New and Future Developments in Microbial Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Professor Harikesh Bahadur Singh is Head of the Department of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. Over the past 35 years, Professor Singh has served at Central Universities and CSIR Institutes with his teaching and research. Based on his scientific contribution and leadership in the field of plant pathology, Professor Singh has been honoured with prestigious awards, such as the CSIR technology award, M.S. Swaminathan award, Mundkur Memorial award, and BRSI Industrial Medal. His research has resulted in more than 300 publications and 17 books.

Dr Vijai G. Gupta is an Assistant Professor of Biotechnology at MITS University of India. Currently he is working as Research Scientist at National University of Ireland in Galway. Dr. Gupta’s present work is focused on the development and optimization of novel Enzyme-based bioconversion systems for biorefining and bioenergy. He has been honored with several awards, including the prestigious Indian ICAR Senior Research Fellowship and Indian Young Scientist Award. He has submitted 33 new fungal nucleotide sequences and deposited 147 fungal strains in International databases. His work with Fusarium spp., Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Penicillium spp. and Trichoderma spp. is augmented by contributions to biotechnological development, molecular diversity, secondary metabolites and industrial applications Dr. Gupta is the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Plant Pathology and a regional editorial board member of 8 other respected journals. He is the author of 40 journal articles and 27 book chapters. Gupta has also written and edited books and series from reputed publishers, including CRC Press, Taylor and Francis, USA; Springer, USA; Elsevier, USA; Nova Science Publisher, USA and LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany.

Dr. Sudisha Jogaiah (M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D., Post-doc (JSPS, Japan) FNABS) is Assistant Professor and Programme Coordinator at the Laboratory of Plant Healthcare and Diagnostics, PG Department of Biotechnology and Microbiology, Karnatak University, Dharwad, India. The technological quality and expertise of Dr. Jogaiah’s lab is reflected in an extensive track record of publications with over 87 peer-reviewed papers, one national patent and 6 review articles with h-index of 24. He also contributed 18 chapters in various book editions published by Springer, Wiley-Blackwell, and Elsevier. He has expertise in plant defense enzymes and signalling pathways for induction of systemic resistance. He has also edited three books on bioactive molecules involved in plant-microbe interactions and defense. He is the recipient of Fellow of National Academy of Biological Sciences (FNABS) and has received a range of international awards. Dr. Jogaiah has served as editor of Scientific Reports, Plos One, BMC Plant Biology, Frontiers in Plant Science, Annals of Crop Sciences and Agriculture, Journal of Mycology and Plant Pathology, and BioMed Research International.