Vijay Kumar

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Associate) at Lovely Professional University

The plant Swertia chirayita is of immense medicinal importance. Due to its high demand in the pharmaceutical market and poor seed germination, the plant is categorized as critically endangered. In the present study, seed and pollen morphology has been investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis has been performed....

The ultimate success of micropropagation on a commercial scale depends on the ability to transfer plants out of culture on a large scale, at low cost and with high survival rates. During field transfer the in vitro grown plantlets are unable to compete with soil microbes and to cope with the environmental conditions. The in vitro culture conditions...

An efficient protocol of plant regeneration through direct and indirect organogenesis in Swertia chirayita was developed. Explants cultured on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2,4-D (0.5 mg L−1) with combination of Kinetin (0.5 mg L−1) showed the highest frequency (84%) of callusing and 1.0mg L−1 6-benzyladenine (BA) in combination with...

An efficient protocol for plant regeneration through somatic embryogenesis was established from in vivo leaf explants of Swertia chirayita, a critically endangered medicinal herb. The highest frequency (76%) of embryogenic callus was induced on Murashige & Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/L 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 0.5 m...

Medicinal plants are used by many of the global population because they are safe and effective alternative to other treatments. Over the last few decades, using plant cells to produce natural or recombinant chemicals of economic interest has become a great intention. Secondary metabolites are recognized to have a significant role in plant adaptatio...

Crinum brachynema is a bulbous plant belonging to the family Amaryllidaceae which is restricted to Western India. Due to its high rarity and low distribution range, it has been classified as “critically endangered”. Establishing an efficient and unprecedented somatic embryogenesis protocol is necessary for its conservation and large-scale propagati...

The biogenic production of plant-derived nanoparticles (NPs), with a spotlight on their potential as eco-friendly sustainable catalysts, is a major topic of study in the field of plant research, and their potential uses are recently being studied in nanocatalysis research. The biogenic synthesis of NPs from plants appears as a viable and effective...

Endophytic fungi comprise host-associated fungal communities which thrive within the tissues of host plants and produce a diverse range of secondary metabolites with various bioactive attributes. The metabolites such as phenols, polyketides, saponins, alkaloids help to mitigate biotic and abiotic stresses, fight against pathogen attacks and enhance...

Maize is a highly important crop, not only because it is a staple crop for humans but also because it is a major source of feed for animals and has immense industrial potential. Existence of vast genetic diversity in maize germplasm makes it an ideal model plant for plant genetic studies. This diversity could play a vital role in maize breeding pro...

Despite an increase in life expectancy over the past 20 years, the number of novel, multi-drug resistant microorganisms has also risen dramatically. To reduce the risk of reemerging infections, and limit the spread of multidrug resistant microorganisms, it is urgently necessary to develop safe and effective therapeutic countermeasures. New antimicr...

Single-cell approaches are a promising way to obtain high-resolution transcriptomics data and have the potential to revolutionize the study of plant growth and development. Recent years have seen the advent of unprecedented technological advances in the field of plant biology to study the transcriptional information of individual cells by single-ce...

Lignocellulose is currently the most available raw material on the earth for the production of biofuels. The major enzyme component involved in the microbial production of fuels from lignocellulose is cellulase. Therefore efficient saccharification of lignocellulosic biomasses is critical for biofuel production. However, several chemical processes...

Silicon (Si), as a quasi-essential element, is the second richest element in the surface of earth crust and in the soil with a vital role in alleviating the damaging efects of several environmental cues on plants. Over the last few decades, heavy metal contamination in water and soil has increased due to rapid anthropogenic activities such as irrig...

Traditional medicines play an important role in protecting the health of all ethnic groups around the world, and their importance in the development of medical and health services cannot be overstated. The Orchidaceae family includes some of the most beautiful flowers in the world, each with its own unique shape, color, and form. Potted and cut flo...

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (Asteraceae) is a South American perennial herb native to the Paraguay region. It is high-value commercial crop in the food industry because of an array of bioactive diterpenoid glycosides, the most important of which are the steviol glycosides, stevioside (Stev) and rebaudioside A (Reb A). Standardized extract from Stevia...

Plants are most affected by the abiotic (temperature, drought, salinity etc.) and biotic stresses (bacteria, fungus, virus, nematode etc.) which have been increased by the disturbances posed by human intervention, climate change, improper use of pesticides and environmental cues. Plants are sessile in nature and they require unprecedented advances...

Crinum brachynema (Amaryllidaceae) is an endemic and critically endangered bulbous medicinal plant of the Northern Western Ghats of India. This species contains an important and promising alkaloid called galanthamine (GAL), an antiAlzheimer drug. This investigation aimed to establish a reproducible protocol for in vitro regeneration of C. brachynem...

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a type of neurodegenerative disease which forms deterioration of the brain cells in the central nervous system. Some of the synthetic drugs that are used for the treatment of HD include tetrabenazine, antidepressants, tranquilizers, and antipsychotics. However, these drugs cannot produce complete relief against the cogn...

Glycyrrhizin, a major bioactive compound of Glycyrrhiza glabra has been used in traditional medicine system to treat several diseases. In the past few decades, its demand has been increased significantly for the active ingredient glycyrrhizin as well as for being a zero calorie sweetener. In the current study, extraction of glycyrrhizin from dry ro...

Medicinal plants are important for improving human health and represent an essential pool for the identification of novel pharmacological leads. Plant-derived biomolecules have historically proven their value as a source of therapeutic drugs and hold an important potential for the identification and characterization of novel drug leads. Many differ...

Selenium (Se) is found in plants both in inorganic and organic forms as selenoamino acids and methylated complexes. Se influences growth and physiological parameters, viz. root and shoot growth, starch accumulation, water status regulation, respiration, germination promotion, nitrogen assimilation and delaying senescence in plants. Se deficiency ca...

Objectives Barleria, a large genus of the Acanthaceae family, comprises more than 300 species with diverse taxonomy, cytogenetics, phytochemistry and pharmacological potential. Therefore, the aim of this review is to critically assess the research on Barleria and provide guidance for future investigations. Methods The data were obtained from diffe...

The present study optimizes various extraction conditions for better yield of asiaticoside in Centellaasiatica. Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) were used for the first time here in order to model and optimize the ultrasonic extraction parameters of asiaticoside from C.asiaticaleaves for comparing and establish...

Crinum malabaricum (Family: Amaryllidaceae) is a critically endangered aquatic medicinal plant endemic to India. This species is a promising natural source of bioactive compounds including galanthamine (GAL), an anti-Alzheimer drug. In vitro regeneration in the Amaryllidaceae is often challenging. This study assessed the use of meta-Topolin (mT) on...

The present investigation describes the efficacy of aromatic and synthetic cytokinins, which influence the direct organogenesis, biochemical responses, and ex vitro and in vivo performance of the in vitro propagated plantlets of Dioscorea pentaphylla L., an underrated famine tuber crop. The axillary shoot bud induction was achieved on the Murashige...

Conventional agriculture adds significant contribution towards meeting the food needs of the growing population. Subsequent usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to enhance the soil fertility and control insects and pests has increased the global food production. However, excessive use has resulted in environmental pollution and affecting hu...

Dioscorea deltoidea Wall. ex Griseb. (family Dioscoreaceae) has been traditionally used as a remedy for various human ailments. In modern medicine, it is used as an efficacious remedy against diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Dioscorea deltoidea tubers are known to be a rich reservoir of diosgenin. A consistent and reproducible protocol is need...

Extremophiles span through all taxonomic ranges starting from prokaryotes to Eucarya as well as Archaea. Extremophiles are categorized into seven groups on the basis of their various extreme habitats. Piezophiles withstand high hydrostatic pressure and reside at deep-sea sediments or are isolated from the bottom-dwelling animals’ guts. Piezophilic...

Plant health is just as dependent on the microbiome as human health is on the microbiome. While rhizospheric bacteria have been studied extensively for decades, endophytes, or microorganisms that reside fully within plants, have recently been studied. Plant microbiomes are organized, according to new research, and create complex linked microbial ne...

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are the sixth important plant hormones that induce their effect at micro-level concentration. The importance of its analogous under in vitro condition for many studies includes the study of response in plants aimed at improving various developmental, physiological, morphological, biochemical processes without the involvement...

Microfluidic chip technology is an emerging tool in the field of biomedical application. Microfluidic chip includes a set of groves or microchannels that are engraved on different materials (glass, silicon, or polymers such as polydimethylsiloxane or PDMS, polymethylmethacrylate or PMMA). The microchannels forming the microfluidic chip are intercon...

In modern agriculture, horticultural crops are an integral component and play a vital role in sustaining human life. Although conventional approaches have contributed to the enhanced agricultural production, innovative breeding technology is required to further increase horticultural and nutritious crop worldwide. Genome editing has revolutionized...

Plant cell and tissue culture makes provision of a sustainable and nature-friendly strategy for the production of secondary metabolites, and modern progress in gene editing and genome engineering provides novel possibilities to improve both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of such phytochemicals. The ever-expanding quest for plant-based med...

Plumbago zeylanica L. (Plumbaginaceae) is a very important medicinal plant containing plumbagin as the major secondary metabolite synthesized and stored in its roots. Over-exploitation to meet the growing demand on global level has put it under the endangered plant category. The objective of the present study is to provide the desired plant materia...

Microalgae are widely used for commercial production of carotenoids and are an excellent model for the study of carotenogenesis metabolism in plants. Genetic engineering of microalgae to increase or knockdown enzymatic activities is one viable approach to accumulate desired carotenoids with higher productivity. Recently, various genome sequencing p...

Exhaustion of natural sources due to expanding usage leads to an increase in global temperature. Heat stress and rising CO 2 severely impact crop growth and catastrophic loss of agriculture ecosystem, productivity and quality. The physiological and metabolic processes of plants are affected by heat stress due to denatured proteins , lipid structure...

Endophytes play a vital role in the survival of host plants by aiding defense responses by producing bioactive compounds similar to their host plants. To fulfill the ever-increasing demand for herbal drugs to cure human ailments, researchers are searching for the various sources of bioactive compounds besides medicinal plants. It was reported that...

In modern agricultural systems, looking for economic ways to enhance crop productivity and promote plant development is of priority. Since the first years of the ¨biotechnology era¨, plant biostimulants have received considerable encouragement with the shift towards a biological and green farming system. Biostimulants, a group of substances origina...

The genus Swertia (Family: Gentianaceae) has cosmopolitan distribution which is present in almost all the continents except South America and Australia. Swertia genus has been renowned as one of the potent herbal drugs in the British, American, and Chinese Pharmacopeias as well as well-documented in the Indian traditional medicinal systems, viz. Ay...

Dioscorea deltoidea (Dioscoreaceae) is an endangered species having tubers that possess anextensive range of therapeutic and economic value due to presence of bioactive compound diosgenin. Several industries have various necessities for compounds of specific classes and therefore, choosy extraction strategies for segregation of these classes ought...

Background Gloriosa superba L. (Colchicaceae) is a high-value medicinal plant indigenous to Africa and Southeast Asia. Its therapeutic benefits are well-established in traditional medicines including Ayurveda. It is well known for its natural bioactive compound colchicine which exhibits a wide range of pharmacological activities i.e. rheumatism, go...

Scaevola taccada (Gaertn.) Roxb. is a hemi-sclerophyllous littoral shrub of the family Goodeniaceae. It is a salt-tolerant plant and used in soil reclamation and coastal landscaping programs to control beach erosion. The present article reports a reproducible in vitro regeneration system using meta-topolin (mT) through liquid medium employing nodal...

Diosgenin is a plant-derived secondary metabolite mainly present in the members of the plant family Dioscoreaceae. It is a pharmaceutically important compound because of its anti-cancerous, anti-diabetic, anticoagulant, anti-thrombosis, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-ageing and other properties. Biotechnology provides an opportunity to genetic...

The physiological development of the plant system is significantly affected by microbial communities. Selected members of the microbial community are advantageous while few are unfavorable to the plant growth. Few pathogens rather colonize the rhizosphere to break the defense mechanism of the plant to trigger disease whereas others propagate throug...

Data models are designed for logically structuring a database. It defines how data are interconnected and how they can be processed in a system. Predictive models commonly use statistical techniques that rely on data and statistics to predict data outcomes with data models. Artificial neural network is based on computational algorithm replicating t...

Introduction: Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is one of the major complications arising from hyperglycaemia in diabetic patients. In recent years polyphenols present in plants have gained attention to treat DN. The main advantages associated with them are their action via different molecular pathways to manage DN and their safety. However, they failed to...

Huntington’s disease (HD) is an autosomal fatal genetic disease in which degeneration of neuronal cells occurs in central nervous system (CNS). Commonly used therapeutics in cludemonoamine depletors, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and tranquilizers. However, these drugs cannot prevent the psychotic, cognitive and behavioral dysfunctions associate...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), presents an unprecedented challenge to global public health with researchers striving to find a possible therapeutic candidate that could limit the spread of the virus. In this context, the present study employed an in...

The physiological development of the plant system is significantly affected by microbial communities. Selected members of the microbial community are advantageous while few are unfavorable to the plant growth. Few pathogens rather colonize the rhizosphere to break the defense mechanism of the plant to trigger disease whereas others propagate throug...

The use of medicinal plants for different therapeutic values is well documented in African continent. African diverse biodiversity hotspots provide a wide range of endemic species, which ensures a potential medicinal value. The feasible conservation approach and sustainable harvesting for the medicinal species remains a huge challenge. However, con...

Lignocellulose is considered as one of the most copious biopolymer accessible on this planet. Lignocellulosic hydrolysis which yields sugar and phenolics is a must for fermentation processes and pilot scale production of value added products. Cellulases are the class of enzymes which are mainly produced by fungi and bacteria and help in cellulose h...

The use of medicinal plant species for different therapeutic effects is well recognized around the globe. Nardostachys jatamansi (D.Don) DC. (Family: Caprifoliaceae Juss.), commonly known as Indian spikenard is a critically endangered medicinal plant which grows at high altitudes in the alpine and sub-alpine regions of the Himalayas. Its medicinal...

The use of medicinal plants by nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical industries is gaining more attention around the globe. Dioscorea bulbifera L. (Family: Dioscoreaceae) commonly known as ‘air potato’ is an important edible medicinal plant use to treat a wide range of diseases. Its traditional usage is well-recognized in the Chinese medi...

The horrifying impact of emergence of cancer as an endemic disease worldwide associated with accelerated mortality rate caused significant boost in anticancer drug discovery. The most successful broad spectrum anti-neoplastic monoterpene indole alkaloid camptothecin (CPT) is the product of such natural product based therapeutic approach. This promi...

The commercialization of medicinal plants as recognized in their uses by nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical industries is gaining more popularity and interest around the globe. The plant family Amaryllidaceae has a long history in the traditional medicinal system and used to treat diverse diseases. It is well known for its structurally...

Medicinally important steroid-based compound diosgenin is usually obtained from the secondary metabolic products of several plant species. Diosgenin has been proven as a prospective bioactive drug lead to the pharmaceutical industries as having anti-cancer activity, anti-microbial activity, anti-thrombic activity, anti-diabetic activity, cardioprot...

Key message This review summarizes recent knowledge on functions of WUS and WUS-related homeobox (WOX) transcription factors in diverse signaling pathways governing shoot meristem biology and several other aspects of plant dynamics. Abstract Transcription factors (TFs) are master regulators involved in controlling different cellular and biological...

In plants, somatic embryo development is regulated by a complex group or network of transcription factors (TFs). The LEAFY COTYLEDON (LEC) TFs are significant key regulators that promote the initiation of somatic embryo formation and biological processes of the embryo maturation phase. The LEC gene has been implicated to act as unique regulators in...

Transcription factors (TFs) are master regulators involved in controlling different cellular and biological functions as well as diverse signaling pathways in plant growth and development. WUSCHEL (WUS) is a homeodomain transcription factor necessary for the maintenance of the stem cell niche in the shoot apical meristem, the differentiation of lat...

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of zinc (Zn) on the synthesis of secondary metabolites in micropropagated Hypoxis hemerocallidea. In vitro raised plantlets of H. hemerocallidea were exposed to various exogenous concentrations of Zn (100, 200, 400 and 800 µM) for a further six weeks. The concentrations of phenolic acids and...

Heteromorpha arborescens (syn. H. trifoliata) leaves and bark are used in traditional medicine by many ethnic groups in central and southern Africa against diabetes, headache, pain and fever. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro α-glucosidase inhibition, free radical scavenging and antioxidant potentials of hexane, ethyl acetate and m...

In the past few decades, significant strides have been made in the domain of phytomedicines. Amongst the various medicinal plant taxa exploited for that purpose, orchids are an important representative. Ansellia africana is one such candidate taxon, which has incessantly been used in various herbal preparations for centuries. Having distributions i...

In plants, exogenous signals play a vital role in cell metabolism modification leading to growth and defense responses. The SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE (SERK) belongs to a family of leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs), involved in cell-to-embryo-transition, plant environmental responses, and plant development. SERKs...

Plants have evolved a number of transcription factors, many of which are implicated in signaling pathways as well as regulating diverse cellular functions. BABY BOOM (BBM), transcription factors of the AP2/ERF family are key regulators of plant cell totipotency. Ectopic expression of the BBM gene, originally identified in Brassica napus, has divers...

In plants, exogenous signals play a vital role in cell metabolism modification leading to growth and defense responses. The SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE (SERK) belongs to a family of leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs), involved in cell to embryo transition, plant environmental response and plant development. SERKs as...

An efficient short term storage protocol was developed for Ansellia africana, a vulnerable medicinal orchid of Africa using encapsulated protocorm-like bodies (PLBs) induced from nodal segments of seedlings with highest response recorded on MS medium supplemented with 10 µM TDZ and 5 µM NAA. The gel matrix containing 3% sodium alginate and 100 mM c...

Somatic embryogenesis plays a significant role in plant regeneration and requires complex cellular, molecular, and biochemical processes for embryo initiation and development associated with plant epigenetics. Epigenetic regulation encompasses many sensitive events and plays a vital role in gene expression through DNA methylation, chromatin remodel...

Micropropagation is an important tool for the conservation of threatened and commercially important plant species of which orchids deserve special attention. Ansellia africana is one such medicinally important orchid species having much commercial significance. However, for large-scale micropropagation to become not only successful but also accepta...

Micropropagation is an important tool for the conservation of threatened and commercially important plant species of which orchids deserve special attention. Ansellia africana is one such medicinally important orchid species having much commercial significance. However, for large-scale micropropagation to become not only successful but also accepta...

An efficient in vitro plant regeneration system was established via somatic embryogenesis of Hypoxis hemerocallidea, an extensively utilized medicinal plant in South African traditional medicine. Embryogenic callus was obtained on Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium supplemented with 15 μM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2.5 μM N6-benz...

Swertia chirayita (Gentianaceae), a popular medicinal herb indigenous to the temperate Himalayas is used in traditional medicine to treat numerous ailments such as liver disorders, malaria, and diabetes and are reported to have a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties. Its medicinal usage is well-documented in Indian pharmaceutical codex, the...

Pelargonium sidoides is a high value medicinal plant endemic to South Africa and the Lesotho Highlands. Establishing an efficient regeneration system through somatic embryogenesis is necessary for its conservation. An efficient reproducible protocol for in vitro plant regeneration via somatic embryogenesis of Pelargonium sidoides, an important medi...

A rapid analytical method has been developed to determine xanthone and secoiridoid glycoside in in vitro and in vivo Swertia chirayita extracts. Ultra performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI/MS) was applied and validated for the analysis of xanthone and secoiridoid glycoside a potential active component i...

The aim of this study was to establish a protocol for rapid callus induction and plant regeneration of potato. The leaf explants of two potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivars viz. (Kufri Chipsona 3 and MP-97/644) were cultured for callus induction and plant regeneration. Best callus growth from both the cultivars was observed on Murashige and Sk...

An efficient in vitro regeneration protocol was established for Swertia chirayita. The present study describes the regeneration of S. chirayita from shoot tip explants collected from wild grown plantlets. The highest number of shoots (26.10 ± 0.73) were obtained on Murashige and Skoog basal medium supplemented with 6-benzyladenine (BA) (0.5mg/l) in...

The plant Swertia chirayita is of immense medicinal importance. Due to its high demand in the pharmaceutical market and poor seed germination, the plant is categorized as critically endangered. In the present study, seed and pollen morphology has been investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis has been performed....

Association of Microbiologists of India (AMI) is one of the most reputed scientific organizations. It provides a scientific forum for young professionals in microbiology, biotechnology and other allied disciplines. AMI holds its annual conferences at some premier established centres of microbiology in the country. In this series, the 51st Annual Conf...