Bioinformatics for Crop Improvement

Dr. Upadhyay is currently working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. He has been working in the field of Plant Biotechnology for more than 16 years. He is currently working in the area of functional genomics. His research group at PU has characterized numerous important defence-related protein families such as receptor-like kinases, anti-oxidant enzymes, calcium transporters, chitinases, lectins, etc. They are also characterizing long non-coding RNAs related to the abiotic and biotic stress response. He has authored more than 110 publications includingresearch papers in leading journals of international repute, national and international patents, book chapters and books. In recognition of his strong credentials and contributions, he has been awarded the NAAS Young scientist award (2017-18) and NAAS-Associate (2018) from the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India, INSA-Associate Fellowship (2023), and INSA Medal for Young Scientist (2013) from the Indian National Science Academy, India, NASI- Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award (2012) from the National Academy of Sciences, India, and Altech Young Scientist Award (2011). He has also been the recipient of the prestigious DST-INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship (2012), and SERB-Early Career Research Award, (2016) from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, and several research grants from various funding agencies like SERB, DBT, CSIR etc. Dr. Upadhyay also serves as a member of the editorial board and reviewer of a number of peer-reviewed international journals. Dr. Sadhana Singh is working as Assistant professor, School of Sciences, U.P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University (UPRTOU), Prayagraj, India. Dr. Singh has completed her PhD in Plant Biotechnology, from Bharathiar University (DRDO-BU Centre for Life Sciences), Coimbatore, (TN), India. She did her post-doctoral research from International Crops Research Institute for the semi-arid tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, India. Her research interests include-plant stress tolerance (model and non-model); molecular regulations controlling plant abiotic stresses; role of NAC genes towards abiotic stress tolerance; transcriptional profiling of stress responsive genes (RAN, NAC, GPAT); identification and characterization of candidate genes in semi-arid legumes against legumes against drought; role of NAC genes towards cold/salt/ drought/ response, biomass enhancement, carbon trapping and sequestration, etc. using functional genomics approach (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and genome editing). She has been serving as a reviewer of many reputed journals. She has been recipient of several awards and honours that include- National Post Doc Fellowship, DST-SERB, India. She is also a recipient of the Most Cited Paper Award (2024) in Journal of Plant Research.

• Section 1. Foundations of Bioinformatics in Crop Science 1. Introduction to Bioinformatics for Crop Improvement 2. Data Generation and Management in Crop Bioinformatics 3. Genomic Data Analysis in Crop Science 4. Transcriptomics and Gene Expression Profiling for Crop Traits 5. Proteomics and Metabolomics in Crop Bioinformatics Section 2. Key Bioinformatics Techniques and Tools 6. Computational Tools for Genome Assembly and Annotation 7. Functional Genomics: Identifying Key Genes and Pathways 8. Structural Bioinformatics and Protein Modeling in Crop Research 9. Marker Discovery and Molecular Breeding Techniques 10. Bioinformatics in Genome Editing: CRISPR and Beyond Section 3. Applications in Crop Improvement 11. Bioinformatics in Disease Resistance and Pathogenomics 12. Enhancing Abiotic Stress Tolerance Through Bioinformatics 13. Nutritional Bioinformatics: Enhancing Crop Nutritional Value 14. Exploring Plant-Microbiome Interactions Using Bioinformatics 15. Epigenomics and Epigenetic Regulation in Crop Improvement Section 4. Bioinformatics for Sustainable Agriculture 16. Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) in Crop Science 17. Data-Driven Precision Agriculture and Phenotyping 18. Machine Learning and AI in Crop Bioinformatics 19. Big Data and Integrative Approaches in Crop Research 20. Future Directions and Challenges in Crop Bioinformatics