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Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Berhampur
भारतीय विज्ञान शिक्षा एवं अनुसंधान संस्थान बरहमपुर
ଭାରତୀୟ ବିଜ୍ଞାନ ଶିକ୍ଷା ଏବଂ ଗବେଷଣା ସଂସ୍ଥାନ ବ୍ରହ୍ମପୁର
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Dr. Arunkumar Krishnan

Biography

Dr. Arunkumar Krishnan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Berhampur. He is a computational biologist specialising in comparative and evolutionary genomics, with research interests in prokaryotic defence systems, lineage-specific expansions of gene families, and adaptive diversification of protein domains.

Associate Professor, IISER Berhampur (Since March 2026 Onwards)

Assistant Professor, IISER Berhampur (Since December 2020 to February 2026)

Post-Doctoral Fellow, NCBI, NIH (2017-2020), Bethesda, Maryland, US. Dr. L Aravind’s group

Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Queensland (2016-2017), Australia. Prof. Bernard Degnan’s group

PhD in Comparative Genomics (2011-2015), Uppsala University, Sweden. Prof. Helgi Schiöth's group


For the latest updates, please visit our "lab website"

Rakesh S, Krishnan A*. Expanding the landscape of BREX diversity: uncovering multi-layered functional frameworks and identification of novel BREX-related defense systems. Nucleic Acids Research. Volume 54, Issue 3, 10 February 2026, gkag035, Weblink

Rakesh S, Behera K, Krishnan A*. Unveiling the structural and functional implications of uncharacterized NSPs and variations in the molecular toolkit across arteriviruses. NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics.  Volume 7, Issue 2, June 2025, lqaf035. Weblink

Nath R, Panda B, Rakesh S, Krishnan A*. Lineage-Specific Class-A GPCR Dynamics Reflect Diverse Chemosensory Adaptations in Lophotrochozoa. Molecular Biology and Evolution. Volume 42, Issue 3, March 2025, msaf042, Pages 1–25. Weblink 

Rakesh S, Aravind L, Krishnan A*. Reappraisal of the DNA phosphorothioate modification machinery: uncovering neglected functional modalities and identification of new counter-invader defense systems. Nucleic Acids Research. Volume 52, Issue 3, 9 February 2024, Pages 1005–1026. Weblink (NAR Breakthrough and Cover Page Article) (Featured in Times of India) 

Westbury MV, Le Duc D, Duchêne DA, Krishnan A, Prost S, Rutschmann S, Grau JH, Dalen L, Weyrich A, Norén K, Werdelin L, Dalerum F, Schöneberg T, Hofreiter M*. (2021). Ecological Specialisation and Evolutionary Reticulation in Extant Hyaenidae. Molecular Biology and Evolution. Volume 38, Issue 9, Pages 3884–3897. Weblink

Krishnan A, Burroughs AM, Iyer LM, Aravind L*. (2020). Comprehensive classification of ABC ATPases and their functional radiation in nucleoprotein dynamics and biological conflict systems. Nucleic Acids Research. Volume 48, Issue 18, Pages 10045–10075. Weblink (Featured Survey and Summary article)


For the latest updates, please visit our "lab website"

 
Overall Research Theme Of the Lab
 
Our research group integrates comparative genomics and computational structural biology to investigate fundamental questions across the biological spectrum. We leverage a broad suite of computational approaches to explore diverse biological systems, with a core focus on evolutionary logic and inference.
 
Guided by the principle that evolutionary thinking offers a powerful lens to decode molecular diversity and innovation, our work builds on the basis that nature—through billions of genetic experiments over evolutionary time—has woven, and continues to weave, a dynamic tapestry of molecular evolution. Comparative and evolutionary genomics provide the means to unravel the dynamic landscape of molecular evolution and reveal the principles—such as divergence, constraint, convergence, and related forces—that drive molecular innovation and functional diversification.
 
 
At the molecular scale, we analyze sequence–structure relationships of protein domains and families, track lineage-specific gene expansions, and identify diversification patterns that scale up to organismal adaptation and evolutionary novelty. These approaches allow us to dissect the molecular strategies from prokaryotic defenses against selfish genetic elements to major eukaryotic transitions shaped by gene family expansions and whole-genome duplications. We are also broadly interested in the evolution of protein folds, focusing on how the evolutionary malleability of folds enables proteins to adapt, diversify, and repurpose their functions across diverse biological contexts, and how these functional shifts can be systematically traced and predicted using computational approaches.
 
Unified by a central interest in the evolution of molecular systems, our research themes apply evolutionary reasoning to understand how proteins and genomes diversify, adapt, and innovate across diverse biological contexts.
 
The following sections highlight the major research themes currently pursued in our group
 

Prokaryotic Defense SystemsLineage-Specific Expansions (LSEs) of Gene Families in MetazoansGenome Sequencing of Invertebrates to Study the LSEs and Other Adaptive DiversificationsComparative Genomics of Lipid-Binding GPCRs: Evolution, Specificity, and Human Variation

Adaptive Evolution of Diverse Protein Folds and Domains and Their Functional Diversification in Prokaryotes


For the latest updates, please visit our "lab website"

 

  • Comparative and Evolutionary Genomics
  • Rakesh Siuli, rakeshs@iiserbpr.ac.in (Ph.D. student)
  • Rohan Nath, rohann20@iiserbpr.ac.in (iPh.D. student)
  • Subhangi Subudhi, subhangis23@iiserbpr.ac.in (PhD Student)
  • Somanath Muduli, 2420101@iiserbpr.ac.in (Ph.D student)
  • Atharv Manojkumar Sambarat 2510104@iiserbpr.ac.in, (PhD Student)
  • Belide Saketha Ram, belide21@iiserbpr.ac.in, Researcher
  • Diptendu Saha, diptendu22@iiserbpr.ac.in. Ms Thesis Student 26-27
  • Aditya Aryan, adityaa22@iiserbpr.ac.in, Ms Thesis Student 26-27
  • Ph.D. (Comparative Genomics), 2015, Uppsala University, Sweden
  • MSc (Bioinformatics), 2008, University of Madras
  • Associate Professor, IISER Berhampur (Since March 2026)
  • Assistant Professor, IISER Berhampur (Since December 2020 to February 2026)
  • Postdoc, NCBI, NIH (2017-2020). L Aravind’s Group
  • Postdoc, University of Queensland (2016-2017). Bernard Degnan’s group
  • Ramalingaswamy Fellowship Award, 2021
  • DBT SERB-SRG Grant, 2021
  • Postdoctoral Visiting Fellowship Award NIH, 2017
  • Member of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE)
  • Academic member of the Adhesion GPCR Consortium
  • Manuscripts receiving outstanding recognition such as (i) Featured cover page articles, (ii) Breakthrough articles, (iii) F1000,
  • Manuscripts addressed by numerous News outlets, including The Guardian, BBC, The Seattle Times, Weekend Australian, New Zealand Herald, among others.

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