Mohd Yaqub

University of Kashmir · Department of Botany

Mycorrhizae, exclusively associated with orchids, play a crucial role in plant growth, competitive interactions and pathogen protection. This study aimed to quantitatively assess the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) colonization rate in Dactylorhiza hatagirea at three sites in Kashmir Himalaya: Gulmarg, Sonamarg, and Pahalgam. Additionally, it ex...

Main Conclusion This review comprehensively elucidates maize drought tolerance mechanisms, vital for global food security. It highlights genetic networks, key genes, CRISPR-Cas applications, and physiological responses, guiding resilient variety development. Abstract Maize, a globally significant crop, confronts the pervasive challenge of drought...

Mushrooms are cosmopolitan heterotrophic organisms that have been used by man for centuries to alleviate and treat diseases. Mushrooms still represent a large untapped source of structurally novel compounds that might serve as lead for the development of novel drugs. The objective of the current study was to look for the key and novel bioactive sub...

Various traditional management techniques are employed to control plant diseases caused by bacteria and fungi. However, due to their drawbacks and adverse environmental effects, there is a shift toward employing more eco-friendly methods that are less harmful to the environment and human health. The main aim of the study was to biosynthesize silver...

Fungal endophytes are the microorganisms living in a symbiotic relationship with their hostplants. These naturally occurring symbionts are abundant, have a huge biodiversity and provide a great deal of advantages to their host plants such as providing protection against pathogens and other biotic as well as abiotic stresses. In the present study, t...

Biomineralization has recently been discovered in fungi. Mushrooms form mineral microstructures similar to plant phytoliths, called mycoliths. In current study, dry oxidation carried out for mycolith extraction from four mushrooms, viz., Inonotus hispidus, Neolentinus pandorosus, Pluteus cervinus and Agaricus augustus, revealed the presence of diff...

Wild edible mushrooms, serving as a bountiful reservoir of diverse nutrients, minerals, and pharmacological agents, are recognized for the formation of intricate mineral microstructures known as mycoliths within and around their hyphal networks. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze biochemical traits and assess mycoliths in prized wild mushrooms...

An ascomycete morphologically similar to the genus Xylaria Hill ex Schrank (Xylariaceae, Ascomycota) associated with the infected roots and crop debris of French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and corn roots collected from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Morpho-anatomical, cultural, and molecular work revealed it to be a new species....

The present study describes, two species of Russula; R. aurantiocutis belonging to subsection Urentes and Russula vinosobrunneola belonging to R. sect. Tenellae subsection Laricinae for the first time from India. R. aurantiocutis was collected from a conifer forest under Abies pindrow and Pinus spp. from Ramban and Yousmarg. It is characterized by...

The Kashmir alley is known for high quality apricot fruits. However various fungal pathogens are known v to cause post-harvest deterioration of these apricot fruits. Therefore, the present study was carried out to investigate the post-harvest fungi associated with apricot fruits of Kashmir valley. It was revealed from the study that ten fungal path...

In the current era, wild macrofungi are being focused for developing and overing novel bioactive compounds for the management of agricultural, horticultural, and other infectious diseases. In that view, current research work was designed to evaluate the biochemical composition and medicinal properties of Morchella crassipes mushroom. The mycochemic...

The present study was carried out in various regions of Jammu and Kashmir, India, for the diversity and pharmacology of wild mushrooms. The valley is bestowed with alpine meadows and dense coniferous forest. Because of its isolation, security concerns, and line of control, most of these locations either have been little investigated or are entirely...

The northern regions of Kashmir Himalaya are covered by dense forests with mainly conifers like fir, pine, deodar etc., which support a number of ectomycorrhizal fungal species including mushrooms belonging to family Russulaceae. However, due to remoteness, security reasons and being covered by actual line of control (L.O.C.), most of these areas a...

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) India, harbours a rich diversity of mushrooms, but sporadic work has been carried out till date to explore the morel mushroom diversity. Besides, only a few morel species have been identified based on classical taxonomic studies, and taxonomic confusion exists regarding the differentiation and classification of morel mushroo...

Ganoderma is a diverse and globally-distributed genus of the family Ganodermataceae that includes many medicinally important species. Besides, they also cause white rot on a variety of tree species and this has economic implications for the timber production industry. In the past century, many species of Ganoderma have been reported from different...

Bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is damaged by many fungal pathogens, among which anthracnose rot is one of the economically most important fungal disease. A field survey was carried out throughout 2019-2022 and infected bell pepper samples were collected from many fields across the valley of Kashmir. The fungus was cultured and observed, leading t...

Rhizosphere mycobiome of medicinal plants and their interaction has a significant effect on the secondary metabolites and plant health. The fungi not only enhance the growth but also modulate the quality of the essential oils and other bioactive compounds as well as can be used as bioinoculants to improve medicinal values of plants and resistance t...

Research in green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles and their applications in engineering, food, biomedicine and agriculture is growing rapidly. The presence of biologically active metabolites in fungi makes them ideal candidates for green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). This study aims at discerning an emerging applicability of a basi...

The vegetation and climatic conditions of union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in India possess a prime location in the world for the hotspot and biodiversity of mushrooms. Although, this province is still unexplored due to less courtesy and unawareness towards this subject. In this backdrop, regular field trips for exploration and documentation of...

Plagiochila pseudopoeltii, a leafy liverwort is reported here for the first time from Kashmir Himalaya. The species was collected from Dachigam National Park, Srinagar district, and grows on moist soil as well as on the tree trunk. A detailed illustrated account of the species has been provided to validate the new distribution record and facilitate...

Background: Drought is the critical abiotic stress constraining the productivity of maize and lack of germplasm possessing drought tolerance results in low maize productivity in Kashmir. Because only 15% of the land in Kashmir Valley is irrigated and 85% of the land is rainfed, maize landrace evaluation for drought desirable traits becomes importan...

A study was done to investigate the antagonistic effects of three Trichoderma viride isolates (TV1, TV2 and TV3) on Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. The results revealed that the isolate TV1 proved to be the best in suppressing the mycelial growth by 77% after 7 days of incubation. However 74.91% and 50% inhibition were recorded on 5th and 3rd days of inc...

Background: Though modern high yielding and synthetics developed through maize heterosis are replacing low-yielding maize populations worldwide, it has shown little impact in Kashmir due to poor adaptability and expensive seed cost. Nevertheless, retaining popularity due to adaptability, more resistance to natural factors, early maturity, good grai...

Ganoderma a white rot fungus has been used as a folk remedy for promoting health and longevity for centuries. The vast amount of study has been performed on the medicinal properties of Ganoderma in general and Ganoderma lucidum in particular. The bioactivities of the metabolites reported from G. lucidum are immense. The main bioactive metabolites o...

Common beans collected from different sites of Kashmir valley were found infected with Alternaria alstroemeriae causing pod rot. The diseased pods appeared dark brown to black. The decayed tissues became soft and watery. The causal pathogen was isolated and cultured on PDA medium for cultural and microscopic examination. Its pathogenicity was confi...

The fungal spore suspension of Trichoderma harzianum was used for the preparation of AgO nanoparticles. T. harzianum spore suspension acts as reducing and stabilizing agent for the fabrication of nanoparticles. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-an...

Magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO NP’s) with particle size 50±10 nm were prepared by hydrothermal method and further characterized by X-ray Diffractometry (XRD) and high resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). The prepared MgO NP’s were also evaluated for their antifungal activity against Trichothecium roseum, Cladosporium...

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tomato fruits were infected by various pathogens especially fungal pathogens under storage conditions as well as in field conditions. It was revealed that tomato fruits are attacked by Alternaria alternata causing Alternaria rot of tomato and Muco...

Antimycotic activity of Lead oxide (PbO) nanoparticles prepared by the bio-safe method was evaluated for rot causing fungi. It was observed from the study that all the concentrations of nanoparticles brought about significant inhibition in the spore germination and mycelial growth of all the rot causing fungi. However, the highest inhibition in the...

ABSTRACT Ganoderma a white rot fungus has been used as a folk remedy for promoting health and longevity for centuries. The vast amount of study has been performed on the medicinal properties of Ganoderma in general and Ganoderma lucidum in particular. The bioactivities of the metabolites reported from G. lucidum are immense. The main bioactive meta...

Reproductive success in angiosperms has remained dependent on the evolution of elaborate mechanisms that guarantee the flowering to occur at a favorable time. For the occurrence of floral transition at an opportune time, these regulatory mechanisms integrate varied environmental cues with the endogenous physiological ones. For understanding the und...

Using DUS characters, morphological characterization of 70 local maize landraces collected from different parts of Kashmir Valley was done at DARS-Budgam, SKUAST-K. Thirty-one Argo-morphological characters were assessed, recorded and a wide range of variability for each trait was studied following standards laid in national DUS test guidelines. The...

Salt stress-induced limitation in crop growth and produce is a critical problem worldwide. The prerequisite to developing salt-tolerant plants of commercial importance is understanding the plant responses to salinity exposure at physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels, integrating various approaches to understanding underlying salt toleran...

Agronomic productivity is facing a drastic decline because of increasing temperatures, which is a global concern presently. Plants can sense such temperature changes and manifest their responses through morphological, anatomical, phenological, biochemical, physiological, and molecular changes enabling plants to adapt to the new environments. The di...

A new species of Rhizopogon Fr. & Nordholm, R. cashmerianus associated with Pinus wallichiana was collected and identified for the first time from Kashmir Himalaya. It was characterized and identified on morpho-anatomical and molecular basis by analysis of ITS sequences. The fungal molecular marker (ITS-rDNA) was amplified using universal fungal pr...

The aim of present research was focused on the antifungal activities of Prunella vulgaris L and Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews via in vitro approach through agar well diffusion assay at three concentrations (25 µL, 50 µL and 75 µL) against fungi causing diseases in tomato and brinjal. All the concentration of plant extracts showed antimycotic activit...

There is an increasing demand for agriculture to speed up production with maximum output while minimizing inputs. Modern agricultural techniques need to be adopted as conventional ones fail to fulfill food demand for ever increasing global population facing challenges like climate change, resource depletion, and shrinking landscape. Nanotechnology...

Antimycotic activities of different solvent extracts of Punica granatum L. and Spiraea prunifolia Siebold and Zucc. were carried out through agar well diffusion assay at three concentrations (25µl, 50µl and 75µl) against seven fungi causing rot diseases of tomato and bri njal. All the concentration of plant extracts showed antifungal activity again...

The present chapter provides an updated checklist of bryophytes in Jammu and Kashmir State, based on systematic review of scientific literature, herbarium studies in KASH and field observations. The checklist comprises of 420 species, out of which 328 species spread over 117 genera in 32 families belong to mosses, whereas 91 species spread over 40...

Objectives: The main objective of the present study was to synthesize silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) by green approach using Helvella leucopus and to evaluate the antimycotic activity of synthesized AgNPs against fungi causing fungal rot of apple. Methods: During the present study for green synthesis of AgNPs using H. leucopus, equal volumes of both...

Cherry Prunus avium L. is an important cash crop of Kashmir Valley. Cherry leaves are attacked by number of foliicolous fungi which in turn reduce yield of crop. Severe leaf spots were observed on cherry leaves in an orchard of district Baramulla of Kashmir Valley. These spots were similar to those caused by Blumeriella jaapii but smaller in size....

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is one of the so-called hyphenated analytical technique. GC-MS profiling of n-Hexane extract of the ecologically important mushroom Rhizopogon species was investigated for first time from Kashmir Valley and 37 volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds were detected. Among them various major bioactive...

Ganoderma a traditional Chinese medicine popularly used for complementary cancer therapy and longevity for centuries. The vast amount of study has been performed on the medicinal properties of Ganoderma lucidum. G. lucidum contains various compounds with a high grade of biological activity, which increase the immunity. Several of these substances b...

The subject of present study was to check whether the pathogenic fungi that were associated with different rot diseases of fruits and vegetables and the antagonistic fungal species produce extracellular growth regulating substances. For this present study healthy seeds of four economically important crop plants, viz. Solanum lycopersicum, Brassica...

The antifungal activity of Magnesium oxide (MgO) and iron oxide (FeO) nanoparticles prepared by bio safe method was evaluated for Penicillium expansum, Aspergillus niger, Alternaria alternata, Mucor plumbeus, Penicillium chrysogenum, Trichothecium roseum and Rhizoctonia solani. It was observed from the study that all the concentrations of nanoparti...

The present study was carried out to know the efficacy of culture filtrates of Trichoderma species in managing the rot causing fungi of tomato and brinjal under in vitro conditions. It was observed from the study that all the concentrations of culture filtrates brought about significant inhibition in mycelial growth of all rot causing fungi. Howeve...

Tomato fruits undergo decay due to postharvest infestation by various pathogens especially fungal pathogens. Therefore, the fungal rot of tomato under storage conditions was studied. It was revealed that tomato fruits are attacked by Penicillium expansum, causing blue mold or Penicillium rot of tomato and Aspergillus niger causing black mold or Asp...

Two medicinal plants, Berberis lyceum and Rumex obtusifolius, were screened for the presence of various phytochemicals and for their antifungal activity. The phytochemical tests carried out in the present study demonstrated the presence of phenols, alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, quinones and terpenoids in the plant extracts. Therefore, ethanolic a...

Iron oxide nanoparticles with particle size 10-30 nm were prepared by a green approach using tannic acid as reducing and capping agent. These nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), high resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The prepared iron oxide nanopart...

Fifteen fungal pathogens, viz. Penicillium chrysogenum, Penicillium expansum, Monilinia fructigena, Trichothecium roseum, Cladosporium herbarum, Aspergillus niger, Coprinus psychromorbidus, Alternaria alternaria, Phytophthora palmivora, Pythium sp., Fusarium solani, Alternaria sp., Monilinia sp., Guignardia bidwellii and Rhizopus stolonifer isolate...

Pears Pyrus communis L. collected from different sites of Kashmir Valley were found infected with Penicillium glaucum causing Penicillium rot. The diseased fruits appears light tan to dark brown. The decayed tissue becomes soft, watery and the lesion has a very sharp margin between diseased and healthy tissues. Decayed fruit has an earthy, musty od...

Antifungal activities of different solvent extracts of Ajuga bracteosa Wall. ex Benth. (Lamiale: Lamiaceae) and Iris kashmiriana Baker (Asparagales: Iridaceae) were carried out through agar well diffusion assay at three concentrations (25 uL, 50 uL and 75 uL) against seven rot causing fungi, viz. Penicillium expansum, Aspergillus niger, Mucor plumb...

Lunularia cruciata (L.) Dumort. ex Lindb., the only species of the monotypic liverwort family Lunulariaceae (Lunulariales), is reported for the first time for the bryoflora of Kashmir Himalaya. It is easily recognizable by crescent-shaped gemma cups on the surface of the thalli.

Lunularia cruciata (L.) Dumort. ex Lindb., the only species of the monotypic liverwort family Lunulariaceae (Lunulariales), is reported for the first time for the bryoflora of Kashmir Himalaya. It is easily recognizable by crescent-shaped gemma cups on the surface of the thalli.

Lunularia cruciata (L.) Dumort. ex Lindb., the only species of the monotypic liverwort family Lunulariaceae (Lunulariales), is reported for the first time for the bryoflora of Kashmir Himalaya. It is easily recognizable by crescent-shaped gemma cups on the surface of the thalli.

Objective: Mushrooms are known for their nutritional and medicinal importance from ancient times throughout the world. The use of mushrooms as valuable tonic, food, and ethnomedicines has also been reported from India. However, information on the ethnomedicinal use of mushrooms is not available from the surveyed area of Kashmir valley. Therefore, t...