Pooja Singh is a plant biologist and her research interests focus on plant-microbe interactions. She completed her Bachelor of Science (Microbiology), Master of Science (Biotechnology), Master of Philosophy (Biotechnology) and Ph.D. (Plant Pathology) from India. She was awarded a fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to pursue her doctoral thesis on exploring the role of MYB transcription factor in response to sheath blight in rice. She joined CEBAR, University of Malaya in the year 2015 as Research Associate and completed her three years of Postdoctoral fellowship in UM in 2019 and was later appointed as a Research Fellow. Her work at CEBAR was focused on plant stress related studies and utilizing rhizo- and endophytic bacteria to overcome stress condition. She joined School of Science; Monash University as Research Fellow in 2021 and her current research interest are in plant-microbe interaction and applied microbiology to enhance plant and soil health. At Monash University, she will be exploring potential microbes for microplastic degradation in soil. The findings would address microplastic degradation in agricultural fields and to determine their possible potential as plant growth promoters. Pooja is an active researcher and has published journal articles, invited book chapters, popular magazine articles and has presented her research findings at various national and international platforms.

Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy, Vellore Institute of technology, Tamil Nadu, India, 2015
• Master of Philosophy, Bharathiar University, India, 2010
• Master of Science, RTM Nagpur University, India, 2009
• Bachelor of Science, Guru Ghasidas University, India, 2007

Expertise

Plant stress, plant-microbe interaction, applied microbiology

Research Interests

My research interest is focused on utilizing potential microorganism for plant growth and soil enhancement in response to abiotic and biotic stress. I am also interested in exploring potential microbes for microplastic degradation in agricultural soil with plastic mulching.

Scholarly Journals (as corresponding author)

Singh, P., Mazumdar, P., Harikrishna, J. A., & Babu, S. (2019). Sheath blight of rice: a review and identification of priorities for future research. Planta, 1-21.

Scholarly Journals (as first author and co-author)

Mazumdar, P., Singh, P., Kethiravan, D., Ramathani, I. (2021). Late blight in Tomato: An insight into the pathogenesis of aggressive pathogen Phytophthora infestans. Planta, 253(6), 1-24.

Nair, I., Mazumdar, P., Singh, P & Harikrishna, J.A. (2021). Increasing the ratio of blue to red light improves biomass, total antioxidant content and total phenol content of Hydrocotyle bonariensis (Largeleaf pennywort). Russian Journal of Plant Physiology 68 (2).

Mazumdar, P., Lau, S. E., Singh, P., Takhtgahi, H. M., & Harikrishna, J. A. (2019). Impact of sea-salt on morpho-physiological and biochemical responses in banana (Musa acuminata cv. Berangan). Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants, 25(3), 713-726.

Gudimella, R., Singh, P., Mazumdar, P., Wong, G. R., Lau, S. E., & Harikrishna, J. A. (2018). Genome-wide regulatory network mapping of miRNA and transcription factors in banana roots. Tropical Plant Biology, 11(3-4), 141-153.

Karim, R., Tan, Y. S., Singh, P., Khalid, N., & Harikrishna, J. A. (2018). Expression and DNA methylation of SERK, BBM, LEC2 and WUS genes in in vitro cultures of Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) Mansf. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants, 24(5), 741-751.

Karim, R., Tan, Y. S., Singh, P., Nuruzzaman, M., Khalid, N., & Harikrishna, J. A. (2018). Expression and DNA methylation of MET1, CMT3 and DRM2 during in vitro culture of Boesenbergia rotunda (L.) Mansf. Philippine Agricultural Scientist (Philippines).

Mazumdar, P., Singh, P., Babu, S., Siva, R., & Harikrishna, J. A. (2018). An update on biological advancement of Jatropha curcas L.: new insight and challenges. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 91, 903-917.

Sankari, M., Rao, P.R., Hemachandran, H., Pullela, P.K., Tayubi, I.A., Subramanian, B., Gothandam, K.M., Singh, P. and Ramamoorthy, S. (2018). Prospects and progress in the production of valuable carotenoids: Insights from metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and computational approaches. Journal of biotechnology, 266, pp.89-101.

Mazumdar, P., Lau, S. E., Wee, W. Y., Singh, P., & Harikrishna, J. A. (2017). Genome-wide analysis of the CCCH zinc-finger gene family in banana (Musa acuminata): An insight into motif and gene structure arrangement, evolution and salt stress responses. Tropical Plant Biology, 10(4), 177-193.

Singh, P., & Subramanian, B. (2017). Responses of rice to Rhizoctonia solani and its toxic metabolite in relation to expression of Osmyb4 transcription factor. Plant Protection Science, 53(4), 208-215.

Priya, R., Sneha, P., Rivera Madrid, R., Doss, C. G. P., Singh, P., & Siva, R. (2017). Molecular modeling and dynamic simulation of Arabidopsis thaliana carotenoid cleavage dioxygenase gene: a comparison with Bixa orellana and Crocus sativus. Journal of cellular biochemistry, 118(9), 2712-2721.

Singh, P., Sweta, K., Mohanapriya, A., Sudandiradoss, C., Siva, R., Gothandam, K. M., & Babu, S. (2015). Homotypic clustering of OsMYB4 binding site motifs in promoters of the rice genome and cellular-level implications on sheath blight disease resistance. Gene, 561(2), 209-218.

Bawankar, R., Singh, P., and S. Babu (2014) Bioactive compounds and medicinal properties of Aloe vera L.: An update. Journal of Plant Sciences. 2(3): 102-107.

Singh, P., Siva, R., Gothandam, K. M., & Babu, S. (2013). Naturally existing levels of Osmyb4 gene expression in rice cultivars correlate with their reaction to fungal and bacterial pathogens. Journal of Phytopathology, 161(10), 730-734.

Bawankar, R., Deepti, V.C., Singh, P., Subashkumar, R., and S. Babu (2013) Evaluation of bioactive potential of an Aloe vera sterol extract. Phytotherapy Research. 27: 864–868.

Deepthi, V., Bawankar, R., Singh, P., Subashkumar, R., Vivekanandhan, G., Siva, R. and S. Babu. 2013. Differential response of cultivated rice to pathogen challenge and abiotic stresses with reference to cationic peroxidase. Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection, 47: 1390-1399.

Singh, P., Bawankar, R., Gothandam, K.M., Subashkumar, R., Vivekanandhan, G., Tha. Thayumanavan and S. Babu (2012). ‘Master switch’ genes for disease resistance in rice: lessons learnt and lessons to learn. Research in Biotechnology, 3(1): 70-75.

Singh, P., Bawankar, R., and S. Babu (2012). Targeting the transcription factor Osmyb4 for disease resistance in rice. Journal of Biotechnology and Biomaterials ISSN: 2155-952X JBTBM, an open access journal. Volume 2 Issue 6 – 244.

Bawankar, R., Singh, P., Subashkumar, R., Vivekanandhan, G., Tha. Thayumanavan and S. Babu. (2012) Comparative analysis and partial functional annotation of phytosterol desaturase gene in plants of different botanical families. Research in Plant Biology, 2(1); 41-49.

Bawankar, R., Singh, P., and S. Babu (2012) Stigma sterol: An important therapeutic product and its synthesis. Journal of Biotechnology and Biomaterials ISSN: 2155-952X JBTBM, an open access journal. Volume 2 Issue 6 – 252.

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Professional Association

Member: Academic Editorial Committee as Journal Reviewer

• Scientific Reports
• CAB Reviews
• Plant Disease
• Journal of Biological Research
• Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
• Romanian Biotechnological Letters

Academic / Corporate Community Engagements

Invited talk/Lecture

• Microbial Pesticides: Adoption, Scope and Market Trends, Webinar, 29-05-2020, VIT School of Agricultural Innovations and Advanced Learning (VAIAL), (International).
• Microplastic in Agriculture: A reason to worry? Current Topics in Genetics and Molecular Biology (Course: SHEN3174/SIL3015), 2018-10-19, CEBAR, UM, (University).