Mukesh Kumar Yadav Author & Editor

Manoj Kumar Solanki (Ph.D.) is currently working as a scientist in the Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environment Protection of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland, under the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange program. He obtained his Master’s degree in Microbiology from Barkatullah University in 2006 and a Ph.D. degree in Microbiology from Rani Durgawati University, India, in 2013. He was awarded a visiting scientist fellowship from the Guangxi Academy of Agriculture Sciences, China, in 2013–2015, and was also awarded as visiting scientist from the Volcani Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Israel 2016-2020. During his Ph.D., he was awarded a Senior Research Fellowship from the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), India. He also worked as a research associate in the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), India, in a DBT-funded project. He has been engaged in various research activities on plant–microbes interaction, soil microbiology, plant disease management, and enzymology, and published many book chapters and various research papers in the journals of international repute. His current research interest lies in post-harvest disease management, the study of bacterial and fungal microbiomes, nutrient management, plant disease management, bioformulation preparation and application, microbial genome analysis, microbial diversity, lytic enzymes such as chitinase and amylase, stress regulation by plant growth-promoting microbes, and soil microbial community analysis by modern biotechnological tools. He has vast experience in several plant diseases like root rot, wilt, charcoal rot, downy mildew, and their management. Dr. Solanki has a great interest in agriculturally important microorganisms (such as bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, and yeast), especially in the utilization of microorganisms in soil and crop health management and other allied areas. Dr. Mukesh Kumar Yadav, is working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biotechnology, at Mizoram University, India. He has more than 12 years of research experience in the field of microbiology in general and microbial biofilms, host-pathogen interaction and entophytes in particular. Dr. Yadav’s research is focused on microbial biofilms in clinical settings. He is particularly interested in microbial biofilms related to pathogenesis and in the identification of novel pathways for the development of new antimicrobial/antibiofilm compounds. The host-response during single species or multi-species colonization in vivo is also an important part of his study. Using in vitro biofilm models and in vivo colonization models, his group have identified a number of natural and synthetic compounds that are effective in controlling bacterial growth in planktonic bacteria as well as under biofilm state. Dr. Yadav has completed four major research projects on microbial biofilms, and has published more than 45 research articles. Dr. Singh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship & Management (NIFTEM), An Institute of National Importance (INI), under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India. Dr. Singh has obtained his Ph.D. from the Department of Biotechnology, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, India while working in the Indian Agricultural Research Institute-National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms (ICAR-NBAIM), Mau, India and has completed his post graduate training at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (ICAR-NBPGR), Pusa campus, New Delhi on Genetic Diversity of Barley Landraces by using RAPD markers. Dr. Singh worked as a Research Associate at the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology (NRCPB), Pusa Campus, New Delhi for one year. He also worked as Assistant Professor from 2008 till 2020 in the Department of Biotechnology, Mizoram University (A central University) and established a State of Art Laboratory on Molecular Microbiology and Systematics dealing with microbial diversity and their applications in Agriculture and Industry from Mizoram, Northeast India. Dr. Singh has authored over 70 peer reviewed research papers in high impact factor journals and several book chapters of international repute and general articles, as well as edited six books published by Springer and Elsevier. He has guided four Ph.D. and three M. Phil. students. Dr. Singh is a recipient of the DBT Overseas fellowship from the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India for working at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK during 2012-2013. He is a member of the Association of Microbiologist of India (AMI), the Asian PGPR society for Sustainable Agriculture, the Mushroom Society of India (MSI), and the Indian Science Congress (ISC). He received several prestigious awards from agencies such as DST, New Delhi and other agencies in the field of Microbial Diversity, and competed eight externally funded projects on several aspects of microbial diversity and their applications in agriculture and health. Dr. Singh has received an International project under Indo-Russia bilateral schemes through the Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi. His major research areas are in postharvest disease management using natural agents and improving the shelf life of fresh commodities to reduce food loss happening during the food supply chain. Currently Dr. Singh is Vice President of the Asian PGPR Society for Sustainable Agriculture. Dr. V. K. Gupta received his Ph.D. in Microbiology in 2009 from Dr. RML Avadh University, India. Currently, Dr. Gupta is working as Associate Professor (Biochemistry) at AgroBioSciences (AgBS)/Chemical & Biochemical Sciences (CBS), UM6P University, Morocco. Dr. Gupta has 16+ years of professional research experience in the area of Plant-Microbial Interactions. Dr. Gupta was also Senior Research Scientist, Microbial Biotechnology at ERA Chair of Green Chemistry, Tallinn University of Technology (TUT), Tallinn, Estonia. He is a Fellow of The Linnaean Society, London, UK; Fellow of Hind Agri Society, India, and Fellow of International Society of Contemporary Biologist, India. He has broad experience of scientific and technical editorship, including several books that he has edited for publishers such as Wiley-Blackwell; CRC Press; Springer; Elsevier; Nova Science Publisher; and CABI. He serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Fungal Biology (Springer, USA), and Biofuels and Bio-refineries (Springer, Germany), and a Senior Editor of Fungal Biology and Biotechnology, BioMed Central (UK).