Aravind K Jukanti obtained both his bachelors (1993-1997) and master’s degrees (1997-1999) in agriculture from Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University, Hyderabad, India. During his master’s his specialization was in ‘Genetics and Plant Breeding’, working on protein and other quality aspects in babycorn maize. Later, he shifted to Montana State University (MSU), Bozeman, USA on a full scholarship to pursue his PhD in Wheat genetics. The title of his dissertation at MSU was “Molecular and Biochemical Charaterization of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Polyphenol Oxidases”. Aravind Jukanti reported and characterized the wheat PPO multi-gene family. He was also successful in identifying the most important wheat kernel PPO probably involved in the undesirable darkening reaction. After graduating in 2005, he worked as a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. A.M. Fischer at MSU upto 2007, mostly working on grain protein content and nitrogen remobilization in barley. He moved to the lab of Dr. J. Jaworski during the winter of 2007 at Donald Danforth Plant Science Center (DDPSC), St. Louis, Missouri, USA. At DDPSC he worked on proteomic aspects of triacylglycerol biosynthesis. He moved backed to India in 2009, worked in the chickpea team as a breeder at ‘International Crops Research Insititute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, India’ and later joined the ‘Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR)’ as a ‘Senior Scientist’, presently working as a senior pearl millet breeder at Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
