Exploration, identification and characterization of PGPRs from cold desert, salt mines and rocky terrains for sustainable development. Application of PGPRs in heavy metal amelioration. Tissue culture of saffron  

Awards and contribution

• Alma stokey Botany Prize for the best student of III B.Sc. Botany (Core)
• Best Paper Award in Ecology Section in the Conference of Indian Botanical Society in 1993
• CSIR Innovative suggestion award 2005

Technology developed and transferred

• Startup: Successfully completed mentoring of Startup Mr. Rajveer through Chief Minister Start-up Scheme in the area of bio-fertilizer. The incubatee registered a company M/s Golden rise, Palampur, and has been sanctioned a loan from State Govt. for establishing a production unit.
• Technology Transfer: Innovative Technology for “Cost-effective protocol for production of In vitro corms of saffron” transferred to M/S PROP. SHARMA BIOTECH, Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh

Innovation & Technology Management

• Strengthened Institute-industry linkage by survey of techno-assessment need tea, floriculture, food and herbal industry and by organizing interactive meets.
• Status report of- Techno-management need of Tea, herbal, food and floriculture industry of Himachal Pradesh
• Database of selected industries and their techno-management need

Databases Developed

• Database of project with along with output, outcome and leads   
• A web based system was designed for Grass Flora for the project entitled “Development of database on the photosynthetic diversity in Indian grass flora”. It shows distribution of grasses in the Indian Himalayan regions w.r.t. C3 and C4 pathways. Query could be raised depending on need like location, physical parameters (temperature, rainfall etc.)
• Database of Herbal industries, tea industries and food industry of HP along with their needs(done under a project entitled Techno-innovation management of tea, herbal and food industries sponsored by DSIR)
• Institutional Repository of CSIR-IHBT (papers published) hosted at Central Harvester maintained by CSIR-URDIP, Pune,
• Knowledge Database: to retrieve information from database of publication, technical folder, patent and projects
• Database of Institutional technologies

Web Portal

• Developed a website for Indian Fern Society. and hosted on IHBT web server
• Developed   a portal for Workshop on “Trends in the Evolutionary Systems Biology & Computational Structural Dynamics (23-24 March 2015)” for online registration of participants and workshop details
• Developed a webportal through which students interested in pursuing research in CSIR-IHBT could send their resume/biodata and scientists could check or download student’s CV (through intranet -from their login) and interact with the student
• A web portal for Analytical services: Through this interested researchers could  post request for sample analysis and track the  progress of sample processing upto sending of reports. The report could be assessed online through password  
• Scientist login: to assess project, paper, publication etc. 

Handy Online Tools 

• Reporting work done under Rajbhasha
• Uploading of NIT by ESU & Stores
• Uploading/ updating CV by scientists independently
• Uploading CV for rolling application and view by scientists  
• Uploading circulars by Admin
• Approval form for new project

Ayush Lepcha, Raghawendra Kumar, Kiran Dindhoria, Bhavya Bhargava, Aparna Maitra Pati,
Rakshak Kumar. Metagenomic insights into the functional potential of non-sanitary landfill microbiomes in the Indian Himalayan region, highlighting key plastic degrading genes. 2024. Journal of Hazardous Materials. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136642. 

Sachin Vashisath, Rishabh Kaundal, Aman kumar, Rishabh Bhardwaj, Singh Pragati Shesh, Abhishek Bhatt, Aparna Maitra Pati, Dinesh Kumar. Impact of Geographical Distribution on Chemical Composition and Biological Potential of Juniperus communis L. Essential Oil: A Case Study from Northwestern Himalayas. 2024. Chemistry & Biodiversity. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbdv.202402564

Priya Kaushal, Aparna Maitra Pati. Bacillus altitudinis Mediated Lead Bioremediation for Enhanced Growth of Rice Seedlings. 2024. Current Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-024-03934-z

Nilofer Ali, Aparna Maitra Pati. PGPR isolated from hot spring imparts resilience to drought stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). 2024. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2024.109031

Nilofer Ali, Aparna Maitra Pati. PGPR mediated enhancement of saffron corm production in non-traditional area of Himachal Pradesh, India. 2023. South African journal of botany. doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2023.08.019

Nilofer Ali, Mohit Kumar Swarnkar, Raj Veer, Priya Kaushal, Aparna Maitra Pati. Temperature-induced modulation of stress-tolerant PGP genes bioprospected from Bacillus sp. IHBT-705 associated with saffron (Crocus sativus) rhizosphere: A natural -treasure trove of microbial biostimulants. 2023. Frontiers in Plant Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1141538

Shradha Nirwan, Archana Kumari Sharma, Ravi Mani Tripathi, Aparna Maitra Pati, Neeraj Shrivastava. Resistance strategies for defense against Albugo candida causing white rust disease. 2023. Microbiological Research. doi.org/10.1016/j.micres.2023.127317

Priya Kaushal, Nilofer Ali, Shivani Saini, Pratap Kumar Pati, Aparna Maitra Pati. Physiological and molecular insight of microbial biostimulants for sustainable agriculture. 2023. Frontiers in Plant Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1041413

Yog Raj, Nilofer Ali, Aparna Maitra Pati, Rakesh Kumar. Cleaner production technologies for the amelioration of soil health, biomass, and secondary metabolites in Ocimum basilicum L. under Indian Western Himalaya. 2022. Frontiers in Plant Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.976295

Saumya Singh Sakshi Vivek Yadav Annapurna Kannepalli Aparna Maitra Pati, Swati Tripathi, Neeraj Shrivastava, Ajit Varma. Mechanism of the synergistic impact of Piriformospora indica and Azotobacter chroococcum on Zn and Fe biofortification. 2022. Current Research in Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crbiot.2022.09.005

Shivani Saini, Isha Sharma, Priya, Aparna Maitra Pati, Pratap Kumar Pati. Plant Hormonal Crosstalk: A Nexus of Root Development. In: Mukherjee, S., Baluška, F. (eds) Rhizobiology: Molecular Physiology of Plant Roots. Signaling and Communication in Plants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84985-6_9

Amritpreet Kaur, Pratap Kumar Pati, Aparna Maitra Pati, Avinash Kaur Nagpal. Physico-chemical characterization and topological analysis of pathogenesis-related proteins from Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa using in-silico approaches. 2020. PLoS One. 10.1371/journal.pone.0239836

Amritpreet Kaur, Pratap Kumar Pati, Aparna Maitra Pati and Avinash Kaur Nagpal . In-silico analysis of cis-acting regulatory elements of pathogenesis-related proteins of Arabidopsis. 2017. PLoS One. 10.1371/journal.pone.0184523

Aparna Maitra Pati and Sukhjinder Singh. Understanding Need of Flower Growers of Himachal Pradesh. 2015. International Journal of Research in Computer Application & Management.

Aparna Maitra Pati, Sukhjinder Singh, Doulat Ram and Paramvir Singh Ahuja. Analysis   of responses of food processing industries in Himachal Pradesh. 2014. International Journal of   Scientific Research (IJSR).

Aparna Maitra Pati, Sukhjinder Singh, Doulat Ram and Paramvir Singh Ahuja. Study on the problems and need of the herbal industry in H.P. 2013. International Journal of Scientific Research (IJSR).

Aparna Maitra Pati, R.K. Sud, Sukhjinder Singh, Doulat Ram and P.S. Ahuja.Management Problems and Need of North- Western Tea Industry of India. 2010. International Jr. of Tropical Agriculture.

P.S.Ahuja and Aparna Maitra. IHBT- Catalysing Bioresource Development in Western Himalaya. 2000. Yojana.

S.P. Gautam, K. Prasad, and A. Maitra. Impact of Gloms macrocarpum (VAM) on Protein Content of Dendrocalamus strictus  (Roxb) Nees.Under Field Conditions. 1998. Indian Journal of Applied and Pure Biology.

S.P. Gautam and Aparna Maitra. Role of VAM in the Establishment of Dendrocalamus strictus in the field. 1998. Indian Forester.

S.P. Gautam and Aparna Maitra.VA Mycorrhizae at a Glance. 1995. Journal of Indian Botanical Society.

Aparna Maitra and S.P. Gautam. Ecological Studies of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi (VAMF) Associated with Dendrocalamus strictus in Central Madhya Pradesh. 1994. Journal of Phytological Research.

Team

PPME (Mr. Jasbeer Singh, Mr. Randhir Singh)

IT (Mr. Vikrant Gautam, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar)

Photography (Sh. Pabitra Gain)

Research Group

Current Members:

1. Dr. Nilofer Ali completed her PhD from CSIR-IHBT (AcSIR). The key area of her research includes exploring the culturable and nonculturable novel microbes specifically Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) from the Himalayan region with extreme conditions, which play pivotal roles in modulating plant stress responses leading to the enhancement of plant growth.
2. Mr. Sukrit Saklani is a project associate in the project ''Breaking the barrier of saffron cultivation through technological interventions for enhancing productivity and livelihood of farmers in Kashmir and non-traditional areas'' working in the domain of saffron cultivation by tissue culture technique for the enhancement of saffron cultivation.
3. Ms. Priya Kaushal is a PhD scholar enrolled in GNDU. She is working in Heavy metal amelioration mechanism of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria.
4. Mr. Sourav Kanungo is a PhD scholar enrolled in AcSIR. The key area of his research includes exploring the symbiotic relationship between PGPRs and endophytic mycorrhiza to enhance plant growth. His focus extends to formulating cost-effective bio-solutions tailored for endangered plant species thriving in high-altitude environments.
5. Mr. Gauhar Rashid is a project associate in the project ''Breaking the barrier of saffron cultivation through technological interventions for enhancing productivity and livelihood of farmers in Kashmir and non-traditional areas'' working in the domain of saffron cultivation by PGPR mediated enhancement of saffron cultivation.
6. Mr. Aman Kumar is a PhD scholar enrolled in AcSIR. His primary research focuses on bio-augmentation of potential hydrolytic psychrotrophic anaerobes for the improvement of anaerobic digestion at low temperature particularly microbial community structure analysis of biogas slurry from household biogas plants of the Himalayan region and development of potential psychrotrophic anaerobic bacterial consortium for the improvement of anaerobic digestion leading to check the effect of treated digestate on soil fertility and plant growth.
7. Mr. Ayush Lepcha is a PhD scholar enrolled in AcSIR. The key area of his research includes exploring the landfill microbiome through culture-dependent and culture-independent studies from the non-sanitary landfills of the Indian Himalayan region to develop microbial solutions for waste management and bioremediation purposes.
8. Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Sharma is a PhD scholar enrolled in AcSIR. His primary research focus is  comprehensive exploration and bioprospection of the microbiome across diverse regions of the Indian Himalayas. He is particularly focused on the identification and characterization of potential novel microorganisms within this ecosystem, with a specialized emphasis on their efficacy in agro-industrial waste stabilization.
   
9. Ms. Sakshi Dogra is a PhD scholar enrolled in GNDU. Her reserch is focused on "Waste to Wealth" and development of innovative technology to convert faecal sludge into organic fertilizer (FSF), leading to enhancing crop productivity, improving soil health and promoting safe sanitation practices in nationwide for sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship.
10. Ms. Pallavi Sharma is a PhD scholar enrolled in AcSIR. Her research is centered on development of PGPRs based consortium for improvement of aromatic compound content and stress tolerance in major aromatic crops.

PhD Degree Awarded

Dr. Nilofer Ali (2024)

Former Members

Ms. Sonia Sharma (Project associate)

Ms. Raveena Saini (Project assistant) 

Dr. Shobhit Thappa (Probation period for scientist 2020) (Currently: scientist ICAR Mau)

Ms. Pooja Sharma (Dissertation: MPhil- 2020)

Trainees

Ms. Shrishti Jishtu (2019)

Mr. Yash Dawar (2019)

Ms. Gudiya (2022)

Ms. Komal (2022)

Ms. Kanupriya (2023)

Ms. Saloni (2023)

Ms. Rishi Sharma (2024)

Ms. Shivangi (2024)

Ms. Rashika Parmar (2024)

Ms. Sakshi (2025)

Ms. Silpa Priyadarshini (2025)

Ms Anshika Singh (2025)