Dimuth Siritunga is a professor of Plant Molecular Biology at the University of Puerto Rico--Mayaguez (UPRM). An expert in conducting field trials with transgenic plants, his experience includes working with crops such as cassava, cowpea and sweet potato. Dimuth obtained his Ph.D. in Plant Biology from Ohio State University (OSU) in 2002. He also obtained a M.S. in Agronomy from OSU after completing a B.S. in Biology at Hobart College (NY). After a post-doctoral fellowship at OSU, he joined the Biology Department at UPRM in 2004. Dimuth manages research and field laboratories in Puerto Rico, which employ a staff of approximately twelve. His laboratories have received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Dimuth has been a co-PI of the BioCassava Plus project since 2005 and has conducted 20+ transgenic cassava trials, adhering to all USDA-AHPIS regulations. 

His research focuses on using molecular biology tools and tissue culture techniques to study plants. One project in the lab studies the environmental influence on the expression level of genes in the cyanogenic glucoside synthesis, breakdown and re-assimilation pathways of cassava. Similar quantitative study is also being conducted to measure the expression levels of the same genes between different cassava varieties that naturally contain low, medium and high levels of cyanide, respectively. A newly identified gene of the cyanide re-assimilation pathway is the focus of another project which aims to simultaneously reduce cyanogen content and increase the protein level in cassava using transgenic strategies. We are also exploring the function of this novel gene in Arabidopsis thaliana as well. Another main research focus of the lab is the use of SSR molecular markers to assess the genetic diversity of Puerto Rican cassava germplasm. This germplasm is being analyzed for its diversity as well as their relationship to known varieties from Central and South America, Africa and Asia.