mEMBER pROFILE

Dr. Abha Agnihotri

Head, Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology &

Professor, Amity Institute of Microbial Technology

AIMT, E3, 4th Floor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh,

Sector 125, Noida – 201313 (NCR), India.

Mobile: (+91)-120- 4392418 / 9717170892

Email: aagnihotri@amity.edu, abha.agnihotri@gmail.com

Qualifications: Ph.D: Department of Botany, University of Delhi (1992), M.Phil: School of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (1985), M.Sc: Biochemistry, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (1972)

Specialization: In vitro sequential embryo rescue, Microspore mutagenesis and doubled haploids production, Trait transfer: nutritional quality and disease resistance, Plant- microbe interaction 

Positions held:

  • Head, Centre for Agricultural Biotechnology & Professor, Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida (April 2009- Continued)
  • Adjunct Faculty, TERI-University, New Delhi (July 2001- April 2009)
  • Fellow Plant Biotechnology, TERI, New Delhi (July 1985 – April 2009)
  • Lecturer, Dr Ambedkar First Grade College, Bangalore (July- December 1984)
  • Science Teacher, Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior (July 1982- June 1984)
  • Junior Research Fellow, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi ( 1979 – June 1982)
  • Junior Scientific Assistant, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune (Mar. 1973 – Oct 1973) 

Academic and Research Achievements:

Salient research achievements include amalgamation of biotechnological tools to supplement the conventional methods for nutritional quality improvement and fungal disease resistance in rapeseed- mustard: established efficient protocols for in vitro sequential embryo rescue for trait transfer across species barrier; micro-propagation and embryogenesis protocols from somatic/ zygotic explants in Brassica species; molecular characterization of hybrids through ISSR/ repeat DNA probes; microspore mutagenesis and doubled haploids production; study of molecular polymorphism and evaluation for white rust and Alternaria; design of field experiments, multi-location testing and farmer’s participatory field trials. Transfer of resistance to Albugo candida isolates in B. juncea through transgenic approach. Effects of the endophytic fungus, Piriformospora indica and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, Azotobacter chroococcum on growth, biomass and yield of industrially important Stevioside, a calorie free sugar substitute, from the medicinal plant Stevia rebaudiana resulting in biosynthesis pathway genes induction and enhanced production of steviol glycosides.

Other Achievements:

  • Certificates in International Short Course in Food Safety (2004); and International Internship in IPR and Technology Transfer (2008), Michigan State University, USA
  • DBT Overseas Research Associate, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Canada (July 93- to Sept 1994)
  • Executed 19 projects as Principal Investigator including four International Projects from bilateral/ multilateral organizations such as DST, DRDO, ICAR, Ministry of Agriculture, Monsanto Holdings Ltd., Syngenta India Ltd., DFID- London, ACIAR- Australia, BBSRC- DBT
  • Organized twelve 12 National/ International workshops/ conferences in the area of Plant Biotechnology and IPR
  • Visiting scientist to Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, UK
  • Participated and delivered talks in several National and International conferences at India, Canada, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, China, Vienna
  • Developed and released India’s first canola quality Brassica napus variety TERI-Uttam-Jawahar (Gazette of India, 2007)
  • Registered seven genetically enhanced genotypes of rapeseed-mustard at ICAR, Government of India
  • Life member of professional societies: Plant Tissue Culture Association (India); Indian Science Congress Association; Indian Society of Oilseeds Research; Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding; Indian Society of Plant Genetic Resource; Association of Microbiologists of India; Indian Society of Agricultural Biochemists

Best Publications:

  • Kilam D, Saifi M, Abdin M Z, Agnihotri A & Varma A. 2017: Endophytic root fungus Piriformospora indica affects transcription of steviol biosynthesis genes and enhances production of steviol glycosides in Stevia rebaudiana. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology: 97, 40-48
  • Kilam D, Saifi M, Abdin M Z, Agnihotri A & Varma A. 2015: Combined effects of Piriformospora indica and Azotobacter chroococcum enhance plant growth, antioxidant potential and steviol glycoside content in Stevia rebaudiana. Symbiosis, 66: 149-156
  • Deepak Prem, Kadambari Gupta and Abha Agnihotri 2012: Harnessing haploid mutations using mutant donor plants for microspore culture in Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and Coss]. Euphytica 184 (2), pp 207-222
  • Kaushik N and Agnihotri A 1999: GLC analysis of Indian rapeseed-Mustard to study the variability of fatty acid composition. Biochemical Society Transactions 28(6): 581-583
  • Deepak Prem, Kadambari Gupta, Gautam Sarkar and Abha Agnihotri 2008: Activated Charcoal induced high frequency microspore embryogenesis and efficient doubled haploid production in Brassica juncea. Plant Cell Tissue & Organ Culture, 93: 269-282
  • Kadambari Gupta, Deepak Prem, Nash Nashaat and Abha Agnihotri 2006: Response of interspecific Brassica juncea x Brassica rapa hybrids and their advanced progenies to Albugo candida (Pers.) Kunze. Plant Pathology 55: 679-689
  • Agnihotri A Hybrid embryo rescue in Crucifers. In: Lindsey, K. (ed). Plant Tissue Culture Manual; Fundamentals and Applications. Kluwer Academic Publishers Dordrecht. pp. E4:1-8
  • Singh BR, Sarvari E, Agnihotri A, Singhal G S 1991: Lincomycin‑induced alteration in the contents of chlorophyll protein complexes of dimorphic maize chloroplasts and its effect on the temperature‑induced spectral changes. Physiologia Plantarum, 81:393‑398
  • Gupta V, Agnihotri A and Jagannathan V 1990: Plant regeneration from callus and protoplasts of Brassica nigra (IC 257) through somatic embryogenesis. Plant Cell Reports, 9:427‑430
  • Agnihotri A, Shivanna K R, Raina S N, Lakshmikumaran M, Prakash S and Jagannathan V 1990: Production of Brassica napus X Raphanobrassica hybrids by embryo  rescue:  An attempt to introduce shattering resistance in B. napusPlant Breeding, 105:292‑299

Major Research Interest: Agricultural biotechnology and related IPR/ policy/ regulatory issues

Numbers of PhD guided so far: Nine 

Awards and Recognitions:

  • Fellow, Society for Rapeseed- Mustard Research, 2012
  • Fellow, Indian Society of Oilseed Research, 2011
  • USDA Cocharan Fellow, Michigan State University, USA, 2008
  • USDA Plant Biotechnology System Fellowship, Michigan State University, USA, 2004
  • DBT nominee for short course in IPR in Biotechnology for scientists and officers at National Law School of India University, Bangalore, 2004
  • DBT Biotechnology Overseas Associate, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Canada, 1993-94
  • Member, Haryana State Agricultural Research, Extension & Coordination Committee, Chandigarh, 1999 

Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 1995 

Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: It provides the platform to keep abreast with latest developments in the field of plant biotechnology and interact with learned scientists and young researchers.

Research Gate

Dr. Ajay Kumar Mathur

Former Chief Scientist and presently A Consultant
CSIR-Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP),
PO CIMAP
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh-226015.
Email: akmcath@gmail.com

Qualification: M.Sc (Botany); M.Phil (Botany); Ph.D (Botany)

Specialization: Plant Tissue Culture, Cell Fusions, Metabolic Engineering, Somaclonal Breeding, Tissue Banking

Positions held:

Retired as Chief Scientist

Academic and Research Achievements:

  • Brought India on to the International Map of Metabolic Engineering of Medicinal Plants particularly the antineoplastic herb Catharanthus roseus
  • Playing active role in drafting the National Policy Document of Indian Medicinal Plants of Ministry of AYUSH
  • Did pioneering work on synseed technology in India
  • Credited with the development of India’s first tissue culture raised plant variety (CIMAP/BIO-13 of Cymbopogon winterianus) that reached the farmers’ field
  • Did pioneering work on development f salinity tolerant plants through cell culture approach in India
  • Played an important role in building base populations of high artemisinin yielding selections of Artemisia annua that ultimately led to the generation of genetically improved varieties of A annua with >1/2% artemisinin. Commercial cultivation of this material is helping India acquiring self sufficiency in artemisinin production for manufacturing ant- malarial drugs against Plasmodium falciparum infection

Other Achievements:

  • Set up one of the best state of art tissue culture facility at CIMAP
  • Developed micro-cloning and cell culturing protocols in >40 medicinal and aromatic plants
  • Helped CIMAP in developing an organized value chain of medicinal and aromatic plants cultivation and business in the country by organizing four National Interactive Meets for bringing researchers, funding institutions, farmers, traders and end user Industry of medicinal and aromatic plants on one platform
  • Presently acting as Associate Editor of Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sciences (JMAPS) since 2009 

Best Publications:

  • Abhishek Sharma, Priyanka Verma, Archana Mathur and Ajay Kumar Mathur (2018) Overexpression of tryptophan decarboxylase and strictosidine synthase enhanced terpenoid indole alkaloid pathway activity and antineoplastic vinblastine biosynthesis in Catharanthus roseus.  Protoplasma 255:1281-1294. 
  • Sharma A, Verma P, Mathur A and Mathur AK (2018). Genetic engineering approach using early Vinca alkaloid biosynthesis genes led to increased tryptamine and terpenoid indole alkaloids biosynthesis in differentiating cultures of Catharanthus roseus. Protoplasma 255: 425–435.
  • Biswas T, Pandey SS, Maji D, Gupta V and Kalra A, Singh M, Mathur A and Mathur AK (2018). Enhanced expression of ginsenoside biosynthetic genes and in vitro ginsenoside production in elicited Panax sikkimensis (Ban) cell suspensions. Protoplasma  255:1147-1160.
  • Sharma A, Verma N, Verma P, Verma RK, Mathur A and Mathur AK (2017). Optimization of a Bacopa monnieri-based genetic transformation model for testing the expression efficiency of pathway gene constructs of medicinal crops. In Vitro Cell Dev. Biol. — Plant 53: 22–32
  • Verma P, Khan SA, Masood N, Manika N. Sharma A, Verma N, Luqman S and Mathur AK (2017). Differential rubisco content and photosynthetic efficiency of rol gene integrated Vinca minor transgenic plant: Correlating factors associated with morpho-anatomical changes, gene expression and alkaloid productivity. J. Pl. Physiol. 219: 12-21
  • Biswas T, Mathur AK and Mathur A (2017). A literature update elucidating production of Panax ginsenosides with a special focus on strategies enriching the anti-neoplastic minor  ginsenosides in ginseng preparations. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 101: 4009–4032
  • Biswas T, Kalra A, Mathur AK, Lal RK, Singh M, Mathur A. (2016). Elicitors’ influenced differential ginsenoside production and exudation into medium with concurrent Rg3/Rh2 panaxadiol induction in Panax quinquefolius cell suspensions.  Appl Microbiol Biotechnol.  100: 4909-22 
  • Verma P, Sharma A, Khan SA,  Shanker K and Mathur AK (2015) Over-expression of Catharanthus roseus tryptophan decarboxylase and strictosidine synthase in rol gene integrated transgenic cell suspensions of Vinca minor. Protoplasma 252:373–381
  • Verma  P, Mathur AK, Khan SA, Verma N, Sharma A (2015) Transgenic studies for modulating terpenoid indole alkaloids pathway in Catharanthus roseus: present status and future options. Phytochem Rev. DOI 10.1007/s11101-015-9447-8.
  • Verma P, Khan SA, Mathur AK, Srivastava A and Shanker K (2015) Tryptophan metabolism and evaluation of morphological, biochemical and molecular variations in a field grown plant population derived via direct adventitious shoot bud regeneration from pre-plasmolysed leaves of Catharanthus roseus. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 123:357–375
  • Biswas T, Singh M, Mathur AK, Mathur A (2015). A dual purpose cell line of an Indian congener of ginseng—Panax sikkimensis with distinct ginsenoside and anthocyanin production profiles. Protoplasma 252: 697-703  
  • Verma Priyanka, Khan SA, Mathur AK, Ghosh S, Shanker K and  Kalra A (2014) Improved sanguinarine production via biotic and abiotic elicitations and precursor feeding in cell suspensions of latex-less variety of Papaver somniferum with their gene expression studies and upscaling in bioreactor. Protoplasma 251:1359–1371
  • Singh DK, Luqman S and Mathur AK (2015). Lawsonia inermis L. – A commercially important primaeval dying and medicinal plant with diverse pharmacological activity: A review. Indust. Crops Prod 65: 269-286
  • Prasad A, Mathur A, Kalra A, Gupta MM, Lal RK and Mathur AK (2013) Fungal elicitor-mediated enhancement in growth and asiaticoside content of Centella asiatica L. shoot cultures. Plant Growth Regulation 69: 265-273 (IF: 1.670)
  • Verma P, Mathur  AK, Masood N, Luqman S and Shanker K (2013) Tryptophan over producing cell suspensions of Catharanthus roseus (L) G. Don and their up-scaling in stirred tank bioreactor: detection of phenolic compound with antioxidant potential. Protoplasma 250:371-380 (IF: 2.855)
  • Mathur AK, Ahuja PS, Pandey B, Kukreja AK and Mandal S (1988) Screening and evaluation of somaclonal variations for quantitative and qualitative traits in an aromatic grass, Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt.  Plant Breeding 101: 321-334

Major Research Interest:

  • Pathway engineering in plants through cellular interventions
  • Bioreactor up-scaling of cell cultures for secondary metabolites production
  • Tissue ad pollen banking
  • Policy making issues for herbal research & business in India

Numbers of PhD guided so far: Five

Awards and Recognitions:

  • Holder of National Merit Scholarship (1973-77)
  • University Gold Medal for M.Sc (Botany) 1977
  • Life Member National Academy of Sciences India
  • Member Phytochemical Society of Europe
  • Associate Editor, Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sciences

Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2005 

Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: To remain in touch with all leading PTC research groups in the country.

Research Gate

Dr. Ajay Kumar Thakur

Senior Scientist
Biotechnology,
ICAR-Directorate of Rapeseed-Mustard Research,
Bharatpur, Rajasthan-321303.
Email: thakurak2010@gmail.com

Qualification: Ph.D. (Biotechnology)

Specialization: Plant tissue culture, Genomics & Molecular Biology

Positions held:

  • Senior Scientist (Biotechnology) from 08/01/2017 till date

  • Scientist (Senior Scale)) from 08/01/2012 to 07/01/2017

  • Scientist (Biotechnology) from 07/01/2008 to 07/01/2012

Academic and Research Achievements:

Dr. Ajay Kumar Thakur is presently working as Senior Scientist (Biotechnlogy) at ICAR-Directorate of Rapeseed-Mustard Research, Bharatpur, Rajasthan. He has obtained his graduation, PG and Doctoral degrees from Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Solan, H.P. He got induced into Agricultural Research Services (ARS) in 2008. He has published 40 research/review papers in various journals of International and National repute, authored one book ‘Agricultural Biotechnology at a Glance’, contributed 8 book chapters and 22 popular articles. He has developed high efficiency plant regeneration and genetic transformation protocols in a number of crops including Populus ciliata, P. deltoides, Punica granatum, Capsicum annum and Cucumis sativus. Dr. Thakur is associated with Brassica juncea improvement programme using biotechnological interventions from last eleven years. He has developed a core set of SSR markers for B. juncea genomics and is presently working on germplasm characterization and association mapping of various agronomically important traits in this oilseed crop. He has also filed one patent and associated in the development of a high yielding Indian mustard variety Giriraj, a white rust resistant Indian mustard genetic stock DRMR MJA 35, which is a Moricandia system- based cytoplasmic male sterile line of B. juncea, and a multiple disease (Alternaria blight, white rust and powdery mildew) resistant Indian mustard genetic stock, DRMRIJ 12-48. Dr. Thakur has received many awards from various societies and scientific organizations for his scientific contribution.

    Other Achievements:

    • Developed a high frequency plant regeneration protocol via direct organogenesis in Brassica juncea var. NRCDR-2 and evaluated the clonal fidelity of in vitro developed plants using RAPD and ISSR markers.

    • Standardized and optimized genetic transformation protocols in Brassica juncea var. Pusabold with chickpea lectin gene for incorporation of aphid resistance and in B. juncea var. NRCDR-2 with TvD1 and NtPI genes for incorporation of Alternaria blight tolerance.

    • Standardized and optimized embryo rescue technique for the production of intergeneric hybrids between Sinapis alba and B. juncea var. Giriraj & RH 749 for introgression of Alternaria blight resistance in Indian mustard.

    • Developed a core set of SSR markers for B. juncea varieties and germplasm.

    • Carried out molecular characterization of Brassica juncea and B. rapa varieties and developed unique fingerprints for 1st Indian mustard hybrid, NRCHB 506 using SSR markers.

    • Evaluated genetic diversity in Brassica juncea varieties and germplasm using SSR markers and identified the most diverse parents for breeding programs for high heterosis.

    • Genetic diversity evaluation in a Trait-specific Reference Set (145 accessions for nine yield component traits) of B. juncea germplasm had been carried out using SSR markers and genetically diverse parents had been identified for use as donors for future breeding programmes.

    • Carried out molecular characterization of B. juncea-derived B. carinata lines and B. carinata-derived B. juncea lines using A-, B-, C- genome-derived SSR markers and studied the introgression of respective genomes in respective derived lines.

    • Evaluated genetic diversity in inbred lines of Indian mustard using SSR markers and identified genetically diverse parents for high heterosis.

    • Developed a high frequency in vitro plant regeneration protocol via direct organogenesis in Populus deltoides clone G48 using petiole explants. This protocol is being used by several laboratories for regeneration and genetic transformation studies in P. deltoides clone G48.

    • Standardized and optimized plant regeneration and genetic transformation protocol in Himalayan poplar (Populus ciliata) using gus and npt-II genes. This protocol is being followed by several laboratories for developing transgenic Himalayan poplar plants with silviculturally desirable traits.

    • Developed transgenic plants of Populus ciliata with reduced lignin content by genetic modification of lignin biosynthetic pathway via Agrobacterium-mediated antisense CAD (cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase) gene transfer, which is the utmost demand of paper manufacturing industry.

    Best Publications:

    • Thakur AK, Singh KH, Lal S, Nanjundan J, Yasin JK and Singh D. 2018. SSR marker variations in Brassica species provide insight into the origin and evolution of Brassica amphidiploids. Hereditas. 155: 6. DOI: 10.1186/s41065-017-0041-5.

    • Kumar P, Gambhir G, Gaur A, Sharma KC, Thakur AK and Srivastava DK. 2018. Development of transgenic broccoli with cryIAa gene for resistance against diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella). 3 Biotech. 8: 299. DOI: 10.1007/s13205-018-1316-x.

    • Thakur AK, Singh KH, Singh L, Nanjundan J, Khan YJ and Singh D. 2017. Patterns of subspecies genetic diversity among oilseed Brassica rapa as revealed by agro-morphological traits and SSR markers. Journal of Plant Biochemistry & Biotechnology. 26(3): 282-292.

    • Parmar N, Thakur AK, Kumar P, Thakur PD and Bhardwaj SV. 2017. Molecular characterization of Turnip mosaic potyvirus (TuMV)-infecting radish (Raphanus sativus L.) crop in India. 3 Biotech. 7: 382. DOI: 10.1007/s13205-017-1016-y.

    • Thakur AK, Singh KH, Singh L, Verma V and Singh D. 2016. Morphological and molecular descriptors for first Indian mustard hybrid, NRCHB 506. Indian Journal of Biotechnology. 15: 116-119.

    • Thakur AK, Singh BK, Verma V and Chauhan JS. 2013. Direct organogenesis in Brassica juncea var. NRCDR-2 from cotyledonary petiole explants and analysis of genetic uniformity using RAPD markers. National Academy Science Letters. 36(4): 403-409.

    • Thakur AK, Aggrawal G and Srivastava DK. 2012. Genetic modification of lignin biosynthetic pathway in Populus ciliata Wall. via Agrobacterium-mediated antisense CAD gene transfer for quality paper production. National Academy Science Letters. 35(2): 79-84.

    • Thakur AK, Saraswat A and Srivastava DK. 2012. In vitro plant regeneration through direct organogenesis in Populus deltoides clone G48 from petiole explants. Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology. 21(1): 23-29.

    • Thakur AK and Srivastava DK. 2006. High efficiency plant regeneration from leaf explants of male Himalayan poplar (Populus ciliata Wall). In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology-Plant. 42: 144-147.

    • Thakur AK, Sharma S and Srivastava DK. 2005. Plant regeneration and genetic transformation studies in petiole tissue of Himalayan poplar (Populus ciliata Wall.). Current Science. 89(4): 664-668.

    Major Research Interest:

    • Genetic transformation

    • Genetic diversity evaluation

    • Association mapping

    • Marker-assisted breeding

    Awards and Recognitions:

    • Elected Member, Plant Tissue Culture Association of India (PTCAI) (Feb 15, 2019).

    • Awarded “Start-up Research Grant (Young Scientists)” under ‘Young Scientist Scheme’ from DST-Science and Engineering Research Board, New Delhi (October, 2014).

    • “Fellow” of Society for Applied Biotechnology, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka (2012).

    • ‘Best Scientist Award’ for the year 2016, by ICAR-Directorate of Rapeseed-Mustard Research, Bharatpur, Rajasthan. 

    • ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ from Indian Society for Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad on February 21, 2015.

    • ‘Young Scientist Award’ from Indian society of Genetics, Biotechnology Research &   Development, Agra on April 23, 2017.

    • ‘Young Scientist Award’ from Samagra Vikas Welfare Society (SVWS), Lucknow on October 16, 2017.

    • ‘Award of Appreciation’ from Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, New Delhi on November 27, 2017.

    • “Best Oral Presentation Award” from Indian Society of Agricultural Statistics, New Delhi on November 27, 2017.

    • ‘Best poster Award’ from National Society of Plant Science, Hisar on January 29, 2006.

    • University Merit Scholarship during Ph.D.

    • State Board Merit Scholarship during B.Sc.

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2019

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: PTCAI provides a very good platform to interact with the fellow researchers and keep ourselves updated.

    Research Gate 

    Dr. Amita Pal

    Professor
    Guest Scientist,
    Division of Plant Biology,
    Bose Institute, Kolkata- 700054.
    Email: amita@jcbos.ac.in

    Qualification: M.Sc., Ph.D.

    Specialization: Plant Biotechnology, Genetics and Stress Biology

    Positions held:

    • UGC Emeritus Fellow, 2016-2018
    • CSIR Emeritus Scientist, 2013-2016
    • Senior Professor, Division of Plant Biology, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 2006-2013
    • Professor, Division of Plant Biology, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 2005-2006
    • Head of the Department, Plant Molecular and Cellular Genetics,Bose Institute, Kolkata, 2003-2005
    • Professor,Plant Molecular and Cellular Genetics,Bose Institute, Kolkata, 1997-2005
    • Reader, Plant Molecular and Cellular Genetics,Bose Institute, Kolkata, 1989-1997
    • Senior Lecturer,Plant Molecular and Cellular Genetics,1986-1989
    • Lecturer and In-chargeTissue Culture Section, Bose Institute, Kolkata. 1982-1986

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    Research focus in Prof. Amita Pal’s laboratory in the last two decades has been on addressing Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus (MYMIV)-stress in Vigna mungo in particular and in other grain-legumes as well. Classical genetical tools, molecular markers, genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics approaches were employed to decipher the molecular mechanism of MYMIV-resistance.

    Present research is primarily concentrated on genome wide transcriptome sequencing of a MYMIV-resistant-RIL and a widely cultivated susceptible cultivar of V. mungo (both mock inoculated and challenged with MYMIV) using Illumina platform and subsequent annotation for gene ontology study. Cloning, characterization of selected disease resistant genes and validation of differentially expressed, immune responsive genes are underway. Development of MYMIV-resistance-linked SSR markers, especially EST-SSR and ISSR markers and their transferability across different MYMIV resistant genotypes of other MYMIV resistant grain-legumes are underway.

    Another important area being explored by our group is the identification and characterization of long non-coding (lncRNAs) RNAs derived from transcriptomes of V. mungo. The early focus for this study was to develop a novel lncRNA identification pipeline for V. Mungo, which would also be applicable for other non-model crops and to develop novel lncRNA annotation pipeline for the plant. Identification pipeline has already been designed (Singh et al., 2018) and annotation pipeline is underway. Our aim is to determine the roles lncRNAs, if any, towards immune response of V. mungo.

    Highlights:

    • Molecular markers tightly linked with MYMIV-resistance in Vigna mungo (urdbean) and V. radiata (mungbean) were developed; and a reliable genotyping method to screen MYMIV-resistant germplasms in V. mungo and V. radiata from the seed stock has been established.
    • One candidate MYMIV-resistance gene from Vigna mungo, namely CYR1 was isolated, cloned and characterized. Enhanced expression of CYR1 upon MYMIV infection suggests involvement of this gene in conferring resistance against the virus. CYR1 has been introgressed in susceptible Vigna cultivars and homozygous resistant RILs were raised to protect the crop from MYMIV attack and thus evade loss of crop yield due to this commonly occurring menace.
    • An inducible endogenous promoter has been identified and characterized which is located in the upstream of the CYR1 gene.
    • The reference proteome map of V. mungo was generated for the first time, 109 proteins were identified and registered in PRIDE data base (Accession No. 15318).
    • Genomic Resources in V. mungo: 570-ESTs and 67 miRNA loci, represented by 45 conserved, 8 non-conserved and 14 novel miRNAs were identified in V. mungo by deep sequencing followed by bioinformatics analyses. All these have contributed towards development of genomic resources in an orphan grain-legume.
    • Species-specific SCAR markers for Bambusa balcooa and B. tulda were developed, which will help for precise identification of these bamboo species for paper-industrial uses to avoid unintentional adulterations.
    • Efficient, non-invasive CLSM-based methods to screen superior fiber-quality-traits (cellulose and lignin) of bamboo have been developed for industrial application. These methods are very useful for rapid screening of elite, natural genetic bamboo resources.
    • A novel serine threonine protein kinase gene, BbKst was isolated from B. balcooa that implicates cellulose overproduction and superior quality fiber formation.
    • Demonstrated the dependability of the combined (ITS sequence + structure based) approach over the only sequence based analysis for phylogenetic relationship assessment of bamboo.
    • Development of stable, pure diosgenin (a precursor of cortico-steroid) containing embryo-clones of Costus speciosus.
    • Augmentation of diosgenin production in species of Dioscorea by genetic manipulation.
    • In vitro production of plant derived insecticidal compounds (pyrethrins) by exploring the technical feasibility of non-conventional genetical methods.
    • Standardization of micropropagation protocols of various crop plants, recalcitrant grain legume and tree species including Leucosceptrum cannum, species of Populus, Dendrocalamus strictus, Bambusa balcooa and B. tulda.

    Other Academic Activities:

    • 15 Major funding projects including COE and as collaborating Scientist in one UNDP project.
    • Guided 15 PhD student, one M.Tech student and mentor 27 post-docs.
    • Imparted training of more than 30 Summer and winter post-graduate students and two college/university teachers.
    • Delivered several invited talks in various international and national conferences.
    • Associated Editor, Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture: Journal of Plant Biotechnology (Springer, Nederlands) 2011-2016
    • Associated Editor, Journal of Integrated OMICS (Spain), since 2012
    • Expert Member, NISCAIR (National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources), CSIR for the dissemination of Scientific Information, 2007-2009.
    • Expert Member, Recruitment and Assessment of Scientists of NISCAIR (National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources), CSIR for the year 2010-2012.
    • Regional Editor of the Advances in Natural and Applied Sciences (2007-2009).
    • Regional Editor of the American-Eurasian Network for Scientific Information.
    • Editorial Board member of the World Journal of Agriculture Sciences.
    • Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology (Springer) upto 2017.
    • Member Editorial Board, Journal of Bamboo and Rattan till date
    • Associate Editor, The Nucleus (Springer) from 2016-2017.
    • Editor of the Journal The Nucleus (Springer) since 2018.
    • Guest Edited a Special Issue in the Journal The Nucleus (Springer) entitled “From Chromosomes to Genomics – the evolving trends” in December,2018.
    • Chaired/Co-Chaired Technical Sessions in several national and international conferences/symposia/seminars.

    Teaching courses undertaken :

    • Pre- doctoral course work, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India: More than 20 years.
    • Post -doctoral course work, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India: ~17 years.
    • M.Sc. in Biotechnology, Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh, India, as guest faculty for the year 1998 and 1999.
    • Plant Biotechnology, for the M.Sc. students of B.C. Guha Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Calcutta University, Kolkata, India, as guest professor since 1999 to 2004.
    • Post-graduate classes for the M.Sc. in the Genetics Department, University of Calcutta since 2003 to 2014.
    • Post-graduate classes for the special paper in Genetics to Genomics since 2010 to 2015, Department of Botany, University of Calcutta.
    • Post-graduate classes for M.Sc. students in Genomics and Proteomics at the Bethune College, University of Calcutta, 2011.
    • Post-graduate classes for the M.Sc.-PhD integrated courses in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the Bose Institute since 2007 upto2011.
    • Several refresher courses for college teachers at different Universities.
    • Genetics curriculum for M.Sc.-PhD integrated courses in Life Sciences at the Bose Institute.

    Affiliation to Scientific/Technical Committees at State/National/ International level

    • Member of the Task Force Committee of Bioinformatics, computational Science and Systems Biology DBT, presently renamed as Theoretical and Computational Biology. New-Delhi, Since 2014.
    • External expert member of the Ph.D. committee in Genetics, University of Calcutta, Kolkata from 2009-2012.
    • External expert member of the Ph.D. committee in Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata since 2012.
    • Expert member of the P. G. Board of studies in Botany, Barasat Government College, Dt. Barasat, North 24 Paraganas, since 2009-2017.
    • Expert member of the P. G. Board of studies in Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata since 2010-2017.
    • Paper setter cum examiner for M.Sc. Botany, Biotechnology and Genetics courses of various Universities (namely, Kalyani University, Tripura University, VisvaBharati University, Nagarjuna University, Calcutta University, Sambalpur University, Burdwan University).
    • Ph. D. examiner in many National Institutes and Universities.
    • Reviewer of grant-in-aid projects for National funding Agencies including DBT, DST, CSIR, ICMR, ICAR, BRNS-DAE and International grant proposals of NSF research projects, USA and bilateral joint research projects between NWO (Netherlands) and NSFC (China).
    • Moderator and Paper setter cum examiner for M.Sc. Botany, Biotechnology and Genetics courses of various Universities (namely, Kalyani University, Tripura University, VisvaBharati University, Nagarjuna University, Calcutta University, Sambalpur University, Burdwan University and Post-graduate Departments of various Government Colleges).
    • Member of the Advisory Board of Diamond Harbour Women University, South 24-Paraganas, West-Bengal.

    Best Publications:

    • Patel A, Dey N, Chaudhuri S, Pal A (2017) Molecular and biochemical characterization of a Vigna mungo MAP kinase associated with Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus infection and deciphering its role in restricting the virus multiplication. Plant Science, 262:127–140. DOI:10.1016/j.plantsci.2017.06.005.
    • Kundu A, Paul S, Dey A and Pal A (2017) High throughput sequencing reveals modulation of microRNAs in Vigna mungo upon Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus inoculation highlighting stress regulation. Plant Science,257: 96–105, DOI:10.1016/j.plantsci.2017.01.016.
    • Ghosh J S, Bhattacharya S and Pal A (2017) Molecular phylogeny of 21 tropical bamboo species reconstructed by integrating non-coding internal transcribed spacer (ITS1 and 2) sequences and their consensus secondary structure. Genetica 145:319-333. DOI: 10.1007/s10709-017-9967-9.
    • Kundu A, Patel A, Paul S and Pal A (2015) Transcript dynamics at early stages of molecular interactions of MYMIV with resistant and susceptible genotypes of the leguminous host, Vigna mungo. PLOS One 10(4): e0124687. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0124687 April 17, 2015.
    • Paul S, Kundu A and Pal A (2014) Identification and expression profiling of Vigna mungo microRNAs from small RNA transcriptome by deep sequencing. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology.56:15-23.
    • Ghosh JS, Chaudhuri S, Dey N and Pal A (2013) Functional characterization of a serine-threonine protein kinase from Bambusa balcooa that implicates in cellulose overproduction and superior quality fiber formation. BMC Plant Biology13:128. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2229-13-128.
    • Kundu S, Chakraborty D, Kundu A and Pal A (2013) Proteomics approach combined with biochemical attributes to elucidate compatible and incompatible plant-virus interactions between Vigna mungo and Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus. BMC Proteome Science 11:15.
    • Maiti S, Paul S and Pal A (2012) Isolation, characterization and structure analysis of a non-TIR-NBS-LRR encoding candidate gene from MYMIV-resistant Vigna mungo. Molecular Biotechnology 52: 217-233. DOI: 10.1007/s12033-011-9488-1.
    • Kundu S, Chakraborty D and Pal A (2011) Salicylic acid induced resistance to Mungbean Yellow Mosaic India Virus in Vigna mungo: Biochemical and proteomic analyses. J. of Proteomics 74 (3): 337-349. DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2010.11.012.
    • Das M, Bhattacharya S and Pal A (2005) Generation and Characterization of SCARs by Cloning and Sequencing of RAPD Products: A Strategy for Species-specific Marker Development in Bamboo. Annals of Botany 95: 835-841.

    Awards and Recognitions:

    • Received Young Scientists Medal by the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 1997.
    • Cash award by the Kothari Scientific Research Institute, for scientific contributions, 1997.
    • Received Biotechnology National Associateship Award for the year 1989-1990.
    • Awarded FAO visiting Fellowship to the Harvard University 1990-1991.
    • Nominated by the Indian National Science Academy and Hungarian Science Academy under Scientist Exchange Programme, 1996 and a study visit under the INSA-ASCR (Academy of Science, Czech Republic) Scientist Exchange Programme in the year 2002.
    • Elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad, 2005.
    • Elected Fellow of the West-Bengal Academy of Science & Technology (WAST), 2014.
    • Received Prof. S. C. Dutta Memmorial Award by the Botanical Society of India, 2016.
    • Elected to deliver the 13th J. C. Sengupta endowment lecture on 27th May, 2016, organized by the WAST, Kolkata.
    • Elected to deliver Street Memorial Lecture for the year 2019.
    • Elected convener of the Plant Science committee of WAST since 2017.

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2004

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: Yes, I like to continue my association with PTCA as it gives an opportunity to interact with plant biotechnologists of the country informally and could learn latest developments in the field from the peers and especially from the young generation.

    Research Gate 

    Dr. Anjanabha Bhattacharya

    Research Scientist
    R&D, Mahyco Research Centre
    Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Private Limited (Mahyco)
    Jalna – Aurangabad Road, Post Box no. 76, Dawalwadi, Jalna-431203.
    Email: anjanbio@gmail.com

    Qualifications: B.Sc. (Agriculture), M.Sc. (Agriculture), Ph.D. (Plant Science, University of Nottingham, UK), Post Doc (University of Georgia, USA), PGD (International Business), Research Visitor (University of Sydney, Australia)

    Specialization: Genome Editing, Double Haploids, Mutagenesis and TILLING, Commercial Tissue Culture, Molecular Biology, Synthetic Biology and Metabolite Engineering

    Positions held:

    • Research Scientist, Mahyco, 2012 – date
    • Group Leader, BenchBio, 2010-2012
    • Post Doc, NESPAL, University of Georgia at Tifton, USA, 2008-2010

    Academic and Research Achievements :  

    Dr. Anjanabha Bhattacharya is a well experienced scientist working with Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Private Limited (Mahyco). His areas of expertise include CRISPR/Cas genome editing, crop transformation, double haploids, tissue culture, and crop improvement through mutagenesis. He obtained his PhD from University of Nottingham, England and undertook post doctoral training from University of Georgia, Tifton, USA. Dr. Bhattacharya has published over 35 research papers, reviews and book chapters. Presently, he is editing a book on CRISPR/Cas. He has received one US patent and filed two patent applications. He has also evaluated international grant applications. He has presented his work in several prestigious National and International conferences and symposia.

    Other Achievements: 

    • Gene Editing by CRISPR-Cas 9 and TALENS.
    • BIRAC funded Genome editing project in rice.
    • Chemical mutagenesis (TILLING / Eco-TILLING) to help develop non- genetically modified crop varieties with enhanced traits.
    • Double Haploid program in field and vegetable crops using wide hybridization & tissue culture to develop genetically pure lines.
    • Gene discovery including synthetic genes & promoters for transgenic work (abiotic- salinity, drought, frost, temperature, biotic stress & tissue specificity) thus reducing dependency on external agencies and overcoming patent/licensing issues for In-house program.
    • Wheat improvement program.
    • Commercial Potato (G0) seed (micro and mini) tuber production.
    • Synthetic Seeds.
    • Developed non-transgenic peanut with reduced allergen using chemical mutagenesis.
    • Involved in developing RNAi product and promoter/ regulatory element discovery.
    • Imparted research training to students in molecular biology.
    • Acted as Additional Secretary for Genome India International.
    • Reviewer for
      • Plant Growth Regulation, Springer.
      • In-Vitro Plant, Springer.
      • Cereal Research Communication, Springer and other journals.

    Best Publications: 

    • Bhattacharya A et al, Peter Hedden (2012) Characterisation of the fungal gibberellin desaturase and its utilisation for enhancing plant growth. Plant Physiology, 160:837-845. NAAS-2018 rating, Impact: 12.46.
    • Bhattacharya A, Khanale V, Char B (2017) Plant circadian rhythm in stress signalling. Indian Journal of Plant Physiology. doi:10.1007/s40502-017-0299-7. NAAS-2018, Impact: 5.18.
    • Parkhi V, Bhattacharya A et al. (2018) Demonstration of CRISPR-Cas9 mediated pds gene editing in a tomato hybrid parental line. Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding, 78:1. NAAS-2018, Impact: 6.32.
    • Bhattacharya A, Ward DA, Hedden A, Power JB and Davey MR (2012) Engineering gibberellin metabolism in Solanum nigrum by ectopic expression of gibberellin oxidase gene. Plant Cell Reports, 31:945-53. NAAS-2018, Impact: 8.87.
    • Bhattacharya A*, Dijkstra C* et al. (2008) Ectopic expression of a gibberellin 2-oxidase gene from Phaseolus coccineus enhances gibberellin inactivation and induces dwarfism in Solanum species. Plant Cell Reports. 27: 463-470. NAAs- 2018, Impact: 8.87.
    • Bhattacharya A, Kourmpetli S and Davey MR (2009) Practical applications of manipulating plant architecture by regulating gibberellin (GA) metabolism. Plant Growth Regulation, 29: 249 -256. NAAS-2018, Impact: 8.65.
    • Chu Y, Bhattacharya A, Wu C, Knoll J, Ozias-Akins P (2013) Improvement of peanut (Arachis hypogaea) transformation efficiency and determination of transgene copy number by relative quantitative real-time-PCR. In Vitro– Plant. DOI 10.1007/s11627=013-9518-8 (IF=2.0). NAAS-2018, Impact: 7.02.
    • Bhattacharya A et al. (2012) Reporter gene expression patterns regulated by an Ara h 2 promoter differ in homologous versus heterologous systems. Peanut Science, USA, 39: 43-52.
    • Bhattacharya A* et al. (2014) Evaluation of doubled haploid culture conditions and plant regeneration of indica rice hybrid. Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding (*Corresponding author) 74(3): 1-3. NAAS-2018, Impact: 6.32.
    • Bhattacharya A et al. (2015) Assessment of double haploid culture conditions in Bell Pepper (Capsicum annum L.) Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding, 74(5). NAAS-2018, Impact: 6.32.

    Major Research Interests:

    • Genome Editing (TILLING, CRISPR/Cas9, TALEN, ZFNs)
    • Double Haploids
    • Commercial Tissue Culture

    Awards and Recognitions

    • Dorothy Hodgkin Postgraduate Awards (DHPA)- is a UK scheme to bring outstanding students from India, China, Hong Kong, South Africa, Brazil, Russia and the developing world to come and study for PhDs in top rated UK research facilities.
    • Additional General Secretary of Genome India International Inc., Chicago, USA (2008 – 2013).

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2019

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: PTCA provides a platform for researchers to engage in meaningful dialogue in the field of PTC and hasten advancement and innovation. Possibly, robust industry-academia collaboration.

    Research Gate   Website

    Dr. Ashwani Kumar

    Professor
    Alexander von Humboldt Fellow
    Former Professor and Head and Director Life Sciences and
    Director of Central Library and Information Science
    Department of Botany and P.G. School of Biotechnology
    University of Rajasthan, Jaipur 302004.
    Email: ashwanikumar214@gmail.com; ptca214@gmail.com

    Qualifications: M.Sc. Botany (Gold Meal), Ph.D., Dipl (German language), Alexander von Humboldt Fellow (Germany), INSA-DFG Fellow (Germany), JSPS Fellow (Japan), British Council Visitor Fellow ( UK) FBS, FPSI, FISMPP. V . Puri Medal

    Specialization: Plant Pathology, Plant Physiology and Stress Physiology, Plant tissue culture & Biotechnology

    Positions held:

    • Asst. Professor of Botany (1969-1986)
    • Associate Professor of Botany (1986-1996)
    • Professor (1996 to 2007)
    • Head, Department of Botany (1995-1998)
    • Hony Director Life Sciences (2000-2003)
    • Hony Director Central Library (2000-2005)
    • Co-ordinator, SAP (1995-1998)
    • Convener, Board of Studies Botnay and Biotechnology.
    • Member, Senate,
    • Member Research Board,
    • Member Academic Council.
    • Member Governing body Subodh PG College, Jaipur. 
    • VC nominee for Academic Council MDS University, Ajmer.
    • Member, Governing body Academic Staff College, University of Rajasthan Jaipur.
    • Advisory Committee Rajasthan College of Science and Technology, Jaipur.
    • Advisory Committee on Biotechnology, Govt. of Rajasthan
    • President Indian Human Ecology Council Commonwealth Human Ecology Council (India chapter).
    • Elected President Indian Botanical Society 2019-2020.

    Academic and Research Achievements :  

    Guided research to following  Ph.D. scholars in different areas over a course of  35 years Research focus of our lab and research group has been on the following areas. 

    • Developed dual cultures of ergot of bajra to study host parasite interaction (Shikha Roy), studied leaf blight of wheat (Tanuja Vaidya, Shaban Parveen) , Pyricularia leaf spot of bajra Pennisetum typhoides (Stapf. & Hubb.) (Janki Kandhari), blight of clusterbean Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (Linn.) Taub.(L.G.Bhatnagar), blast disease of rice (Urmila Dua)  mushroom production Agaricus bisporus (Log.) Sing, (Nita Behl) and oyster mushroom Pleurotus citrionopileatus Singer (S.K.Bhatnagar), Biodegradation of Xenobiotics by soil microorganisms of Sanganer (Nitika Mathur, Nidhi Joshi). Microbial and Pesticidal activity of organometallics on crop plants (R.K.Saini), Bioremediation of saline soils (V.P.S.Shekhawat)
    • Developed autotrophic cultures and studied cellular photosynthetic processes (Light reaction and dark reaction) in callus cultures derived from C3 and C4 plants. Enumerated path of 14C during photosynthesis in autotrophic cultures of carrot and peanut (Ashwani Kumar).
    • Studies on growth and physiology of some medicinal plants of semi-arid regions (Santosh Sharma, Neetu Vijay), growth and flowering of Chrysanthemum (Sharad Godha).
    • Micropropagation of Eucalyptus sp (Nita Bhargava), peanut. some hydrocarbon yielding plants (Shobha Johari, Anshu Rani)   oilseed crops (Sushma Gupta, Anupama Goyal) and  Jatropha curcas,
    • Influence of salinity stress on plant growth and productivity (Sapna Vijayvargiya). Studies on biomass production and improvement in Rajasthan (Jolly Garg), Studies of Ajmer city and its improvement using remote sensing data and geographic information systems (Manisha Saini)
    • Ethnobotanical and pharmacognostical  and physiological evaluation of medicinal plants of Rajasthan (Laxmi Kant Sharma, Seema Mahlawat, Meghendra Sharma, Ritu Gupta) and hilly areas of  Bhutan (Ajanta Mishra) (especially Cucurbitaceae (Parveen), Fabaceae (Sapna Sanghi, Mohan Lal Saini), Euphorbiaceae (Avneesh Pareek, Bhuvneshwar  Upadhyay) Lamiaceae etc. and important plants like Bacopa moninieri (L.) Pennell (Brahmi) (Maya Verma), screening and biochemical analysis of some anti-HIV drugs used in traditional system of medicine (K. P. Singh), Documentation and development of databases of medicinal plants having veterinary use (Schuchi Chauhan) and Studies on biomass production and improvement in Rajasthan.(Amit Kotia).  
    • Publications: Books: 23  Research papers: 216

    Other Achievements: 

    • Completed 9 research projects sanctioned by C.S.I.R, UGC, DST/DNES, USDA-ICAR, DNES, MNES, and DBT Govt of India.
    • Guided 39 Ph.D. students and 5 Post-Docs. Almost all were various fellowship holders NET-JRF of C.S.I.R. and UGC.
    • Almost all the Ph D. and Post-Doc students are highly placed in Universities including Central University affiliated colleges, Agriculture Departments, ICAR institutions, and Administrative   officers.
    • Organised refresher courses and invited as resource person in refresher courses.
    • Delivered several invited talks in various international and national conferences.
    • Editorial Board member of several journals.
    • Chaired/Co-Chaired Technical Sessions in several national and international conferences/symposia/ seminars.
    • Carried out confidential examination and related work for UPSC, RPSC and several Universities during last 40 years.

    Best Publications: 

    • Neumann, , Kumar, A. and Imani, J. (2009): Plant Cell and Tissue Culture – A Tool in Biotechnology Basics and Application. Germany. Springer. 333 pp.
    • Kumar, Ashwani (2018) Global Warming, Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation pp 1-16. In: Kumar, A., Ogita, S., Yau, Y.-Y. (Eds.), Biofuels: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Global Warming Next Generation Biofuels and Role of Biotechnology Springer, Heidelberg, Germany.
    • Kumar, A., Ogita, S., Yau, Y.-Y. (Eds.)(2018) Biofuels: Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Global Warming Next Generation Biofuels and Role of Biotechnology Springer, Heidelberg, Germany. pp. 432. ISBN 978-81-322-3761-7  
    • Kumar, A (2015) Metabolic engineering in plants. In:  Bir Bahadur, Manchikatla Venkat Rajam, Leela Sahijram, K. V. Krishnamurthy (eds) Plant Biology and Biotechnology. II Plant genomics and biotechnology. Springer. New Delhi. pp 517-526
    • Kumar, A. and N. Gupta (2015) Applications of triploids in agriculture. In:  Bir Bahadur, Manchikatla Venkat Rajam, Leela Sahijram, K. V. Krishnamurthy (eds) Plant Biology and Biotechnology. II Plant genomics and biotechnology. Springer New Delhi. pp 385-3 Bhansali S. and Kumar Ashwani (2014) Hairy Root Culture of Eclipta Alba (L.) Hassk. J. Acad. (N.Y.) 4:1:3-9.
    • Kumar A, Sharma M, Basu SK, Asif M, Li XP  and Chen X.  (2014) Plant molecular breeding: Perspectives from the plant biotechnology and market assisted selection. In: N. Benkeblia (Ed.), Omics Technologies and Crops Improvement. CRC Press, Boca Raton (FL),; 153-168.
    • Kumar A and Zandi P. (2014) Plant Nutraceuticals for Cardiovascular Diseases with Special Emphasis to the Medicinal Herb Fenugreek (Trigonella Foenum-Graecum )American Journal of social issues and health. ; 4:  177-189
    • Kumar, Ashwani (2013) Biofuels Utilisation: An Attempt to Reduce GHG’s and Mitigate Climate Change. In: Knowledge Systems of Societies for Adaptation and Mitigation of Impacts of Climate change. (eds) Nautiyal, S, Kaechele, H, Rao, K. S., Schaldach, Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany .pp 199-224. 
    • Kumar, A. and Roy, S. (2011): Plant Tissue Culture and Applied Plant Biotechnology. Jaipur. Avishkar Publishers. 346 pp.
    • Fernandez, H., Kumar, A. and Revilla, B.M.A. (2010): Working with Ferns: Issues and Germany. Springer. 350 pp
    • Kumar, A. and Sopory, S. (eds) (2010): Applications of plant biotechnology: In vitro propagation, plant transformation and secondary metabolite p New Delhi. I.K. International. 606 pp.

    Major Research Interests:

    • Host pathogen interaction in vitro and in vivo.
    • Photosynthesis in cultured plant tissues and differentiation of photosynthetic apparatus .
    • Photsynthetic enzymes mainly RuBISCO and PEPcase in C3 and C4 plants in vivo and in vitro.
    • Renewable energy sources with special reference to Biofuels.
    • Natural medicinal systems: ethnobotanical and pharmacognostical studies

    Numbers of Ph.D. guided : Thirty Nine

    Awards and Recognitions

    • Awarded Gold Medal for standing first in order of merit at the M.Sc. (Botany) examination (1967) University of Rajasthan, Jaipur.
    • Post Doctoral award of Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship 1977-1979, and reinvitations in 2005 and 2010, 2011,2013, 2017 to work at Institute for Pflanzernaehrung, der Justus Liebig Universit at, Giessen, Germany.
    • Awarded INSA-DFG visiting Professorship (1998-1999).
    • Awarded British Council visitorship (1986) to work at various institutions in England, including King’s College, London, Imperial College, London, UNESCO fellowship to visit Spain.
    • Visiting Professor under JSPS award Japan during 1999-2000 and 2011.
    • Awarded V. Puri Medal (2008) Indian Botanical Society, India for excellence in researches in Botany.
    • President Commonwealth Humann Ecology Council, India (Indian Humann Ecology Council) 2015-2018
    • President Indian Botanical Society, 2019-2020.

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 1984

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA memberTo remain in touch with all leading PTC research groups in the country.

    Research Gate   Science

    Dr. Chittranjan R. Bhatia

    Co-Chairperson
    Joint Working Group for Indo-US collaboration in Agricultural Biotechnology,
    Member
    Maharashtra Biotechnology Commission.
    Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, DAE.
    STEP-TBI Committee, Department of Science and Technology.
    NIMITLI, CSIR.
    Vice President, Agri-Bioterch Foundation, Hyderabad, which came out of Government of Netherlands and Andhra Pradesh biotechnology cooperation.
    Email: crbhatia.bhatia@gmail.com

    Qualification:  Ph.D.

    Specialization: Genetics, Plant Breeding, Agriculture, Biotechnology

    Positions held:

    An elected fellow of: 

    • The Indian National Science Academy 
    • Indian Academy of Sciences
    • National Academy of Science
    • National Academy of Agricultural Sciences
    • Maharashtra Academy of Sciences
    • TWAS – The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World
    • U.P. Academy of Agricultural Sciences 

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    Dr. Chittranjan Bhatia obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi in 1961.  After few years of post-doctoral research with the   Rockefeller Foundation, laboratories in Netherlands and United States he joined the Biology Division of Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), Bombay in 1966, and worked in various capacities till 1993. He was the Director, Bio-Medical Group, at BARC when appointed as Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), in the Ministry of Science and Technology from where he retired in 1995.  He worked for the FAO-IAEA Joint Division, Vienna, Austria from 1974-76 and 1998 – 99.  Dr. Bhatia has worked as consultant / resource person in Indonesia, China, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, South Africa, and at FAO-IAEA in Vienna, Austria and Winrock  International.

    Dr. Bhatia’s PhD work was to evaluate radiation induced mutations in wheat for rust resistance, quantitative characters and productivity. His subsequent research included the study of maize, sorghum and millet s biodiversity in the North-East and Kashmir. He also worked at Wageningen, studying selection response to mutagen induced variability for flowering time in Arabidopsis, and the association of protein bands with an induced chromosomal translocation from Aegilops umbellulata to wheat, protein and isoenzyme variation in Nicotiana species, inter-species hybrids and amphiploids. He joined the Biology Division of the Bhabha Atomic Research Center in 1966 to continue exploring induced and natural genetic variation in crop plants for morphological, biochemical, disease resistance and productivity traits. Induced variants with increased protein content were identified in wheat and rice. However, these and other high protein stocks were found to be lower in productivity compared to the cvs with normal protein. This led to the identification of bioenergetic constraints in increasing grain protein, and subsequently for other desired plant breeding goals such as the desired fatty acid composition, insect resistance and higher harvest index. His group developed fifteen new cultivars of pulses and oilseeds that were approved and released for cultivation at the National and State level.

    Other Contributions: Bhatia supported the import of Bt-cotton seeds for introducing the Bt transgene into Indian cotton hybrids. Bt cotton hybrids were approved for cultivation in 2002 and have contributed to significant increase in cotton production.

    Awards and Recognitions:

    Dr Bhatia received the R. N. Tandon Memorial Award (1993), Sisir Kumar Mitra Memorial Award of INSA (1995) and the Om Prakash Bhasin Award (1995).

    Research Associate, Indian Agricultural Program, The Rockefeller Foundation, New Delhi, 1961-62; Genetics Department, Agricultural University, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 1962-64; Biology Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, Long Island, New York, USA, 1964-66; Scientific Officer, Biology Division, Head, Mutation Breeding Section, Head, Nuclear Agriculture Division, Associate Director and Director, Bio-Medical Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai, 1966-93; First Officer, Joint FAO-IAEA Division, International Atomic Energy Agency, 1974-76; Secretary to Govt. of India, Department of Biotechnology, 1993-95; Consultant, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna 1996, 1998- 99, 2001; Winrock International, 1999.

    Dr. Debasis Chakrabarty

    Senior Scientist
    Biotechnology & Molecular Biology,
    CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute
    Rana Pratap Marg, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh – 226001.
    Email: debasis1972@rediffmail.com/chakrabartyd@nbri.res.in

    Qualification:  Ph.D.

    Specialization: Plant Molecular Biology, Environmental Biotechnology

    Positions held:

    • Post Doc at CNRS, Transport des Assimilats Bâtiment Botanique UFR Sciences, 40 Avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers, France
    • Post Doc at Research Center for the Development of Advanced Horticultural Technology, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South Korea
    • Long term foreign Scientist (KOSEF) at Research Center for the Development of Advanced Horticultural Technology, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South Korea

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    • Our study described the principal understanding on the molecular basis of arsenic toxicity and accumulation in plant parts. And also covered the transgenic and bioremediation approaches to minimize As accumulation in rice which further reduces food chain contamination. The data suffice to mitigate the effects of As toxicity as much as possible by reducing the As accumulation in rice grain. We described the measures to decrease As accumulation in rice, and to understand the mechanism and transport of As uptake, its transport from root to shoot to rice grain, its metabolism, detoxification as well as the mechanisms lying behind its accumulation in rice grain. We proposed various check points which can be targeted to reduce As accumulation in rice grain. Genes/protein involved in As detoxification like glutathione biosynthesis, Phytochelatin synthesis, and arsenic methytransferase are also provided a great pool of pathways that can also be castellated for the same purposes.
    • Omics of arsenic stress response

    Through genome-wide expression analysis Chakrabarty et al. (2009) hypothesized differential expression of genes leading to modulation in different molecular processes in response to As(III) and As(V) stress in rice seedlings. Based on differential expression and molecular network analysis, it was concluded that As influences the pathways involved in photosynthesis, plant defence, and signal transduction. The analysis also suggested that As(V) affects mainly the cell wall, and primary and secondary metabolism whereas As(III) mainly modulates hormonal and signalling processes. Interestingly, studies suggest that changes in expression in genes also vary with germplasm used for the study of response to As stress (Kumar et al., 2013b; Rai et al., 2011). The study utilizing different rice germplasm with different sensitivity towards As suggested that sulphate assimilation pathway and antioxidant defence enzymes play an important role in differential responses in different genotypes (Rai et al., 2011, 2015; Tripathi et al., 2012).

    • Overexpression of rice glutaredoxins (OsGrxs) significantly reduces arsenite accumulation by maintaining glutathione pool and modulating aquaporins

    Based on our previous transcriptome data, two rice glutaredoxins (OsGrx_C7 and OsGrx_C2.1) were identified that showed up-regulated expression during As stress. Here, we report OsGrx_C7 and OsGrx_C2.1 from rice involved in the regulation of intracellular arsenite (AsIII). To lucidate the mechanism of OsGrx mediated As tolerance, both OsGrxs were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli (Dars) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strains (Dycf1, Dacr3). The expression of OsGrxs increased As tolerance in E. coli (Dars) mutant strain (up to 4 mM AsV and up to 0.6 mM AsIII). During AsIII exposure, S. cerevisiae (Dacr3) harboring OsGrx_C7 and OsGrx_C2.1 have lower intracellular AsIII accumulation (up to 30.43% and 24.90%, respectively), compared to vector control. Arsenic accumulation in As-sensitive S. cerevisiae mutant (Dycf1) also reduced significantly on exposure to inorganic As. The expression of OsGrxs in yeast maintained intracellular GSH pool and increased extracellular GSH concentration. Purified OsGrxs displays in vitro GSH-disulfide oxidoreductase, glutathione reductase and arsenate reductase activities. Also, both OsGrxs are involved in AsIII extrusion by altering the Fps1 transcripts in yeast and protect the cell by maintaining cellular GSH pool. Thus, our results strongly suggest that OsGrxs play a crucial role in the maintenance of the intracellular GSH pool and redox status of the cell during both AsV and AsIII stress and might be involved in regulating intracellular AsIII levels by modulation of aquaporin expression and functions.

    Over-expression of OsGrx_C7 and OsGrx_C2.1 in transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana conferred arsenic (As) tolerance as reflected by germination, root growth assay, and whole plant growth. Also, the transgenic expression of OsGrxs displayed significantly reduced As accumulation in A. thaliana seeds and shoot tissues compared to WT plants during both AsIII and AsV stress. Thus, OsGrx_C7 and OsGrx_C2.1 seem to be an important determinant of As-stress response in plants. OsGrx_C7 and OsGrx_C2.1 transgenic showed to maintain intracellular GSH pool and involved in lowering AsIII accumulation either by extrusion or reducing uptake by altering the transcript of A. thaliana AtNIPs. We also develop OsGrx_C7 knock out and overexpressed lines in rice which showed similar results as has been reported in Arabidopsis.

    • Expression of Rice CYP450-Like Gene (Os08g01480) in Arabidopsis Modulates Regulatory Network Leading to Heavy Metal and Other Abiotic Stress Tolerance

    Transcriptomic/proteomic studies in plants have identified a large number of metal-responsive gene families. Of these, cytochrome-P450 (CYPs) family members are composed of enzymes carrying out detoxification of exogenous molecules. Here, we report a CYP-like protein encoded by Os08g01480 locus in rice that helps the plant to combat HM and other abiotic stresses. To functionally characterize CYP-like gene, cDNA and promoter were isolated from rice to develop Arabidopsis transgenic lines. Heterologous expression of Os08g01480 in Arabidopsis provided significant tolerance towards abiotic stresses. In silico analysis reveals that Os08g01480 might help plants to combat environmental stress via modulating auxin metabolism. Transgenic lines expressing reporter gene under control of Os08g01480 promoter demonstrated differential promoter activity in different tissues during environmental stresses. These studies indicated that differential expression of Os08g01480 might be modulating response of plants towards environmental stresses as well as in different developmental stages.

    • Oryza sativa class III peroxidase (OsPRX38) overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana reduces arsenic accumulation due to apoplastic lignification

    ClassIII peroxidases are multigene family of plant-specific peroxidase enzyme. They are involved in various physiological and developmental processes like auxin catabolism, cell metabolism, various biotic, abiotic stresses and cell elongation. In the present study, we identified a class III peroxidase (OsPRX38) from rice which is upregulated several folds in both arsenate (AsV) and arsenite (AsIII) stresses. The overexpression of OsPRX38 in Arabidopsis thaliana significantly enhances Arsenic (As) tolerance by increasing SOD, PRX GST activity and exhibited low H2O2, electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde content. OsPRX38 overexpression also affect the plant growth by increasing total biomass and seeds production in transgenics than WT under As stress condition. Confocal microscopy revealed that the OsPRX38-YFP fusion protein was localized to the apoplast of the onion epidermal cells. In addition, lignification was positively correlated with an increase in cell-wall-associated peroxidase activities in transgenic plants. This study indicates the role of OsPRX38 in lignin biosynthesis, where lignin act as an apoplastic barrier for As entry in root cells leading to reduction of As accumulation in transgenic. Overall the study suggests that overexpression of OsPRX38 in Arabidopsis thaliana activates the signaling network of different antioxidant systems under As stress condition, enhancing the plant tolerance by reducing As accumulation due to high lignification.

    • Heterologous expression of Ceratophyllum demersum phytochelatin synthase, CdPCS1, in rice leads to lower arsenic accumulation in grain

    The predominant model for plant detoxification of heavy metals is complexation of heavy metals with phytochelatins (PCs), synthesized non-translationally by PC synthase (PCS) and compartmentalized in vacuoles. In our study, in order to restrict As in the rice roots as a detoxification mechanism, a transgenic approach has been followed through expression of phytochelatin synthase, CdPCS1, from Ceratophyllum demersum, an aquatic As-accumulator plant. CdPCS1 expressing rice transgenic lines showed marked increase in PCS activity and enhanced synthesis of PCs in comparison to non-transgenic plant. Transgenic lines showed enhanced accumulation of As in root and shoot. This enhanced metal accumulation potential of transgenic lines was positively correlated to the content of PCs, which also increased several-fold higher in transgenic lines. However, all the transgenic lines accumulated significantly lower As in grain and husk in comparison to non-transgenic plant. The higher level of PCs in transgenic plants relative to non-transgenic presumably allowed sequestering and detoxification of higher amounts of As in roots and shoots, thereby restricting its accumulation in grain.

    • A novel fungal arsenic methyltransferase, WaarsM reduces grain arsenic accumulation in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.)

    Among different detoxification mechanisms, the methylation of arsenic is a widespread phenomenon in nature. A number of microorganisms are able to methylate arsenic, but less is known about the arsenic metabolism in fungi. We identified a novel arsenic methyltransferase (WaarsM) gene from a soil fungus, Westerdykella aurantiaca. WaarsM showed sequence homology with all known arsenic methyltransferases having three conserved SAM binding motifs. The expression of WaarsM enhanced arsenic resistance in E. coli (Dars) and S. cerevisiae (Dacr2) strains by biomethylation and required endogenous reductants, preferably GSH, for methyltransferase activity. The purified WaarsM catalyzes the production of methylated arsenicals from both AsIII and AsV, and also displays AsV reductase activity. It displayed higher methyltransferase activity and lower KM 0.1945 _ 0.021 mM and KM 0.4034 _ 0.078 mM for AsIII and AsV, respectively. S. cerevisiae (Dacr2) cells expressing WaarsM produced 2.2 ppm volatile arsenic and 0.64 ppm DMA(V) with 0.58 ppm volatile arsenicals when exposed to 20 ppm AsV and 2 ppm AsIII, respectively. Arsenic tolerance in rice after co-culture with genetically engineered yeast suggested its potential role in arsenic bioremediation. We also genetically engineered Arabidopsis thaliana with arsenic methyltransferase (WaarsM) gene. The WaarsM transgenic A. thaliana plants showed greatly enhanced tolerance to AsV and AsIII compared to wild-type (WT) plants. WaarsM expressing transgenic plants evolved 17.5 ng and 113 ng volatile arsenicals (mg _1 fresh weight) after 48 h of exposure to 250 mM AsV and 50 mM AsIII, respectively. Long-term exposure resulted in 36% and 16% less arsenic accumulation in seeds and shoots, respectively compared to WT plants. When WaarsM gene expressed in rice, the methyltransferase able to convert toxic inorganic arsenicals to methylated arsenic species, therefore, reduce arsenic accumulation in rice grains. In response to arsenic treatment in hydroponics, WaarsM expressing transgenic lines showed a marked increase in arsenic resistance and reduces its accumulation compared to NT. Also, WaarsM expressing transgenic Line 1 evolved ca. 157 ng and ca. 43 ng volatile arsenicals (mg−1 fresh weight) after 72 h of exposure to 25  _M AsIII and 250  _M AsV, respectively. Transgenic Line 1, grown in soil irrigated with arsenic-containing water accumulates about 50% and 52% lower arsenic than NT in shoot and root, respectively; while arsenic concentration in polished seeds and husk of the transgenic line was reduced by 52% compared to NT. Thus, the present study demonstrates that the expression of WaarsM in rice induces arsenic methylation and volatilization, provides a potential strategy to reduce arsenic accumulation in rice grain.

    Best Publications:

    • Maria Kidwai, Yogeshwar Vikram Dhar, Neelam Gautam, Madhu Tiwari, Iffat Zareen Ahmad, Mehar Hasan Asif, Debasis Chakrabarty (2019) Oryza sativa class III peroxidase (OsPRX38) overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana reduces arsenic accumulation due to apoplastic lignification. Journal of Hazardous Materials 362:383-393 (IF 6.4) (Corresponding author).
    • Srivastava D, Verma G,  Chauhan AS,  Pande V,  Chakrabarty D (2018) Rice (Oryza sativa L.) tau class glutathione S-transferases (OsGSTU30) overexpression in Arabidopsis thaliana modulates regulatory network leading to heavy metal and drought stress tolerance. Metallomics, doi.org/10.1039/C8MT00204E (IF 4.06) (Corresponding author).
    • Verma S, Verma PK, Meher AK, Bansiwal AK, Pande V, Tripathi RD, Chakrabarty D (2018) A novel fungal arsenic methyltransferase, WaarsM reduces grain arsenic accumulation in transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.). J of Haz Mat. 344: 626-634 (Corresponding author) (IF 6.06).
    • Pradyumna Kumar Singh, Yuvraj Indoliya, Abhisekh Singh Chauhan, Surendra Pratap Singh, Amit Pal Singh, Sanjay Dwivedi, Rudra Deo Tripathi, Debasis Chakrabarty (2017) Nitric oxide mediated transcriptional modulation enhances plant adaptive responses to arsenic stress. Sci Rep (Nature Publishing Group) doi:10.1038/s41598-017-03923-2 (Corresponding author) (IF 4.2).
    • Verma PK, Verma S, Pande V, Mallick S, Deo Tripathi R, Dhankher OP and Chakrabarty D (2016) Overexpression of Rice Glutaredoxin OsGrx_C7 and OsGrx_C2.1 Reduces Intracellular Arsenic Accumulation and Increases Tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Sci. 7:740. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2016.00740 (IF 4.49) (Corresponding author).
    • Indoliya Y, Tiwari P, Chauhan AS, Goel R, Shri M, Bag SK, Chakrabarty D (2016) Decoding regulatory landscape of somatic embryogenesis reveals differential regulatory networks between japonica and indica rice subspecies. Scientific Reports DOI: 10.1038/srep23050 (Nature Publishing Group IF 4.2) (Corresponding author).
    • Rai A, Bhardwaj A, Misra P, Bag SK, Adhikari B, Tripathi RD, Trivedi PK, Chakrabarty D (2015) Comparative Transcriptional Profiling of Contrasting Rice Genotypes Shows Expression Differences during Arsenic Stress. The Plant Genome. doi:10.3835/plantgenome2014.09.0054 (IF 3.9) (Journal Cover Photo) (Corresponding author).
    • Shri M, Dave R, Diwedi S, Shukla D, Kesari R, Tripathi RD, Trivedi PK, Chakrabarty D (2014) Heterologous expression of Ceratophyllum demersum phytochelatin synthase, CdPCS1, in rice leads to lower arsenic accumulation in grain. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/srep05784 (Nature Publishing Group IF 4.2) (Corresponding author).
    • Misra P, Pandey A, Tiwari A, Chandrasekhar N, Sidu OP, Asif M, Chakrabarty D, Singh PK, Nath P, Trivedi PK, Tuli, R (2010) Modulation of transcriptome and metabolome of tobacco by Arabidopsis transcription factor, AtMyb12, leads to insect resistance. Plant Physiology 152: 2258–2268. (IF 6.8).
    • Cagnac O, Bourbouloux A, Chakrabarty D, Zhang MY, Delrot S (2004) AtOPT6 transports glutathione derivatives and induced by primisulfuron. Plant Physiology. 135: 1378-1387. (IF 6.8).

    Major Research Interest: Arsenic metabolism in rice, Abiotic stress, Bioreactor Technology

    Numbers of Ph.D. guided so far: Five

    Awards and Recognitions: 

    • Fellow of International Society of Environmental Botanists
    • Academic Editor: PLOS One, Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group)

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2016

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: PTCA aim to bring researchers together from across all stages of their degrees, helping researchers connect and understand their options for futures studies and careers.

    Research Gate

    Dr. Dinesh Kumar Srivastava

    Retired Director of Extension Education
    cum Professor and Head, Biotechnology
    Department of Biotechnology
    Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry,
    Nauni-Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India-173230.
    Email: dksuhf89@gmail.com

    Qualification:  M.Sc., Ph.D., Post Doctorate (USSR&USA)

    Specialization: Plant Biotechnology

    Positions held: 

    • Director of Extension Education,
    • Professor and Head Biotechnology,
    • Professor Biotechnology,
    • Associate Professor Biotechnology,
    • Assistant Professor Biotechnology,
    • Coordinator Bioinformatics,
    • Member Secretary IBSC

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    Dr. D K Srivastava has retired as Director Extension Education, prior to this he worked as Professor and Head in the Department of Biotechnology, Dr. Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. He served in the university w.e.f. 1989 to 2016. He has 32 years of research experience and 29 years of teaching experience in the field of Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology. He had guided 32 students of M.Sc. and 9 students of Ph.D. for their research work. He has published 110 research papers in the journals of national and international repute, 38 research articles and contributed 12 chapters in the edited books. He has also published a book. He has delivered 41 invited lectures and attended 42 national and  international conferences. His main area of research is Plant Biotechnology (Plant tissue culture, Genetic fidelity studies, Genetic transformation of plants and Molecular characterization of plants). He was member secretary of IBSC (Institutional Biosafety Committee) of the university (2005 –2015) and member and life member of various National and International Academic bodies / societies. 

    Other Achievements:

    • Designed an inexpensive   “Cytophotometer”,   the instrument follows the Lambert and Beer’s Law of light absorption in 1982.
    • Reported for the first time “Plant regeneration and genetic transformation in Watermelon” in 1988.
    • Technology generated for “Genetic Transformation of Cucumber and Cotton”in 1988.
    • Constructed vector (Plasmid, Binary Vector) containing spt (streptomycin phosphotransferase) gene for the transformation of plant cell in 1986.
    • Constructed vectors (plasmids) containing npt-II (neomycin phosphotransferase) and spt (streptomycin phosphotransferase) genes for the transformation of chloroplast in 1987.
    • Nominated as a member of expert committee on “Plant Microbe Interaction” (1993-94) by DST, Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi.
    • Technology generated for micropropagation of  Alnus  nepalensis through axillary bud  culture  and  transferred large number of plants to the fields.
    • Technology generated for micropropagation of Colt – a  semi-dwarf  rootstock of cherry  and  transferred  large number of plants to the fields.
    • Developed new technology for reducing the  cost  of  tissue culture raised plants by using table sugar in  place  of  sucrose and filtered water  in  place  of  double distilled water.
    • Using In vitro cell selection  technique  developed  water  stress  tolerant    cell  lines and salt stress (Nacl) tolerant cell lines  in  tomato  and  regenerated the tomato plants.
    • Using In vitro cell selection technique developed  cell lines resistant to culture filtrate of Fusarium oxysporum in pea (Pisum sativum ).
    • A protocol for high frequency plant regeneration in Cauliflower, Cabbage, Tomato, Strawberry, Bell pepper, Broccoli, Brinjal, Cucumber, Populus ciliata (Himalayan poplar) and  Populus deltoids clone G48, Lettuce and Pea has been developed.
    • Using Agrobactaerium-mediated gene transfer technique, a protocol for gene transfer has been standardized in Cauliflower, Cabbage, Tomato, Strawberry, Bell pepper, Broccoli, Brinjal, Cucumber, Populus ciliata (Himalyan poplar) and  Populus deltoids clone G48, Lettuce and Pea with npt-11 and gus.
    • Using RAPD-PCR and simple sequence repeats (SSR), characterized  apple  cultivars and apple rootstocks  and  developed molecular marker.
    • Technology generated for developing insect resistant transgenic plants of cauliflower cv. Pusa Snowball with cryIAb.
    • Technology generated for developing insect resistant transgenic plants of Cabbage cv. Pride of India with cryIAb.
    • Technology generated for developing insect resistant transgenic plants of tomato cv. Solan Vajr with cryIAa.
    • Nominated as Member Secretary of IBSC (Institutional Biosafety Committee) of Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, Himachal Pradesh.(2004).
    • Technology generated for reducing the lignin content in Himalayan poplar (Populus ciliata Wall) using antisense CAD (Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase) gene.
    • Awarded best paper  presentation award  on the paper entitled “Genetic transformation studies in petiole tissue of Himalayan  poplar (Populus  ciliata ) during  the “National Seminar on Transgenic crops In Indian Agriculture : Status, Risk and Acceptance” at CCS Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar in 2005.
    • Nominated as member of Editorial Board of the Journal Advances in Biological Science.
    • Appointed and acted as one of ‘Judge’ for the state level seminar on “Biotechnological Revolution: Benefits And Concerns” held on 07.09.2001 and organized by SCERT, Solan.
    • Appointed  and  acted as one of the ‘Judges’ for “Science Exhibition” held on 18.02.2004 and organized by SCERT, Solan.
    • Molecular characterization of Cauliflower, Cabbage, Tomato and Lettuce genotypes was carried out using RAPD-PCR and SSR.
    • Invited by Gujarat University, Ahmedabad  as  “Visiting Professor” under UGC-Scheme to deliver a series of lecture on Plant Molecular Biology in January, 2009.
    • Organized state level workshop on ““Management and Monitoring of Field Trials of Genetically Engineered Crops”, sponsored by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, New Delhi and Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, held at Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry Nauni, Solan. On March 9, 2009.
    • K.P.V. Menon best poster paper award was given during International Conference on Plant Pathology in the Globalized Era, IARI, New Delhi entitled “Biological control of crown gall by native Agrobacterium  radiobacter  isolates and their effect on growth of peach plants”.
    • Nominated as ‘Examiner’s Panel’ for specific assignment of Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board (ASRB) ICAR, New Delhi in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014.
    • Nominated member of Biosafety Clearing House (BCH)/ Roaster of expert, DBT, Govt. of India, New Delhi in July 2011.
    • Technology generated for developing insect resistant transgenic plants of Himalyan poplar (Populus ciliata) with cryIAa.
    • Technology generated for developing insect resistant transgenic plants of Cabbage cv. Pride of India with cryIAa.
    • Technology generated for developing fungal resistant transgenic plants of Tomato cv. Solan Vajr with chitinase gene.
    • Technology generated for developing insect resistant transgenic plants of Cauliflower cv. Pusa Snowball K1 with cryIAa.
    • Molecular analysis of genetic fidelity in tissue culture raised plants of Populus ciliata (Himalayan poplar), Broccoli and Lettuce were carried out.
    • Organized state level workshop on “Organic Farming Zero Budget Natural Farming” held at Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry Nauni Solan. w.e.f. 13-16 October,2015.
    • Technology generated for developing insect resistant transgenic plants of Broccoli cv. Solan green head with cryIAa.
    • Technology generated for developing fungal resistant transgenic plants of Lettuce cv. Solan kriti with chitinase gene. 

    Best Publications:

    • Thakur A K and Srivastava  D K  High efficiency plant regeneration from leaf explants of male Himalayan poplar ( Populus ciliata ). In Vitro Cell Dev. Biol-Plant. 42: 144-147.
    • Thakur A K, Aggarwal G and Srivastava D K. 2012. Genetic modification of lignin biosynthetic pathway in Populus ciliata Via Agrobacterium-mediated antisense CAD gene transfer for quality paper production. National Academy Science Letters. 35(2): 79-84.
    • Sharma S, Gambir G and Srivastava D K. 2014. High frequency organogenesis in cotyledon and hypocotyl explants of cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata). National Academy Science Letters. 37 (I): 5-12.
    • Kumar P, Gambhir G, Gaur A and Srivastava D K. 2015. Molecular analysis of genetic stability in in  vitro regenerated plants of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica). Current science.109 (8):1470-1475.
    • Kumar P and Srivastava D K. Biotechnological application in in vitro plant regeneration studies of Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica), an important vegetable crop. Biotechnology Letters. 38 (4):561-571.
    • Gaur A, Kumar P, Thakur A K and Srivastava D K. 2016. In vitro plant regeneration studies and their potential applications in Populus: a review. Israel Journal of Plant Sciences. 63(2): 77-84.
    • Kumar P and Srivastava D K. 2016. Biotechnological advancement in genetic improvement of broccoli (Brassica oleracea var. italica), an important vegetable crop. Biotechnology Letters. 38(7):1049–1063.
    • Gambhir G, Kumar P and Srivastava D K. High frequency regeneration of plants from cotyledon     and hypocotyl cultures in Brassica oleracea cv. Pride  of India. Biotechnology Reports. 15:107-113.
    • Sharma S, Kumar P, Gambhir G, Kumar R and Srivastava D K. Assessment of genetic diversity in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) germplasm using RAPD markers. 3Biotech 8 (1):9.
    • Kumar P, Gambhir G, Gaur A, Thakur A K, Sharma KC and Srivastava D K. Development of transgenic broccoli with cryIAa gene for resistance against diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella). 3Biotech 8 (7):299. 

    Major Research Interest:

    • Plant Tissue Culture
    • Plant Genetic Transformation
    • Molecular Characterization of Plants 

    Numbers of Ph.D. guided so far: Nine 

    Awards and Recognitions:

    • USSR Govt. Scholarship for PDF at Institute of Molecular Genetics, Moscow, USSR.
    • ICAR-Govt. of India Fellowship for PDF at Washington University, St. Louis, USA.
    • Best Paper award-2
    • Honoured with M S Swaminathan Award on 5th February, 2016 by the Society of Plant research during their conference at University of Delhi, Delhi. This honour was given for contribution for the development of technology for production of transgenic plants of Cauliflower, Cabbage, Broccoli, Tomato and Himalayan Poplar resistant to insect pest and fungal disease. 

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I):  2012 

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: It gives an opportunity to interact with plant biotechnologists and updating oneself on latest research achievements in plant biotechnology.

    Dr. H. Niranjana Murthy

    Professor  
    Post Graduate Department of Botany,
    Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka – 580003
    Email: nmurthy60@yahoo.co.in; hnmurthy60@gmail.com

    Qualification:  M.Sc., Ph.D.

    Specialization: Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology

    Positions held:

    Chairman, Department of Botany, Karnatak University, Dharwad 580003.

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    Developed biotechnological methods for the production of pharmaceutically important secondary metabolites from cell and organ cultures of Ginseng, Siberian ginseng, Echinacea, St. John’s wort using large scale bioreactors in collaboration with South Korean research collaborators. Various ginseng based commercial products have been released and are currently available in market.

    Other Achievements:

    • Completed 14 research projects funded by Department of Biotechnology, Department of Science and Technology, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, University Grants Commission and National Medicinal Plant Board, New Delhi.
    • Guided 16 Ph. D. students and two Post-docs.
    • Recipient of major fellowships including Biotechnology National Fellowship, Biotechnology Overseas Fellowship, Commonwealth Fellowship, Brian-Pool Fellowship, DAAD fellowship, Indian National Academy visiting fellowship and Indo-Hungarian exchange fellowship.
    • Carried out collaborative research in various overseas laboratories including Department of Agriculture, University of Guelph; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Nottingham; Horticulture Research Institute, Chungbuk National University, Republic of Korea.
    • Chairman, Department of Botany, Karnatak University, Dharwad during 2007-2009
    • Scopus Hirsch Index of research publications:  31 (based on Impact factor and citations), 3200 citations.

    Best Publications:

    • H. N. Murthy, S. C. Hiremath and S. S. Salimath. Origin, evolution and genome differentiation in Guizotia abyssinica and its wild species. Theoretical Applied Genetics 87: 587-592, 1993.
    • A. Mukhopadhyay, N. Armugam, A. K. Pradhan, H. N. Murthy, B. S. Yadav, Y. S. Sodhi and D. Pental. Somatic hybrids with substitution type genomic configuration TCBB for the transfer of nuclear and organelle genes from Brassica tournefortii TT to allo-tetraploid oilseed crop B. carinata BBCC. Theoretical Applied Genetics 89: 19-25, 1994.
    • H. N. Murthy, C. Dijkstra, P. Anthony, D. A. White, M. R. Davey, J. B. Power, E. J. Hahn and K. Y. Paek. Establishment of Withania somnifera hairy root cultures for the production of withanolide A. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology 50: 975-981, 2008
    • N. Praveen and H. N. Murthy. Establishment of cell suspension cultures of Withania somnifera for the production of withanolide A. Bioresource Technology 101: 6735-6739, 2010.
    • N. T. Thanh, H. N. Murthy, K. Y. Paek. Optimization of ginseng cell culture in airlift bioreactors and developing the large-scale production system. Industrial Crops and Products 60: 343-348, 2014.
    • H. N. Murthy, E. J. Lee, K. Y. Paek. Production of secondary metabolites from cell and organ cultures: strategies and approaches for biomass improvement and metabolite accumulation. Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture 118:1-16, 2014.
    • H. N. Murthy, M. I. Georgiev, Y. S. Kim, C. S. Jeong, S. J. Kim, S. Y. Park, K. Y. Paek. Ginsenosides: Perspectives for sustainable biotechnological production. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 98: 6243-6254, 2014.
    • H. N. Murthy, V. S. Dandin, E. J. Lee and K. Y. Paek. Efficacy of ginseng adventitious root extract on hyperglycemia in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 153: 917-921, 2014.
    • H. N. Murthy, M.I. Georgiev, S. Y. Park, V.S. Dandin, K. Y. Paek. The safety assessment of food ingredients derived from plant cell, tissue and organ cultures: A review. Food Chemistry 176: 426-432, 2015.
    • H. N. Murthy, V. S. Dandin, K. Y. Paek. Tools for biotechnological production of useful phytochemicals from adventitious root cultures. Phytochemistry reviews 15: 129-145, 2016.

    Major Research Interest: 

    • Production secondary metabolites of pharmaceutical and nutraceutical value through cell and organ cultures
    • Developing bioreactor technology for plant cell and organ cultures
    • Bioseafey evaluation of products derived from plant cell and organ cultures

    Numbers of Ph.D. guided so far: Sixteen

    Awards and Recognitions: 

    • Award for best research publication in Biological Sciences, awarded by Department of Science and Technology and Vision Group on Science Technology, Government of Kranataka, 2011
    • Best researcher award and Smt. Aruna and Prof. S. T. Nadibewoor Gold Medal awarded by Karnatak University, Dharwad, 2015
    • University Grants Commission-Basic Science Research (UGC-BSR) Mid-Career Award 2018
    • Award for best research publication in Biological and Agricultural sciences awarded by Department of Science and Technology and Vision Group on Science Technology Government of Kranataka, 2018

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2012

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: To have interaction with fellow researchers and to keep updating the developments in the field.

    Research Gate

    Dr. Harvinder K. Cheema

    Professor (Retd.)
    Department of Botany,
    Punjab University Chandigarh, Chandigarh,
    Union territory-160047
    Email: harvindercheema05@hotmail.com

    Qualification:  M.Sc. (Hons. School), Ph.D.

    Specialization: Morphogenesis, Tissue Culture of Ferns and some herbaceous Crop Plants

    Positions held:

    • Professor Department of Botany, Punjab University Chandigarh 27.07.1998 to October 2008
    • Associate Professor Department of Botany, Punjab University Chandigarh 03.05.1989 to December 1997
    • Lecturer Department of Botany, Punjab University Chandigarh from 28.01.1981 to 02.05.1989
    • Research Associate Department of Botany, Punjab University Chandigarh from September 1976 to January 1981

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    Forty years of research experience in the field of Tissue Culture / Morphogenesis and Plant Biotechnology. Extensive work has been done on Physio-Morphogenetic studies in vitro on ferns (both homo and heterosporous) and economically important legumes and crop plants. Became one of the leading Botanists who initiated morphogenetic researches on ferns through tissue culture for the first time in India. Has done pioneering work on some aquatic ferns and achieved apogamy for the first time in heterosporous fern viz. Regnellidium diphyllumm L. Has also done extensive work on tissue culture of crop plants and reported high-frequency somatic embryogenesis in Soybean (Glycine max. L.).

    Extensive research work has also been carried out in collaboration with IPBNET work for Tissue Culture Crops Project (TCCP), Colorado State University, USA to develop a procedure for somatic embryogenesis and regeneration of plants. A procedure has been developed for consistent plant regeneration from callus derived from immature embryo from soybean, for the first time which was salt and drought resistant and highly useful for saline areas. It has been reported in the International Journal Plant Cell Reports, Vol. 5: 452-456. (1986)

    Recipient of several fellowships and medals for recognition of excellent work done in Tissue Culture studies in India and Abroad. Visited several countries for collaborative research and lectures. Worked as principal investigator for several research projects funded by various agencies and guided students for the award of M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees. Also nominated as a member of the expert committee in the area of Botany, Agriculture, and Biotechnology. Participated in several National and Internal conferences and delivered invited lectures in the USA, Canada, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungry, Germany and Poland and Chaired scientific sessions in different symposia/conferences. Recently awarded a lifetime achievement award (2017) in Pteridology by the India Fern society.

    Best Publications:

    • 1979 Cheema, Harvinder K. Morphogenetic studies on the induction of apopspory in Cetratopteris pteriodoides (Hook) (Hieron, in Aseptic Culture. Indian Jr. Expt. Biol. 17(12): 1403-1405.
    • 1980 Cheema, Harvinder K. In vitro morphogenetic studies on the gametophyte of Anogramma leptophylla (Sw.) Link. Curr. Sci. 49(15): 593.
    • 1985 Smith, Ivan K. and Harvinder K. Cheema. Sulphate transport into plants and excised roots of soybean (Glycine max L.) Ann. Bot. 56: 219-224.
    • 1986 Ghazi, T.D., H.K. Cheema and M.W. Nabors. Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from embryogenic callus of soybean, Glycine max L. Plant Cell Reports, Vol. 5: 452-456.
    • 1994 Cheema, Harvinder K. Pteriodophytes: Morphogenetic Studies, Botany in India; History and Progress, Ed. Professor B.M. Johri, Oxford & IBH Pub. Co. Pvt. Ltd.: 489-503.

    Major Research Interest: Experimental and Development Botany especially of Pteridophytes

    Numbers of Ph.D. guided so far: Six

    Awards and Recognitions:

    Awarded Certificate of Merit in Pteridology in 1991. S.S. Bir Gold Medal in Pteridology, Indian Fern Society, 1995. INSA Exchange Scientist Award, Indo-Polish Academy, 1992. INSA Exchange Scientist Award, Indo-Hungarian Academy, 1986.  Fellowship of Indian Fern Society, Patiala. Fellowship of Indian Botanical Society.  Membership of international Scientific & Horticulture Sciences (ISHS). Membership of International Society of Plant Morphologists. Membership of Indian Botanical Society. Membership of Indian Fern Society. Membership of Indian Science Congress Association. Membership of Environment Society of India. Member of the International Association of Plant tissue Culture (IAPTC). Member of Tissue Culture Association in India. Member of the Society towards Environmental Protection (STEP). Member of International Plant Biotechnology. Treasurer, Indian Fern Society, 2009-2011. Vice President, Indian Fern Society, 2011-2013. Life Time Achievement Award in Teridology 2017.

    Visited several countries for collaborative research / lectures

    USA (1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1993, 1995); Belgium (1985); Hungry (1986); Thailand (1987); Holland (Amsterdam) (1990); Geneva (Switzerland) 1991; Scotland (1992); Poland (1993); Germany (1993); Canada (1995, 1998).

     Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 1989

     Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: The aim of the association was to know the work being done in Tissue Culture and Biotechnology in various laboratories in India. So as to keep in touch with scientists and avoid repetition. This was a good approach but now it has become something different and common. The earlier concept should be maintained and the advice of experienced persons should be taken if needed by the young scientists.

    Dr. Harvinder Singh Chawla

    Professor & Head
    Genetics & Plant Breeding,
    College of Agriculture, G.B. Pant Univ. of Agric. & Tech.,
    Pantnagar, Uttarakhand – 263145.
    Email: chawlahs15@gmail.comchawlahs_pantnagar@rediffmail.com

    Qualifications: Ph.D (Genetics) 

    Specialization: Plant Tissue Culture, Agricultural Biotechnology, Intellectual Property Rights, Genetics & Plant Breeding

    Positions held:

    • Head, Genetics & Plant Breeding Deptt from 2011- Continuing
    • Professor from 1998- continuing
    • Associate Professor from 1992-1998
    • Asstt Prof from 1979 – 1992
    • CEO, Intellectual Property Management Centre
    • Coordinator/ Controller Admissions of the University since 2013 

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    • In vitro culture and biotechnology

    In the last 30 years I have been working on tissue culture approaches and generation of transgenic plants for various biotic and abiotic stresses in wheat, rice, gladiolus, chickpea and cauliflower. Generated resistant plants in wheat and barley against biotic stresses using in vitro culture techniques. In vitro technique (Discontinuous method) developed for selection of somaclonal variants.

    Worked on the development of transgenic plants for biotic and abiotic stresses using various transformation approaches. Transgenic plants of cauliflower for cold & insect tolerance have been generated. Worked on the development of transgenics in wheat and chickpea crops. Different genetic transformation techniques of Biolistic, Agrobacterium mediated and in planta approaches have been utilized.

    • Filing of IPRs, Registration of farmers varieties and cataloguing and benefit sharing

    Since 2002 being Nodal Officer of Intellectual Property Management Centre, 35 patents have been filed by the centre of the University. 11 patents have already been granted, 3 copyrights and 1 design have been registered. Developed model mechanisms for registration of farmers strains under PPV&FR Act were developed. Involved in collection of indigenous germplasm plant material of rice, maize, sorghum, Brassica and French bean; cataloguing and characterization using morphological, biochemical & molecular markers. Three farmers’ varieties of rice namely Indrasan, Tilakchandan & Hansraj were registered first time on behalf of the farmers. After that varieties of sorghum, French bean, maize and rice have been registered with PPV&FRA. Different models of registration of farmers’ varieties have been given.

    • Breeding

    Worked as wheat, legume and sorghum breeder in this university and contributed in the development of varieties of Forage sorghum UP Chari 2 and Pant Moong 4. 

    Other Achievements:

    • Head Genetics & Plant Breeding Deptt, G B Pant Univ of Agric & Tech., from 2011 onwards.
    • Course Director of Five summer/winter Schools sanctioned by ICAR.
    • Resource person (National/ International workshops) for IPRs and on Biotechnology aspects in more than 200 workshops/trainings/Seminars in last 10 years at all over India and abroad.
    • PI of more than 8 research projects. 

    Best Publications:

    • Chawla, H.S. (2016) Introduction to Intellectual Property Rights. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd, Delhi, India, pp 312.
    • Chawla, H.S. (2009) Introduction to Plant Biotechnology (3rd edition). Science Publishers Inc. (CRC Press), USA and Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd, Delhi, India, pp 728.
    • Chawla, H.S. (2007) Managing Intellectual Property Rights for Better Transfer and Commercialization of Agricultural Technologies. J Intellectual Property Rights, 12: 330-340.
    • Rai, Mayank, Datta, K., Parkhi, V., Jing Tan, Oliva, N., Chawla, H.S. and Datta, S.K. (2007) Variable T-DNA linkage configuration affects inheritance of carotenogenic transgenes and carotenoid accumulation in transgenic indica rice. Plant Cell Rep, 26(8): 1221 -1231.
    • Arora, A. and Chawla, H.S. (2005) Organogenic plant regeneration via callus induction-Role of genotypes, growth regulators and explants in chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Ind. J. Biotech., 4: 251-256
    • Chawla, H.S., Cass, L. and Simmonds, J.A. (1999) Developmental and environmental regulation of anthocyanin pigmentation in wheat tissues transformed with anthocyanin regulatory genes. In Vitro Dev. Biol. – Plant 35: 403 – 408.
    • Singh, N. and Chawla, H.S. (1999) Use of silicon carbide fibers for Agrobacterium mediated transformation in wheat. Current Science 76(11): 1483 – 1485.
    • Chawla, H.S. (1988) Isozyme modifications during morphogenesis of callus from barley and wheat. Plant Cell Tiss. Org. Cul. 12: 299‑304.
    • Chawla, H.S. and Wenzel, G. (1987) In vitro selection of barley and wheat for resistance against Helminthosporium sativum. Appl. Genet. 74: 841‑845.
    • Chawla, H.S. and Wenzel, G. (1987) In vitro selection of fusaric acid resistant barley plants. Plant Breed. 99: 159‑163. 

    Major Research Interest:

    • Plant improvement for biotic and abiotic stresses
    • IPR protection, management and conservation of  plant genetic resources 

    Numbers of PhD guided so far (number): Eighteen 

    Awards and Recognitions:

    • Awarded DAAD German Fellowship, worked at Institute fur Resistenzgenetik, Gruenbach, Germany (1985-87).
    • Awarded Department of Biotechnology Overseas Associateship, worked at Plant Research Centre, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa. Canada (1993-95).
    • Awarded visiting professorship by DAAD Germanyat Institute fur Resistenzgenetik, Gruenbach, Germany (1998).
    • Awarded ICAR SRF (1975-78) & Pool Officership (1979).
    • Delivered Prof F.C. Steward memorial Lecture In 35th Annual Meeting of PTCA (India) & Natl. Symp. on Advances in Plant Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, March 10-12, 2014.
    • Resource person appointed by APO, Japan for various trainings/Workshops on IPRs at Pakistan and Si Lanka
    • Resource person appointed by DAAD for various trainings at Bangla Desh.
    • Editorial board member of J. Intellectual Property Rights, published by NISCAIR, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Delhi.
    • Executive member, editorial board member and reviewer of large number of societies and Journals.
    • Fellow of Indian Soc. of Genetics & Plant Breeding.
    • Elected life member of Plant Tissue Culture Association (India).
    • Member of more than 10 professional societies.
    • Editor of WTO-IPR Bulletin, 6 issues published annually, 2003 onwards.
    • Nomination in Government committees: Bureau of Indian Standards committee, Institutional Biosafety committee by DBT, Govt. of India for other Universities/ ICAR Institutes of India (CSHAU, Hisar, BAU, Sabour, DRMR, Bharatpur), PPV&FR Authority, DST, Biodiversity Authority of India, etc.
    • Intellectual Property Rights course designed at the national level as per recommendations of Vth  Deans Committee for undergraduate level.
    • Various course designed viz. Biotechnology for Crop Improvement, Introduction to Plant Biotechnology, Intellectual Property Rights , Seed Laws, DUS Testing and Plant Variety Protection.
    • Consultant on IPRs at BAU, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 1995 

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: Gives an opportunity to interact with fellow scientists.

    Research Gate

    Dr. Laiq ur Rahman

    Principal Scientist
    CSIR-CIMAP,
    Lucknow -226015.
    www.cimap.res.in
    EMail: l.rahman@cimap.res.in, faizslaiq@gmail.com

    Qualification:  M. Sc., Ph. D., Post doctoral work (Metabolic Engineering)

    Specialization: Plant biotechnology, Genetic improvement of MAPs using biotechnological approaches

    Positions held:

    • Sep 2010-till date       Principal Scientist, CSIR-CIMAP
    • Sep 2006- 2008          Scientist E1 R&D, CSIR-CIMAP
    • Dec 2000-Aug 2006   Scientist B R&D, CSIR-CIMAP

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    The area(s) of Research consist of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant  (MAP) Biotechnology; specially pertaining to:

    • Genetic improvement of plants using protoplast culture and fusion technique.
    • Elucidation of effective production alternatives for important phytomolecules through establishment of genetically transformed hairy root repositories and / or cell / suspension cultures.
    • Development of bioreactor technology for hairy root up-scaling and standardization of cost effective in vitro culture protocol for industrial exploitation.
    • Modulation of biosynthetic pathways for production of desired/novel molecule through metabolic engineering.
    • Biotransformation/elicitation for high-value phytomolecule production through the use of transgenic “hairy root” cultures.
    • Creation of desired superior variant(s) either through random insertion of Ri-sequences by transgenesis or through somaclonal breeding technique.
    • In vitro biodiversity conservation /mass propagation of endangered/threatened medicinal plants and molecular characterization of the same.

    The major scientific contributions remained focused to the following directions:

    • Genetic improvement of plants using protoplast culture and fusion technique

    The protoplast fusion technique has been employed between two Hyoscyamus species (H.muticus + H.albus) and between Atropa belladonna and Nicotiana tabacum with the overall objective of combining useful characters of the two fusion parents, which was otherwise not possible through conventional method due to presence of incompatibility barriers. Three somatic hybrid plants were produced at intergeneric as well as interspecific levels, which were morphologically, cytologically and biochemically characterized to   establish their hybrid nature (Plant Science, 1993 92:91-98, Plant Cell Reports 1994 13:537-540, Journal of Genetics and Breeding 1998 53:333-337).

    •  Induction and exploitation of somaclonal variations, for genetic improvement of MAPs

    The prospect of utilizing the somaclonal breeding technique for widening of the narrow genetic base of some economically important MAPs, such as Hyoscyamus muticus , Rose-scented Geranium (Pelerganium graveolens) and Stevia, was explored which resulted in to the development of new variety and lines. Repeated field testing and judicious screening of the calliclones of both the plant systems provided improved germplasm exhibiting wider adaptability, improved agronomic characters and better oil productivity and profile over that of their respective potential controls (Plant Science 1998 132:83-88, Plant Science 2000 155:133-140, J.  Essent. Oil Res. 2004 16: 85-88, Industrial crops and products 2008 27 :86–90, Crop Protection 2008 27 558–565, Protoplasma 2014  251 :  661-670)

    • Generation of variations through Ri T-DNA mediated random insertional mutagenesis, followed by regeneration and judicious selection

    Generation of stable variations by A. rhizogenes mediated random insertion of Ri T-DNA followed by regeneration (either spontaneous or induced by hormones) and extensive screening for the desired clone of Pelargonium graveolens led to the selection of well adaptive superior clones exhibiting significantly higher biomass production potential with improve olfactory value of the essential oil (Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 2007 90:215-223).

    • Induction and exploitation of Agrobacterium rhizogenes induced hairy root cultures, as an alternate source for root derived phytochemicals

    Exploration of the possibilities of utilizing A. rhizogenes induced “hairy root” culture as an    effective, alternative production system for root derived phytochemicals have been  successfully been persuaded in Valeriana wallichii De, Plumbago zeylanica, Picrorhiza kurroa, Atropa accuminata, Hyoscyamus  albus, and  Rauvolfia serpentina (Plant science 1998 131 (2), 203-208, Journal of plant physiology 2002 159: (5) : 547-552, Plant biotechnology reports 2007 1(3)169-174, Biomedical chromatography 2008 22: 830–834, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 2008 46 : 452-460, Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 2013 114 (1), 31-38, Biotechnology letters, 2014: 1-11.

    • Induction and exploitation of plant cell cultures for in-vitro secondary metabolite production

    Development of technologies that permit induction / selection of high-yielding cell-lines that overproduce specific secondary products and design of culture protocol tailored to the unique growth/ nutritional/ hormonal requirements of plant cells for maximum product recovery had been practiced with regard to the production of Bacosides from suspensions of Bacopa monnieri (L.). (Biotech.lett 2002 24:1427-1429).

    • Modulation of biosynthetic pathways for production of desired molecule

    The HR culture systems have immense potential for commercial production of a number of high-value/low-volume secondary metabolites. The enhancement in productivity in transformed root culture systems through modulation of biosynthetic pathway by over expression/ silencing of pathway genes, or introducing novel genes from microbial system for production of high value commercial products have been successfully achieved (Scientific Reports (2018): volume 8, Article number: 13939 Industrial Crops and Products(2015)  74:839-848, Enzyme and Microbial technology 2005 39:1183-1189 , Bioresource Technology 2009 100: 4367-4382 Biotechnol. Appl. Biochem. 2010 56: 161–172, Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 2013 115 :377-384, Biotech. Lett. 2014 1-11.

    •  Production of transgenic plants with better secondary metabolites and biomass

    The prerequisite for production of transgenic plants is to have an efficient system of Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated genetic transformation system. Transformation protocols were developed in plants like Tagetes erecta, Ocimum sps and geranium (Protoplasma(2015) 252(4):1061-70, Industrial Crops and Products (2015) 71:138–146, Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture (PCTOC). 129(1)  35–44). Transgenic plants were produced in Tagetes erecta with overexpressed CPPase gene of pyrethrum for better yield of pyrethrin. Similarly HCHL gene from Pseudomonas was transferred to O. sanctum for Vanillin production. Transfer of ACC deaminase gene from achromobactor in to geranium resulted in to transgenic plant with better biomass yield.

    • Optimization of critical parameters for up-scaling of hairy root cultures in bioreactors for commercial exploitation  

    Optimization of critical parameters through modifications in culture vessel, air sparging and mechanical agitation systems for maximum biomass yield in a 5 lt bioreactor had been successfully achieved with HR clones of Hyoscyamus muticus, Rauvolfia serpentina Picrorhiza kurroa.

    • In vitro biodiversity conservation /mass propagation of endangered/threatened medicinal plants and molecular characterization

    Application of direct / indirect regeneration followed by encapsulation and molecular characterization had been effectively utilized for propagation and conservation of Sedum species, Curcuma amada, Plumbago zeylanica, Rauvolfia, Picrorhiza kurroa and  Decalapis arylpathra. (Plant Biotechnology 2002 19 (5), 303-309 Industrial Crops and Products 2012 36 (1), 383-388, Natural product communications 2012 7 (12), 1647-1650, Molecular Biotechnology 2012; 52(3):262-268).

    Other Achievements:

    • Refereed research papers: 85
    • Book Chapters: 02
    • Technical bulletins/reports: 06
    • Popular scientific articles: 01
    • PDF: 04

    Best Publications:

    Numbers of Ph. D. guided so far: Six

    Awards and Recognitions: 

    • 1994    Ruchi Ram Sahani award, National, Lucknow University.
    • 2000    Science and technology agency fellowship, International (Japan).
    • 2000    BOYSCAST fellowship, National (DBT).
    • 2000    JSPS fellowship, International (JSPS).
    • 2004    Certificate of appreciation, National (CIMAP).
    • 2006    FICCI award (recognition), National.

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2016

    Dr. (Rev. Fr. ) Leo D’Souza

    Director
    Laboratory of Applied Biology,
    Küppers Biotech Unit,
    St Aloysius College,
    Mangalore, Karnataka-575 003.
    EMail: labens.sac@gmail.com

    Qualification:  M.Sc., Ph.D., Lic. Sacra Theol.

    Specialization: Wheat breeding, Plant tissue culture, Developmental biology, Molecular genetics, Algal biotechnology, Ethics

    Positions held:

    • Principal, St Aloysius College
    • Rector, St Aloysius College
    • Director , Laboratory of Applied Biology 

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    • Production of wheat rye hybrids
    • First ever  in vitro cashew plant transferred to the field
    • First in vitro saplings of extremely recalcitrant  forest trees, medicinal  plants produced
    • Red listed plant multiplied and transferred to forest.
    • Transformation of cashew and chilli.
    • Production of biodiesel from local algae 

    Other Achievements:

    • Hosted the PTCA meeting twice
    • Established a tissue culture avenue on the campus

    Best Publications:

    • D’Souza Leo 1970 Untersuchungen über die Eignung des Weizens als Pollenspender bei der Fremdbefruchtung, verglichen mit Roggen, Triticale und Secalotricum.. für Pflanzenz. 63 246-269.
    • D’Silva I & D’Souza L (1992) In vitro propagation of Anacardium occidentale Plant Cell Tissue and Organ culture 29:1-6.
    • Augustine AC & D’Souza L (1997) Somatic embryogenesis in Gnetum ula (Gnetum edule) (Willd) Blume.  Plant Cell Reports 16:354-357.
    • Hegde S and D’Souza L (2000) In vitro sporophyte production from rhizome of Drynaria quercifolia. Indian Fern Journal 17:72-76.
    • Cardoza V and D’Souza L (2002) Induction, development and germination of somatic embryos from nucellar tissues of cashew. Scientia Horticulturae 93: 367-372.
    • D’Souza Leo 2003 A contribution to the debate “ Is genetically modified food a poison” Promotio Justitiae 79 16-19.
    • Sashi Kiran Nivas and L. D’Souza ( 2004) Somaclonal variation in tissue culture derived mature cashew    J.Plantation Crops 32 144-146.     
    • Nivas S K, Menon V K, Hegde S, D’Souza W, D’Souza L and Ghosh S B (2007).Agrobaceterium Mediated Transformation of Anacardium occidentale L (Cashew) using GFP markers System. Acta Horticulturae 738 467-472.
    • D’Souza L, Shashikiran Nivas, Smitha Hegde, Sequeira Melwyn, D’Cunha Melwyn. Plants in relation to man’s search for the divine.  Plants in relation to man and biosphere.  St Xavier’s College Mumbai November 2007.
    • Severes, A., Hegde, S., D’Souza, L., & Hegde, S. (2017). Use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) for enhanced lipid production in micro-algae based biofuels. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology170, 235-240. 

    Major Research Interest:

    • Plant tissue culture
    • Developmental Biology
    • Genomics
    • Algal Biotechnology 

    Numbers of Ph. D. guided so far: Nine 

    Awards and Recognitions:

    • Eminent Educator Award from AIACHE, New Delhi
    • Sandesha Award
    • Life time achievement award Talent Research Foundation 

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 1982 

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: Interaction with specialists in tissue culture and plant biotechnology. 

    Dr. M. V. Rajam

    Professor
    Department of Genetics,
    University of Delhi South Campus,
    Benito Juarez Marg, New Delhi – 110 021.
    www.genetics.du.ac.in
    Email: rajam.mv@gmail.com

    Qualification:  M. Sc., Ph. D.

    Specialization: Plant biotechnology and RNA interference

    Positions held:

    • Professor Univ. of Delhi South Campus May 2006-Till date
    • Reader Univ. of Delhi South Campus May 1998-2006
    • Lecturer & Sr. Lecturer Univ. of Delhi South Campus November 1987-May1998

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    Research focus in Prof. M. V. Rajam laboratory in the last more than three decades has been on addressing major phenomenon such as abiotic and biotic stresses, excessive fruit ripening and induction of male sterility; and unraveling the role of polyamines in in vitro plant regeneration and stress tolerance in crop plants. Development of improved Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation protocols in crop plants in the early years, and RNAi- and artificial miRNA- mediated silencing in the last decade have been the major tools used in the current research programmes. Significant contributions in these areas of research are summarized below:

    • Isolation, characterization and targeting of vital genes namely Ornithine decarboxylase, Agininosuccinate lyase, MAP kinases, Chorismate synthase, Peroxisomal biogenesis factor 6 and β-1,3-glucanosyltransferse in fungal pathogens (Fusarium oxysporum and Colletotricum gloeosporioides); and Acetylcholinesterase, Chitinase, Chitin synthase, Ecdysone receptor, Intestinal mucins and Sericotropin in insect pests (Helicoverpa armigera, Leucinodes orbanalis and Plutella xylostella) for their control in tomato/chilli, and tomato/brinjal/cauliflower respectively through host-induced RNAi and artificial miRNAs.
    • Development of novel RNAi and artificial miRNA based strategies for the control of viruses and insect pests in rice and tomato.
    • Development of tomato with delayed ripening and improved fruit quality, and male sterile lines using novel transgenic and RNAi approaches.
    • Developed, for the first time, a simple and efficient Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated genetic transformation for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a single cell alga with major applications in biotechnology.
    • Novel demonstration of the enhancement of Vir gene induction and T-DNA transfer in Agrobacterium by polyamines, and its successful use in improving the transformation efficiencty in brinjal.
    • Provided first evidence for the involvement of polyamine biosynthesis gene (samdc) and mannitol synthesis gene (mtlD) in conferring biotic (fungal pathogens) stress tolerance in transgenic tobacco and brinjal plants.
    • Demonstration of engineered polyamine and mannitol accumulation conferring abiotic stress tolerance in rice, brinjal and peanut.
    • Development of marker-free transgenic tomato through co-transformation method with high transformation frequency for abiotic stress tolerance using mtlD
    • Demonstration of the involvement of thaumatin gene in both abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in tobacco.
    • Development of transgenic rice for resistance against Tungro virus using coat-protein and ORF-IV genes of RTBV and RTSV.
    • Development of an efficient and reliable plant regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation for indica rice, eggplant, tomato and red pepper.
    • Deciphering the role of polyamine biosynthetic genes namely Ornithine decarboxylase, Arginine decarboxylase and S-Adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in in vitro regeneration, reproduction and abiotic stress tolerance in tobacco by developing over-expressing and RNAi lines.
    • Demonstration of polyamines as important determinants of in vitro plant regeneration in rice, brinjal and tomato.
    • Novel demonstration of the restoration of plant regeneration in long-term callus cultures of rice by manipulation of cellular polyamine concentrations and adjusting the ratio between the diamine putrescine and polyamines spermidine and spermine.
    • Development of an efficient protocol for Agrobacterium- mediated genetic transformation of Taxus baccata callus cultures (Indian Patent granted in 2001 with Dabur Research Foundation) 

    Other Achievements:

    • Twenty seven major research projects, including two international projects (EU & Indo-French) handled, and currently there are three ongoing projects (2 DBT & Dabur Research Foundation)
    • Visited Universities/Institutions in France, Italy, China and Indonesia under the collaborative research programmes of EU & Indo-French
    • Guided 37 Ph.D and 11 M.Phil. students, and mentor for 27 postdocs
    • Awarded Indian Patent on “Method for Agrobacterium- mediated genetic transformation of Taxus baccata callus cultures” in 2001 with Dabur Research Foundation, Noida. Investigators: B. Narayana, T. Sudhakar Johnson and M. V. Rajam
    • Delivered several invited talks in various international and national conferences, and also in different Universities/Colleges/Schools
    • Organized several conferences/seminars, including three international conferences and one Refresher Course
    • Head, Department of Genetics, University of Delhi South Campus during September 2012 – September 2015

    Best Publications:

    • Tetorya M & Rajam MV. 2018. RNA silencing of PEX6 gene causes decrease in pigmentation, sporulation and pathogenicity of Fusarium oxysporum. Plant Pathol. 67: 67-75, Doi: 10.1111/ppa.12712. 
    • Choubey A & Rajam MV. 2017. Transcriptome response and developmental implications of RNAi-mediated ODC knockdown in tobacco. Funct. Integr. Genomics 17(4): 399-412. DOI 10.1007/s10142-016-0539-3. 
    • Yogindran S & Rajam MV. 2016. Artificial miRNA-mediated silencing of ecdysone receptor (EcR) affects larval development and oogenesis in Helicoverpa armigera. Insect Biochem. Mol. Biol. 77: 21-30. 
    • Pandey R, Gupta A, Chowdhary A, Pal RK & Rajam MV. 2015. Over-expression of mouse ornithine decarboxylase gene under the control of fruit-specific promoter enhances fruit quality in tomato. Plant Mol. Biol. 87: 249-260. DOI10.1007/s11103-014-0273-y. 
    • Sinha R & Rajam MV. 2013. RNAi silencing of three homologues of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase gene in tapetal tissue of tomato results in male sterility. Plant Mol. Biol. 82: 169-180 DOI 10.1007/s11103-013-0051-2. 
    • Kumar, S.V, Mosquitta, R, Reddy, V.S, Rao, B.J. & Rajam, M.V. 2004. Genetic transformation of the green alga – Chlamydomonas reinhardtii by Agrobacterium  tumefaciens.  Plant Sci., 166:  731-738. 
    • Yadav JS & Rajam MV. 1998. Temporal regulation of somatic  embryogenesis by adjusting cellular polyamine pools. Plant Physiol., 116 : 617-625. 
    • Yadav JS & Rajam MV.  1997.  Spatial distribution in free and conjugated polyamines in leaves of Solanum melongena L. associated with differential morphogenic capacity : Efficient somatic embryogenesis by putrescine. J. Exp. Bot.,  48 : 1537-1545. 
    • Bajaj S & Rajam MV. 1996.  Polyamine accumulation and near-loss of morphogenesis in long-term callus cultures of rice: restoration of plant regeneration by manipulation of cellular polyamine levels. Plant Physiol., 112 : 1343-1348. 
    • Sharma P & Rajam MV. 1995. Genotype explant and position effects on organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis in eggplant. J. Exp. Bot.,  46 : 135-141.

    Major Research Interest:

    “Development of crop plants like tomato and rice for disease and pest resistance as well as the improvement of other agronomic traits like yield using RNA i-based strategies”

    Numbers of Ph. D. guided so far: Thirty Seven 

    Awards and Recognitions:

    • Fellow of The Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi (FNA) – 2015
    • Fellow of The National Academy of Sciences, India – Allahabad (FNASc) – 2007
    • Fellow of The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences – New Delhi (FNAAS) – 2012
    • Fellow of The Telangana State Academy of Sciences (FTSAS) – 2012
    • Fellow of The Association of Biotechnology and Pharmacy, Guntur, AP (FABAP) – 2010
    • Elected Member, Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology Association (India) since 1995 and life member of many other learned societies like Indian Science Congress and Indian Society for Cell Biology.
    • Delivered ‘Steward Memorial Lecture’, PTCA (I) during 37th Annual Meeting of PTCA (I), Mangalore, January 29-31, 2015
    • Awarded Prof. H. C. Arya Gold Medal, 2018 and to deliver his Memorial Lecture during 40th PTCA (I) meeting during February 14-16, 2019, IIT, Gauwati.
    • Award of The Rockefeller Foundation Biotech Career Fellowship – 1998 (could not be availed)
    • Award of ‘Shiksha Rattan Puraskar’ by the India International Friendship Society, Delhi 2011
    • Award of Department of Biotechnology National Associateship – 1994
    • Award of the National Scholarship for Study Abroad (Govt. of India) –  1984
    • Special Award in Research, Rotary International Club of Hyderabad –   1985
    • Award of CSIR JRF (1979-81), SRF (1981-83), PDF (1983) & Pool Officership (1986-87)
    • Member of the Task Force Committee on RNAi Technology of the DBT (Govt. of India), Delhi
    • Member, Research Advisory Committee, ICGEB, New Delhi
    • Member of the ‘National Advisory Board’ of the “Sir Richard Roberts Centre for Genetically Modified Organism”, Amity University, Noida.
    • Member of the Special Committee of the School of Life Sciences, JNU
    • Member of Advisory Board, Institute of Forest Genetics & Tree Breeding, Coimbatore (2012-14)
    • Member, Advisory Board for M. Sc. Biotechnology course, Kakatiya University
    • Member of the Advisory Committe of the ‘Bejo Sheetal Bioscience Foundation’, Jalna (MR).
    • Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Sri Biotech., Hyderabad
    • Member of Doctoral Committee of the School of Life Sciences, JNU, New Delhi
    • Member of Research Advisory Committee, Centre for Biotechnology, M. D. University, Rohtak
    • Member of Research Advisory Committee, National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Insects (NBAII-ICAR), Bangaluru – 2013-16
    • Member, IBSC, ICGEB (External expert), and JNU (DBT nominee), New Delhi
    • Associate Editor, BMC Biotechnol. (UK), and Physiol. Mol. Biol. Plants (Springer)
    • Editorial Board member, OMICS group journal – Cell & Dev. Biol., J. Plant Biochem. Biotechnol., Phytomorphology, Plant Cell Biotech. Mol. Biol. & Indian J. Biotechnol.
    • Convener, Editor & Author of CBSE Class XI & XII Biotechnology Text Books & Lab Manuals
    • Co-editor of a two volume book on “Plant Biology and Biotechnology”, published by Springer India
    • Chaired/Co-Chaired sessions in several national and international conferences/symposia/ seminars

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 1995 

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member:  It gives an opportunity to interact with plant biotechnologists, and learn latest developments in the field.

    Research Gate

    Dr. Malay Das

    Assistant Professor (Stage 3)

    Department of Life Sciences,

    Presidency University, 86/1 College Street,

    Kolkata, West Bengal

    Email: malay.dbs@presiuniv.ac.in, malaydas76@hotmail.com

    Qualifications: Ph.D., M.Sc. 

    Specialization: Plant Molecular Biology, Developmental Biology

    Positions held:

    • Assistant Professor (Stage III) at Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata (January, 2022- Till date)
    • Assistant Professor (Stage II) at Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata (January, 2017- January, 2022)
    • Assistant Professor (Stage I) at Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata (January, 2013- January, 2017)
    • Senior Research Associate at Bioinformatics Center, Bose Institute, Kolkata (October, 2012- January, 2013)
    • Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral fellow, Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology, Helmholtz Zentrum, Munich, Germany (October, 2009 – September, 2012)
    • Postdoctoral fellow, Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology, Virginia Tech University, USA (June, 2008 – September, 2009)
    • National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate, US-Environmental Protection Agency, Western Ecology Division, Oregon, USA (December, 2005 – May, 2008)

    Academic and Research Achievements:

    • Associate Editor, BMC Genomics (March, 2018- till date)
    • Review Editor, Frontiers in Plant Science (June, 2022- till date)
    • Senior Editor, Advances in Bamboo Science (August, 2022- till date)
    • Life member, The Indian Botanical Society (IBS)
    • General Body Member, Archana Sharma Foundation of Calcutta (ASFC) 

    Grants Received as Principal Investigator: 6

    • Project Title: Evolutionary and functional characterization of important flowering genes identified from a rarely flowering Indian bamboo (Bambusa tulda). Funding agency: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. Total Cost: 55.000 EURO. Duration: 2020- 2023 
    • Project Title: Small RNA sequencing and characterization at defined floral tissue stages of Bambusa tulda: a rarely flowering bamboo of commercial importance. Funding agency: CSIR, India. Total Cost: 27.547 Lakhs. Duration: 2019- 2022.
    • Project Title: Screening of Indian bamboo germplasms to identify elite genotypes having superior lignocellulosic composition, their ex situ conservation and characterization of the candidate genes. Funding agency: DBT, India. Total Cost: 44.4 Lakhs. Duration: 2018- 2022.
    • Project Title: Targeted identification and molecular characterization of important flowering gene homologs in a rarely flowering tree Bambusa tuldaFunding agency: DBT, India. Total Cost: 41.57 Lakhs. Duration: 2015- 2018.
    • Project Title: Targeted identification of novel stress responsive gene copies in Brassica arisen through gene duplication. Funding agency: UGC, India. Total Cost: 13.80 Lakhs. Duration: 2015- 2018.
    • Project Title: Identification and phylogenetic characterization of genes regulating unique flowering behavior in tree bamboo. Funding agency: CSIR, India. Total Cost: 20 Lakhs. Duration: 2014- 2018

    Other Achievements:

    • Head, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University, Kolkata (March 2018- June, 2019)
    • Member, Ph. D committee, Department of Life Sciences, Presidency University (2014 til to date
    • Member, Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC), Presidency University, (2017 till to date)

    Best Publications:

    • Biswas S, Rahaman T, Gupta P, Mitra R, Dutta S, Kharlyngdoh E, Guha S, Ganguly J, Pal A, Das M* (2022) Cellulose and lignin profiling in seven, economically important bamboo species of India by anatomical, biochemical, FT-IR spectroscopy and Thermogravimetric analysis. Biomass and Bioenergy 158: 106362. 

    • Chakraborty A, Chaudhury R, Dutta S, Basak M, Dey S, Schäffner AR, Das M* (2022) Role of metabolites in flower development and discovery of compounds controlling flowering time. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry 190: 109-118. 
    • Dutta S, Deb A, Biswas P, Chakraborty S, Guha S, Mitra D, Geist B, Schäffner AR, Das M* (2021) Identification and functional characterization of two bamboo FD gene homologs having contrasting effects on shoot growth and flowering. Scientific Reports 11:7849. 
    • Chakraborty S, Biswas P, Dutta S, Basak M, Das M* (2021) Studies on reproductive development and breeding habit of the commercially important bamboo Bambusa tulda Roxb. Plants. 10 (11): 2375. 
    • Das Laha S, Dutta S, Schäffner AR, Das M* (2020) Gene duplication and stress genomics in Brassicas: current understanding and future prospects. Journal of Plant Physiology 255: 153293. 
    • Dutta S, Biswas P, Chakraborty S, Mitra D, Pal A, Das M* (2018) Identification, characterization and gene expression analyses of important flowering genes related to photoperiodic pathway in bamboo. BMC Genomics 19:190. *corresponding author JIF: 4.54. 
    • Biswas P, Chakraborty S, Dutta S, Pal A, Das M* (2016) Bamboo Flowering from the Perspective of Comparative Genomics and Transcriptomics. Frontiers in Plant Science 7: 1900. 
    • Das M*, Haberer G, Panda A, Das Laha S, Ghosh TC, Schaffner AR (2016) Expression pattern similarities support the prediction of orthologs retaining common functions after gene duplication events. Plant Physiology 171: 2343-2357. 
    • Wickett, NJ., Loren AH, Wafula EK, Das M, Huang K, Wu B, Timko MP., Yoder J, Westwood J and dePamphilis CW (2011) Transcriptomes of the parasitic plant family Orobanchaceae reveal surprising conservation of chlorophyll synthesis. Current Biology 21: 2098-2104. 
    • Das M, Reichman JR, Haberer G, Welzl G, Aceituno FF, Mader MT, Watrud LS, Pfleeger TG, Gutiérrez R, Schäffner AR and Olszyk D (2010) A composite transcriptional signature differentiates responses towards closely related herbicides in Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica napus. Plant Molecular Biology 72(4-5):545-56. 

    Major Research Interest:

    • Plant tissue culture
    • Mutation breeding
    • Secondary metabolite production
    • Molecular Markers

    Numbers of Ph. D. guided so far: Two, One (submitted), Four (registered) 

    Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2022 

    Liked to join and continue as PTCA member:  It provides a great opportunity to stay updated regarding the progress of Plant Science research in India, to interact with leading Plant Scientists of India, to exchange research ideas, and to develop collaboration.  

    Research Gate  ORCID Loop  Website

    Dr. Manisha Thakur

    Associate Professor

    Biotechnology,

    Dr. Y. S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry,

    Nauni- Solan (HP)
    Plant Biotechnology Laboratory,

    Email: drmanisha72@yahoo.com

    Qualifications: Ph.D., (Biotechnology) 

    Specialization: Plant Tissue Culture, Molecular Biology, Secondary metabolite production

    Positions held:

    • Professor Associate Professor (Biotechnology) from 12/08/2021 to till date
    • Assistant Professor (Biotechnology) from 12/08/2009 to 11/08/2021

    Research Achievements:

    • Developed carnation plants resistant to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthii through in vitro selection in varieties ‘Cabrett’ and ‘Feynoored’ and transferred to fields.
    • Developed Fusarium wilt-resistant plants of ginger var. Himgiri through in vitro mutagenesis and selection and transferred to the field to confirm resistance.
    • Developed protocol for in vitro propagation and podophyllotoxin production in Himalayan May apple (SinoPodophyllum hexandrum Royle)
    • In vitro propagation protocols developed for virus tested Plum cvs ‘Santa Rosa’ and ‘Frontier’. Clonal cherry rootstock Gisela 5, ginger. Plants performed well in the field and will serve as a source of virus-tested bud wood. Clonal fidelity studies confirmed similarities between tissue culture raised and mother plants.
    • Apple clonal rootstocks EMLA 111, MM 106, Merton 793, and M 7 propagated through tissue culture, and plants were transferred to fields at different locations.
    • Flower color variants developed in chrysanthemum and Gerbera through in vitro mutagenesis. 

    Other Achievements:

    • Students Guided: M.Sc : 12

    Best Publications:

    • Thakur M, Sharma DR and Sharma SK. (2002). In vitro selection and regeneration of carnation Dianthus caryophyllus L. plants for resistance against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. dianthi. Plant Cell Reports, 20: 825‐ 828.]
    • Thakur M, Sharma DR, Kanwar K and Kant A. (2002). In vitro regeneration of Acacia catechu Willd. from callus and mature nodal explants – an improved method. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, 40: 850‐ 853.
    • Kaushal N, Modgil M, Thakur M and Sharma D R. (2005). In vitro clonal multiplication of an apple rootstock by culture of shoot apices and axillary buds. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, 43: 561‐565.
    • Sharma T, Modgil M and Thakur M. (2007). Factors affecting induction and development of in vitro rooting in apple rootstocks. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, 45:824‐829.
    • Modgil M, Sharma T and Thakur M. 2(008). Commercially feasible protocol for rooting and acclimatization of micropropagated apple rootstocks. Acta Horticulturae, 839: 209‐214.
    • Soni M, Thakur M and Modgil M. (2011). In vitro multiplication of Merton.I 793‐ An apple rootstock suitable for replantation. Indian Journal of Biotechnology, 10:362‐368.
    • Ghani M, Kumar S and Thakur M. (2013). Induction of novel variants through physical and chemical mutagenesis in Barbeton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii Hook.). Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology, 88(5): 585‐590.
    • Ghani M, Kumar S and Thakur M. (2014). Physiological and biochemical responses of gerbera (Gerbera jamesonii Hook.) to physical and chemical mutagenesis. Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology, 89(3): 301-306.
    • Modgil M and Thakur M. (2017). In vitro culture of clonal rootstocks of apple for their commercial exploitation. Acta Horticulturae, 1155:331-335.
    • Thakur M, Soni M, Sharma DP, Vivek M and Sharma V. (2018). In vitro propagation of Plum (Prunus salicina) cv.‘Santa Rosa’ and assessment of genetic stability using RAPD markers. Indian Journal of Plant Physiology, 23(1):161-168. 

    Major Research Interest:

    • Plant tissue culture
    • Mutation breeding
    • Secondary metabolite production
    • Molecular Markers

    Numbers of Ph. D. guided so far: Three 

      Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2021 

      Dr. Mohammad Anis

      Professor
      Plant Biotechnology Laboratory,
      Department of Botany,
      AMU, Aligarh, UP-202002.
      Email: anism1@rediffmail.com

      Qualifications: Ph.D., M.Sc. 

      Specialization: Plant Tissue Culture/Micropropagation, Secondary metabolites, Cytogenetics

      Positions held:

      • 2017 to date                      :UGC-BSR Faculty Fellow
      • 1999 to July 2017              :Professor of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University
      • 1991 to July 1999              :Reader in Botany, AMU
      • 1989 to July 1991              :Sr. Lecturer in Botany, AMU
      • 1984 to July 1989              :Lecturer in Botany, AMU
      • 1981 to July 1984              :Research Assistant, Botany Department, AMU 

      Academic and Research Achievements:

      • 2017: UGC-BSR Faculty Fellowship
      • 2016: Life Time Achievement Award (Plant Biotechnology) (Venus International Foundation, Chennai)
      • 2016: Outstanding Researcher of the year award, AMU
      • 2015: Visiting Professor, Kind Saud University, Riyadh
      • 2015: Elected Additional Secretary of the Executive Council of International Society of Plant Morphologist ( ISPM) for five years ( 2015-2019)
      • 2015: “UGC-BSR Mid Career Award” 
      • 2014: Elected Fellow, Indian Society of Plant Morphologist (FISPM)
      • 2013: Professor P Maheshwari Medal Award (By Indian Botanical Society)
      • 2012: Chairman Department of Botany, AMU
      • 2012: Nominated subject expert committee of UGC
      • 2011: Nominated for University of Mauritius (Under 5th UGC-TEC Consortium Agreement)
      • 2011: Elected Fellow, Indian Society of Genetics & Plant Breeding
      • 2010: Elected Councilor of the Executive Council of ISPM for 5 years (2010-2014)
      • 2010: VIGYAN RATAN SAMMAN (By council of Science and Technology, UP)
      • 2007: Eminent Scientist of the year Award (By National Environmental Science Academy (NESA), N Delhi)
      • 2005: Elected Fellow, Indian Botanical Society (FBS)
      • 1998: Visited Frankfurt University, Germany (Under INSA-DFG Fellowship)
      • 1994: Visited the University of Georgia, Athens, USA (Under DBT Overseas Associateship)
      • 1992: Biotechnology National Associateship
      • 1988: Awarded a Canada Bursary for 14th International Congress of Genetics at Toronto, Ontario, Canada

      Other Achievements:

      Scientific Leadership: 

      • Research projects Supervised  (Sponsored by UGC, DBT, DST, CSIR, UP-CST)

      Worked as Programme Coordinator in five major projects, each of 05 years duration, sponsored by the Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi under the DST-FIST II (2012-2017), DST-FIST I (2006-2010), DBT-HRD (2008-2013), UGC-DRS I (2009-2014) and DRS-II (2016-2021) in the Department Of Botany, AMU

      Established laboratories of Plant Tissue Culture & Molecular Biology and study Programmes in Plant Biotechnology since 2003 in the Department for pursuing Basic and Applied Research

      • Coordinator, UGC-SAP (DRS-II) Programme for 5 years (2016-2021)

      Thrust Area: Plant Biotechnology & Nano Biotechnology

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 147.30 lacs

      Ref. No. F.3-2/2009 (SAP-II) dated 03.06.2015 

      • Principal Investigator, UGC Major Research Project for 3 years (2012-2015)

      “Studies on in vitro clonal propagation of Mucuna pruriens and evaluation of genetic fidelity”

      Amount sanctioned Rs.10.0 lacs

      Ref. No. F. No. 41-434/2012 (SR) dated 16.07.2012 

      • Principal Investigator, DBT Research Project for 3 years (2012-2015)

      “Assessment of genetic diversity and molecular characterization in Pterocarpus species”

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 24.0 lacs

      Ref. No. BT/PR2189/PBD/17/744/2011 

      • Coordinator, DST-FIST-II Programme for 5 years (2011-2016)

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 77.0 lacs.

      Ref. No. SR/FST/LS II-001/2011 dated 20.12.2011 

      • Coordinator, UGC-SAP (DRS-I) Programme for 5 years (2009-2014)

      Thrust Area: Plant Biotechnology

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 80.0 lacs.

      Ref. No. F.3-2/2009 (SAP-II) dated 31.03.2009 

      • Course Coordinator for “Advanced Diploma in Plant tissue culture and Micropropagation” for 5 years (2009-2014), sponsored by the Department of biotechnology, Govt. of India, N Delhi.

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 68.0 lacs.

      Ref. No. BT/HRD/TTC/05/2008 dated 29.08.2008 

      • Principal Investigator, UGC Major research Project for 3 years (2006-2009)

      “Biotechnological intervention for propagation and improvement of Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) ”

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 8.0 lacs.

      Ref. No. 31-164/2005 (SR) dated 31.03.2006 

      • Coordinator, DST-FIST-I Programme for 5 years (2006-2010)

      “Modernization of Teaching and Research in Plant Biotechnology”

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 27.0 lacs.

      Ref. No. SR/FST/LS-I-085/2005 dated 20.12.2005 

      • Principal Investigator, UP-CST for 2 years (2005-2007)

      “Development of Protocol for in vitro culture and clonal propagation of Litchi chinensis Sonn.”

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 5.0 lacs.

      Ref. No. CST/AAS/D-5093 dated 21.07.2005 

      • Principal Investigator, DBT Major Research Project for 3 years (2002-2005)

      In vitro mass propagation of Pterocarpus marsupium and Saraca asoca”.

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 18.0 lacs.

      Ref. No. BT/PR 2907/PBD/17/171 dated 14.03.2002 

      • Principal Investigator, UGC major Research Project for 3 years (2001-2004)

      In vitro cloning of selected genotypes Psoralea corylifolia L.

      Amount sanctioned Rs. 8.0 lacs.

      Ref. No. F.3-186/2001 (SR-II) dated 18.04.2001 

      • List of Research Papers Published :205
      • List of Chapters Contributed to Books :20
      • National Seminars/ Conferences Organized :07
      • Conferences/ Seminars Attended :55
      • Membership of National & International Scientific Societies :10
      • Invited Lecturers delivered :28
      • Chaired Sessions :20
      • Nominated member as subject-expert; 
        • In a UGC Committee for INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMES, New Delhi  (2012)
        • Appointed subject expert at Jharkhand Public Service Commission, Ranchi (2013)
        • Appointed Subject Expert at UP Higher Education Service Commission, Allahabad (2017)
        • Appointed Subject Expert at UPSC, Allahabad (2017)
        • Appointed subject expert in Public Service Commission (J&K), 2017
      • Editor of NAAS rated journals
        • Editor-J Ind Bot Society (2016) :   NAAS rating   3.7
        • Addl Secretary, Phytomorphology (2015)  :   NAAS rating  4.3
        • Editor- J Environmental Biology (2016) :  NAAS rating   6.55

      Best Publications:

      • Fatima N., Ahmad N. ad Anis M. (2011). Enhanced in vitro regeneration and change in photosynthetic pigments, biomass and proline content in Withania somnifera L. (Dunal) induced by copper and zinc ions. Plant Physiol Biochem. 49: 1465-1471. Impact Factor: 0 Citation Index: 16
      • Fatima N, Ahmad N, Anis M and Ahmad I (2013). An improved in vitro encapsulation protocol, biochemical analysis and genetic integrity using DNA based molecular markers in regenerated plants of Withania somnifera L. Ind Crop Pro 50: 468– 477. Impact Factor: 8 Citation Index: 06
      • Javed B S, Alatar A A, Anis M, Faisal M (2017) Synthetic seeds production and germination studies, for short term storage and long distance transport of Erythrina variegata L.; a multipurpose tree legume. Indus Crops Products. 105: 41-46. Impact Factor: 8 Citation Index: 02
      • Hazel C.B., Klein T.M., Anis M., Wilde H.D. and Parrott W.A. (1998). Growth characteristics and transformability of soybean embryogenic cultures. Plant Cell Reports 17: 765-772. Impact Factor: 9 Citation Index: 50
      • Naz R, Anis M and Alatar A A (2016) ISSR-based detection of genomic stability in Cassia occidentalis L. plants derived from in vitro somatic embryo. Engineering in Life Sciences. 16: 17-24. Impact Factor: 9 Citation Index: 02
      • Faisal M. and Anis M. (2003). Rapid mass propagation of Tylophora indica Merrill via leaf callus culture. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 75: 125-129. Impact Factor: 6 Citation Index: 95
      • Faisal M., Ahmad N. and Anis M. (2005). Shoot multiplication in Rauvolfia tetraphylla using thidiazuron. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 80: 187-190. Impact Factor:6 Citation Index: 133
      • Javed SB and Anis M (2016). Cobalt induced augmentation of in vitro morphogenic potential in Erythrina variegate L.: a multipurpose tree legume. Plant Cell Tiss Org Cult. 120:463–474. Impact Factor: 6 Citation Index: 02
      • Khanam MN and Anis M (2018) Organogenesis and efficient in vitro plantlet regeneration from nodal segments of Allamanda cathartica L. using TDZ and ultrasound assisted extraction of quercetin. Impact Factor: 0
      • Khanam MN, Anis M and Ahmad S (2018) Establishment of adventitious root cultures of Allamanda cathartica L. for the production of iridoid glycosides and its identification using HPTLC MS. Impact Factor: 8

      Major Research Interest: Plant Biotechnology 

      Numbers of PhD guided so far: Twenty Four

      Number of Mphill guided so far: Eleven

      Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2008 

      Dr. Narendran M. Nair

      Lead- Research & Development (Commercial Tissue Culture & Nursery)

      Seven Star Fruits Pvt. Ltd. (a MahycoGrow Company),

      Tissue Culture Facility,

      Dawalwadi, Jalna-Aurangabad Road,

      Jalna, Maharashtra-431203.

      Email: narendranmnair@gmail.com, narendran.nair@mahyco.com 

      Qualification:  M. Sc., Ph. D.

      Specialization: Plant Tissue Culture (Research and Commercial Production), Commercial Tissue Culture projects involving International Partners / Collaborators, Intellectual Property Protection in Plant Biotechnology, Crop Genetic Transformation, Lab and Projects Management, Molecular analysis of Transgenic Plants, Consumer Outreach Seminars (Plant Biotech. / GM crops) & Public Interest Articles

      Positions held:

      • Research Scientist, Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company Ltd.
      • MAHYCO Research Center, Dawalwadi, Jalna-Aurangabad Road, Jalna, Maharashtra-431203.
        • Grade – M1 (April 2018 – December 2018)
        • Research Scientist, Grade – M2 (April 2014 – March 2018)
        • Research Scientist, Grade – M3 (April 2011 – March 2014)
        • Associate Research Scientist, Grade – M4 (April 2008 – March 2011)
        • Associate Research Scientist, Grade – M5 (April 2006 – March 2008)
        • Assistant Research Scientist, Grade – M6 (April 2003 – March 2006)
        • Research Associate, Grade – S-II (January 2000 – March 2003) 
      • Consultant (Retainer), Mahyco Research Centre (December 1998 – January 2000)
      • Trainee (Basic Techniques in Plant Cell Culture & Micro Propagation of plants) Biotechnology Division, SPIC Science Foundation, Guindy, Chennai-600032 (January 1996 – January 1997)                 

      Academic and Research Achievements:

      • Currently leading the commercial micropropagation programs of Seven Star Fruits Pvt. Ltd. (a MahycoGrow company) involving proprietary technologies in collaboration with a USA based company.
      • Established tissue culture based genetic transformation protocols for a number of crops. The Bt brinjal program advanced up to the final stages of commercial release in India and commercially adopted by thousands of farmers in Bangladesh.
      • Generated transgenic plants in a number of crop species using marker-free transformation systems, identified elite marker-free transgenic events and inducted in breeding programs as part of the product development. 
      • First time ever established an efficient tissue culture based genetic transformation protocols for okra and generated Bt okra for insect resistance. This has resulted in two granted US patents and patents in many other countries. 
      • Two new patent applications filed are in the various stages of the patenting process. 
      • Delivered talks in a number of national and international seminars (including consumer outreach seminars) and participated in many panel discussions (including seminars organized at G.B. Pant University, Pant Nagar and the Biotech industries conclave organized by Govt. of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram). Presented papers in international seminars including Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB) meeting, Providence, USA and Plant Transformation technologies meeting, Vienna, Austria.

      Best Publications:

      • Deole S, Padakipatil S, Sandhya SR, Nanote A, Jadhav M, Bihani P, Parimi S, Zehr U, Narendran M, Char BR. (2021) Development of marker-free insect resistant transgenic okra (Abelmoschus esculentus Moench) expressing the cry1Acgene and identification of vector backbone-free events. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants.  27:2379-2387.
      • Narendran M, Deole SG, Harkude S, Shirale D, Nanote A, Bihani P, Parimi S, Char BR, Zehr UB. (2013) Efficient genetic transformation of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus (L.) Moench) and generation of insect-resistant transgenic plants expressing the cry1Ac Plant Cell Reports. 32 (8) 1191-1198. DOI 10.1007/s00299-013-1415-4
      • Usha B. Zehr, Narendran M. Nair, and Satish G. Deole. Methods for Plant Regeneration, Transformation and Production of Insect Resistant Transgenic Okra. United States Patent no. 8,067,673, granted on 29th November 2011.
      • Usha B. Zehr, Narendran M. Nair, and Satish G. Deole. Method for plant regeneration of okra. United States Patent no. 8,697,445 B2, granted on 15th April 2014.
      • Narendran, Satish G. Deole, Bharat R. Char and Usha B. Zehr (2013) Production of Transgenic Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) by Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation and inheritance of transgene. In Vitro Cell Dev. Bio. Plant 49 (4) 479 (Abstract 3030).
      • Sushma Jha, Anshuman Tiwari, Narendran Nair, Venugopal Mikkilineni and Usha Barwale Zehr (2013) Vegetables breeding with biotechnological tools. 6. In: K.L. Chadha, A.K. Singh, S.K. Singh and W.S. Dhillon (eds) Horticulture for Food and Environment Security. Westville Publishing House.
      • Narendran M., Joshi K.G., Char B.R., Zehr U.B. (2008) Constitutive promoter-driven transgene expression in plants. Bionano Frontier 1: 17-23.
      • Azhakanandam K., Ansingkar V.A., Girhepuje P., Narendran M., Mukherjee S.K. and Zehr U.B. (2002) Engineering marker-free insect resistant transgenic vegetables using Agrobacterium. In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol. 38: P-1000 21-A (Abstract).(Poster in the 10th IAPTC & B Congress, Plant Biotechnology 2002 and Beyond. Florida, USA, June 23-28, 2002).
      • M. Narendran, Seema Lalwani, Prakash Girhepuje, Dattatray Shirale, Ghulam Mustafa, Ratnapal Gandhi, Srinivas Parimi, Bharat R. Char, Usha B. Zehr (2007) Production of marker-free insect resistant transgenic brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) carrying cry2Ab gene. Acta Horticulturae: 752: 535- 538.
      • Mandlik SN, Pawar VB, Madan SN, Shukla S, Narendran M, Char BR, Parimi S (2011) Baseline susceptibility of diamondback moth to the Cry1Ac protein and efficacy of Bt The 6th International Workshop on Management of the Diamondback Moth and Other Crucifer Insect Pests. AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center 299-304.

      Awards and Recognitions:

      • Best Paper Award “Production of marker-free transgenic okra expressing cry1Ac gene” authored by  Satish Deole,  Narendran M., Bharat Char and Usha Zehr. International Symposium on New Perspectives in Modern Biotechnology organised by Society for Applied Biotechnology, 23-25th March 2015 at Pondicherry (Puducherry).
      • Mahyco Reward & Recognition 2010-2011 Contribution to Research & Development over a period – Vegetable Transformation Team.
      • Hassan memorial scholarship from TKM college of Arts and Science, Kollam, Kerala for obtaining the highest marks in B.Sc. Botany (1993).
      • Usha B. Zehr, Narendran M. Nair, and Satish G. Deole. Methods for Plant Regeneration, Transformation and Production of Insect Resistant Transgenic Okra. United States Patent no. 8,067,673, granted on 29th November 2011.
      • Usha B. Zehr, Narendran M. Nair, and Satish G. Deole. Method for plant regeneration of okra. United States Patent no. 8,697,445 B2, granted on 15th April 2014.

      Other Achievements:

      Invited Talks / Panel discussions (selected)

      • Invited talk delivered in National Symposium on Novel Strategies in Plant Stress Diagnosis and Management May 6-7, 2022 Dr. YS Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India.
      • National Seminar on Frontiers in Biotechnology– Molecular, Epigenetic and genomic research platforms in healthcare and food security. March 1-3 2017 Organized by Inter University Centre for Genomics and Gene Technology, University of Kerala.
      • Advances in genetic transformation of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus Moench) for insect resistance- shoot and fruit borer. The National Symposium on Plant Biotechnology:  Recent Trends   in   Plant Propagation, Genetic Improvement & Industrial Applications & 39th Annual Meeting of PTCA (India), organized at Arid Forest Research Institute (AFRI) Jodhpur February 16-18, 2018.
      • Production of marker-free insect resistant transgenic vegetable crops. Invited talk delivered in Plant Tissue Culture Association (PTCA)’s National symposium organized in Kolkatafrom March 3- 5, 2017.
      • Production and characterization of marker-free insect resistant transgenic tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) carrying cry2Ab gene. Invited talk in National Symposium (PTCA) at NBRI, Lucknow. February 25-27, 2016.
      • Trivandrum Biotechnology Industries Conclave organized by the Government of Kerala, August 31, 2017 at KTDC Mascot Hotel, Thiruvananthapuram by the Govt. of Kerala (KBC, KSCSTE & KSIDC). Lead Talk and Panel Discussion.
      • Agri-Biotech Initiatives for Improving Crop Productivity “Awareness Workshop on Issues Related to Genetically Modified (GM) Crops” January 9, 2015, Vasantrao Naik Marathwada Krishi Vidyapeeth, Parbhani, Maharashtra. Organised by BCIL, Government of India.
      • Panel Discussion on career opportunities in agricultural biotechnology. March 4-6, 2014 National conference on science of omics for agricultural productivity: Future perspectives. G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar.
        • Presentations – International 

          Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Sponsored by United States Agency for International Development (USAID)   ABSP-II office, Dhaka, Bangladesh:  Agricultural Biotechnology Support 11 Dec 2005 – 15 Dec 2005 Program (ABSP –II) Trained agriculture scientists on insect resistant Bt eggplant (brinjal)

          Plant Transformation Technologies –II conference, February 19-22 2011, Vienna, Austria

          Narendran M.,  Satish G.  Deole, Bharat R. Char, Usha B. Zehr (2011) An Efficient Method for the Generation of Transgenic Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) Plants by Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation (Poster presented).                   

          In Vitro Biology Meeting 2013 June 15 – June 19, 2013 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA

        • Narendran, Satish G. Deole, Bharat R. Char and Usha B. Zehr (2013) Production of Transgenic Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) by Agrobacterium-Mediated Transformation and inheritance of transgene (Poster presented).

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2019

        Research Gate

        Dr. Pious Thomas

        CEO & DIRECTOR, Thomas Biotech & Cytobacts Centre for Biosciences (Pvt Ltd.), Bengaluru
        Formerly: Principal Scientist, Division of Biotechnology
        ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, Karnataka -560089.
        Email: pioust@gmail.com; thomasbiotech.opc@gmail.com

        Qualification:  M.Sc. (Hort); Ph.D. (IARI, New Delhi); PDF (Biotech., Univ. of Sheffield).

        Specialization: Plant Tissue Culture, Basic Molecular Biology, Endophytic and Molecular Microbiology, Commercial Micropropagationlant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology

        Positions held:

        • 1985-1986: Research Scientist, CWRDM, Kozhikode, Kerala
        • 1990-1999: Scientist, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru
        • 1999-2007: Senior Scientist, ICAR-Indian Institute of Hort. Research, Bengaluru
        • 2007-2018: Principal Scientist, ICAR-Indian Institute of Hort. Research, Bengaluru
        • 2018-to date: CEO & Director, Thomas Biotech & Cytobacts Centre for Biosciences (OPC) Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru             

        Academic and Research Achievements:

        • Commonwealth Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK (March 1989-Aug. 1990)
        • Visiting Research Scholar, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA (March 1999-August 2000) availing DBT Long-term Overseas Associateship
        • Visiting Research Scholar, School of Medical Biotechnology, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia (March 2007-Sept. 2007) availing DBT Short-term Overseas Associateship
        • Member, Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology Association of India, From 2004
        • Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), New Delhi, from 2011
        • Fellow of the National Academy of Biological Sciences (NABS), Chennai, from 2013
        • Fellow of the National Academy of Horticultural Sciences (NAHS), New Delhi, from 2010
        • Fellow of the International Society for Noni, Chennai, from 2018.

        Other Achievements:

        • Life Member, National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad
        • Life Member, National Academy of Biological Sciences (NABS), Chennai. India
        • Life Member, Horticultural Society of India
        • Life Member, Society for Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology
        • Life Member, Association for the Promotion of DNA Fingerprinting and Other DNA Technologies
        • Life Member, Association of Microbiologists of India, New Delhi/ Hissar
        • Life Member, Society for Promotion of Horticulture, Bangalore
        • Life Member, Biotechnology Association of India, Cochin
        • Member, Working group on Agricultural Biotechnology, Kerala Planning Board (Sept. 2011)
        • Member, Institute Management Committee, NRC fir Grapes, Pune : From 2004-2010 
        • In-charge Head, Division of Biotechnology, ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research

        Best Publications:

        • Thomas, P., and Franco, C. M. M. 2021. Intracellular bacteria in plants: elucidation of abundant and diverse cytoplasmic bacteria in healthy plant cells using in vitro cell and callus cultures. Microorganisms, 9, 269. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms9020269.
        • Thomas, P., Agrawal, M. and Bharathkumar, C.B. 2019. Diverse cellular colonizing endophytic bacteria in field shoots and in vitro cultured papaya with physiological and functional implications. Physiologia Plantarum 166: 729-747
        • Thomas, P., Sekhar AC, Shaik, S.P. 2017. High taxonomic diversity of cultivation-recalcitrant endophytic bacteria in grapevine field shoots, their in vitro introduction, and unsuspected persistence. Planta 246: 879-898.
        • Thomas, P., Agrawal, M. and Bharathkumar, C.B. 2017. Use of Plant Preservative Mixture™ for establishing in vitro cultures from field plants: Experience with papaya reveals several PPM™ tolerant endophytic bacteria. Plant Cell Reports 36: 1717–1730.
        • Thomas, P, Sekhar, A.C., Upreti, R., Mujawar, M.M., Pasha, S.S. 2015. Optimization of single plate-serial dilution spotting (SP-SDS) with sample anchoring as an assured method for bacterial and yeast cfu enumeration and single colony isolation from diverse samples. Biotechnology Reports 8: 2016, 45-55.
        • Thomas, P., Sekhar, A.C. 2014. Live cell imaging reveals extensive intracellular cytoplasmic colonization of banana genotypes by normally non-cultivable endophytic bacteria. AoB PLANTS 6, plu002; doi: 10.1093/aobpla/plu002.
        • Thomas, P., Sekhar, AC., Mujawar, MM. 2012. Non-recovery of varying proportions of viable bacteria during spread-plating governed by the extent of spreader usage and proposal for an alternate spotting-spreading approach to maximize the CFU. Journal of Applied Microbiology 113, 339-350.
        • Thomas, P., Soly, T. A. 2009. Endophytic bacteria associated with growing shoot tips of banana (Musa sp.) cv. Grand Naine and the affinity of endophytes to the host. Microbial Ecology. 58, 2009, 952-964.
        • Thomas P, Swarna GK, Patil P, Rawal, R.D. 2008. Ubiquitous presence of normally non-cultivable endophytic bacteria in field shoot-tips of banana and their gradual activation to quiescent cultivable form in tissue cultures. Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture 93, 2008, 39-54.
        • Thomas, P., Lee, M. M. and Schiefelbein, J. W. 2003. Molecular identification of proline-rich protein genes induced during root formation in grape (Vitis) stem cuttings. Plant, Cell and Environment 26, 2003, 1497-1504.

        Major Research Interest:

        • Tissue culture:
        • Micropropagation: Banana, Grapes, Papaya, Seedless Watermelons, Chrysanthemum
        • Somatic Embryogenesis: Mango, Papaya
        • Embryo rescue: Triploid watermelon 
        • Plant Physiology & Basic Molecular Biology:
        • Elucidating the role of leaf in regulation of root and shoot growths in microcuttings
        • Acclimatization / hardening: Development of ‘sachet method’ for the acclimatization
        • Root pruning effects, Exploitation of natural incubating conditions
        • Differential gene expression during adventitious rooting
        • Cloning and characterization of genes involved in regulation of rooting
        • Development of molecular markers in relation to pulp colour in guava 
        • Endophytic and Molecular Microbiology:
        • Elucidation of bacterial association and covert survival in tissue cultures
        • Discovery of ubiquitous association of endophytic bacteria in non-cultivable form
        • Description of ‘Cytobacts’ the cytoplasmic bacteria in plants
        • Molecular based bacterial identification and characterization 
        • General and Applied Microbiology:
        • Identification of alcohol as a common and unsuspected route of bacterial spread
        • Isolation and characterization several alcohol tolerant spore-forming bacteria
        • Identification of 90% ethanol as more effective bacteri/sporicidal level than 70% level
        • Elucidation of physical impaction injury on bacterial cells during spread-plating
        • Alternate approach of spotting-and-tilt-spreading (SATS) for bacterial CFU enumeration
        • Use of cotton swabs for spore-monitoring and description of hydrophilicity-index 
        • Commercial Micropropagation at Thomas Biotech: 
        • Identified and released the elite female papaya line ‘Dawn Delight’, exclusively micropropagated female sex form in papaya with medium-small size round seedless fruits with high TSS and flesh firmness and extended keeping quality, with commercial scale multiplication and supply to the farmers/ growers
        • Identified and released the elite hermaphrodite papaya line ‘Thomas Delight’, exclusively micropropagated bisexual papaya with medium to large oblong fruits with thick pulp, high TSS and good keeping quality with commercial scale multiplication
        • Micropropagation and supply of pomegranate ‘Bhagwa’
        • Micropropagation and supply of pomegranate ‘Super Bhagwa’
        • Micropropagation and supply of ‘thornless’ acid lime
        • Micropropagation of triploid/ seedless watermelon 

        Numbers of PhD guided so far:  Three & 4 registered

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • DBT-BIRAC Biotechnology Ignition Grant Award 2018 (50 lakhs support)
        • Dr. B. P. Pal Memorial Best Scientist Award -2015 from NABS, Chennai (2016)
        • Best Research Paper Award by Vision Group on Science & Technology., Govt. of Karnataka (2014)
        • Hari Krishna Shastri Memorial Award of IARI for 2011 for the research contributions in molecular profiling, marker assisted selection and endophytic microbiology (Conf. Feb 2012)
        • Giridhari Lal Chadha Gold medal for the research contributions in Fruit Crops from Horticultural Society of India, Nov. 2010
        • DBT Overseas Associateship (Short-term) Award (March-Sept. 2007)
        • Sukumar Basu Memorial Award (1999-2000) conferred by IARI, New Delhi in Feb. 2002 for research contributions in the area of Horticultural
        • DBT, Overseas Long term Associateship (Long-term) Award 1997-98 at the Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA (1½  yr)
        • Commonwealth Scholarship Award 1989-90 for Post-Doctoral Research at Sheffield, U.K.
        • IARI Senior Research Fellowship towards Doctoral Research.
        • ICAR Junior Research Fellowship during M. Sc (Hort).

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I):  2004 

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: Professional interests / attainments in the core areas of interests for the Association.

        Research Gate            Website

        Dr. Pradeep K. Agarwal

        Principal scientist, Head Molecular Biology Group & Divisional Chair Biotechnology and Phycology division

        Division of Biotechnology and Phycology

        CSIR-Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute,

        Bhavnagar, Gujarat -364002.

        Email: pagarwal@csmcri.res.in; pagarwal@csmcri.org

        Qualification:  M. Sc., Ph. D.

        Specialization: Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology

        Positions held:

        • 2013-at present: Principal scientist in CSMCRI, Bhavnagar
        • 2009- 2013: Senior scientist in CSMCRI, Bhavnagar
        • 2004- 2009: Scientist in CSMCRI, Bhavnagar
        • 2001-2004: Research Associate at Plant Molecular Biology group, ICGEB, New Delhi
        • 1999-2001: Research Associate at Botany Department, University of Delhi and Plant Research International, The Netherlands.
        • 1996-99: Post-Doctoral Fellow, Colorado State University, Fort Collins.

        Academic and Research Achievements:

        • The major research area is to clone and characterize the genes and transcription factors from the halophytes possessing the characteristics of salt accumulation and salt secretion. A large ESTs database is developed to isolate and characterize differentially expressed genes from Salicornia Different genes like Rab7, MAPK, NHX-1, HKT, ASR-1 and transcription factors like DREB, MYB, NAC, WRKY are cloned from Salicornia brachiata and Aeluropus lagopoides and functionally validated in the crop plant for salinity tolerance.
        • Longer blooming transgenic Geranium plants were developed using genetic transformation of with ACC Synthase genes in antisense orientation.
        • High frequency microspore culture and anther culture in juncea cvs. PR-45 & Rajat was developed and further high yielding homozygous lines were achieved in B. juncea.

        Best Publications:

        • Agarwal P.K., Agarwal P., Custers J.B.M., Liu C.M. and Bhojwani S.S. 2006. PCIB an antiauxin enhances microspore embryogenesis in microspore culture of Brassica juncea. Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture 86: 201-210.
        • Agarwal P., Agarwal P.K., Nair S., Sopory S.K. and Reddy M.K. 2007. Stress inducible DREB2A transcription factor from Pennisetum glaucum is a phosphoprotein and its phosphorylation negatively regulates its DNA binding activity. Molecular Genetics and Genomics 277: 189-198.
        • Yadav N.S., Shukla P.S., Jha A., Agarwal P.K. and Jha B. 2012. The SbSOS1 gene from the extreme halophyte Salicornia brachiata enhances Na+ loading in xylem and confers salt tolerance in transgenic tobacco. BMC Plant Biology 12: 188.
        • Sanadhya P., Agarwal P. and Agarwal P.K. 2015. Ion homeostasis in a salt-secreting halophytic grass. AoB PLANTS 7: plv055.
        • Shukla P., Gupta K., Agarwal P., Jha B. and Agarwal P.K. 2015. Overexpression of a novel SbMYB15 from Salicornia brachiata confers salinity and dehydration tolerance by reduced oxidative damage and improved photosynthesis in transgenic tobacco. Planta 242: 1291-130.
        • Singh D., Yadav N.S., Tiwari V., Agarwal P.K. and Jha B. 2016. A SNARE like superfamily protein SbSLSP from the halophyte Salicornia brachiata confers salt and drought tolerance by maintaining membrane stability, K+/Na+ ratio, and antioxidant machinery. Frontiers in Plant Science 7: 737.
        • Paidi M.K., Agarwal P., More P., Agarwal P.K. 2017. Chemical derivatization of metabolite mass profiling of the recretohalophyte Aeluropus lagopoides revealing salt stress tolerance mechanism. Marine Biotechnology. 19(3):207-218. DOI 10.1007/s10126-017-9745-9.
        • Agarwal P., Dabi M., Sapara K., Joshi P. and Agarwal P.K. 2016. Ectopic expression of JcWRKY transcription factor confers salinity tolerance via salicylic acid signaling. Frontiers in Plant Science 7: 1541.
        • Agarwal P.K., Gupta K., Lopato S. and Agarwal P.K. 2017. Drought responsive element binding transcription factors and their applications for the engineering of stress tolerance. Journal of Experimental Botany. 1;68(9):2135-2148. Doi: 10.1093/jxb/erx118.
        • Khedia J, Agarwal P and Agarwal PK 2018. AlNAC4 transcription factor from halophyte Aeluropus lagopoides mitigates oxidative stress by maintaining ROS homeostasis in transgenic tobacco. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9: 1522.

        Numbers of Ph.D. guided : Six

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • 2019: Member Plant Cell Tissue Culture Association of India
        • Academic editor: PLOS ONE, Frontiers in Plant Science.
        • 2011-2012: CSIR Raman research fellowship at ACPFG, Adelaide, Australia.
        • 2000-2001: Visiting Research Fellow at Plant Research International, The Netherlands.
        • 1996-99: Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. USA.

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I):  2019 

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: PTCAI is an active platform to have interaction on the new scientific activity in the area of plant Biotechnology. The renowned scientists are attached with the society.

        Research Gate

        Dr. Pratibha Misra

        Senior Principal Scientist
        CSIR-NBRI,
        Lucknow -226001.
        www.nbri.res.in
        Email: pratibhamisra.res.inpratibhaflora@gmail.com 

        Qualification:  M. Sc., Ph. D.

        Specialization: Plant biotechnology and Genetic transformation

        Positions held:

        •  1999-2004                     Scientist C, CSIR-NBRI
        •  2004-2009                     Scientist E1, CSIR-NBRI
        •  2009-2014                     Principal Scientist, CSIR-NBRI

         Present Position held:

        •  April 2014-till date       Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-NBRI

         Academic and Research Achievements:

        • Morphogenetic studies in tissue and organ culture of higher plants.
        • Clonal propagation of medicinal and aromatic plants, cereals and legumes, fruit trees, foliage ornamentals, etc.
        • Worked on development of new flower color/ variety through in vitro mutagenesis and management of chimera in various floricultural crops.
        • Acclimatization of temperate climate crops like hybrid lilies and gerbera in subtropical climate and analysis of novel proteins and enzymes responsible for such heat resistance.
        • Developed hairy root cultures of Rauvolfia serpentina, Glycirrhyza glabra and Solanum khasianum and increased the secondary metabolite contents using biotic and abiotic elicitors.
        • Optimized protocols for Agrobacterium tumefaciens – mediated genetic transformation of Jatropha curcas and Withania somnifera.
        • Functional characterization of sterol glycosyltransferases of somnifera (WsSGTL1) in overexpressed and amiRNA mediated silenced plants (using VIGS) in homologous expression systems and heterologous expression systems of N.tabacum and Arabidopsis thaliana.
        • Currently working on transcriptional regulators involved in prickle formation in Solanum viarum Dunal and their correlation with stress, secondary metabolites and defense system of the plant.

        Other Achievements:

        Refereed research papers: 63

        Book Chapters: 16

        Newsletters CSIR/NBRI: 05

        Popular scientific articles:  02

        Ph.D. students: 06

        Best Publications:

        • Shatrujeet Pandey, Ridhi Goel, Archana Bhardwaj, Mehar H. Asif, Samir V. Sawant, Pratibha Misra. 2018. Transcriptome analysis provides insight into prickle development and its link to defense and secondary metabolism in Solanum viarum Dunal. Scientific Reports DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35304-8
        • Srivastava M, Shukla S, Misra P. 2018. Elicitation enhanced the yield of glycyrrhizin and antioxidant activities in hairy root cultures of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. J Plant Growth Regulation https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-018-9847-2
        • Singh G, Dhar YV, Asif MH, Misra P*. 2018. Review: Exploring the functional significance of sterol glycosyltransferase enzymes. Progress in Lipid Research (69): 1–10 DOI.org/10.1016/j.plipres.2017.11.001
        • Singh G, Tiwari M, Singh S, Singh R, Singh S, Shirke P, Trivedi PK, Misra P* (2017) Sterol glycosyltransferases required for adaptation of Withania somnifera at high temperature. Physiol. Plant. DOI:10.1111/ppl.12563
        • Singh G, Tiwari M, Singh S, Singh S, Trivedi PK, Misra P* (2016) Silencing of sterol glycosyltransferases modulates the withanolide biosynthesis and leads to compromised basal immunity of Withania somnifera. Scientific Reports | 6:25562 | DOI: 10.1038/srep25562 Nature Publishing Group
        • Syed S, Rahman LU, Singh R, Niranjan A, Ahmad IZ, Misra P* (2016) Homologous expression of WsSGTL1 gene of Withania somnifera enhances glycosylation, promotes growth and improves adaptability towards Spodoptera litura and cold stress. Plant Cell Reports 35(1):195-211. Doi: 10.1007/s00299-015-1879-5. Epub 2015 Oct 30
        • Pandey V, Srivastava R, Akhtar N, Mishra J, Misra P*, Verma PC. 2015. Expression of Withania somnifera Steroidal Glucosyltransferase gene Enhances Withanolide Content in Hairy Roots. Plant Mol Biol Rep DOI 10.1007/s11105-015-0955-x
        • Misra P*, Purshottam DK, Goel AK, Nautiyal CS (2015) Welwitschia mirabilis – induction, growth and organization of mature leaf callus. Curr. Sci. 109 (3): 567-571
        • Pandey V, Niranjan A, Atri N, Chandrashekhar K, Mishra MK, Trivedi PK, Misra P* (2014) WsSGTL1 gene from Withania somnifera, modulates glycosylation profile, antioxidant system and confers biotic and salt stress tolerance in transgenic tobacco. Planta 239(6): 1217-31; DOI 10.1007/s00425-014-2046-x
        • Mishra MK, Chaturvedi P, Singh R, Singh G, Sharma LK, Pandey V, Kumari N, Misra P*. (2013) Overexpression of WsSGTL1 gene of Withania somnifera enhances salt tolerance, heat tolerance and cold acclimation ability in transgenic Arabidopsis plants. Plos One 8(4): 1-16

        Research Gate

        Dr. Rohit Joshi

        Senior Scientist

        Biotechnology Division,

        CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology,

        Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India -176061.

        Email: rohitjoshi@ihbt.res.in; joshirohit6@gmail.com; rohitj_amo@yahoo.co.in 

        Qualifications: Ph.D.

        Specialization: Plant Physiology, College of Basic Science and Humanities

        Positions held:

        • Senior Scientist, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, INDIA (10/2019 – Present)
        • Dr D S Kothari Postdoctoral Fellowship, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
          Prof. Ashwani Pareek (PhD; FNASc; FNAAS) (12/2016-09/2019)
        • Research Scientist, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, INDIA Prof. Ashwani Pareek (PhD; FNASc; FNAAS) (09/2016 – 11/2016)
        • SERB Young Scientist, International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, INDIA; Dr. Sneh Lata Singla Pareek (Ph.D. FNASc; FNA) (09/2013 – 09/2016) 
        • Research Associate, International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi, INDIA; Dr. Sneh Lata Singla Pareek (Ph.D. FNASc; FNA) (11/2012 – 09/2013)
        • Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Plant Environment and Soil Sciences, Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; Dr. Niranjan Baisakh (Ph.D.) (03/2012 – 10/2012) 
        • Research Associate, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, INDIA; Dr. Viswanathan Chinnusamy (Ph.D.; FNAAS), Head of Division (05/2009 – 03/2012)
        • Research Associate, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, INDIA; Prof. Ashwani Pareek (PhD; FNASc; FNAAS) (10/2007 – 04/2009) 

        Academic and Research Achievements:

        • Patent: Singla-Pareek, S.L.; Panjabi-Sabharwal, V.; Kushwaha, H.R.; Joshi Rohit; Karan, R.; Kumari, S. and Pareek, A. Metallothionien polynucleotide from rice conferring abiotic stress tolerance in plants. Indian patent application No. 2437/DEL/2009; Patent No: 359627 (Granted on 26-02-2021).
        • Sequences submitted to NCBI: Accession numbers: JQ345701; JX134602; JX426616; KU891669; KU891670; KU891671; KU891672; KU891673
        • Associate Editor, Plant Physiology Reports (2022 onwards)
        • Review Editor, Frontiers in Plant Science, Plant Abiotic Stress section (2016-2018).
        • Academic Editor, PLOS ONE (2020 onwards)
        • Review Editor, Pantnagar Journal of Research, Plant Physiology Section (2020 onwards)
        • Editor, International Journal of Agricultural Science and Food Technology (ISSN: 2455-815X).
        • Editorial Board Member of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics (2021)
        • Reviewer of 67 peer reviewed journals
        • Life Member of Indian Society for Plant Physiology, New Delhi, India
        • Life Member of The Horticultural Society of India, New Delhi, India
        • Life Member of Society for Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology, New Delhi, India (No. L-606)
        • Life Member of Indian Science Congress Association, Kolkata, India (No. L15234)
        • Life Member of Society for Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, New Delhi, India
        • Life Member of Indian Society of Soil Science and Water Quality, CSSRI, Karnal, India
        • Member of Association of Rice Research Workers, ICAR-NRRI, Cuttack, India
        • Life Member of Society of Biological Chemists, IISc, Bangalore, India
        • Life Member of The society for science of climate change and sustainable environment, New Delhi, India
        • Life Member of Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN), Ministry of Human Resource Development
        • Life Member of Alumni Almamater Advancement Association (4A), G. B. Pant Univ. of Agric. and Tech., Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India

        Other Achievements:

        Research Articles: 34
        Review Articles: 19
        Book Chapters: 24
        Books/ Lab Manuals: 5
        Oral presentations: 12
        Poster presentations: 58
        Workshops attended: 15

        Best Publications:

        • Sengupta S, Mangu V, Sanchez L, Bedre R, Joshi R, Rajasekaran K, Baisakh N 2019. An Actin Depolymerizing Factor from the halophyte smooth cordgrass, Spartina alterniflora (SaADF2) is superior to its rice homolog (OsADF2) in conferring drought and salt tolerance when constitutively overexpressed in rice. Plant Biotechnology Journal. 17(1): 188-205 (IF=13.263)
        • Pareek A, Joshi R, Singla-Pareek SL, Gupta KJ and Foyer C 2020. Sensing and signalling in plant stress responses: Ensuring sustainable food security in an era of climate change. New Phytologist. 228: 823-827 (IF=10.323)
        • Joshi R, Sahoo KK, Tripathi AK, Kumar R, Gupta BK, Pareek A and Singla-Pareek SL 2018. Knockdown of an inflorescence meristem-specific cytokinin oxidase – OsCKX2 in rice reduces yield penalty under salinity stress condition. Plant Cell & Environment 41(5): 936-946 (IF=7.947)
        • Joshi R, Sahoo KK, Singh AK, Anwar K, Pundir P, Gautam RK, Krishnamurthy SL, Sopory SK, Pareek A and Singla-Pareek SL 2020. Enhancing trehalose biosynthesis improves yield potential in marker-free transgenic rice under drought, saline, and sodic conditions. Journal of Experimental Botany. 71(2): 653-668 (IF=7.298)
        • Kumari A, Dogra V, Joshi R and Kumar S 2022. Stress-responsive cis-regulatory elements underline podophyllotoxin biosynthesis and better performance of Sinopodophyllum hexandrum under water deficit conditions. Frontiers in Plant Science. 12: 751846. (IF=6.627)
        • Kushwaha HR#, Joshi R#, Pareek A and Singla-Pareek SL 2016. MATH-domain family shows response towards abiotic stress in Arabidopsis and rice. Frontiers in Plant Science. 7: 923. (IF=6.627)
        • Joshi R, Wani SH, Singh B, Bohra A, Dar ZA, Lone AA, Pareek A and Singla-Pareek SL 2016. Transcription factors and plant response to drought stress: Current understanding and future directions. Frontiers in Plant Science. 7: 1029. (IF=6.627)
        • Anwar K, Joshi R, Dhankher OP, Singla-Pareek SL and Pareek A 2021. Elucidating the response of crop plants towards individual, combined and sequentially occurring abiotic stresses. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 22(11): 6119 (6.208)
        • Joshi R, Singla-Pareek SL and Pareek A 2018. Engineering abiotic stress response in plants for biomass production. Journal of Biological Chemistry. 293: 5035-5043. (IF=5.486)
        • Joshi R, Ramanarao, VM and Baisakh, N 2013. Arabidopsis plants constitutively overexpressing a myo-inositol 1-phosphate synthase gene (SaINO1) from the halophyte smooth cordgrass exhibits enhanced level of tolerance to salt stress. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 65:61-66. (IF=5.437) 902 

        Major Research Interest:

        • Evolution and development of plant morphological diversity and adaptive variation, especially the role of miRNA and transcription factor genes, and cis-regulatory elements
        • Impact of polyploidization on genetic networks in Brassica, with special reference to epigenetic modification at microRNA and their cognate target loci
        • Evolutionary Developmental Genetics
        • Genome organisation of plants
        • Molecular and functional diversity
        • Genetic engineering of plants for agronomic traits rds and Recognitions:

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • 2021: Elected member of “The National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI)”.
        • 021: Third best poster award at International Symposium on Plant Biotechnology Towards Improving Agri-Food Industry and Healthcare Products (ISPB-2021), October 27-30, 2021, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
        • 2020: InSc Young Researcher Award by Institute of Scholars (InSc), Bengaluru, Karnataka.
        • 2020: Elected Member of Plant Tissue Culture Association of India, PTCA(I)
        • 2020: Image included in Journal of Experimental Biology Special issue editorial Pareek A, Dhankher OP and Foyer CH. Mitigating the impact of climate change on plant productivity and ecosystem sustainability. 71(2):451-456.
        • 2019: Third Prize in the Lightning Talk session of India-EMBO symposium entitled “Sensing and signaling in plant stress response”. New Delhi.
        • 019: Young investigator talk in workshop on “Plant stress biology and food security”, ICGEB, New Delhi
        • 2018: R.D. Asana Gold Medal Award by Indian Society for Plant Physiology, IARI, New Delhi
        • 2018: Designed the coverpage of Journal of Biological Chemistry 293(14)
        • 2018: Best Poster Award at National Symposium of Plant Biotechnology & 38th Annual Meeting of the Plant Tissue Culture Association (India), February 16-18. Arid Forest Research Institute, Jodhpur
        • 2016: Dr. D.S. Kothari Post Doctoral Fellowship by University Grants Commission (UGC), Government of India
        • 2016: Young Scientist Award by Indian Society for Plant Physiology, IARI, New Delhi
        • 2013: Fast Track Young Scientist (Life Sciences) by Science and Engineering Research Board, Government of India
        • 2012: Visiting postdoctoral researcher in National Science Foundation, funded project (to work at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA)
        • 2003: Best Poster Award at National Symposium on “Improving crop productivity in an eco-friendly environment: Physiological and molecular approaches”, Oct 15-17. G. B. Pant University of Agriculture & Technology. Pantnagar

        Numbers of PhD guided so far:  Five

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2021

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: My subject area. 

        Research Gate            Scopus Author ID: 37101517600             ORCID iD            Loop

        Dr. Sandip Das

        Associate Professor
        Department of Botany,
        University of Delhi
        Delhi – 110007.
        Email: sandipdas04@gmail.com; sdas@botany.du.ac.in 

        Qualifications: M.Phil; Ph.D.

        Specialization: Development and Evolution, Plant Molecular Biology

        Positions held:

        • Postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York (Prof. Mikhail Nasrallah; May-July 1999)
        • Postdoctoral fellow at Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology (Prof. Detlef Weigel; September 2002-August 2004)
        • Lecturer / Assistant Professor at Department of Biotechnology, Jamia Hamdard (Hamdard University), Delhi (August 1999-February 2010
        • Assistant / Associate Professor at Department of Botany, University of Delhi, Delhi (February 2010-till date) 

        Best Publications:

        • Swati Singh, Sandip Das, R. Geeta (2018) A segmental duplication in the common ancestor of Brassicaceae is responsible for the origin of the paralogs KCS6-KCS5, which are not shared with other angiosperms. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 126:331-345
        • Aditi Jain, Saurabh Anand, Neer K Singh, Sandip Das (2018) Sequence and Functional Characterization of MIRNA164 Promoters from Brassica Shows Copy Number Dependent Regulatory Diversification Among Homeologs. Functional and Integrative Genomics. Volume 18, Issue 4, pp 369–383
        • Chandan Barman, Vineet Singh, Sandip Das and Rajesh Tandon (2018) Floral contrivances and specialized pollination mechanism confer strong influence to elicit mixed-mating in Wrightia tomentosa (Apocynaceae); Plant Biology 20: 546–554
        • Gunjan Sirohi, Karuna Kusumanjali, Ritesh Kumar, Aditi Jain, P. S. Srivastava and Sandip Das (2018) Synteny analysis and functional characterization of miR165a from Brassica Acta Physiologia Plantarum. 40: 16.
        • Neer K. Singh, Saurabh Anand, Aditi Jain and Sandip Das (2017) Comparative Genomics and Synteny Analysis of KCS17-KCS18 Cluster Across Different Genomes and Sub-genomes of Brassicaceae for Analysis of Its Evolutionary History. Plant Mol Biol Rep. April 2017, Volume 35, Issue 2, pp 237–251
        • Rathore P, R. Geeta and Sandip Das (2016) Microsynteny and phylogenetic analysis of tandemly organized miRNA families across five members of Brassicaceae reveals complex retention and loss history. Plant Science. 247: 35-48
        • Jain A and Sandip Das (2016) Synteny and comparative analysis of miRNA retention, conservation, and structure across Brassicaceae reveals lineage- and sub-genome-specific changes. Integr. Genomics. 16:253-268
        • Ya-Long Guo, Marco Todesco, Jörg Hagmann, Sandip Das, and Detlef Weigel (2012) Independent FLC Mutations as Causes of Flowering-Time Variation in Arabidopsis thaliana and Capsella rubella. Genetics 192(2): 729-739
        • Deans AR, ….., Das S, …..and Mabee PM (2015) Finding our way through phenotypes. PLoS Biology 13(1): e1002033
        • Norman Warthmann*, Sandip Das*, Christa Lanz and Detlef Weigel (2008) Comparative analysis of miR319A locus in Arabidopsis and related Brassicaceae. (* Joint First author) Molecular Biology and Evolution. 25: 892-902 

        Major Research Interest:

        • Evolution and development of plant morphological diversity and adaptive variation, especially the role of miRNA and transcription factor genes, and cis-regulatory elements
        • Impact of polyploidization on genetic networks in Brassica, with special reference to epigenetic modification at microRNA and their cognate target loci
        • Evolutionary Developmental Genetics
        • Genome organisation of plants
        • Molecular and functional diversity
        • Genetic engineering of plants for agronomic traits 

        Numbers of PhD guided so far:  Fourteen (6 as supervisor and 8 as co-supervisor)

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2011 

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: PTCA(I) is a platform that brings together research scholars from diverse fields of plant biology, allows exchange of ideas and forge collaborations in new areas. 

        Research Gate            Scopus Author ID: 55597087353             ORCID iD            Loop

        Dr. Sharmila Chattopadhyay

        Principal Scientist
        Plant Biology Laboratory,
        CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology,
        4, Raja S.C. Mullick Road, Kolkata – 700032
        Email: sharmila@iicb.res.in; chattopadhyay62@gmail.com

        Qualification:  M. Sc. (Life Science), Ph. D., (Plant Biology), Post doctoral work (Plant Molecular Biology), Wageningen, The Netherlands 

        Specialization:  Plant Metabolic Engineering, Plant Tissue Culture, Plant Stress Biology

        Positions held: 

        Memberships Learned Societies: 

        • Fellow of  National Academy of Sciences,  2014 
        • Fellow of West Bengal Academy of Science & Technology, 2014
        • Member Plant Tissue Culture Association (PTCA-India), 2010
        • Life Member Indian Society of Cell Biology, 2001
        • Life Member Indian Science Congress Association, 1988
        • Life Member Society of Biological Chemists, India, 1990
        • Life Member Chemical Biology Society, India, 2015
        • Member International Association of Plant Biotechnology, 
        • Medicinal Plant Research (GA-Germany), 2007-2010

        Academic and Research Achievements:

        Research experience: Molecular mechanism of plant disease resistance mechanism and cross-talk of various established signaling molecules viz. SA, JA, ET and GSH; to elucidate biosynthetic pathways of secondary metabolites as well as metabolic networks; and genetic manipulation of plant natural products that have a potentially beneficial biological effect are the major ongoing projects of my laboratory. My research interest centered around in both basic and applied research on plant biology. The model systems used are Nicotiana tabacum and Arabidopsis thaliana, besides; the primary target plant is Mentha spp.

        Scientific validation of traditionally used Indian medicinal plants for the isolation and characterization of bioactive component with a view to develop herbal drug against various human ailments is another area of research of myr lab. Till date various medicinal plants like Phyllanthus amarus, Stevia rebaudiana, Nyctanthus arbor-tristis etc. have been evaluated and established their bioactivities to develop cost-effective herbal drugs with better activity & less toxicity.

        Invited lectures delivered- (last few years)

        INTERNATIONAL:

        • Interplay of GSH with salicylic acid, ethylene and absicisic acid in environmental stress tolerance, at ICGEB Workshop on Plant responses to light and stress: emerging issues in climate change, October, 2018 New Delhi.
        • Multistep interplay of glutathione with salicylic acid and ethylene to combat inevitable environmental stress, International Association for Plant Biotechnology Congress, August 2018, DUBLIN,  IRELAND. 
        • Mechanistic insight into the involvement of glutathione in plant defense: a proteomic approach, International Conference on Functional & Interaction Proteomics, December, 2016, NIPGR, New Delhi. 
        • Environmental stress tolerance potential of transgenic mint with enhanced GSH content, University Paris Diderot-Paris 7/3rd International Symposium on Plant Signaling and Behavior, June 2015, Paris, France.
        • Interaction of Glutathione with ethylene to control necrotrophic fungal infection in crop plant, 14th FAOBMB Congress, November, 2015, Hyderabad, India.
        • Intricate position of GSH, a dynamic signaling molecule, in plant defense signaling network, International symposium on Plant Signaling & Behaviour, March, 2014, Delhi University, Delhi, India.
        • Mentha arvensis– with enhanced antioxidant potential to combat ROS mediated disease conditions, GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE on “PLANT METABOLIC ENGINEERING”, July, 2009  Newhampshire, USA.
        • Indian Medicinal Plants and its Potential, Division of Pharmacognosy, Section Metabolomics, on 10th September, 2007, IBL, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
        • Nyctanthes arbor-tristis Linn. – Spectrum of its bioactivity potential,  International Conference of the Society of Medicinal Plant Research (Germany) and 55th Annual Meeting, September, 2007 Graz, Austria. Chairing Sessions: (Last few years) 
        • National Seminar on Emerging areas of Sericulture-issues, Challenges and Industrial Applications for Sustainable Development  and Eco-Restoration, Raiganj University, WB, India, January, 2018.
        • Chemical Biology & Drug Discovery 2017, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India, October, 2017.
        • 3rd International Meet on Advance Studies in Cell Signaling Network (ceSiN), Kolkata, India, December, 2016.
        • 2nd International Meet on Advance Studies in Cell Signaling Network (ceSiN), Kolkata, India,  December, 2014.
        • International conference and Exhibition on Traditional & Alternative Medicine, Hyderabad, India, December, 2013.
        • Co-chair in the “National Symposium on Recent Advances in Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnological Researches in India” MNIAS, Bikaner, February, 2011.
        • Rapouteuer in the National Symposium on Plant Cell Tissue & Organ Culture: The Present Scenario, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, March, 2010.
        • 2nd International Symposium on Medicinal and Neutraceutical Plants, AIIMS, New Delhi, India November, 2009.

        Other Achievements:

        Invited review published:

        • Srijani Ghanta, Dipto Bhattacharyya, and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2011) Glutathione as a signaling molecule: Another challenge to pathogen. Plant Sig. & Behaviour, 6, 1-6.
        • Riddhi Datta* and Sharmila Chattopadhyay (2018) Glutathione as a crucial modulator of phytohormone signaling during pathogen defense in plants. Ind. Nat. Sci. Aca, 84(3), 581-597.
        • Priyanka Boro, Asma sultana, Kajal Mandal and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2018) Transcriptomic changes under stress conditions with special reference to glutathione contents. Nucleus, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13237-018-0256-5. 

        Book chapters published: 

        • Sharmila Chattopadhyay, “Interplay of glutathione with SA and ET to combat environmental stress”, in book series, “Drought Stress Tolerance in Plants”, Springer, Switzerland. Eds. Md. A. Hossain, S.H.Wani, S. Bhattacharjee, D. J. Burritt and Lam-Son Phan Tran, vol. 1, pp. 145-162, 2016.
        • Sharmila Chattopadhyay, “Multifaceted role of glutathione in environmental stress management” in the book “Molecular Biology For Plant Abiotic Stress”CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA, Ed. RK Gaur and Pradeep Sharma, pp.374, 2014.
        • Dipto Bhattacharyya and Sharmila Chattopadhyay, “Podophyllotoxin–A Second Generation Anticancer Drug” in book series“Bioactive Phytochemicals: Perspectives for Modern Medicine-Vol. 2”,Daya Publication House, New Delhi, Eds. VK Gupta, pp. 197, 2014.
        • Sharmila Chattopadhyay, “Novel neutraceutical properties of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni” published in the book series, “Comprehensive Bioactive Natural Products” Studium Press LLC, USA. VK Gupta & Anil K Verma, 4, pp. 273-281, 2010.
        • Amrita Chakraborty, Krittika Sasmal and Sharmila Chattopadhyay, entitled “The Genus Mentha: a versatile Plant” in the book series, “Utilization and Management of Medicinal Plants” Daya Pub. House, ND, Eds. Gupta, Verma & S. Koul, Chapter 12, pp.217-227, 2010.
        • Anindita Banerjee and Sharmila Chattopadhyay, “PHYLLANTHUS AMARUS: A VERSATILE PLANT FOR THERAPEUTIC IMPORTANCE” in: Prospective in Cytology & Genetics, (Proc. of XIV AICCG), Eds. Giri, Mukherjee & Mukherjee, Vol. 14, pp. 251-260, 2009.

        Notable activities:  2010 onwards  

        • Member Indo-Egypt Brain storming meeting on Agri-Biotechnology, NEHU, Shillong, 2018
        • Member of DBT, Govt of India, TASK FORCE Expert Comm. 2014, 2016
        • Member of Board of Examiners: IIT-Kharagpur, M.Tech, PhD
        • Examiner of PhD thesis of JNU, NIPGR, IIT-KGP, AcSIR
        • Member of the best poster selection team 37th PTCA(I) 2015 and 2016
        • Member Brain storming meeting on Synthetic Biology, 2008, CSIR, ND
        • Represent Institute in Cutting Edge Science & Technology by Indian Women Scientists, March, 2008
        • Nodal Scientist of CSIR-IICB Network Projects (BSC 0107 & 0117)
        • Expert of PhD viva-voce of Univ. of Calcutta, of Kalyani, Bose Institute, Jadavpur University, etc.
        • Member of Biosafety committee, CSIR-IICB, since 2005 till date
        • Chairperson of Physical Verification Store/member divisional purchase comm./ Invt. Reg. verification CSIR-IICB, Kolkata, 2010-11/2009-12
        • Member of Management Council, CSIR-IICB, 2007-2009
        • Expert of CSIR-IICB PhD Course Work
        • Member of CSIR-IICB JRF Selection Committee Meeting 2009-2015
        • Organizing Institute’s Open House programme since 2005
        • Reviewer for Projects proposal of SERB, ICMR, and CSIR, Govt. of India
        • Reviewer for papers for several International/National Journals like Plant Mol. Biol., PLANTA, Jr. Argi. Food Chem., BMC Genomics/Plant Biology/Proteome Science, Food & Chem. Toxicol., Plant Science, etc.

        Grants Received: 

        External funding:

        • Principle Investigator: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: Identification of the stress responsive microRNAs….. altered GSH conditions
          • Funding agency: SERB, Govt. of India.
          • Total Cost: 42,57,144/- lakhs
          • Duration: 2017-2020
        • Principle Investigator: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: Cross-talk of Glutathione ….. in planta
          • Funding agency: DST, Govt. of India.
          • Total Cost: 35.45 lakhs
          • Duration: 2013-2016
        • Principal Investigator: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: Enhanced production of menthol in Mentha
          • Funding agency: Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India.
          • Total Cost: 21.80 lakhs
          • Duration: 2004-2007
        • Principal Investigator: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: Potential plant as antileishmanial drug
          • Funding Agency: ICMR, Govt. of India
          • Total Cost: 13.35 Lacs.     
          • Duration: 2002-2006
        • Principle Investigator: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: Role of Glutathione as a signaling molecule
          • Funding agency: DST, Govt. of India
          • Total Cost: 23 lakhs
          • Duration: 2007-2010
        • Principle Investigator: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: Indian Medicinal Plants to combat kala-azar
          • Funding agency: ICMR, Govt. of India
          • Total Cost: 28.5 lakhs
          • Duration: 2008-2011

        CSIR-NETWORK projects:

        • Nodal Scientist: Sharmila Chattopadhyay (CSIR-IICB)
          • Project Title: Plant-Microbe Soil Interaction (PMSI)
          • Funding agency: CSIR, Govt. of India
          • Fund utilized: 204.00  lakhs
          • Duration: 2012-2017
        • Nodal Scientist: Sharmila Chattopadhyay (CSIR-IICB)
          • Project Title: Genomics of Medicinal Plants and Agronomically important traits (PlaGen)
          • Funding agency: CSIR, Govt. of India
          • Fund utilized: 102.05 lakhs
          • Duration: 2012-2017
        • Participating Scientist: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: Pathway Engineering
          • Funding agency: CSIR, Govt. of India
          • Fund utilized: 100.00 lakhs
          • Duration: 2007-2012
        • Participating Scientist: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: New insights in Cancer Biology
          • Funding agency: CSIR, Govt. of India
          • Fund utilized:   50.00 lakhs
          • Duration: 2007-2012
        • Participating Scientist: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: Medicinal Plants Chemotypes for enhanced marker and value added compounds
          • Funding agency: CSIR, Govt. of India
          • Fund utilized: 5.0 lakhs
          • Duration: 2002-2007
        • Participating Scientist: Sharmila Chattopadhyay
          • Project Title: Newer scientific Herbal preparations for Global positioning
          • Funding agency: CSIR, Govt. of India
          • Fund utilized: 5.0 lakhs
          • Duration: 2002-2007

         Coverage of lab activities:

        • News Paper coverage of her work in the Science section of “The Telegraph” on 28th Jan 2008, entitled “SO SWEET: Sugar leaf is not just a great sweetener-it is full of antioxidants too”.
        • One of her publication on “Antioxidant properties of Stevia rebaudiana(JAFC, 55:10962–10967, 2007) was incorporated in a though provoking article on ‘Sweeteners” published in Chemistry World, June, 2011, Royal Society of Chemistry’s monthly magazine (www.chemistryworld.org).

        Best Publications: 

        • Deepak Kumar and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2018) Glutathione modulates the expression of heat shock proteins via BZIP10 and MYB21 transcription factors in Arabidopsis thaliana. Experimental Botany, 69, 3729–3743.
        • Saptarshi Hazra, Dipto Bhattacharyya and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2017) Methyl Jasmonate regulates podophyllotoxin accumulation in Podophyllum hexandrum by altering the ROS-Responsive podophyllotoxin pathway gene expression additionally through the down regulation of few interfering miRNAs. Plant Science, 8:164.
        • Deepak Kumar, Saptarshi Hazra, Riddhi Datta and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2016) Transcriptome analysis of Arabidopsis mutants suggests a crosstalk between ABA, ethylene and GSH against combined cold and osmotic stress. Scientific Reports, 6:36867.
        • Dipto Bhattacharyya1, Saptarshi Hazra1, Anindyajit Banerjee, Riddhi Datta, Deepak Kumar, Saikat Chakrabarti and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2016) Transcriptome-wide identification and characterization of CAD isoforms specific for Podophyllotoxin biosynthesis from Podophyllum hexandrum Plant Molecular Biology, 92, 1-23.
        • Riddhi Datta, Deepak Kumar, Asma Sultana, Saptarshi Hazra, Dipto Bhattacharyya, and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2015) Glutathione regulates ACC synthase transcription via WRKY33 and ACC oxidase by modulating messenger RNA stability to induce ethylene synthesis during stress. Plant Physiology, 169, 2963–2981.
        • Dipto Bhattacharyya, Ragini Sinha, Saptarshi Hazra, Riddhi Datta and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2013) De novo transcriptome analysis using 454 pyrosequencing of the Himalayan Mayapple, Podophyllum hexandrum. BMC Genomics, 4, 748.
        • Srijani Ghanta, D. Bhattacharyya, R. Sinha, Anindita Banerjee and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2011) Nicotiana tabacum overexpressing γ-ECS exhibits biotic stress tolerance likely through NPR1-dependent salicylic acid-mediated pathway. Planta, 233, 895-910.
        • Avijit Poddar, A. Banerjee, S. Ghanta and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2008) In vivo Efficacy of CalceolariosideA against experimental Visceral Leishmaniasis.Planta Medica, 74, 503-508.
        • Srijani Ghanta, A. Banerjee, Avijit Poddar and Sharmila Chattopadhyay* (2007) Oxidative DNA damage preventive activity and antioxidant potential of Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni, a aatural sweetener. Agric. Food Chem. (ACS pubs) 55, 10962-10967.
        • Sharmila Chattopadhyay, K. Datta and S. B. Mahato (1995) Rapid micropropagation of M. pruriens f. pruriens L. Plant Cell Rep, 15, 271- 273.
        • Sharmila Chattopadhyay, K. Datta and S. B. Mahato (1994) Production of L-DOPA from cell suspension culture of Mucuna pruriens f. pruriens. Plant Cell Reports, 13, 519-522.

        Major Research Interest: 

        • Plant defense signaling network
        • Pathway engineering on therapeutically important plant secondary metabolites

        Numbers of PhD guided so far (number): Twelve

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • Fellow of National Academy of Sciences, (FNASc), 2014
        • Fellow of West Bengal Academy of Science & Technology (FAScT), 2014
        • I. S. Bhatia Award-Lifetime achievement, SBC, India, 2017
        • Convener & Organizing Secretary of “PTCA 2017”, at CSIR-IICB, Kolkata, 2017
        • SERB Distinguished Investigator Award, New Delhi, India, 2018
        • F.C. Steward Memorial Award, PTCA (India), 2019

        International Honors:

        • Attended and presented lab research activities as a Conferee in the GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE on “PLANT METABOLIC ENGINEERING” entitled “Mentha arvensis– with enhanced antioxidant potential to combat ROS mediated disease conditions”, Newhampshire, USA, July 12-17th 2009.
        • Received US$ 500 cash prize from GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE on “PLANT METABOLIC ENGINEERING”, Newhampshire, July 12-17th 2009.

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2006

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: To unravel the dynamic mystery of Plant science and remain in touch with Plant Tissue Culture community.

        Research Gate      IICB

        Dr. S. L. Kothari

        Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology and Vice-President, Amity Science Technology and Innovation Foundation
        Biotechnology
        Amity University Rajasthan
        Rajasthan-303002.
        Email: slkothari28@gmail.com

        Qualifications: M.Sc., Ph.D.
         

        Specialization: Plant Tissue Culture, Plant Transformation, Nanobiotechnology, Plant Diversity

        Positions held:

        • Pro Vice-Chancellor, Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur
        • Dean Faculty of Science, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
        • Director, PG School of Life Sciences
        • Member Syndicate, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
        • Professor and Head, department of Botany, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
        • Director, Centre for Converging Technologies, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur
        • Professor and Head, Botany Department, MDS University, Ajmer

        Academic and Research Achievements:

        • Fellow, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi, 2008
        • Adjunct Professor of Biotechnology, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, 2008-2011
        • Visiting Foreign Research Fellow, University of Tsukuba, Japan, 2003-2004
        • Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India, 1997
        • Professor F.C. Steward memorial lecture award given by the Plant Tissue Culture Association of India in recognition of outstanding contributions in the field of Plant Tissue Cultures
        • Professor P. Maheshwari memorial lecture award given by the Department of Botany, University of Delhi for contributions in the field of plant sciences
        • Fellowship of the International Society of Plant Morphologists given by the ISPM as Foundation Fellow
        • Fellow, Indian Botanical Society, 1992
        • INSA-DFG Visiting Scientist, IPK Gatersleben, Germany, 1998
        • Reviewed publications for Plant Cell Reports, Plant Cell Tissue Organ Culture, Current science, In Vitro Cell Dev Biol-Plant, Japanese J Breed, J Pl Biochem Biotech, Ind J Biotech, Phytomorphology, J Ind Bot Soc, Protoplasma, Scientia Horticulturae, Scientific Reports 

        Other Achievements:

        • Research Projects Completed: 20 major R & D Projects
        • Coordinator: DST-FIST
        • Coordinator: DST-PURSE
        • Coordinator: UGC-UPE
        • Coordinator: DBT-IPLS
        • Coordinator: DBT-BIF
        • Coordinator: UGC-DRS
        • Research Supervision: 52 Ph.D. Awarded
        • Total Citations: 4000 in Google Scholar
        • Scopus H-index: 24, SCI H-index:24
        • Scopus Citations: >2100, SCI Citations: >2000
        • Average I.F. of top 10 publications: 6.050, Average I.F. of top 25 Papers: 4.371, Average I.F. of all 114 Papers: 2.114

        Best Publications:

        • Jyoti A, Kaushik S, Srivastava VK, Datta M, Kumar S, Yugandhar P, Kothari SL, Rai V and Jain A (2019). The potential application of genome editing by using CRISPR/Cas9, and its engineered and ortholog variants for studying the transcription factors involved in the maintenance of phosphate homeostasis in model plants. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology (I.F.: 6.614)
        • Sharma P, Madhyastha HK, Madhyastha R, Nakajima Y, Maruyama M, Verma KS, Verma S, Prasad J, Kothari SL and Gour VS (2019). An appraisal of cuticular wax of Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br.: Extraction, chemical composition, biosafety and application. Journal of Hazardous Materials 368, 397-403. (I.F.: 7.650)
        • Chug R, Gour VS, Mathur S and Kothari SL (2016). Optimization of Extracellular Polymeric Substances production using Azotobacter beijreinckii and Bacillus subtilis and its application in chromium (VI) removal.  Bioresource Technology 214, 604-608. (I.F.: 6.669)
        • Kothari SL, Joshi A, Kachhwaha S and Ochoa-Alejo N (2010). Chilli peppers – A review on tissue culture and transgenesis. Biotechnology Advances 28, 35-48. (I.F., 12.831)
        • Kothari SL, Agarwal K and Kumar S (2004). Inorganic nutrient manipulation for highly improved in vitro plant regeneration in finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L) Gaertn]. In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology-Plant 40, 515-519. (I.F., 1.497)
        • Kothari SL and Varshney A (1998). Morphogenesis in long-term maintained immature-embryo derived callus of wheat (Triticum aestivum L) – Histological evidence for both somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis. Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology 7, 93-98. (I.F., 0.523)
        • Poddar K, Vishnoi RK and Kothari SL (1997). Plant regeneration from embryogenic callus of finger millet Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. on higher concentrations of NH4NO3 as a replacement of NAA in the medium. Plant Science 129,101-106. (I.F., 2.945)
        • Davey MR, Kothari SL, Zhang H, Rech EL, Cocking EC and Lynch PT (1991). Transgenic rice: Characterization of protoplast derived plants and their seed progeny. Journal of Experimental Botany 42, 1159-1169. (I.F., 5.364)
        • Kothari SL, Monte DC and Widholm JM (1986). Selection of Daucus carota somatic hybrids using drug resistance markers and characterization of their mitochondrial genomes. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 72, 494-502. (I.F., 3.297)
        • Yadav T, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2013). Efficient in vitro plant regeneration and generation of transgenic plants in barley (Hordeum vulgare ) using particle bombardment. Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology 22, 202-213.
        • Jagga-Chugh S, Kachhwaha S, Sharma M, Kothari-Chajer A, Kothari SL (2012). Optimization of factors influencing microprojectile bombardment-mediated genetic transformation of seed derived callus and regeneration of transgenic plants in Eleusine coracana (L.) Garten. Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture 109, 401-410.
        • Sharma M, Kothari-Chajer A, Jagga-Chugh S and Kothari SL (2011). Factors influencing Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated genetic transformation of Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture 105, 93-104.
        • Jain D, Daima HK, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2009). Synthesis of plant mediated silver nanoparticles using papaya fruit extract and evaluation of their antimicrobial activities. Digest Journal of Nanomaterials and Biostructures 4, 723-727.
        • Kothari-Chajer A, Sharma M, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2008). Micronutrient optimization results into highly improved in vitro plant regeneration in kodo (Paspalum scrobiculatum L) and finger (Eleusine coracana (L) Gaertn) millets. Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture 94, 105-112
        • Kothari SL, Agarwal K and Kumar S (2004). Inorganic nutrient manipulation for highly improved in vitro plant regeneration in finger millet [Eleusine coracana (L) Gaertn]. In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology-Plant 40, 515-519
        • Kumar S, Agarwal K and Kothari SL (2001). In vitro induction and enlargement of apical domes and formation of multiple shoots in finger millet, Eleusine coracana (L) Gaertn and crowfoot grass, Eleusine indica (L) Gaertn. Current Science 81, 1482-1485.
        • Yadav T, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2013). Efficient in vitro plant regeneration and generation of transgenic plants in barley (Hordeum vulgare ) using particle bombardment. Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology 22, 202-213.
        • Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (1996). Plant regeneration from immature embryo explants of Hordeum spontaneum and H vulgare. Cereal Research Communications 24, 27-32. (I.F., 0.392)
        • Datta M, Kaushik S, Jyoti A, Mathur N, Kothari SL and Jain A (2018). SIZ 1-mediated SUMOylation during phosphate homeostasis in plants: looking beyond the tip of the iceberg. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology 74, 123-132 (I.F.:6.614)
        • Jain R, Sinha A, Jain D, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2011). Adventitious shoot regeneration and in vitro biosynthesis of steroidal lactones in Withania coagulans (Stocks) Dunal. Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture 105, 135-140. (I.F., 3.090)

        Major Research Interest:

        • Plant Biotechnology
        • Nanobiotechnology
        • Converging Technologies

        Numbers of PhD guided so far (number): Fifty Two 

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • Rockefeller Biotechnology Career Fellowship, University of Nottingham, UK 1991-1996
        • Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship, University of Nottingham, UK 1989-90
        • Fulbright Scholarship, University of Illinois, USA, 1983-84
        • Professor Hira Lal Chakravarty Award, ISCA, 1993, given by the Prime minister of India
        • Nahar Award, Rajasthani Welfare Association, Bombay, 1996
        • Gold medal for first rank in M.Sc., 1976
        • Seventh rank in B.Sc., 1974.
        • DST young Scientist Project, Govt. of India 1988-90
        • National Merit Scholarship, 1974-76
        • Secretary, Fulbright Alumni Association, Jaipur Chapter, 1998- date
        • Councilor, International Society of Plant Morphologists, 2005-2009
        • Vice President, Society for Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 2006-2008
        • Member of the Executive, Society for Plant Biochem and Biotechnology 1996- date
        • Member of the Editorial Board, Indian Botanical Society, 1999-2002

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I):  1990

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: PTCA (I) is a great body of eminent Plant Scientists.

        Research Gate 

        Dr. Shyamal Kumar Nandi

        Former Scientist ‘G’ (Director Grade) & Centre Head,CEACC, GBPNIHESD
        Centre for Environmental Assessment & Climate Change,
        G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development (formerly GBPIHED),
        Kosi-Katarmal,
        Almora, Uttarakhand-263643.
        Email: shyamal_nandi@rediffmail.com

        Qualifications: M.Sc. (Plant Physiology), Ph.D.

        Specialization: Ion uptake by plant roots, Physiology & biochemistry of plant growth substances, Bioprospecting of medicinal and aromatic plants, Plant propagation (in vitro & conventional) and field demonstration, Biotechnological applications

        Positions held:

        • Scientist, Div. of Biotechnology, Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (formerly CSIR Complex), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh (1989-1993)
        • Scientist at various levels, GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment & Development (GBPIHED), Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand (1993-1997)
        • Scientist ‘D’ to ‘F’ & Head, Environmental Physiology & Biotechnology, GBPIHED, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand (1997-2004)
        • Professor & Head, Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Nainital, Uttarakhand (2004-05)
        • Scientist ‘F’ to ‘G’ & Head, Biodiversity Conservation & Management, and Biotechnological Applications, and subsequently Centre for Environmental Assessment & Climate Change, GBPIHED (presently GBPNIHESD), Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand (2005-2018). 

        Academic and Research Achievements:

        • Founder Scientist in establishing the Physiology and Biotechnology lab in GBPIHED, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora
        • Founder Professor & Head, Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Nainital, Uttarakhand.
        • Handled 14 externally funded (DST, DBT, USCOST, UNDP, National medicinal Pant Board, MoEF&CC) and 6 in-house projects as PI or Co-PI.
        • Publications: Research Papers- 112; Books published- 1, Books (edited)- 3; Reports- 8; Popular articles- 18

        Significant R&D contributions in different areas of Plant Science are given in brief below:

        • Phosphate absorption by corn roots confirmed multiphasic mechanism of ion uptake, with a deviation from Michaelis-Menten kinetics observed at the two highest phases (Plant, Cell & Environment 10, 463-474, 1987). This basic finding received widespread attention/acclaim and figure reproduced in the standard text book of PLANT PHYSIOLOGY (by F.B. Salisbury & C.W. Ross; Wadsworth Pub. Co., California, USA, 1992 ed.; page 153, chapter 7). 
        • Reported first time that 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP; widely used as a synthetic cytokinin), its riboside and nucleotide occur naturally cytokinins in plant tissues (Plant Science 61, 189-196, 1989; Plant, Cell & Environment 12, 273-283, 1989). This significant finding has resulted in wide acceptance of BAP for agricultural, horticultural and biotechnological use. In view of the important finding on BAP, its riboside and nucleotide as naturally occurring cytokinins in plant tissues (references cited above), the work received widespread attention/acclaim and quoted in the above mentioned text book of Plant Physiology (p. 383, chapter 18).
        • Embryonic axes of germinating seeds, was for the first time demonstrated to be a site of cytokinin biosynthesis (Journal of Experimental Botany 39, 1649-65, 1988), and an axial control of cotyledon expansion, chlorophyll formation and reserve mobilization was reported in germinating dicot (lupin) seeds (Plant Science 60: 181-188, 1989; Journal of Experimental Botany 46: 329-336,1995).
        • Identification and quantification of cytokinins in interspecific genetic tumours of tobacco; defined role of cytokinins in the formation and/or maintenance of these tumours (Plant Physiology 94: 1084-1089, 1990; Physiologia Plantarum 78: 197-204, 1990).
        • Bioprospecting and quantification of active ingredients of several Himalayan medicinal plants to select elites (based on high levels) for further multiplication and/or cultivation (Phytochemistry 60: 627-631, 2002; Acta Physiologiae Plantarum 29: 121-126, 2007; National Academy of Science Letters 31: 89-93, 2008; Journal of Medicinal Plants Research 7: 3237-3241, 2013; Ecological Genetics & Genomics 3-5: 25-33, 2017; Current Science 114: 554-561, 2018).
        • Significant effect of water stress conditions were observed on morphological and physiological growth parameters of tea (Camellia sinensis) and water stress tolerant tea clones suitable for hilly areas were identified. Results suggest that the degree of drought tolerance depends on the interactions between the tea clones and the levels of water stress (Trees, DOI: 10.1007/s00468-016-1519-x, 2017).
        • Developed efficient tissue culture and conventional (cuttings, seeds, underground parts) propagation protocols for a number of economically important species for mass scale multiplication and subsequent cultivation and/or conservation (Plant Growth Regulation 19: 117-122, 1996; Physiology & Molecular Biology of Plants 3: 99-103, 1997; Biological Conservation 92: 121-129, 2000; Plant Science 156: 125-135, 2000; Plant Cell, Tissue & Organ Culture 69: 121-133, 2002; Biodiversity & Conservation 15: 2325-2338, 2004; Acta Physiologiae Plantarum 31: 961-967, 2009; Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal & Aromatic Plants 2: 15-20, 2015; doi:10.1007/s00468-016-1494-2, 2016) Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 4: 21-26, 2017).
        • Development of callus and cell suspension cultures of Habenaria edgeworthii, a rare Himalayan medicinal orchid (Industrial Crops & Products 39: 1-6, 2012).
        • Optimization of extraction conditions for polyphenolics compounds using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was conducted for the first time to look for alternate and renewable source of such compounds in polyphylla leaves (Industrial Crops & Products 117: 66-74, 2018).
        • REPRODUCTION (see below) of a figure of my research finding in the text book of PLANT PHYSIOLOGY (by F.B. Salisbury & C.W. Ross; Wadsworth Pub. Co., California, USA, 1992 edition, in page 153, Chapter 7).

        Reviewer of several International Journals, for example, Industrial Crops & Products, Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, Physiology & Molecular Biology of Plants, Plant Growth Regulation, PloS One, Biologia Plantarum, Current Science, Journal of Applied Research on Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology, Journal of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants Research and many others.

        Other Achievements:

        • Organizing Secretary of PTCA meeting and National Symposium on Role of Plant Tissue Culture in Biodiversity Conservation and Economic Development, in GBPIHED Kosi-Katarmal, Almora from 7-9 June 1999. Published a Proceedings after this conference, entitled “Role of plant tissue culture in biodiversity conservation and economic development”. Nandi, S.K., Palni, L.M.S. & Kumar, A. eds. Gyanodaya Prakashan, Nainital, India; ISBN no. 81-85097-55-0; 646 p (2002).
        • Member /Life member of several Professional societies, eg., Indian Science Congress Association, Society of Biological Chemists (I), PTCA(I), Indian Society of Tree Scientists, Prof. H.S. Srivastava Foundation for Science & Society, Lucknow, The Orchid Society of India, and several others.
        • Attended various national and international (Australia, France, Holland, Canada, China) conferences/seminars and delivered invited lectures. 

        Best Publications:

        • Nandi, S.K., Pant, R.C. & Nissen, P. (1987) Multiphasic uptake of phosphate by corn roots. Plant, Cell & Environment 10: 463-474 (IF-5.135)
        • Nandi, S.K., Palni, L.M.S., Letham, D.S. & Knypl, J.S. (1988) The biosynthesis of cytokinins in germinating lupin seeds. Journal of Experimental Botany 39: 1649-65 (IF-5.542)
        • Nandi, S.K., Letham, D.S., Palni, L.M.S., Wong, O.C. & Summons, R.E. (1989) 6-Benzylaminopurine and its glycosides as naturally-occurring cytokinins. Plant Science 61: 189-196 (IF-2.997)
        • Nandi, S.K., Palni, L.M.S. & Parker, C.W. (1990) Dynamics of endogenous cytokinins during the growth cycle of a hormone-autotrophic genetic tumour line of tobacco. Plant Physiology 94: 1084-1089 (IF-7.084)
        • Nandi, S.K., Palni, L.M.S. & Rikhari, H.C. (1996) Chemical induction of adventitious root formation in Taxus baccata. Plant Growth Regulation 19: 117-122 (IF-1.67)
        • Nadeem, M., Palni, L.M.S., Purohit, A.N., Pandey, H. & Nandi, S.K. (2000) Propagation and conservation of Podophyllum hexandrum Royle: an important medicinal herb. Biological Conservation 92: 121-129 (IF-4.241).
        • Chandra, B., Palni, L.M.S. & Nandi, S.K. (2006) Propagation and conservation of Picrorhiza kurrooa Royle ex Benth: an endangered Himalayan medicinal herb of high commercial value. Biodiversity & Conservation 15: 2325-2338 (IF-2.264)
        • Giri, L., Dhyani, P., Rawat, S., Bhatt, I.D., Nandi, S.K., Rawal, R.S., & Pande, V. (2012) In vitro production of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity in callus suspension cultures of Habenaria edgeworthii: A rare Himalayan medicinal orchid. Industrial Crops & Products 39: 1-6 (IF-3.57)
        • Nandi, S.K., Palni, L.M.S., Pandey, H., Chandra, B. & Nadeem, M. (2016) Selection of elites and in vitro propagation of selected Himalayan medicinal herbs for sustainable utilization and conservation. In: Anis, M. & Ahmad, N. eds, Plant tissue culture: Propagation, conservation and crop improvement; Springer Science & Business Media, Singapore. pp. 15-44. ISBN 978-981-10-1916-6; 621 p.
        • Purohit, S., Jugran, A.K., Palni, L.M.S., Bhatt, I.D., Bhatt, A. & Nandi, S.K. (2016) In vitro approaches for conservation and reducing juvenility of Zanthoxylum armatum DC: An endangered medicinal plant of Himalayan region. Trees, doi:10.1007/s00468-016-1494-2 (IF-1.706)
        • Tariq, M., Belwal, T., Bhatt, I. D., Pande V. & Nandi S. K. (2018) Polyphenolics in leaves of Paris Polyphylla: An important high value Himalayan medicinal herb. Industrial Crops & Products 117: 66-74 (IF-3.57). 

        Major Research Interest:

        • Plant growth substances and interaction
        • Plant propagation and development of cultivation packages
        • Environmental physiology
        • Biodiversity and conservation
        • Climate change and plant ecosystem 

        Numbers of PhD guided so far (number): Ten 

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • First position in the college during B.Sc. (Hons) Programme (1979)
        • Recipient of Junior Research Fellowship offered by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi during M.Sc. Programme (1980-83)
        • The Australian National University Merit Fellowship during Ph.D. Programme (1983-88)
        • Vishisht Vaigyanik Puraskar (Distinguished Scientist Award) by the Ministry of Environment & Forest, Govt. of India, New Delhi for Outstanding contribution in the area of Plant Physiology & Plant Tissue Culture (1996-97)
        • Cash Award by the Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education, Dehra Dun for outstanding research contribution in the area of ‘Forest Conservation’ (as Team member) [1996-97]
        • Recipient of Miss Rambha Khetwal Nyaas Vishisth Award, Bageshwar, Uttarakhand for Outstanding contribution to Research & Development (2009). 

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I):  2010 

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: I have been working in the area plant biotechnology for a number of years and my association with PTCA(I) started ever since my initiation of R&D work in tissue culture. PTCA(I) organizes Conferences every year and has been an useful forum for Scientists, academics and young researchers to interact and learn new developments in the field. Further, it’s a platform for gaining knowledge of new technologies since experts from industries also participate. Hence I would like to continue as a member.

        Research Gate

        Dr. Smitha Hegde

        Professor
        University Center for Science Education and Research,
        Paneer Campus, Derelakatte, Mangalore, Karnataka – 575 018.
        Email: smitha.hegde@nitte.edu.in

        Qualification:  M.Sc., Ph.D., KSET

        Specialization: Plant tissue culture, Phytoremediation, Environmental Sciences

        Positions held:

        • 1999-2002:       CSIR-RA: Post-Doc, Laboratory of Applied Biology, St.Aloysius College, Mangalore. To conduct molecular marker studies in tree                                   fern diversity of Western Ghats
        • 2002-2007        Lecturer, Post graduate studies in Biotechnology, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore
        • 2007-2013        HoD, Post graduate studies in Biotechnology, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore
        • 2009                  Adjunct faculty, Manipal College of Pharmacology (MCOPS), Manipal University, Manipal
        • 2013-2017        Asso. Professor, Center for Research and Post graduate studies in Biotechnology, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore
        • 2017–till date   Professor, Nitte University Center for Science Education and Research

        Academic and Research Achievements:

        • 2009 – 2017        Principal Scientist: Rondano Biodiversity Research Laboratory. SAC, Mangalore
        • 2009 – till date    Recognized co-guide for Ph.D studies at the National Institute of Technology (NITK), Surathkal, Karnataka
        • 2009 – till date    Recognized guide for Ph.D studies in Biotechnology, Mangalore University, Mangalore
        • 2017 – till date    Recognized guide for Ph.D studies in Biological sciences, Nitte University, Mangalore
        • 2012 – 2017        Member of the committee for selection of Ph.D candidates for Department of Biotechnology, Mangalore University
        • 2017 – till date    Member of the BOS committee, NUCSER, Nitte University.
        • 2010 – 2013        Member of the Academic Council, St. Aloysius College (Autonomous)
        • 2010 – 2013        Chairperson of the BOS and BOE of the PG board of Biotechnology St. Aloysius College, Mangalore (Autonomous)
        • 2013 – 2016        Member of BOE of Department of Biotechnology, SDM Ujire (Autonomous)
        • 2010 – 2014        Member Institutional Animal Ethics Committee, SAC, Mangalore
        • 2012 – 2013        Member of BOS Department of Biotechnology, St.Agnes College, Mangalore
        • 2010 – 2012        Member steering committee of BT finishing school, Karnataka Government
        • 2012 – onwards Mentor/Resource person for Summer/Winter Camps and other DST INSPIRE initiatives by Indian Academy of Sciences
        • 2018 – till date   Co-Editor, Indian Fern Journal. ISSN, 0970-2741

        Recent projects:

        • DST-SERB    Co-PI: DNA barcoding of Ferns of South India for genetic diversity studies (On going)
        • BRNS            PI: Bioprospecting local ferns for Phytoremediation of heavy and radioactive metals.
        • UGC              PI: Phytoremediation of heavy metals using Brassica juncea and Nephrolepis sps.
        • UGC             PI: Application of molecular techniques for genetic diversity studies of traditional cultivars of rice grown in Dakshina Kannada and          Udupi districts.

        Other Achievements:

        • Industrial experience

        2013 – 2015      Bhami’s Research Laboratory, Mangalore

        • Professional experience overseas

        July, 2017–Aug,2017       Visiting professor, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan                          

        • P.G. Projects: 38
        • Publications : 65
        • Research Journal: 32
        • Full papers in Conference proceedings: 21
        • Book chapters: 09
        • Books: 03

        Best Publications:

        Phytoremediation: 

        • Prabhu S, Srinikethan G and Hegde S (2018) Spontaneous Cr(VI) and Cd(II) Biosorption Potential of Native and Dried Pinnae Tissue of Pteris vittata L., a Tropical Invasive Pteridophyte International Journal of Phytoremediation. Francis and Taylor publications (in print).
        • Prabhu S, Srinikethan G and Hegde S (2018) Surface treated Pteris vittata L. pinnae powder used as an efficient biosorbent of Pb(II), Cd(II), and Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. International Journal of Phytoremediation. Francis and Taylor publications 20(9) 947-956. DOI: 10.1080/ 15226514. 2018.1448365.
        • Sudha Sajeev, Ramya P.V, Sunitha B.C and Smitha Hegde (2013) Phytoremediation of Cadmium using Pteris spp”. Chapter 16: Prospects in Bioscience: Addressing the Issues. Sabu, Abdulhameed; Augustine, Anu (Eds.) Springer, XV, 430 p. 

        Radiation induced variation in plant systems:

        • Sajeev S, Melo JS, Hegde S (2018) Gamma radiation-induced in vitro hormetic apogamy in the fern Pityrogramma calomelanos (L.) link S – Biosystems, (In print) Elsevier doi: 10.1016/j. biosystems. 2018. 08.004.
        • Pallavi B, Nivas SK, D’Souza L, Ganapathi, TR, Hegde S (2017) Gamma rays induced variations in seed germination, growth and phenotypic characteristics of Zinnia elegans var. Dreamland. Advances in Horticultural Science Volume: 31(4): 267-273. DOI: 10.13128/ahs-20289.
        • Pallavi B, Nivas SK, D’Souza L, Ganapathi, TR, Hegde S. (2017) Gamma Radio sensitivity studies on Zinnia elegans var Dreamland. Bionature 37(1): 5-10.  ISSN 0970-9835 (Print), 0974-4282 (Online).

        Environmental studies: 

        • Severes A, Shashikiran Nivas, L D’Souza, Smitha Hegde (2018) Diversity study of freshwater microalgae of some unexplored water bodies of a rapidly developing industrial region in India. Journal of Algal Biomass Utilization. 9(2): 31-40 eISSN: 2229 – 6905.
        • Severes, A., Hegde, S., D’Souza, L and Smitha Hegde (2017) Use of light emitting diodes (LEDs) for enhanced lipid production in micro-algae based biofuels. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology. 170: 235-240. ISSN: 1011-1344.
        • Aparna A., Srinikethan G. and Smitha H (2012) Production and Characterization of Biosurfactant Produced by a Novel Pseudomonas sp.2B. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 95: 23-29.
        • Aparna A., Srinikethan G. and Smitha Hegde (2012) Isolation, Screening and Production of Biosurfactant by Bacillus clausii 5B. Research in Biotechnology 3 (2): 49-56.

        Major Research Interest: 

        • Plant molecular Biology.
        • Genetic diversity and distribution studies of Pteridophytes.
        • Abiotic and heavy metal stress induced studies in plant systems.
        • In vitro propagation of trees and medicinal plants.
        • Bioremediation and phytoremediation of toxic pollutants.

        Numbers of Ph.D. guided so far: Three

        Awards and Recognitions:

        Memberships

        • Executive committee member of the British Scholars Association India, Mangalore Chapter
        • Executive committee member of St.Aloysius Alumini Association, Mangalore
        • Life member of Association of Microbiologists India
        • Life member of Biological Chemists, IISc. Bangalore.
        • Life member and Vice President of the Indian Fern Society
        • Elected member of the Indian Plant Tissue Culture Association 2015

        Out-reach

        • All India Radio (AIR) talks, Daiji World Host of television show on Konkani literature
        • Co-oordinator for compulsory rural service.
        • State level Chief judge: INSPIRE award winners state level science model completion and exhibition, DIET,Kumta, Karnataka, 3,4 and 5, October,2012
        • Chief judge: Karnataka State science and technology department organized district level science model competition and exhibition, March 28th and 29th, 2011
        • MoU with forest department on studies in Kudremukh National Park

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2015

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: Peer support and updating oneself on latest developments.

        Research Gate            NITTE Univ.          Website

        Dr. Snehasish Dutta Gupta

        Professor
        Agricultural and Food Engineering,
        Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur,
        Kharagpur,
        West Bengal – 721302.
        Email: sdg@agfe.iitkgp.ac.in

        Qualification:  M. Sc. (Cytogenetics & Plant Breeding), Ph. D.

        Specialization: Plant Image Analysis, Plant Nanotechnology, Plant Developmental Biology

        Positions held:

        • Professor, Dep. of Agril. & Food Engg. IIT Kharagpur, June 2010-Till date
        • Associate Professor, Dep. of Agril. & Food Engg. IIT Kharagpur, Aug’ 2000 – June 2010
        • Assistant Professor, Dep. of Agril. & Food Engg. IIT Kharagpur, Sep’ 1995 – Aug’2000
        • Lecturer & Senior Lecturer, Dep. of Agril. & Food Engg. IIT Kharagpur (Jan’ 1991-Sep’1995), North Bengal University (June 1990 – Jan’1991), BS College, Calcutta University (March 1983 – June 1990)

         Academic and Research Achievements:

        • Provide a new dimension in engineering plant tissue culture
        • Pioneer in plant image analysis
        • Book Published:
          • Plant Tissue Culture Engineering, Eds. S. Dutta Gupta and Y. Ibaraki, Springer, The Netherlands (2006), Braille ed. (2006), Reprinted (2008), Paperback (2010)
          • Reactive Oxygen Species and Antioxidants in Higher Plants, Ed. S. Dutta Gupta, CRC Press, Boca Raton, USA (2010)
          • Biotechnology of Neglected and Underutilized Crops, Eds. S.M. Jain and S. Dutta Gupta, The Netherlands, Springer (2013)
          • Plant Image Analysis, Eds. S. Dutta Gupta and Y. Ibaraki, CRC Press Boca Raton, USA (2014)
          • Light Emitting Diodes for Agriculture, Ed. S. Dutta Gupta, Springer Nature, Singapore (2017)
        • Published 70 research papers in SCI/SCOPUS indexed journals, and 12 chapters in books published by CRC Press and Springer

        Other Achievements: 

        • Associate Editor: Journal of The Institutions of Engineers (India)-Series A, Springer
        • Editorial Board Member: Information Processing in Agriculture, Elsevier; Indian Journal of Biotechnology, NISCAIR
        • Reviewer’s of Journals: PloS One, BMC Plant Biology, Industrial Crops & Products, Journal of Plant Growth Regulation, Journal of Photochemistry & Photobiology-B, Photosynthetica, Journal of Plant Physiology, 3-Bioteck, Protoplasma, Journal of Cluster Science, Ecotoxicology, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Scientia Horticulturae, Plant Cell Tissue & Organ Culture, Engineering in Agriculture, Environment & Food, Trees, Biomass & Bioenergy, Scientific Reports, Science of The Total Environment
        • Reviewer’s of Book Proposal: CRC Press, Springer

        Best Publications: 

        • S. Dutta Gupta, A. Agarwal and S. Pradhan (2018) Phytostimulatory effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on rice seedling growth: An insight from antioxidative enzyme activities and gene expression patterns. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 161: 624-633.
        • A. Agarwal and S. Dutta Gupta (2018) Assessment of spinach seedling health status and chlorophyll content by multivariate data analysis and multiple linear regression of leaf image features. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 152: 281-289.
        • N. Saha and S. Dutta Gupta (2017) Low-dose toxicity of biogenic silver nanoparticles fabricated by Swertia chirata on root tips and flower buds of Allium cepa. Journal of Hazardous Materials 330:18-28.
        • S. Dutta Gupta and A. Karmakar (2017) Machine vision based evaluation of impact of light emitting diodes (LEDs) on shoot regeneration and the effect of spectral quality on phenolic content and antioxidant capacity in Swertia chirata. Photochemistry and Photobiology, B: Biology 174: 162-172.
        • A. Roy and S. Dutta Gupta (2013) A panoptic study of antioxidant potential of foliar gel at different harvesting regimens of Aloe vera L. Industrial Crops and Products 51: 130-137.
        • A. Roy, S. Dutta Gupta, and S. Ghosh (2013) Evaluation of antioxidative activity and UV –absorption potential of the extract of Aloe vera L. gel from different growth periods of plants. Industrial Crops and Products 49: 712-719.
        • V.S.S. Prasad and S. Dutta Gupta (2008) Photometric clustering of regenerated plants of gladiolus by neural networks and its biological validation. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 60: 8-17.
        • R.R. Nair and S. Dutta Gupta (2006) High frequency plant regeneration through cyclic secondary somatic embryogenesis in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.). Plant Cell Reports 24: 699-707.
        • S. Dutta Gupta, R. Ahmed and D.N. De (1997) Direct somatic embryogenesis and plantlet regeneration from seedling derived leaves of winged bean, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus (L.) DC. Plant Cell Reports 16: 628-631.
        • S. Dutta Gupta, R.M. Auge, P.D. Denchev and B.V. Conger (1995) Growth, proline accumulation and water relations of NaCl selected and non selected callus lines of Dactylis glomereta L. Environmental and Experimental Botany 35: 83-92. 

        Major Research Interest:

        • Imaging photosynthesis and plant stress
        • Application of light-emitting diodes for plant growth and development
        • Nanosynthesis and their impact on plant system 

        Numbers of PhD guided so far: Ten 

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • National Scholarship, Govt. of India (1978)
        • Certificate of Merit, Kalyani University (1980)
        • Junior and Senior Research Fellowship, CSIR (1981-82, 83)
        • National Scholarship for Study Abroad (1988-89)
        • Visiting Scientist: Department of Plant and Soil Science, University of Tennessee, USA, 1996-97, 1999
        • Visiting Fellow, INSA-Czech Academy of Sciences (2001)
        • JSPS Invitation Fellowship (2003)
        • JSPS Invitation Fellowship (2007)
        • Visiting Scientist, Yamaguchi University, Japan (2008, 2009)
        • Certificate of outstanding contribution in reviewing, Industrial Crops and Products, Information Processing in Agriculture, Elsevier (2017)

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2004 

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member:  It provides an opportunity to learn emerging techniques that helps to foster the ongoing activities and to interact with luminaries of plant biotechnology as well as young minds with full of potentials.

        Research Gate                Profiles

        Dr. Sumita Kachhwaha

        Associate Professor
        Botany,
        University of Rajasthan,
        Jaipur, Rajasthan-302004.
        Email: kachhwahasumita@rediffmail.com, sumitakachhwaha@gmail.com  

        Qualification:  M. Sc., Ph. D.

        Specialization: Plant Tissue Culture, Plant Transformation, Molecular Biology, Nanobiotechnology

        Positions held:

        • Associate Professor
        • Coordinator, BIF
        • Co-Coordinator, M.Sc. Biotechnology Programme

        Academic and Research Achievements: 

        • Academically throughout first class with SLET qualification
        • Majorly focused on tissue culture and genetic transformation of cereal crops in the past 25 years. Worked on Barley tissue culture and plant regeneration using Indian cultivars and reported genetic transformation of barley for the first time from India using the Indian Varieties. Genetic transformation was achieved using both Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated and particle gun mediated DNA delivery. Transgenic Plants were also reported in Eleusine coracana and Paspalum scrobiculatum.
        • Micropropagation and in vitro plant regeneration was standardized in Pithecellobium dulce, Terminalia bellerica, Dianthus caryophyllus, Citrullus colosynthis
        • Genetic diversity and clonal fidelity was studied using DNA based molecular markers in medicinal and tree species. 
        • Nanobiotechnology work was initiated to synthesize silver nanoparticles and studying the effects of Nanomaterials on plant growth and development. The pioneering work on the plant based synthesis of nanoparticles has received > 550 citations

        Other Achievements:

        • Coordinator for the Bioinformatics facility created by the DBT
        • Initiated Bioinformatics research and training in Rajasthan University
        • Sub-Coordinator DBT-IPLS
        • Subject Coordinator for M.Tech. programmes in Converging Technologies
        • Total Citations >1600 and H-index 17
        • Reviewer to several Journals published by Springer, Elsevier and others

        Best Publications:

        • Gupta V, Jatav PK, Haq S, Verma KS, Khurana-Kaul V, Kothari SL and Kachhwaha S (2019). Translation initiation codon (ATG) or SCoT markers-based polymorphism study within and across various Capsicum accessions: insight from their amplification cross transferability and genetic diversity. Journal of Genetics 98, (F.: 0.672).
        • Verma KS, Haq S ul, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2017). RAPD and ISSR marker assessment of genetic diversity in Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad: a unique source of germplasm highly adapted to draught and high temperature stress. 3 Biotech 7, 288- (I.F.: 1.365)
        • Kanawaria SJ, Sankhla A, Jatav PK , Yadav RS , Verma KS,Velra Pj, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL. Rapid biosynthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles: an assessment of antibacterial and antimycotic activity. Applied Physics A, ISSN:,(2018),124(4)( I.F -1.64)
        • Asopa P, Bhatt R, Sihag S, Kothari SL & Kachhwaha S ( 2016). Effect of Cadmium on physiological parameters of cereal and millet plants – a comparative study, International Journal of Phytoremediation, 19, 225-230  DOI:10.1080/15226514.2016.1207608 (I.F- 2.4)
        • Haq S, Kumar P, Singh RK, Kumar SV,Bhatt R, Sharma M, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2016). Assessment of Functional EST-SSR Markers (Sugarcane) in Cross-Species Transferability, Genetic Diversity among Poaceae Plants, and Bulk Segregation Analysis.Genetics Research International, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/7052323
        • Barupal JK., Saini A, Chand T, Meena A, Beniwal S,Suthar JR , Bhagri N, Kothari SL, Kachhwaha S. (2015), ExcellmiRDB for translational genomics: A curated online resource for extracellular microRNAs. Omics Journal of Integrative Biology, 19, 24-30. (I.F_ 2.730)
        • Dangi B, Khurana-Kaul V, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2014). Micropropagation of Terminalia bellerica from nodal explants of mature tree and assessment of genetic fidelity using ISSR and RAPD markers. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants 20, 509-516. (I.F.: 1.351)
        • Yadav T, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2013). Efficient in vitro plant regeneration and generation of transgenic plants in barley (Hordeum vulgare ) using particle bombardment. Journal of Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology 22, 202-213. (I.F., 0.523)
        • Yadav T, Kothari SL and Kachhwaha S (2013). Optimization of Agrobacterium mediated genetic transformation and regeneration of transgenic plants in Indian Cultivar of Barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. BL 2). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Section B: Biological Sciences 83, 255-264. (I.F., 0.019)
        • Dangi B, Kachhwaha S and Kothari SL (2012). Regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of Terminallia bellerica : a multipurpose tree species. In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology-Plant 48, 304-312. (I.F., 1.497)

        Major Research Interest: 

        • Plant Tissue Culture and Transgenesis
        • Biodiversity
        • Nanobiotechnology
        • Bioinformatics and Genomics

        Numbers of Ph.D. guided so far: Ten 

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • Member, Institutional Biosafety committee, U.O.R
        • External Expert, IBSC, Amity University, Jaipur
        • Mentor for  IASc-INSA-NASI Summer Research Fellowship 
        • Member, Research Advisory Group, AFRI, Jodhpur
        • External expert for DRC, Amity University Rajasthan, Jaipur
        • Life Member, Indian Science Congress Association
        • Life Member, Society for Plant Biochemistry and biotechnology
        • Life Member, Indian Botanical Society

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2019

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: PTCA (I) is a highly respected organization of Plant scientists and Biotechnologists of the country.

        Research Gate

        Dr. Suresh Chand

        Professor
        School of Life Sciences,
        Devi Ahilya University,
        Khandwa Road, Indore
        Madhya Pradesh – 452001.
        Email: sureshchand55@gmail.com, sureshchand55@rediffmail.com

        Qualification:  M.Sc., Ph.D.

        Specialization: Plant Biotechnology, Genetics, Developmental Biology

        Positions held:

        • 25 April 1998 to date   Professor (Indore University)
        • 1990 – 1998                    Reader/Associate Professor (Devi Ahilya University, Indore University)
        • 1981 -1990                     Lecturer /Assistant Professor (Meerut University, Meerut University)
        • 2007 – 2008                    Professor (Allahabad University)
        • 2009 – 2010                    Professor (Indore University)

        Academic /Administrative 

        • 2007-2008                    Provost, University of Lucknow
        • 2009-2010                    Head of Dept., University of Allahabad
        • 2011-2016                    Head of Dept., Devi Ahilya University, Indore
        • 2012-2014                    Dean of the Faculty, Devi Ahilya University, Indore
        • 2013-2014                    E. C. Member, Devi Ahilya University, Indore
        • 2016-2019                    E.C. Member, Medi-caps University (Chancellor / Governor Nominee)

        Other Achievements:

        Post Doctoral Fellow/Visiting Scientist

        • 1980-1981   PDF (Life Science), JNU, New Delhi
        • 1985-1986   Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellow (Genetic Manipulation of Plants), England
        • 1986-1986   PDF (Plant Biotechnology), USA
        • 1991-1991   PDF (Plant Genetics), Hungary
        • 1992-1992   PDF (Plant Biotech.), Israel
        • 2002-2003   PDF (Genetics & Mol Biol.), Germany
        • 2004-2005   PDF (Mol Biol.), Germany

        Best Publications:

        • Etika Goyal, Amit K. Singh, Ravi S. Singh, Ajay K. Mahato, Suresh Chand & Kanika Kumar (2016).Transcriptome profiling of the salt-stress response in Triticum aestivum cv. Kharchia Local. Scientific Reports (Nature Group of Publications), 6:27752, 1-14. Impact factor of journal = 5.228. 
        • RS Tomar, S Tiwari, K Bhojaraja Naik, Vinod, SMS Tomar, Suresh Chand & NK Singh (2016). Molecular and morpho-agronomical characterization of root architecture at seedling and reproductive stage for drought tolerance in wheat. PLOS ONE, 11(6), 1-21. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156528 June 9, 2016. Impact factor of journal = 3.234.   
        • J Mravec, M Kubeš, A Bielach, V Gaykova, J Petrášek, P Skůpa, S Chand, E. Benkovva, E. Zazimalova& J. Friml.  (2008). Interaction of PIN and PGP transport mechanisms in auxin distribution-dependent development. Development, 135 (20), 3345-3354.   Impact factor of journal = 9.824.        
        • S Chand & SC Roy (1980). Study of callus tissues from different parts of Nigella sativa (Ranunculaceae). Experientia (Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences), 36, 305-306. Impact factor of journal = 5.808.           
        • AK Sahrawat & S Chand (2004). High frequency plant regeneration from coleoptile tissue of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Plant Science (Elsevier), 167, 27-34.  Impact factor of journal = 3.974.
        • S Chand & SC Roy (1981). Induction of organogenesis in callus cultures of Nigella sativa. Annals of Botany, 48, 1-4.  Impact factor of journal = 3.502.       
        • S Singh, Singh NK, S Chand &TR Sharma (2015). Genome wide Distribution Organization and Functional Characterization of Disease Resistance and Defence Response Gene across Rice species. PLoSONE, 10 (4): e0125964. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0125964. Impact factor of journal = 3.234.
        • S Chand & AK Sahrawat (2000). Efficient plant regeneration from root callus tissues of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Journal of Plant Physiology (Germany), 156, 401- 407, 2000. Impact factor of journal = 3.241.
        • S Chand & A K Sahrawat (1999). Stimulatory Effect of Copper on Plant Regeneration in Indica Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Journal of Plant Physiology 154 (4), 517-522, 1999.  Impact factor of journal = 3.241.
        • Singh, A.K & Chand, S. (2003). Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from cotyledon explants of a timber-yielding leguminous tree, Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. Journal of Plant Physiology (Germany), 160, 415-421. Impact factor of journal = 3.241. 

        Major Research Interest:  Plant Biotechnology, Somatic Cell Genetics, Developmental Biology

        Numbers of Ph.D. guided so far: Fifteen 

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • Selected as Post-doctoral Fellow, The Australian National University, Canberra, (1982).
        • Awarded Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, London, (University of Nottingham, England; 1985-1986).
        • Awarded Visiting Fellowship under Indian National Science Academy & Hungarian Academy of Sciences Scientific Exchange Programme (BRC, Szeged, Hungary 1992).
        • Awarded Govt. of India Biotechnology Overseas Associateship Award, Ministry of Science & Technology, DBT (IPK, Germany; 2002-2003).
        • Awarded Visiting Fellowship under International Collaboration Scientific Exchange Programme, INSA -DFG (Tuebingen, Germany; 2004-2005).

        National Awards:

        • Padma Bhushan Professor Archana Sharma Memorial Award (2018), Indian Science Congress Association.
        • Prof. Gadgil Memorial Award Lecture (2018), Plant Tissue Culture & Biotechnology Association, India.
        • Prof. Y. M. Upadhyay Memorial Award Lecture (2015), IARI, Regional Wheat Breeding Centre, Indore.
        • Awarded Dr. R. B. Ekbote Prize by the Maharashtra Association for the Cultivation of Science, DST, Govt. of India ,2003.

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2001

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: My subject area.

        Dr. Timir Baran Jha

        Professor,
        Botany, Maulana Azad College,
        Retd. WBSES (West Bengal Senior Educational Service, Govt. of West Bengal)
        Kolkata, West Bengal-700013.
        Email: tbjha2000@yahoo.co.in

        Qualifications: M.Sc., Ph.D.

        Specialization: Plant Biotechnology and Plant Cytogenetics

        Positions held: 

        • Prof. of Botany, Barasat Govt. College.
        • Prof. &  Head, Department of Botany, Presidency College/ University.
        • Coordinator, Dept. of Biotechnology, Presidency College/ University.
        • Head, PG Department of Botany Darjeeling Govt. College.
        • Additional Director of Public Instructions (Administration) Higher Education Directorate, Govt. Of West Bengal.
        • Officer on Special Duty (OSD, Additional assignment) , Presidency University. 

        Academic and Research Achievements: 

        • More than Thirty four years of Undergraduate and Post Graduate teaching experience in Government Colleges  of West Bengal under West Bengal Education Service [WBES (1979-1995)] and West Bengal Senior Educational Service [WBSES (1995-2014)] .
        • Nearly four decades of research experience in the field of Plant Biotechnology (Protoplast culture, Micropropagation, Somatic Embryogenesis, Plant Secondary metabolites, Plant DNA fingerprinting,) and Plant Chromosome analysis.
        • Nominated By the Indian National Science Academy  (INSA) under International Collaboration programme  in Kagoshima University, Japan, 2010.
        • Published more than 80 research papers in national and international journals.
        • Currently engaged in preparation of chromosomal database in important crop materials  like Lentil, Capsicum, Sesamum, Rice etc using EMA based chromosome preparation and fluorescent banding.

        Other Achievements: 

        • Published a Book on Plant Biotechnology :  “PLANT TISSUE CULTURE BASIC AND APPLIED by  [ Jha ,T.B. and Ghosh B.: 2nd revised edition], Platinum Publishers Kolkata, West Bengal 2016 . 

        Best Publications:

        • Jha T B , Saha P S, Nath S, Das A and  Jha S  Morphological and cytogenetical characterization of ‘Dalle Khursani’: a polyploid cultivated Capsicum of India Scientia Horticulturae 215, 80-90, 2017.  
        • Jha T B and Saha P S Characterization of some Indian Himalayan Capsicums through floral morphology and EMA based chromosome analysis Protoplasma DOI 10.1007/s00709-016-1001-z 2016,  254:921–933, 2017.
        • Jha T B. and Halder M Searching chromosomal landmarks in Indian Lentils through EMA based Giemsa staining method ProtoplasmaDOI 10.1007/s00709-015-0873-7,   252:283–299, 2015.
        • Bandophyadhy S, Nandagopal K and Jha T.B. Characterization of RAM to SAM transitions by differential screening of randomly amplified cDNAs from in vitro cultures of Selaginella microphylla. Biologia Plantarum , DOI 1007/s10535-013-0325-1 ,  57( 3),  597 – 600, 2013.
        • Chaudhuri, R. K., Pal, A. and Jha, T.B. Regeneration and characterization of Swertia chirata Ham. Ex Wall. plants from immature seed cultures. Scientia Horticulturae. 120,107-114,  2009.
        • Chaudhuri, RK, Pal A., Jha T. Conservation of Swertia chirata Ham. ex Wall.  through Direct Shoot Multiplication From Leaf Explants. Plant Biotechnology Reports 2: 213-218,  2008.
        • Jha, T, Mukherjee, P. and Datta, M.M.:  Somatic embryogenesis in Jatropha curcas  an important  biofuel plant.  Plant Biotechnology Reports  1:135-140, 2007.
        • Jha, S, Ghosh, B., Mukherjee, S.and Jha, T. Variation in content of Taxol and related Taxanes in Eastern Himalayan Populations of Taxus wallichianna. Planta Medica.68,757-759, 2002.
        • Jha, S., Sanyal, D., Ghosh, B. and Jha, T. Improved Taxol yield in cell suspension culture of Taxus walichiana (Himalayan Yew) Planta Medica.64: 270-272, 1998.
        • Jha, T., Jha, S. and Sen. S K. Somatic embryogenesis from immature cotyledon of an elite Darjeeling Tea Clone. Plant Science 84 (2): 209-13, 1992. 

        Major Research Interest: Plant Biotechnology and Plant Cytogenetics

        Numbers of PhD guided so far:  Four 

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2009

        Research Gate

        Dr. Veena Agrawal

        Professor
        Department of Botany,
        North Campus,
        University of Delhi,
        Delhi – 110007.
        www.du.ac.in
        Email: drveena_du@yahoo.co.in

        Qualification: M.Sc., Ph.D. (Botany)

        Specialization: Plant Biotechnology, Nano Biotechnology & Plant Metabolic Engineering

        Positions held: 

        • Professor, Dept. of Botany, University   of Delhi, (2003- to till date).
        • UGC Research Scientist ‘B’ (Reader), Dept. of Botany, University of Delhi,( 1995-2003).
        • UGC Research Scientist ‘A’( Lecturer), Dept. of Botany, University of Delhi,( Nov. 1990 – Nov.  1995).

        Academic and Research Achievements: 

        Dr. Veena Agrawal  has been associated with teaching and research  since last over 30 years in the areas of plant tissue culture and biotechnology, sex-linked molecular markers,  plant metabolic engineering and nanotechnology.

        Major achievements:

        • Development of micropropagation protocols and genetic fidelity study: Developed micropropagation protocols of over 25 economically important trees, shrubs and endangered plants using elite germplasms for their large scale plantation, improvement through genetic transformation and conservation for sustainable use by the industries and farmers (Agrawal & Gupta, 1991, 1996; Agrawal et al., 2000, 2002. 2003; Agrawal & Sardar, 2003, 2006, 2007; Pandey & Agrawal, 2007, 2009; Sharma et al., 2011, 2013; Razaq et al., 2012; Heikrujam et al., 2014; Pandey et al., 2014; Chhetri et al., 2015; Sharma & Agrawal, 2018, etc.).
        • Transformation of Tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) cultivar ‘Pusa Rubi’ was achieved by incorporating bspA gene from Populus tremua for drought tolerance (Roy et al., 2006).
        • Molecular marker assisted sex identification: Employing DNA markers (ISSR, RAPD and SRAP), developed sex-linked markers (UBC-8071120; VIS111317, ISSR-8481500) for dioecious crops such as Simmondsia chinensis (Agrawal,et al. 2007; Sharma et al., 2008), Simarouba glauca and Trichosanthes dioica. Sequence Tagged Sites (STS-UBC-8071120; VIS111317) markers were generated and validated over large population of Jojoba (Heikrujam, et al., 2014a, b).
        • Genetic diversity analysis: Genetic diversity analysis has been carried out for an important oil yielding crop Simarouba glauca to study the variation at genome level among different populations for conservation assessment (Kumar & Agrawal, 2017).
        • Bioassay guided isolation and elicitation of bioactive compounds in the plants tissues: Bioefficacy studies using herbal extracts of important medicinal plants were carried out against mosquito vectors causing malaria, filarial, dengue and Japanese encephalitis that showed cent percent mortality at minimum dozes (Pandey et al., 2007, Sharma et al, 2012, Hellert et al.,)
        • Isolation and elicitation of therapeutics (anticancerous, larvicidal) bioactive molecules: Isolation & elicitation of bioactive compounds through some potential medicinal plants e.g., psoralen (Psoralea corylifolia; Parast et el.,2011; spilanthol (Spilanthes ; Pandey et al.,2011), artemisinin (Artemisia annua, Sharma et al.,2013), sennosides A&B (Cassia angusifolia; Chhetri et al., 2016), conessin (Holarrhena antidysenterica; Kumar et al., 2018), plumbagin (Plumbago zeylanica; Sharma & Agrawal,2018), gentiopicroside from Gentiana kurru; piperlongumin (Piper longum; Renuka et al. under review) have been  achieved  employing biotic (Agrobacterium rhizigenes and Piriformospora indica) and abiotic (precursors, trace elements, organic and inorganic compounds) elicitors.
        • Cloning of biosynthetic pathway genes: The biosynthetic pathway genes of some  bioactive compounds have been cloned g., psoralen synthase (Psoralea corylifolia; Parast et al. 2011) for psoralen, Ischorismate synthase (Cassia angustifolia; Chhetri et al., 2016)  for sennosides A&B to study their expression in bacteria/ higher plants for enhanced production of bioactive compounds.
        • One Indian Patent (Patent number: 278934) entitled “A Process For Extraction Of Bioactive Psoralen Compoundhas been granted on January 4, 2017  and four others are published in  Indian patent Journals and are under examination.
        • As an outcome 8 novel gene sequences have been submitted to NCBI.
        • Alleviation of metal induced phytotoxicity: Alleviation of metal toxicity in plants such as  in  Cicer arietinum  (Shankar et al,2015), Lycopersicum esculentum (Kumar et al., 2017), Cassia angustifolia (Nanda & Agrawal, 2016, 2018 ) has been achieved  through glutathione and symbiotic fungus Piriformospora indica.
        • Nanobiotechnology: Green synthesis of nanoparticles and their bioefficacy: Silver nanoparticles have been fabricated using herbal-extracts of different medicinal plants, characterized which showed remarkable larvicidal activity against vectors causing malaria, filarial and dengue (Kumar et al., 2018 a,b,c) against different cancer cell lines, and pathogenic microbes (Nindawat & Agrawal,2018).
        • Guided 19 Ph.D., 21 M.Phil., 6 Post -Docs. and 35 PG 6 Ph.D. students including one foreign Fellow are still working under her supervision.
        • Published over 102 research papers (84 research articles in peer reviewed international journals, plus 18 chapters in books/ proceedings).
        • Published five patents in Indian Patent Journals, granted one Indian Patent (Patent number: 278934) entitled “A Process For Extraction Of Bioactive Psoralen Compound” through DST-TIFAC on January 4, 2017  and  four others are under examination.
        • Delivered above 50 invited Lecture and chaired more than 25 Technical Sessions at different Abstracts in several National an/International Conferences and Symposia. Contributed above 100 research (Abstracts).
        • Successfully completed 8 major research projects funded from SERB (DST), UGC, ICMR, NOVOD and ICAR and one project of SERB is ongoing (2017-2020).
        • Edited volume No. 972 of the Proceedings of Int. Conference of  International Society of Horticulture (ISHS),  held at AIIMS Delhi  in 2010.
        • Prepared one Audio-visual of University of Delhi link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAhN41T403I&feature=youtu.be as an outreach program and creating awareness about the medicinal values of trees.

        Other Achievements: 

        • Coordinator for establishing MoU between Delhi University and Samarkand State University, Uzbekistan for bilateral exchange of teaching and research programs. Visited Samarkand State University during September 15-24, delivered lecture and finalized course for M.Sc. in Medicinal Plant biotechnology.
        • Conferred Honorary Professor by Samarkand State University in recognition of her  distinguished service
        • Participated as member organizing Committee and Chaired Sessions during many Conferences on Green Chemistry held in India organized by Dept of Chemistry some are given below.
        • Visited Bali, Indonesia: Participated in international Conference as member of Technical Program Committee, Chaired Technical Session and delivered Key note lecture during International Conference on Pharma Sciences and Biotechnology (ICPSB-2017) held at Bali, Indonesia w.e.f January 16-18, 2017.
        • Visited Melbourne (Australia): Delivered Invited presentation by International Association of Plant Biotechnology(2014) at Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) from August 10-15,2014.
        • Visited Jerusalem (Israel): Invited by Organisers of IX Int. Cong. Pl. Tiss. Cult. Biotech. (USA) and delivered lecture onDifferential Hormonal Requirements for Clonal Propagation of Male and Female Plants of Jojoba”  at Jerusalem (Israel),in June , 1998):
        • (Kathmandu (Nepal): Invited and presented poster during international Conference on plant genetic engineering organized during in April 15-20, 1991.
        • Selected and Participated in the Indo-US Workshop organized by Scientists of Michigan State University (MSU, USA) on “Application of Molecular Marker Technology for Rapid Development and Delivery of New Crop Varieties for Enhancing Food and Nutritional Security” at TERI University India and Bejo Sheetal, Jalna, Maharashtra, India in from Dec 3-9,. 2011.
        • Participated as Member Organising Committee in the Workshop on Green Chemistry Education: Necessity of a sustainable Future held at Dept. Chemistry, Univ. Delhi and Sponsored by Royal Society of Chemistry, London on Nov. 20, 2010.
        • Participated in the Workshop on Study of biofuels in India organized by Price Water House Coopers at Hyatt Regency, Delhi w.e.f. March 18-19, 2009.
        • Participated in the Dissemination Workshop: Cross Sectoral Implications of Biofuel Production and Use in India at Shangri-la Eros Hotel, New Delhi, India, 15 July 2011.
        • Participated in the Launch ceremony of Merck Millipore India Innovation Award 2012 at Hotel Inter Continental, New Delhi, 26 September 2011.
        • Participated as Member Organising Committee in the International Workshop on Sustainability and Water Quality Held at Hotel Maidens, 7 Sham Nath Marg, Delhi and Sponsored by The Green Chemistry Network Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi e.f. Jan. 17-20, 2011.
        • Participated in the Seminar on New Technology HPLC Columns conducted by Merck at Hotel Ramada Plaza, Delhi on March 17, 2009.
        • Participated in the one day Workshop on Bioinformatics held at Delhi (February 18, 2008).
        • Participated in the Indo-US S&T Workshop on Green Chemistry held in New Delhi (January 7-9, 2008).
        • Participated in a two day workshop held at Yamuna Nagar (January 11-12, 1998) and attended all the four sessions on Biochemistry, Allergy & Applied Immunology, Biotechnology & Molecular Biology.
        • Participated in the DBT sponsored training programme on “Cloning, Characterization and Sequencing of Plant Genes” held at Centre of Plant Molecular Biology, School of Life Sciences, Jawahar Lal Nehru Univ., (Dec. 1994) New Delhi and learned technique for isolation of plasmid DNA, RNA, Plant DNA, electrophoresis, Agrobacterium mediated gene transfer and assay for transgene expression.
        • Participated in DBT sponsored workshop-cum-symposium on “Molecular immunology, gene structure and expressions” held at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (Dec. 1991) and gained experience in handling modern tools of biochemistry e.g. Slab Gel Electrophoresis for protein/ DNA separation, Southern, Northern, Western, blotting and ELISA.
        • Participated and learned techniques during the workshop on Plant Genetic Transformation held  at Delhi University  in the Laboratory of Professor S. C. Gupta conducted  by Professor S. C. Minocha, Univ. of New Hempshire, Durham, USA during 1990-91.

        Administrative Experience/Recognition:

        • Member of Program Advisory Committee (PAC ) of Plant Sciences, SERB (2018-2021).
        • Nominated Member of Expert panel of selection committee for selection of scientists by ministry of Environment, Govt. of India.
        • Nominated Expert for selection committee  of C.S.I.R. (New Delhi), for selection of Scientists, PDF and SRF.
        • Nominated Member of Expert panel for selection of Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professors at Central/State Universities.. Kashmir University, MS Univ. Baroda, Central Univ. Gujarat, Dyal Bagh Institute Agra, etc.
        • Served chairperson, Governing body of IGIPESS, New Delhi (2017).
        • PROVOST, Meghdoot Hostel for PG  women, Delhi University  e. f. April, 2015 to till date.
        • University representative, on the Governing body of Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education & Sports Sciences (IGIPESS), Delhi w.e.f. December 13, 2015 to till date.
        • Member, Managing committee, Gandhi Bhawan, Univ. of Delhi.
        • Served as TEAM LEADER/CONVENER, NAAC Peer team, Delhi University for inspecting academic, health and hygiene to different Departments, w.e.f. 2015 to till date.
        • Serving as Nominated Member of various administrative committees constituted by the University Grants Commission, New Delhi w.e.f. May, 2009 onward.
        • Served UGC Nominee in Governing Body of Sahayadri College, Shimoga from 2005-06 to 2010-2011.
        • Member UGC Team Visiting for XIth Plan in CDLU, Sirsa (Haryana) from 08.06.2009 to 10.06.2009
        • Member UGC Visiting Team for approving Davangere University, Karnataka for its inclusion under Section 12 (B) for receiving grants under XI Five Year Plan.
        • Member, UGC Expert Committee for evaluation and recommendation of Travel Grants to college Teachers (2009-onward).
        • Member UGC Expert committee for providing Financial Grants to University/Colleges under Innovative Programmes (2009-onward).
        • UGC Committee for Evaluating the standard and performance of UGC- NET for JRF and Lecturer-ship conducted by different State Agencies/ Board/ Commission(2009-onward).
        • Nominated Member of Expert panel of selection committee by the Department of Higher Education Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, New Delhi for selection of the candidates for foreign scholarships w.e.f. 2008 to till date
        • Member Committee of Courses &Studies in Botany,Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur (Rajasthan)
        • Member, School Board of Studies,(BOS) Central University of Gujarat.
        • Member Board of Studies in Botany, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi.
        • Expert for RDC committee, M.D. University Rohtak  and  Gurukul Kangri Univ. Haridwar.
        • Member Committee of Courses, M.D. University, Rohtak (Haryana), Jan 31, 2013 to till date.
        • Expert of academic audit committee of the Department of Botany, M.D. Univ. Rohtak, Haryana 2014 to till date.
        • Member Executive committee, Delhi university Women Association (DUWA).e.f.2016-2019.
        • Served as Co-ordinator, M.Sc. Entrance Examination for admission to M.Sc. Botany Course 2015-2016.
        • Serving as Suprintendent for M.Sc. Practicals and Theory Examinations, w.e.f. 2014 to till date.
        • Co-ordinator, Plant Biotechnology Course, Botany, Univ. Delhi.
        • Advisor, Delhi University Botanical Society  e.f. 2014 to till date.
        • Member Department Research Council (DRC), Dept . Botany, e.f. 2015 onward to 2017
        • Member Science Faculty, University of Delhi, e. f. 2010  to till date.:
        • Member Delhi University Court.
        • Member, Delhi University Flower Show Committee (2012 to till date).
        • Nodal Officer for sexual Harassment, anti-ragging Committees, Dept of Botany, w.e.f. 2014 to till date.
        • Member, Swachhata Abhiyan Committee, University of Delhi, e.f. 2016-2018.
        • Member M.Sc. Admission Entrance Examination Committee (1999 to till date)
        • Served as Member of Subcommittees for restructuring of M.Sc. &M.Phil. Courses 2005-2007, and 2009 (Semester System) at Dept. of Botany, Delhi University.
        • Working as observer, in the University Flying Squad Team (1998- to till date)
        • Member Central Instruments Facilities (HPLC) Committee.
        • Member Souvenir and Purchase Committees, DUWA (2015-to till date).
        • Teacher in charge Central Plant Tissue Culture Lab., Glass Houses, Dept. of Botany (2002 to till date). 

        Memberships of Academic/Professional Societies: Life members of several  prestigious academic international societies International/National:

        • International Association of Plant Biotechnology (IAPB), USA, Society for Low Temperature Biology, London. (SLTB).
        • Life Member of  Indian Society of Nano-medicines(ISNM), Plant Tissue Culture Association of India (PTCAI ),  National Academy of Vector Borne Diseases (NAVBD), Society for Advancement of Botany (SAB), Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA),Indian  Society of Plant Physiology (ISPP), Society for Biology and Biotechnology , National  Society of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of India(NMAPI),  Delhi University Botanical Society (DUBS).  International Society of Plant Morphologists.(ISPM). Indian Society of Tree Scientists (ISTS). Orchid Society of India. of Eco-Transformation Society.

        Best Publications:

        • Nanda, R & Agrawal, Veena.* 2018. Piriformospora  indica, an excellent system for heavy metal sequestration and amelioration of oxidative stress and DNA damage in Cassia angustifolia Vahl under copper stress. & Environ. Safety 156:409-419. Elsevier, USA (I.F. 3.974).
        • Kumar, D., Kumar, G., Das, R. & Agrawal, Veena.* 2018. Strong larvicidal potential of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized using Holarrhena antidysenterica bark extract against malarial vector, Anopheles stephensi . Process Saf. Environ. Prot. 116:137-1489.  Elsevier, USA. (I.F. 3.441).
        • Nindavat, S. & Agrawal, Veena. 2019. Fabrication of silver nanoparticles using Arnebia hispidissima (Lehm.) A. DC. root extract and unravelling their potential biomedical applications.  Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine and Biotechnology, . Accepted and in press. DOI 10.1080/21691401.2018.1548469. Taylor & Francis, U.K.  IF; 3.00
        • Kumar, J. & Agrawal, V.* 2017. Analysis of genetic diversity and population genetic structure in Simarouba glauca (an important bio-energy crop) employing ISSR and SRAP markers. Ind. Crops Prod. 100: 198-207. (Elsevier, Netherlands) (I.F. 3.849).
        • Kapoor, H., Yadav, N., Chopra, M., Mahapatra, S.C. & Agrawal, V.* 2017. Strong anti-tumorous potential of Nardostachys jatamansi rhizome extract on glioblastoma and in silico analysis of its molecular drug targets. Can. Drug Tar. 17: 74-88 (Bentham Science, U. K.). (I.F. 3.112) .
        • Nanda, R. & Agrawal, V.* 2016. Elucidation of zinc and copper induced oxidative stress, DNA damage and activation of defense system during seed germination in Cassia angustifolia Vahl. Environ. Exp. Bot. 125: 31-41 (Elsevier Netherlands). (I.F. 3.666).
        • Parast, B. M.; Chetri, S. K.; Sharma, K. & Agrawal, Veena. 2011. In vitro isolation, elicitation of psoralen in callus cultures of Psoralea corylifolia and cloning of psoralen synthase gene. Physiol. Biochem.49: 1138-1146. Elsevier, USA. (I.F. 2.718).
        • Heikrujam, M.; Sharma, K.; Kumar, J. & Agrawal, V. 2014. Generation and validation of unique male sex- specific sequence tagged sites (STS) marker from diverse genotypes of dioecious Jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis). Euphytica 199:363-372. Springer, Netherlands. (I.F. 1.546).
        • Kumar, D., Al Hassan, M., Naranjo, M. A., Agrawal, V., Boscaiu, M., & Vicente, O. (2017). Effects of salinity and drought on growth, ionic relations, compatible solutes and activation of antioxidant systems in oleander (Nerium oleander L.). PloS one, 12(9), e0185017 (I.F. 2.77).
        • Chetri, S. K.; Kapoor, H. & Agrawal, V.* 2016. Marked enhancement of sennoside bioactive compounds through precursor feeding in Cassia angustifolia Vahl and cloning of isochorismate synthase gene involved in its biosynthesis. Cell Tiss. Organ Cult. 124: 431-446. (Springer Netherlands), (I.F. 2.004).
        • Roy, R., Purty R.S., Agrawal, Veena & Gupta, S.C. 2006. Transformation of tomato cultivar ‘Pusa Ruby’ with bspA gene from Populus tremula for drought tolerance. Plant Cell Tiss. Org. Cult. 84: 55-67 Springer, Netherlands. (I.F. 2.004).
        • Agrawal, Veena & Gupta, S.C. 1991. In vitro plantlet development from explants of 25-year-old trees of Populus x euramericana a hybrid paper. Sci. 78: 99-105. Elsevier. (I.F. 3.712).

        Major Research Interest: Genetic Transformation, Plant Metabolic Engineering, Nano-biotechnology, sex-linked markers.

        Numbers of PhD guided so far: Ninteen

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • Honorary Professor, was conferred by Samarkand State University, Uzbekistan in 2018 (Distinction by a Foreign University in recognition of distinct academic services).
        • Fellow Linnean Society of London, (FLS), 2017
        • Life Time Achievement Award-2018 in Science (Botany) by Venus International Foundation, Chennai.
        • Eminent Scientist Award in 2016 by Society of Plant Research, India
        • Fellow of International Society of Plant Morphologists (FISPM) in 2014-15
        • Fellow Indian Society of Plant Physiology (FISPP), IARI, Fellow International India, 2013.
        • Elected member of PTCAI: Plant Tissue Culture Association (India),2010.
        • Special Recognition Award as Member Organizing Committee, by OMICS International Groups during 6th World Congress on Biotechnology  held in New Delhi (October 5-7, 2015,.)
        • UGC, National Research Scientist Award in 1990
        • IAPTC&B Fellowship for participation in the ‘XI Int. Cong. Pl. Tiss. Cult. Biotech.’ held at Beijing, (China), August, 2006.
        • Selected Top Referee 2006 by Editors of Scientia Horticulture (Elsevier) for evaluating research paper and high quality review report vide letter of Bernard Westerop, Senior Publishing Editor, Elsevier.
        • Member, Editorial Board of the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Abstracts (MAPA), approved by National Institute of Science Communication and Information Research (NISCAIR).
        • Served as Editor, Phytomorphology: An International Journal of Plant Sciences,( 2012-2014)
        • Member, Editorial Board of International Journal of Pharma Medicines and Biosciences (IJPMBS).
        • Best Poster Award for research contribution entitled “Biotechnological approaches for enhanced production of artemisinin in Artemisia annua employing biotic and abiotic stress and their bioefficacy against cancer cell lines and malaria and filarial vectors” during National Conference organized by (PTCAI) at Pune (Maharashtra) from 10-12 March, 2014.
        • Third Prize (of Rs. 5 Lakhs) awarded by University of Delhi to our research work during annual event of “Antardhvani” in Feb., 2014 which was displayed Under Good Practices on Behalf of Botany Department. The work was evaluated by Eminent Jury outside Delhi University.
        • Awarded Cash prize and Certificate for best Poster entitled “In vitro plantlet regeneration through callus raised from Poplar trees during Non-regenerative period” at WWF Auditorium, Delhi, during Tree- Science Conf., 1998, April 10-13, 1998. Sponsored by Int. Union Forest Res. Org. (IFURO).
        • Awarded DST and UGC Fellowship for participation in the Cong. sponsored by Int. Assoc. Pl. Tiss. Cult. Biotech. held at Jerusalem (Israel) in June 1998.
        • Awarded prize (Certificate) for best Poster entitled “High Efficiency in vitro clonal propagation of female jojoba plants” presented during the Natal. Symp. Emerging Trends Pl. Tiss. Cult. Assoc., held at Dept. Genetics, Osmania Univ. Hyderabad, during Jan. 29-31 1997.
        • Awarded CSIR (New Delhi) Research Associate-ship from Feb. 1986 to Nov. 1990 and Pool Officership(1983-1986) and UGC,JRF,SRF(1978-1982)
        • Awarded B.D. Merit Scholarship for M.Sc. (1975-77) for standing first in B.Sc.Awarded Gold Medal for standing first in B.Sc. in Kurukshetra University in 1974.
        • Awarded B.D. Merit Scholarship for M.Sc. (1975-77) for standing first in B.Sc.
        • Awarded Gold Medal for standing first in B.Sc. in Kurukshetra University in 1974.

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2010

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: It provides a platform for interacting with the specialized scientists of different institutions/Universities.

        Research Gate

        Dr. (Fr.) Vincent J. Braganza

        Chairman-Secretary, Xavier Research Foundation
        Director, Loyola Centre for Research & Development
        St. Xavier’s College Campus,
        Navrangpura, Ahmedabad – 380009.
        www.xrf.res.in
        Email: vincentbraganza@xrf.res.in

        Qualification: M. Sc. (Physics, Electronics), M.S. – Ph. D. (Biochemistry & Biophysics)

        Specialization: Enzyme-Protein purification and characterisation, Plant Tissue Culture, Phytochemistry, Environmental Biology, Molecular Biology and Gene cloning

        Positions held:

        • 1987 to Present:           Chairman-Secretary, Xavier Research Foundation                                       
                                                  Director, Loyola Centre for Research & Development
                                                  Executive Director, Xavier Institute of Computer Sciences
        • 2017 March:                  Inducted as Ph.D. co-guide in Biochemistry by Gujarat Forensic Sciences University (GFSU), Gandhinagar
        • 2015 June:                     Inducted as Ph.D. guide in Biochemistry by Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU), Gandhinagar
        • 2015 April:                     Inducted as a Ph.D. guide in Biochemistry by Rai University, Ahmedabad
        • 2013 Dec to 2014 Mar: Visiting Scholar (Science, Religion and Society) at the Jesuit School of Theology (JST), Santa Clara University, California, USA
        • 2012 October:               Inducted as a Ph.D. guide in Biotechnology by Shri Jagdish Prasad Jhabarmal Tibrewala University, Rajasthan
        • 2008 to 2012:                Principal, St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad
        • 2005 to Present:           PhD Guide (Biochemistry), Gujarat University, Ahmedabad
        • 1996 to June 2006:      Vice Principal, St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad
        • 1995 to Present:           Post Graduate Lecturer Biochemistry Department, Gujarat University
        • 1995 to 2012:                Coordinator Vocational Courses (Biotechnology and Industrial Chemistry)                                                                                                                                  Lecturer, Vocational Biotechnology, St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad
        • 1989:                              Post Graduate Lecturer, Environmental Science Department, Gujarat University
        • 1987 to 2012:                Lecturer, Department of Biochemistry, St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad(Subject: Molecular Biology at the Third Year level)
        • 1987 to present:           Chairman, Foundation for the Health and Human To Present Xavier Research Foundation                                                                                                      Executive Director, Xavier Institute of Computer Sciences

        Academic and Research Achievements:

        • To provide environment of research at an undergraduate level: Founded the Loyola Center For Research and Development, the only institute in Gujarat, which offered independent research at the undergraduate level. Students of Third Year B.Sc. were selected to work at the Loyola Centre for Research and Development every year. More than one hundred and fifty students have got a chance to learn the cutting edge techniques in research at their undergraduate level, which has motivated them enough to pursue research as their career. No other institution has a similar program to motivate BioSciences students to become top level Bio-Scientists.
        • Plant Biotechnology – Entrepreneurship unit: Implemente an innovative idea of establishing a training unit, wherein undergraduate research students get trained in scientific techniques as well as entrepreneurial methods has taken the shape of a unit- Industrial Training Unit (ITU). Students of Vocational Biotechnology run this full-fledged unit, which is more like a students’ company. They have their own strategies to generate ornamental and medicinal plants using Plant Tissue Culture technique and to market them efficiently. This ITU has standardized protocol for a number of different plants and have produced significant numbers  of each using micropropagation as a tool.
        • Environmental biology: Ph.D. thesis have been guided in which students have worked on isolating microbes, which can degrade hydrocarbons. We have carried out phytotoxicity studies using crop plants and have found results of scientific significance. Our future plans are to check the synergistic and antagonistic effects of the consortia of these microbes to design such a mixture that can help clearing of oil spills from the farmlands, making them more fertile.
        • Conservation of plants: Ex situ & in situ: To conserve our medicinal systems indigenous to India, it has become the need of the hour to conserve plants. Efforts are promoted at LCRD as an institute, to ensure availability of various threatened or vulnerable plants through ex situ conservation using the tools of plant tissue culture and micropropagation. To conserve plants in situ mini-forests have been developed at various locations in Gujarat. This establishment of mini-forests, while ensuring availability of the plants, also spreads awareness and a sense of responsibility towards forests amongst the tribals. Livelihood options for the tribals based on their plant wealth and knowledge has also been explored: It is impossible for these systems established by ethnic groups to survive without active interests of the tribals themselves. Ethnomedicinal wisdom is slowly becoming obsolete because of the lack of inheritance of this knowledge in these groups. To conserve it through generations it is equally essential that it generates enough livelihood options for them. Attempts have been tried to establish a system and a team was set up to actively work on training tribals in such a way that while they earn their livelihood for their sustenance and growth, they also contribute towards the growth and sustenance of forests and their own ethnomedicinal wisdom.  Tribal students from non-scientific background have been selected and trained in plant tissue culture with a view to establish them as independent entities to run a PTC lab in the Forests themselves.

        Other Achievements:

        • Completed Funded Projects by External Grant Agencies (in the past 5 years): Completed: 8, Total Cost: 61.84 Lakhs
        • Ongoing Funded Projects by External Grant Agencies: Ongoing: 2, Total Cost: 46.19 Lakhs
        • Papers Published: 46
        • Posters Presented: 108
        • Oral Presentations: 54
        • Book: 01
        • Book Chapter: 05
        • Book Edited: 01

        Best Publications:

        • Shital Doshi, Vincent BraganzaEvolvulus alsinoides Enhances Resistance against Thermal and Oxidative Stress in Caenorhabditis elegans. International Journal of Advanced and Innovative Research, (2278-7844)/ Volume 7 Issue 5, 2018.  
        • Mayur Panchal, Sandip Ghosh, Vincent Braganza. Assessment of Chromium in Drinking Water, Soil and Industrial Effluents of Sanand Industrial Area, Gujarat. International Journal of Current Advanced Research, Volume 6; Issue 7; July 2017; Page No. 4820-4826 | ISSN: O: 2319-6475, ISSN: P: 2319 – 6505.
        • Kinjal Desai, Vincent Braganza. Cytotoxic activity and phytochemical investigation of Phyllanthus emblica L. leaves. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research | Vol. 7 | Issue 5, 2016, pp 1000-1004 | E-ISSN: 0975-8232; P-ISSN: 2320-5148.
        • Sudha Sahay, Vincent Braganza. Early rhizogenesis of Curculigo orchioides Gaertn. Plant Cell Biotechnology and Molecular Biology 16 (1&2): August 2015, pp 93-98 | ISSN No. 0972-2025. 
        • Vincent J. Braganza s.j. Plant tissue culture, entrepreneurship and sustainable development. Proceedings of 28th PTCA meeting, held at Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. 2006.  
        • Maulika Jagdish, S.K. Ghosh & V.J.Braganza. Biodegradation of engine lubricating oil by hydrocarbon- degrading strains isolated from a crude oil contaminated soil. Asian Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences, Volume 8 (3): 717- 718. 2006.  
        • Vaidya, G.,K., D’Cruz, L., Saxena, O., P., Braganza, V., J. Effect of Various factors on plantlet regeneration of Curculigo orchioides Gaertn. Plant Cell Biotechnology and Molecular Biology 6 (1 &2): 29-34. 2005.  
        • Chich-Min Kam, Maria A Hernandez, Girish S. Patil, Toshihisa Ueda, William H. Simmons, Vincent J. Braganza and James C. Powers. Mamalian Tissue Trypsin-like Enzymes: Substrate Specificity and Inhibitory Potency of Substituted Isocoumarin Mechanism Based Inhibitors, Benzamidine Derivatives, and Arginine Floroalkyl Ketone Transition-State Inhibitors. Archives of Biochemistry & Biophysics Vol. 316, No.2, Feb. 1, pp.808-814. 1995.  
        • Vincent J. Braganza and William H. Simmons. Tryptase from Rat Skin: Purification and Properties. Biochemistry. Vol 30, No. 20. (pg.4997-5007). 1991. 

        Major Research Interest:

        • Biochemistry & Biophysics: Isolation and purification characterization of proteins (enzymes) from animal, plant and tissue culture sources.  Use of techniques in immunology and molecular biology for studying  protein characteristics.
        • Medicinal plants: The main specific interest is to identify medicinally important plants reported in our ayurvedic and other alternative medicinal systems and ensure their availability by conserving them ex situ as well as in situ. A thesis work carried out at our institution catalogues such a system that exists in South Gujarat. The Vasava tribals of South Gujarat have been using forest plants to cure various ailments, many of which are not reported anywhere.
        • Tissue culture of  such medicinally important plants and phytochemical studies to identify and isolate plant molecules useful for chemotherapy, memory, antiaging etc.
        • Bioremediation and phytoremdaition and isolation of useful microbes from soil, hot springs etc.
        • Electronics: Adaptation and designing of instrumentation for biochemical and biophysical research, dependent on semiconductor and integrated circuit technology currently available in India.
        • Theology: Problems in theology related to developments in science of the ethical, theological, anthropological, creation spirituality levels.
        • Computers: Use of computers, for simulation of life science processes, data analysis, computers for rural uplift.

        Numbers of Ph. D. guided so far: Ten 

        Awards and Recognitions:

        • Awarded the Gujarat Science Academy – PG Science Teacher Award 2016 in Biological Sciences on the 4th of February 2017, at the Gujarat Science Congress held in Gandhinagar.
        • Felicitated with the Certificate of Excellence by the Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Award Trust (RBNQA) at the Making Quality Happen Annual Conferences on 3rd March 2016 and 19th March 2015 in Mumbai, for demonstrating team leadership in the 2015 and 2014 RBNQA Assessment Process respectively.
        • Nominated for the INSA Teachers Award – 2015.
        • Chairperson of the panel discussion “Current advances and career opportunities in Biological Sciences” on 27th December 2105, at the International Seminar on “Current Trends in Biological Sciences” held at MG Science Institute (sponsored by GSBTM & GUJCOST).
        • Inducted into the panel of judges of the National Innovation Foundation to select awardees for the All India Dr. Abdul Kalam Innovation Awards to school children on 16th October, 2012.
        • Awarded the Vidya Rattan Gold Medal Award by the Indian Solidarity Council for “Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Education” on 25th July, 2012.
        • Awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Education Excellence Award by the International Institute of Education & Management for “Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Education” on 25th July, 2012.
        • Awarded the Bharat Vidhya Shiromani Award and a certificate of Education Excellence for my role in the field of Education on 27th May, 2012.
        • Inducted as a Fellow of Gujarat Science Congress in the year 2011.
        • Inducted as a member of Plant Tissue Culture Association of India (PTCA-I) at the Annual Meeting of PTCA-I held as part of the National Symposium at the University of Calcutta, March 2nd– 5th, 2010.
        • Selected by the British High Commission for Inward Mission on Higher Education 2009.
        • Member of the Expert Committee of University Grants Commission (UGC) to award development grants for the state of Maharashtra.
        • Awarded the T. K. Gajjar Memorial lecture 2008-09.
        • Appointed as Ph.D. guide in Biochemistry (Gujarat University) 2005.

        Year of Election as Member of PTCA (I): 2010 

        Liked to join and continue as PTCA member: Enables continuous learning with prominent scientists of several generations.  Opportunity for professional relationships and support.

        Research Gate