Plant Biotechnology: Progress in Genomic Era

Prof. (Dr.) S.M. Paul Khurana had PhD in 1969 on papaya viruses, and 2 years of Post-Doctoral Research (1970-72) in Adv Plant Virology at Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan with Prof Zyun Hidaka as JSPS fellow. Also availed GOI DBT overseas fellowship for one year at University of Minnesota, St Paul (USA) with Prof EE Banttari & specialized in Immunodiagnostics (March 1987 to April, 1988). Worked at Central Potato Research Institute(CPRI), Shimla since 1973 as Scientist/Sr Scientist ,Principal Scientist, Head, Virus/Seed Pathology (1976-82/1988), Principal Scientist & Head, Plant Pathology Divn (1988-93), Project Coordinator AICRP-Potato( 1994-2004), and Director (2002-2004)CPRI, Shimla; Vice -Chancellor, Rani Durgavati University, Jabalpur (2004-2009).Also served as visiting Consultant for CIP/FAO (1992, 1996,1997). Then as the Director, Amity Instt of Biotechnology, AUUP, Noida (2009-10),and moved to Amity Univ Haryana at Gurgaon in Aug 2010 for establishing  Instt of Biotechnology (2010-2015), Dean, Sci, Engg & Technology (2013-contd.) Amity Univ Haryana, Gurgaon. An internationally recognized Plant Virologist/Pathologist & Biotechnologist having 53yrs experience, 230 research papers & 100+ reviews, guided 16 PhDs, edited 16 books etc.Dr. Rajarshi Kumar Gaur earned PhD in 2005, now Professor & Head, Department of Bioscience, Mody University of Science and Technology, Lakshmangarh, Sikar, Rajasthan, India. His Ph.D was on molecular characterization of sugarcane viruses, viz., mosaic, streak mosaic and yellow luteovirus. He received MASHAV fellowship in 2004 of Israel government for his post-doctoral studies and joined The Volcani Centre, Israel and BenGurion University, Negev, Israel. In 2007 he received the Visiting Scientist Fellowship from Swedish Institute Fellowship, Sweden for one year to work in the Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. He has made significant contributionson sugarcane viruses and published 130 national/international papers and presented near about 50 papers in the national and international conferences. He was awarded as Fellow of Linnean Society, London. Currently, he is handling many national & international grants and international collaborative projects on plant viruses and disease management.

• Selected Innovative Solutions for the Regulation of GM crops in times of Gene Editing.- Principles and Implications of various genome enrichment approaches for targeted sequencing of plant genomes.- Genomic intervention in wheat improvement.- Current Trends in Biotechnology: from genome sequence to crop improvement.- Emergence of Medicagotruncatula as a model for legume genomics.- Genomics and supporting factors involved in plant response to abiotic and biotic stress accompanied with molecular mechanism.- Genome editing: Advances and Prospects.- Bioinformatics Intervention In Plant Biotechnology In The Era  of Genomics: An Overview.- Plant Oil Biodiesel: Technologies for Commercial Production, Present Status and Future Prospects.- Effect of nanomaterials and their possible implication on the plants.- Generating bioelectricity from different organic residues using microbial fuel cells.- Progress and Prospects in the Production of Cellulosic Ethanol.- Importance of Actinobacteria for Bioremediation .- Medicinal properties and health benefits of Withania somnifera.- Active compounds and Bacteria harbouring capacity of Lichens and its medicinal use in bacterial and cancer infections.- Symbiosis between Sebacinales and Aloe vera.- Nanotechnological Interventions For Improving Plant Health And Productivity.- Root nodule development in model versus non-canonical plants.- CRISPR Applications in Plant Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology.- Defense mechanism and diverse actions of fungal biological control agents against plant biotic stresses.- Role of ROS in induction signalling mediated defense in Plants against abiotic stresses.- Plant viruses as Virus Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) vectors.- Post-transcriptional gene silencing as a tool for controlling viruses in plants.- Plant platform for therapeutic monoclonal antibody production.- Droplet digital PCR for absolute quantification of plant pathogens.- Diagnostics for citrus greening disease (Huanglongbing): currentand emerging technologies.- Chloroplast proteins & virus interplay: a pathfinder to crop improvement.