Heera Rajandas

Heera Rajandas serves as a Guest Researcher at the Section for Hologenomics within the Globe Institute of the University of Copenhagen. Her research integrates hologenomics and environmental microbiology to investigate soil microbial ecosystems, with emphasis on agricultural applications and genomic characterization of soil-dwelling organisms.

Her primary research interests encompass hologenomics, soil microbiology, and phage biology, focusing on bacterial communities in paddy fields and peat soils. She examines plant growth-promoting bacteria, antimicrobial properties of soil isolates, and metatranscriptomic profiling to understand host-microbe interactions within environmental contexts. Her methodology combines advanced genomic sequencing with soil sample analysis to explore microbial diversity and functional potential.

Recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate concentrated activity in complete genome sequencing of bacterial strains and bacteriophages, particularly targeting Enterococcus faecalis, Bacillus species, and soil pathogens. This work reveals trends in agricultural microbiome engineering, antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, and phage-based biocontrol strategies, with strong emphasis on methodological optimization for environmental samples.

Dr. Rajandas maintains an active collaborative network evidenced by co-authorship across international institutions. Her laboratory work within the Section for Hologenomics involves genomic analysis pipelines and soil microbiome characterization, contributing to the institute's focus on hologenomic systems biology.