Microbial Diversity and  Biotechnology in Food Security

R. N. Kharwar • R. S. Upadhyay   N. K. Dubey • Richa RaghuwanshiEditors

Microbial Diversity and Biotechnology in Food Security

ISBN 978-81-322-1800-5 ISBN 978-81-322-1801-2 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-1801-2Springer New Delhi Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York

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EditorsR. N. KharwarDepartment of BotanyBanaras Hindu University Centre of Advanced study in BotanyVaranasiIndia

R. S. UpadhyayDepartment of BotanyBanaras Hindu University Centre of Advanced study in BotanyVaranasiIndia

N. K. DubeyDepartment of BotanyBanaras Hindu University Centre of Advanced study in BotanyVaranasiIndia

Richa RaghuwanshiDepartment of Botany, Mahila MahavidyalayaBanaras Hindu UniversityVaranasiIndia

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Foreword

Microbiology is an inherently valuable and an immensely broad-based disci-pline that offers an intimate view of a world that is invisible to the unaided eye. Although the microbes themselves are very small, the microbial world is quite large, almost all-pervasive, and diverse, and the capabilities of its members are immense. Apart from ethical values, microbial diversity is of enormous economic significance to the mankind. Microbes have always been the invisible villains that have caused enormous economic losses by spoiling food, infecting domesticated plants and animals, and causing a variety of ailments to humans. But microbes, as it turns out, are also the champions that work incessantly to remove wastes, im-prove the nutritional status of soil, enable the generation of a variety of fermented foods, and some of them are used as food. More recently, humans have deliber-ately domesticated a variety of microbes that are used as workhorses to achieve varied but highly specialized and extremely valuable ends, including production of an increasingly large number of drugs and food supplements.

Therefore, microbiology/mycology/plant pathology has been an active area of both basic and applied research. Apart from the specialized field of industrial microbiology that is dominated by the private sector, research activities in several other areas including agriculture and environment remain primarily in the public domain. The knowledge generated by research gets disseminated through education and finally trickles down to the farmers and other practitioners in these fields. This knowledge is often used for resolving various issues related to the environment and food security at the grassroots level of policy makers.

The present book, entitled “Microbial Diversity and Biotechnology in Food Security,” is a compilation of the contributions from leading workers in different areas of microbiology, and is the outcome of an International Con-ference—ICMPB-2012—organized by the Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. It is admirable that the book begins with the basic concept of the important fundamental themes and effortlessly moves to the advanced ideas of microbiology, including biotechnology relevant for a sus-tainable development and food security that is under challenge by the inces-sant growth of the human population worldwide.

The present book is organized into four sections—Endophytes and Mycor-rhizae, Microbial Diversity and Plant Protection, Microbial Functions and Biotechnology, and Microbes and the Environment—which together contains 53 chapters contributed by acknowledged experts in the concerned field from various parts of the world. The chapters are designed to cover the general as well as specific aspects of microbes’ potential, and their exploitation for plant protection, environmental conservation, and biotechnology applications.

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The book chapters contain numerous beautiful and revealing illustrations, and cover both traditional as well as recent developments in the field of micro-biology, mycology, and plant pathology. Throughout the book, the approach has been of a critical evaluation, which is an integral part of the approach of science professionals. I am confident that this excellent effort will serve the needs of both researchers as well as the students of this fascinating field of enquiry.

It is a matter of delight that this useful collection of highly informative contributions from scientists of repute in their own fields has been given a final shape in a relatively short period of time, for which the editors deserve our appreciation.

B. D. Singh School of Biotechnology,

Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Foreword

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Contents

Part I Endophytes and Mycorrhiza

1 Recent Advances in Research on Cannabis sativa L. Endophytes and Their Prospect for the Pharmaceutical Industry ........................................................................................... 3Parijat Kusari, Michael Spiteller, Oliver Kayser and Souvik Kusari

2 Endophytic Fungi from Brazilian Tropical Hosts and Their Biotechnological Applications ..................................... 17João Lúcio Azevedo

3 Diversity and Biopotential of Endophytic Fungal Flora Isolated from Eight Medicinal Plants of Uttar Pradesh, India ................................................................................................ 23R. N. Kharwar, Ashish Mishra, Vijay K. Sharma, S. K. Gond, S. K. Verma, A. Kumar, Jitendra Kumar, D. K. Singh and J. Goutam

4 Unlocking the Myriad Benefits of Endophytes: An Overview ... 41Sanjana Kaul, Maroof Ahmed, Tanwi Sharma and Manoj K. Dhar

5 Fungal Endophytes: An Amazing and Hidden Source of Cytotoxic Compounds ............................................................... 59Sunil Kumar Deshmukh and Shilpa A. Verekar

6 Diversity and Bioactivity of Endophytic Fungi from Nothapodyte foetida (Wt.) Sleumer and Hypericum mysorense Heyne ............................................................................ 91Pradeepa V. Samaga and V. Ravishankar Rai

7 Diversity of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Field and Trap Cultures from Rhizosphere Soils of Flemingia vestita Benth. ex Baker ................................................................... 103L. S. Songachan and H. Kayang

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8 Molecular Identification and Characterization of the Taxol-Producing Colletotrichum gloeosporioides from Moringa oleifera Linn. ................................................................. 111K. Gokul Raj, P. Rajapriya, J. Muthumary and M. Pandi

9 Linking Mycorrhizal Technology with Medicinal Plant Secondary Metabolites ...................................................... 121Richa Raghuwanshi and Shilpam Sinha

10 Ecology of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi ................................ 133D. J. Bagyaraj

Part II Microbial Diversity and Plant Protection

11 Screening of Brassica rapa L. var. Yellow Sarson Genotypes Against Downy Mildew and Alternaria blight ........ 149Kamlesh Kumar Prajapati, O. P. Verma, Prakash Singh, Sanjeev Singh and Dhirendra K. Singh

12 Mycofloristics of Some Forest Localities in Khammam: Some New Additions to the Fungi of Andhra Pradesh, India .............................................................................................. 159D. N. Nagaraju, I. K. Kunwar and C. Manoharachary

13 The Gomphus Paradox of Meghalaya: Wild Edible Fungus or a Poisonous Mushroom? ........................................... 171Polashree Khaund and S. R. Joshi

14 Identification of Tomato Leaf Curl Virus Infecting Acalypha indica: An Ethnomedicinal Weed in North-Eastern Uttar Pradesh ............................................................................... 177Smriti Mall, Swapna Gupta and P. P. Upadhyaya

15 Occurrence of Antiviral Systemic Resistance Inducer in Pseuderanthemum bicolor Radlk., Its Mode of Action and Biophysico-Chemical Properties ......................................... 183M. M. Abid Ali Khan, S. Rais Haider, M. Zahid Rizvi and S. Arshad Hasan Rizvi

16 An Impact of Seed Priming on Disease Resistance: A Review ........................................................................................ 193Sananda Mondal and Bandana Bose

17 Occurrence of Stone Fruit Yellows Phytoplasma Disease (Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum) in Hungary and Central Europe ..................................................................... 205Gábor Tarcali, György J. Kövics and Emese Kiss

Contents

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18 Prevention of Virus Infection and Multiplication by Inducing Virus-Interfering Agent(s) in Treated Crop Plants Under Field Conditions ������������������������������������������ 217M� M� Abid Ali Khan, S� N� H� Zaidi, S� H� A� Kazmi and S� A� Musanna

19 Biocontrol of Phytopathogenic Fungi of Rice Crop Using Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria ������������������������� 225Mohamed A� Gad, Manab Deka, Naglaa A� Ibrahim, Sherif S� Mahmoud, R� N� Kharwar and Tarun C� Bora

20 Incidence and Preliminary Control of Blast Disease of Rice in Southwest Nigeria ������������������������������������������������������� 235David B� Olufolaji

21 Evaluation of Biotic and Abiotic Factors for Production of Healthy Apple ( Malus × domestica) Seedling ������������������������ 243Jitender K� Verma, D� K� Kishore, S� K� Sharma and Asha Sharma

22 Evaluation of Antifungal Activity of Metarhizium anisopliae Against Plant Phytopathogenic Fungi ���������������������������������������� 251K� Ravindran, S� Chitra, A� Wilson and S� Sivaramakrishnan

23 Antifungal Activity of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria Against Fusarium oxysporum and Phoma sp. of Cucurbitaceae ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 257T� S� Avinash and Ravishankar V� Rai

24 Integrated Management of Web Blight ( Rhizoctonia solani Kühn) of French Bean ������������������������������������������������������ 265R� P� Gupta, B� C� Yadav, S� K� Singh and S� P� Singh

25 Role of Antagonistic Microbes in Management of Phytopathogenic Fungi of Some Important Crops ��������������� 273S� K� Dwivedi and Sangeeta

26 In Vitro Evaluation of PGPR Strains for Their Biocontrol Potential Against Fungal Pathogens ������������������������ 293Urja Pandya and Meenu Saraf

27 Pathogenicity, Ecology and Genetic Diversity of the Fusarium spp. Associated with an Emerging Bakanae Disease of Rice ( Oryza sativa L.) in India ����������������������������������� 307B� M� Bashyal, Rashmi Aggarwal, Sagar Banerjee, Sangeeta Gupta and Sapna Sharma

28 Development of Novel Molecules for the Control of Plant Pathogenic Fungi in Agriculture ������������������������������������������������� 315Santosh G� Tupe, Preeti M� Chaudhary, Sunita R� Deshpande and Mukund V� Deshpande

29 Sustainable Agriculture and Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 327S� K� Dwivedi and Ram Gopal

30 Biochemical Activity of Ocimum gratissimum Essential Oil Against Fruit-Rotting Fungi Penicillium expansum and Penicillium digitatum ������������������������������������������������������������ 343Arshad H� Rizvi, M� M� Abid Ali Khan, Praveen C� Verma and Gauri Saxena

31 Seed Quality Status of Polymer-Coated Bt Cotton ( Gossypium sp.) During Storage Under Coastal Environment ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 349C� Rettinassababady and T� Ramanadane

32 Viruses Infecting Cucurbita pepo: Current Status and Management �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 357A� K� Tiwari and G� P� Rao

33 Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria in Vegetable Disease Management ������������������������������������������������������������������� 373M� Loganathan, A� B� Rai, Arpita Singh and Sujoy Saha

34 Biological Control of Bacterial Wilt Disease-Causing Pathogens: A Sustainable Approach for Increasing Crop Production ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 383R� Srinivasamurthy, J� Pratibha Singh and Ashwani K� Rai

Part III Microbial Function and Biotechnology

35 Bio-Fungicides: The Best Alternative for Sustainable Food Security and Ecosystem ����������������������������������������������������� 401C� Rettinassababady and C� Jeyalakshmi

36 PCR Amplification, Sequencing, and In Silico Characterization of Pectin Lyase Genes from Aspergillus flavus NIICC8142 ����������������������������������������������������� 413Amit Kumar Dubey, Sangeeta Yadav, Gautam Anand and Dinesh Yadav

Contentsx

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37 Antifungal Activity of Agave Species from Gujarat, India ....... 423Anjisha R. Maharshi and Vrinda S. Thaker

38 Production of Extracellular Phytate Hydrolyzing Enzymes by Soil Fungi ................................................................................. 431Sapna, Jinender Jain and Bijender Singh

39 Isolation, Characterization and Production of Bacterial Laccase from Bacillus sp. ........................................ 439Deepti Singh, Ekta Narang, Preeti Chutani, Amit Kumar, K. K. Sharma, Mahesh Dhar and Jugsharan S. Virdi

40 Optimization of Protease Enzyme Production by the Halo-Tolerant Vibrio alginolyticus Isolated from Marine Sources ................................................................... 451S. Malathi, D. Mohana Priya and P. Palani

41 Antimicrobial Activity of Some Cyanobacteria ......................... 463Rashmi Tyagi, B. D. Kaushik and Jitendra Kumar

42 Reaction of Chickpea Varieties to Macrophomina Phaseolina and Their Effect on Peroxidase Activity ................. 471Preeti, Nilima Kumari and Vinay Sharma

43 Purification and Characterization of a Novel Thermostable β-Amylase from Aspergillus foetidus MTCC-508. β-Amylase from Aspergillus foetidus MTCC-508 .................................................................................... 479Sarad Kumar Mishra, Kumar Shivam, Sanjeev Kumar Diwakar and Swati Shukla

44 Effect of Euphorbia pulcherrima Leaf and Inflorescence Extracts on Spore Germination of Alternaria solani ................ 489Arti Goel and Kanika Sharma

45 Fungal and Mycotoxin Contamination of Herbal Raw Materials and Prospects of Higher Plant Products as Plant-Based Preservatives During Post-Harvest Processing ..................................................................................... 495Nawal Kishore Dubey, Prashant Kumar Mishra, Akash Kedia and Bhanu Prakash

46 Isolation of Nonpathogenic Strain of Ballistosporous Yeast Sporobolomyces salmonicolor from House Mouse Mus musculus (Rodentia: Muridae) ................................................... 505Jyoti Rani and Karuna Singh

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Part IV Microbes and Environment

47 Fungal Toxins and Their Impact on Living Systems ................ 513Vivek Kumar Singh, Mukesh Meena, Andleeb Zehra, Arti Tiwari, Manish Kumar Dubey and R. S. Upadhyay

48 Bacterial Degradation of Some Organophosphate Compounds ................................................................................... 531Deepak Kumar Malik, Divya Bhatia and Meenu Rathi

49 Biodiversity and Conservation of Forest Fungi of Central India ................................................................................ 543R. K. Verma

50 Spatiotemporal Variations in Microbial Mediated Nitrogen (N) Release Under N-Fertilization Experiment from Banaras Hindu University, India ................. 561Punita Verma, R. Sagar, Kuldip and Dharmendra K. Singh

51 Influence of Crop Rotation and Intercropping on Microbial Populations in Cultivated Fields Under Different Organic Amendments ...................................... 571Haribashai Swer and M. S. Dkhar

52 Leaf Litter Breakdown by Two Earthworm species— Eisenia foetida (Exotic) and Perionyx excavatus (Indigenous) Under Laboratory Condition ............................... 581Ruth Laldinthar and M. S. Dkhar

53 Chilli Anthracnose: A Review of Causal Organism, Resistance Source and Mapping of Gene ................................... 589R. Garg, M. Loganathan, S. Saha and B. K. Roy

Contents

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About the Editors

Prof. R.N. Kharwar is currently serving as a Professor in the Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. More than 50 research articles, 3 reviews in international journals, and 6 book chapters are to his credit. He is a fellow of MSI and IPS and recipient of Shome Memorial Lecture Award, 2012. His core areas of research include fungal and actinobacterial endo-phytes diversity, ecology, bioactive molecules, antioxidants, and myconano-technology. Other areas of interest include epigenetic modulations for cryptic and enhanced metabolites production from endophytes.

Prof. R.S. Upadhyay received his M.Sc. (1976) and Ph.D. (1980) degrees from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. His main focus on research has been on biological control of plant pathogens, programmed plant cell death in response to pathogens, bioremediation of toxic effluents, induced resistance in plants and their immunization, chitinase production, mycorrhizal technol-ogy for reclamation of wastelands, and molecular basis of plant-microbe interaction. He is recipient of five national awards in the area of science, one conferred by the Prime Minister of India. In addition, he has also worked as a visiting scientist to The Royal Society, London, Research Associate of NIH, USA and INSA- JSPS, Japan.

Prof. N.K. Dubey has significantly contributed to the important area of botan-ical pesticides. He has formulated several novel plant based preservatives that exhibit significant potency in control of biodeterioration of food from fungi, mycotoxins, and insects as well as from lipid peroxidation. He has filed 4 patents, published 170 research papers and review articles, 5 books and is a recipient of several awards including Prof M J Narshimhan award and Young Scientist award. He acted as a Chairperson, Session Coordinator and Key speaker in 9th ICPP 2008, held Aug 24-29, 2008, Torino, Italy.

Dr. Richa Raghuwanshi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, since 2005. Her research is focused on microbes as biofertilizers and biocontrol agents in cultivated crops and Indian medicinal plants. She has published 28 research papers, book chapters and also edited one book.

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Contributors

Rashmi Aggarwal Division of Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

Maroof Ahmed School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, India

Gautam Anand Department of Biotechnology, D.D.U Gorakhpur Univer-sity, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

T. S. Avinash Department of Studies in Microbiology, University of Mysore, Mysore, Karnataka, India

João Lúcio Azevedo Faculty of Agriculture (ESALQ), Department of Genetics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

State University of Maringá, Maringá, Brazil

D. J. Bagyaraj Center for Natural Biological Resources and Community Development (CNBRCD), Bangalore, India

Sagar Banerjee Division of Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

B. M. Bashyal Division of Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

Divya Bhatia Department of Biotechnology, University Institute of Engi-neering & Technology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India

Tarun C. Bora Biotechnology Division, North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Jorhat, Assam, India

Bandana Bose Seed Physiology Laboratory, Department of Plant Physiol-ogy, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

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Preeti M. Chaudhary Biochemical Sciences Division, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India

S. Chitra Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathi-dasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

Preeti Chutani Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand Univer-sity, Rohtak, Haryana, India

Manab Deka Biotechnology Division, Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam, India

Sunil Kumar Deshmukh Department of Natural Products, Piramal Enter-prises Limited, Mumbai, India

Mukund V. Deshpande Biochemical Sciences Division, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India

Sunita R. Deshpande Organic Chemistry Division, National Chemical Lab-oratory, Pune, India

Mahesh Dhar Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

Manoj K. Dhar School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, India

Sanjeev Kumar Diwakar Department of Biotechnology, D. D. U. Gorakh-pur University, Gorakhpur, U.P., India

M. S. Dkhar Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Department of Botany, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India

Amit Kumar Dubey Department of Biotechnology, D.D.U Gorakhpur Uni-versity, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

Manish Kumar Dubey Laboratory of Mycopathology and Microbial Tech-nology, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Nawal Kishore Dubey Laboratory of Herbal Pesticides, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

S. K. Dwivedi Department of Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (A Central) University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Mohamed A. Gad Biotechnology Division, North East Institute of Sci-ence and Technology (NEIST), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Jorhat, Assam, India

Contributors

xviiContributors

R. Garg Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Arti Goel Amity Institute of Microbial Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, U.P., India

K. Gokul Raj Department of Molecular Microbiology, School of Biotech-nology, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

S. K. Gond Department of Botany, Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, India

Ram Gopal Department of Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (A Central) University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

J. Goutam Mycopathology and Microbial Technology Laboratory, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

R. P. Gupta Department of Plant Pathology, N.D. University of Agriculture & Technology, Faizabad, U.P., India

Sangeeta Gupta Division of Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

Swapna Gupta Department of Botany, DDU Gorakhpur University, Gora-khpur, UP, India

S. Rais Haider Department of Botany, Shia P. G. College, Lucknow, India

Naglaa A. Ibrahim Department of Biology, Alexandria University, Alexan-dria, Egypt

Jinender Jain Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand Univer-sity, Rohtak, Haryana, India

C. Jeyalakshmi Department of Plant Pathology, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture & Research Institute, Karaikal, U.T. of Puducherry, India

S. R. Joshi Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology & Bio-informatics, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India

György J. Kövics Institute of Plant Protection, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

Sanjana Kaul School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, India

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B. D. Kaushik Anand Engineering College Keetham, Agra, U.P., India

H. Kayang Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Department of Botany, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India

Oliver Kayser Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, TU Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

S. H. A. Kazmi Department of Botany, Shia P. G. College, Lucknow, India

Akash Kedia Laboratory of Herbal Pesticides, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

M. M. Abid Ali Khan Department of Botany, Shia P. G. College, Lucknow, India

R. N. Kharwar Mycopathology and Microbial Technology Laboratory, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Polashree Khaund Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Biotechnol-ogy & Bioinformatics, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India

D. K. Kishore IARI, Shimla-4, Himachal Pradesh, India

Emese Kiss Department of Biotechnology, Plant Protection Institute, Hun-garian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

Kuldip Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

A. Kumar Department of Botany, Buddha PG College, Kushinagar, India

Amit Kumar Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

Jitendra Kumar Mycopathology and Microbial Technology Laboratory, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Department of Science, S. S. University, Varanasi, U.P., India

Nilima Kumari Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Banasthali University, Banasthali, Rajasthan, India

I. K. Kunwar Mycology and Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory, Dept. of Botany, Osmania University, Hyderabad, A.P., India

Contributors

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Parijat Kusari Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, TU Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

Souvik Kusari Institute of Environmental Research (INFU), Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, TU Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Ruth Laldinthar Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Department of Botany, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India

M. Loganathan Division of Crop Protection, Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, India

Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Anjisha R. Maharshi Centre for Advanced Studies in Plant Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India

Sherif S. Mahmoud Department of Biology, Alexandria University, Alex-andria, Egypt

S. Malathi Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras, Chennai, India

Deepak Kumar Malik Department of Biotechnology, University Institute of Engineering & Technology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Hary-ana, India

Smriti Mall Department of Botany, St. Andrew’s College, Gorakhpur, UP, India

C. Manoharachary Mycology and Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory, Dept. of Botany, Osmania University, Hyderabad, A.P., India

Mukesh Meena Laboratory of Mycopathology and Microbial Technology, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Ashish Mishra Mycopathology and Microbial Technology Laboratory, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Prashant Kumar Mishra Laboratory of Herbal Pesticides, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Sarad Kumar Mishra Department of Biotechnology, D. D. U. Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, U.P., India

Contributors

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D. Mohana Priya Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras, Chennai, India

Sananda Mondal Seed Physiology Laboratory, Department of Plant Physi-ology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

S. A. Musanna Department of Botany, Shia P. G. College, Lucknow, India

J. Muthumary Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

D. N. Nagaraju Mycology and Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory, Dept. of Botany, Osmania University, Hyderabad, A.P., India

Ekta Narang Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

David B. Olufolaji Department of Crop, Soil and Pest Management, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

P. Palani Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras, Chennai, India

M. Pandi Department of Molecular Microbiology, School of Biotechnol-ogy, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

Urja Pandya Department of Microbiology, University School of Sciences, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Kamlesh Kumar Prajapati Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, India

Bhanu Prakash Laboratory of Herbal Pesticides, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

J. Pratibha Singh Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Center, New Delhi, India

Preeti Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Banasthali University, Banasthali, Rajasthan, India

Richa Raghuwanshi Department of Botany, Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

A. B. Rai Division of Crop Protection, Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, India

Contributors

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Ashwani K. Rai Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Vara-nasi, India

Ravishankar V. Rai Department of Studies in Microbiology, University of Mysore, Mysore, Karnataka, India

P. Rajapriya Department of Microbial Technology, School of Biological Sciences, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India

T. Ramanadane Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute, Karaikal, Union Territory of Puducherry, India

Jyoti Rani Department of Zoology, Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

G. P. Rao Division of Plant Pathology, Indian Agriculture Research Insti-tute, New Delhi, India

Meenu Rathi Department of Botany, University College, Kurukshetra Uni-versity, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India

K. Ravindran Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

C. Rettinassababady Department of Plant Pathology, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture & Research Institute, Karaikal, U.T. of Puduch-erry, India

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute, Kara-ikal, Union Territory of Puducherry, India

Arshad H. Rizvi Department of Botany, Shia PG College, Lucknow, India

M. Zahid Rizvi Department of Botany, Shia P. G. College, Lucknow, India

S. Arshad Hasan Rizvi Department of Botany, Shia P. G. College, Lucknow, India

B. K. Roy Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

R. Sagar Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

S. Saha Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Contributors

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Sujoy Saha Division of Crop Protection, Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, India

Pradeepa V. Samaga Department of Studies in Microbiology, University of Mysore, Mysore, Karnataka, India

Sangeeta Department of Environmental Science, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (A Central) University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Sapna Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

Meenu Saraf Department of Microbiology, University School of Sciences, Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

Gauri Saxena Department of Botany, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India

Asha Sharma Department of Botany, MDU, Rohtak, Haryana, India

Kanika Sharma Department of Botany, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India

K. K. Sharma Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand Univer-sity, Rohtak, Haryana, India

S. K. Sharma YSP UH&F, Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, India

Sapna Sharma Division of Plant Pathology, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

Tanwi Sharma School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, Jammu, India

Vijay K. Sharma Mycopathology and Microbial Technology Laboratory, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Vinay Sharma Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Banasthali University, Banasthali, Rajasthan, India

Kumar Shivam Department of Biotechnology, D. D. U. Gorakhpur Univer-sity, Gorakhpur, U.P., India

Swati Shukla Department of Biotechnology, D. D. U. Gorakhpur Univer-sity, Gorakhpur, U.P., India

Arpita Singh Division of Crop Protection, Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi, India

Contributors

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Bijender Singh Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand Univer-sity, Rohtak, Haryana, India

D. K. Singh Mycopathology and Microbial Technology Laboratory, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Deepti Singh Department of Microbiology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

Dharmendra K. Singh Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Dhirendra K. Singh Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Karuna Singh Department of Zoology, Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Prakash Singh Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

S. K. Singh Department of Plant Pathology, N.D. University of Agriculture & Technology, Faizabad, U.P., India

S. P. Singh Department of Plant Pathology, N.D. University of Agriculture & Technology, Faizabad, U.P., India

Sanjeev Singh Department of Agricultural Botany, Udai Pratap Autono-mous College, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Vivek Kumar Singh Laboratory of Mycopathology and Microbial Technol-ogy, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Vara-nasi, India

Shilpam Sinha Department of Botany, Mahila Mahavidyalaya, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

S. Sivaramakrishnan Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sci-ences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

L. S. Songachan Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Department of Botany, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India

Michael Spiteller Institute of Environmental Research (INFU), Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, TU Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany

Contributors

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R. Srinivasamurthy Institute Technology Management Unit, Indian Agri-cultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India

Haribashai Swer Microbial Ecology Laboratory, Department of Botany, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India

Gábor Tarcali Institute of Plant Protection, University of Debrecen, Deb-recen, Hungary

Vrinda S. Thaker Centre for Advanced Studies in Plant Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Department of Biosciences, Saurashtra University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India

A. K. Tiwari Central Lab, U P Council of Sugarcane Research, Shahjahna-pur, UP, India

Arti Tiwari Laboratory of Mycopathology and Microbial Technology, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Santosh G. Tupe Biochemical Sciences Division, National Chemical Labo-ratory, Pune, India

Rashmi Tyagi Department of Applied Sciences & Humanities, ITM Univer-sity, Gurgaon, Haryana, India

R. S. Upadhyay Laboratory of Mycopathology and Microbial Technology, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

P. P. Upadhyaya Department of Botany, DDU Gorakhpur University, Gora-khpur, UP, India

Shilpa A. Verekar Department of Natural Products, Piramal Enterprises Limited, Mumbai, India

Jitender K. Verma IARI, Shimla-4, Himachal Pradesh, India

O. P. Verma Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Narendra Deva University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad, India

Praveen C. Verma National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR), Lucknow, India

Punita Verma Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

R. K. Verma Forest Pathology Division, Tropical Forest Research Institute, PO-RFRC, Jabalpur, MP, India

Contributors

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S. K. Verma Department of Botany, Visva-Bharati University, Shantinik-etan, India

Jugsharan S. Virdi Department of Microbiology, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

A. Wilson Department of Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathi-dasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

B. C. Yadav Department of Plant Pathology, N.D. University of Agriculture & Technology, Faizabad, U.P., India

Dinesh Yadav Department of Biotechnology, D.D.U Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

Sangeeta Yadav Department of Biotechnology, D.D.U Gorakhpur Univer-sity, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

S. N. H. Zaidi Department of Botany, Shia P. G. College, Lucknow, India

Andleeb Zehra Laboratory of Mycopathology and Microbial Technology, Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India

Contributors