech experience, Dr. Nagaraju moved to Hyderabad in 1998 and joined the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and the Center for DNA Footprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) where he settled down finally. In 1997, he stayed for one year at Harvard University in the laboratory of Daniel Hartl. Dr. Nagaraju first developed fingerprinting of the Bombyx genome by various approaches to assess the genetic diversity of the silkworm in multiple ecotypes and inbred lines. With his little team at Seribiotech, he characterized the first B. mori microsatellites, their type, Selleck E7080 abundance and polymorphism, and their potential for traceability of genetic resources. He maintained interest in repetitive DNA throughout his career

and more recently developed SilkSatDB, a silkworm microsatellite data base and then InSatDb, an interactive interface to query information regarding microsatellite characteristics of fully sequenced insect genomes. As a major silk-producing country, India is home to the mulberry silkworm but also to three other varieties of natural silks: tasar, eri and muga, unique silkworm Dapagliflozin species that feeds on specific host plants. In this field, Nagaraju pioneered the study of the diversity and of the population structure of these rare silkmoths, of dwindling culture. His experience in the study of genome polymorphism and plasticity led him to investigate the genetic diversity of Basmati rice, a high added value product of India agriculture. By using SSR markers, he could develop rapid multiplex microsatellite marker assays for the authentication of traditional Basmati varieties, which awarded him the gratefulness of the Indian Government. In CCMC and CDFD, he also took interest in many fundamental questions. One concerned determination of sex, a fascinating paradigm owing to the myriad of sex determining primary signals among insect species, which he approached with Giuseppe Saccone (Italy).