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Prabhat N. Jha

Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus

Microbial Biotechnology
New Science Block
Department of Biological Sciences,
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani- 333031, Rajasthan. India.

Teaching Experience

 

  • BIO F111 (General Biology)
  • TAC 211 (Measurement and Techniques-I) 
  • BIO C231 (Biology Project Laboratory) 
  • BIO F212 (Microbiology)
  • BIO C322 (Genetics)
  • BIO C418 (Genetic Engineering Tech)
  • BIO C461 (Recombinant DNA Technology)
  • BIO C542 (Advance Cellular and Molecular Biology) 
  • BIO G523 (Advance and Applied Microbiology)
  • BIO G525 (Environmental Biotechnology and Waste Management) 
  • BIO C642 (Experimental Techniques) 

Research Interest

 

Broad research Interest

  • Plant-Microbe Interactions, Biodegradation, Microbial Ecology, & host-pathogen interaction.

 

Plant Microbe Interaction

Understanding the role of microorganisms in sustainable agriculture, aim of my research group is to study various aspects of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria especially endophytic bacteria. This includes molecular diversity, temporal dynamics of endophytic bacteria in field grown crop plants, characterization of different plant growth promoting and biocontrol properties (nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, indole-3-acetic acid production, induced systemic tolerance and induced systemic resistance and antagonistic activities) and mechanism for endophytic colonization. One of the major questions we are trying to answer is: how do host plants modulate their immune response in beneficial (endophytic) and harmful (pathogenic) bacterial interactions. Our long term goal is to understand molecular mechanism involved in plant-endophytic bacteria interaction employing proteomic and transcriptomic approaches.
 
Another work addresses amelioration of abiotic stressors, major factors affecting plant growth, using PGPB. These PGPB can promote plant growth in saline soils by reducing level of stress-ethylene, helping in maintaining osmotic balance and Na+/K+ ratio, other mechanisms. We are studying the effect of PGPB on host physiology using proteomic approaches. https://researchmatters.in/news/how-does-bacteria-help-plants-thrive-salty-conditions.

 

Environmental Microbiology

Owing to their high chemical and thermal stability, commercial mixtures of PCBs were widely used in various industrial applications such as lubricants, plasticizers, dielectric fluids, hydraulic fluids in compressors and flame retardants. Although PCBs are no longer in use, but because of their extreme toxicity and persistence, they are still found as contaminants in the natural environments due to their past usage and continued to pose potential threats to human health. These compounds tend to resist biodegradation and persist in environment by attaching strongly to soil sediments and matrices, bioaccumulate in organisms especially at higher trophic level and finally enter food chains. We are making an attempt to screen and characterize PCB-degrading bacteria, understand the mechanistic pathway of PCB degradation, and to formulate the bacterial inocula to eliminate PCB from polluted soil.

 

Pathogenicity of Enterobacter cloacae

*Interested candidates having government-funded fellowship (CSIR, DBT, DST-Inspire or similar fellowship) can contact.