Ramesh Katam, a member of the research faculty at the FAMU Center for Viticulture and Small Fruit Research, has been selected to participate in a two-month visit to Tsukba, Japan by National Institute of Crop Research to conduct research on grape and peanut proteomics (the study of proteins). The program is funded by a grant from Japan Science Foundation which invites eminent scientists in the field of expertise across the world to promote science and motivate the scientists in functional genomics.Katam's travel to Japan began on November 17, 2010 and will end on January 15, 2011. During his visit, he will attend and make two presentations, one at the International Symposium on Frontier in Agriculture Proteome Research, Tsukuba, Japan, and another at the Conference on Biochemistry and Microbiology Conference, Kobe, Japan. He will also visit several other institutions in Japan such as National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Mitsubishi Space Software Corporation and Maebashi Institute of Technology in Japan. Katam will conduct workshops and deliver lectures at these institutions on recent trends of functional genomics in agriculture. Currently, he is collaborating with one of these institutions and ascertains that his travel to Japan will bring to FAMU more collaboration from different institutions in Japan which will enhance the research and academic environment at FAMU. Students and faculty at the Center for Viticulture and in CESTA will have more opportunities to develop scientific studies on functional genomics which include transcriptome, proteome and meatabolome.
This unique opportunity also provides the potential for long-term research partnerships through exchange of students and faculty, funding opportunities, and faculty enhancement through research oriented teaching, and the development of new research areas in cutting edge technologies. This will also present access to their resources such as plant materials, equipment and technical know-how which can be incorporated into US agriculture to enhance productivity, quality and market values of US crops.