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Dr. Sarvjeet Kaur

Dr. Sarvjeet Kaur
Professor UG and Principal Scientist
Sarvjeet[dot]Kaur[at]icar[dot]gov[dot]in
Phone :
9911013113

Discipline: Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

Education :

Ph.D.: (Biochemistry) IARI, New Delhi

Post Doc: -Plant Biology Lab., The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA

Department of Biochemistry, Ohio State University, OH, USA

Research Interest

Transgenic crops for biotic stress resistance by deploying novel insecticidal genes for insect pest resistance.Identification, cloning and characterization of novel genes from Bacillus thuringiensis; construction of mutated and hybrid insecticidal genes; expression in E. coli and determination of toxicity towards pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera),design of synthetic genes by modification for plant-preferred codon usage and in planta validation of genes for deployment in transgenic pigeon pea.

Awards & Honors

1. Gold Medal awarded by Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi for outstanding presentation of Ph.D. Thesis research work (1987).

2. First prize for poster presentation. Gunda Gouthami Krishna Kumari, Alpana, Vinay Kalia, Govind Tikaramsa Gujar and Sarvjeet Kaur (2013) Screening of Bacillus thuringiensis isolates for the presence of vip3A-type genes and cloning of a vip3Aa44 gene for bioassay against Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera. Poster presented at: 3rd International Conference on Biotechnology in Human Welfare; 7th-9th February 2013, Kakatiya University, Warangal, Andhra Pradesh. 

Publications in refreed journals:

  1. Kaur, S. and Kapoor, H.C. (1989) A membrane-associated auxin-binding site from chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Plant Science 65:135-141.
  2. Kaur, S. and Kapoor, H.C. (1990) Validity of binding assays for detection of soluble auxin-binding sites in plants. Plant Science 72: 151-157.
  3. Kaur, S. (1995) Phytotoxicity of solanapyrones produced by the fungus Ascochyta rabiei and their possible role in blight of chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Plant Science 109: 23-29.
  4. Kapoor, H.C., Kaur, S., Kumar, S. and Prakash, S. (1996) Stimulation of RNA synthesis in vitro by an auxin affinity column-eluted protein from Cicer arietinum. Indian  Journal of Experimental Biology 34: 1026-1029.
  5. Kumar, P.A., Mandaokar, A., Sreenivaslu, K., Chakravarti, S.K., Sharma, S.K., Bisaria, S, Kaur, S. and Sharma, R.P. (1998). Insect resistant transgenic brinjal plants. Molecular Breeding 4: 33-37.
  6. Kaur, S.* and Singh A. (2000a) Distribution of Bacillus thuringiensis isolates in different soil types from North India. Indian Journal of Ecology 27: 52-60.
  7. Kaur, S. * and Singh, A. (2000b) Natural occurrence of Bacillus thuringiensis in leguminous phylloplanes in the New Delhi region of India. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 16: 679-682.
  8. Dhawan, S. C., Kaur, S. and Singh, A. (2004) Effect of Bacillus thuringiensis on the mortality of root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita. Indian Journal of Nematology, 34(1) 34: 98-99.
  9. Stobdan, T., Kaur, S. * and Singh, A. (2004) Cloning and nucleotide sequence of a novel cry gene from Bacillus thuringiensis. Biotechnology Letters 26: 1153-1156.
  10. Stobdan, T., Kaur, S*. & Singh, A. (2005) Detection of insecticidal cry genes      among Bacillus thuringiensis isolates from the highly seasonal environment of Ladakh region in India. Biopesticides International 1:165-173.
  11. Kaur S. * and Allam,  U. S. (2006) PCR-based cloning of a novel cry1Ac gene from a Bacillus thuringiensis isolate recovered from stored cottonseeds. Biopesticides  International 2: 120-128..
  12. Shankar, S., Jaiswal, L. and Kaur, S.* (2010) Diversity of Bacillus thuringiensis isolated from diverse habitats of North India for the presence of cry gene profiles. Journal of Applied Bioscience 36: 124-129.
  13. Meena, R.K., Kumari,  G.G.K, Alpana†, Gujar†, G. T. and Kaur, S.*  (2012)  Screening of  Bacillus thuringiensis Isolates Recovered from Diverse Habitats in India for the presence of cry1A-Type Genes and Cloning of a cry1Ac33 Gene Toxic to Helicoverpa armigera (American bollworm).  Asian Journal of Biotechnology 4: 53-69. DOI: 10.3923/ ajbkr2012
  14. Katara, J.L., Deshmukh, R., Singh, N.K. and Kaur, S. * (2012). Molecular typing of native Bacillus thuringiensis isolates from diverse habitats in India using REP-PCR and ERIC-PCR analysis. Journal of General and Applied Microbiology 58: 83-94.
  15. Jayakumar, S. and Kaur, S. 2013. Occurrence of cry genes in Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) isolates recovered from phylloplanes of crops growing in the New Delhi region of India and toxicity towards Diamond-back moth (Plutella xylostella).  J. Biol. Sci. 13: 463-473 DOI: 10.3923/jbs. 2013.463.473
  16. Katara, J., Deshmukh, R., Singh, N.K. and Kaur, S. 2013. Diversity analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis isolates recovered from diverse habitats in India using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers.  J. Biol. Sci. 13: 514-520 DOI: 10.3923/jbs. 2013.514.520
  17. Meena R. K. and Kaur S. (2014) Screening of Bacillus thuringiensis isolates recovered from diverse habitats in India for the presence of insect and nematode-active cry genes. International Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Biotechnology 7: 55-62.
  18. Shankar, S. and Kaur S. (2014) Determination and distribution of cry1-type genes in Bacillus thuringiensis isolated from North India. Environmental Engineering and Management Journal (Accepted).
  19. Katara, J.L., Kaur*, S., Kumari, G.K. and Singh, N.K. (2016) Prevalence of cry2-type genes in Bacillus thuringiensis isolates recovered from diverse habitats in India and isolation of a novel cry2Af2 gene toxic to Helicoverpa armigera (cotton boll worm) Canadian Journal of Microbiology 62(12):1003-1012.
  20. Panwar, B.S.,  Ram, C., Narula, R.K.  and Kaur, S.* (2017) Pool deconvolution approach for high-throughput gene mining from Bacillus thuringiensis. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology DOI 10.1007/s00253-017-8633-6.
  21. Panwar, B.S., Narula, R.K. and Kaur, S. (2017) Theoretical 3D modeling of a novel Cry toxin isolated from native Bacillus thuringiensis isolate SK-711. Indian Journal of Entomology (in press).

Scientific reviews:

  1. Kaur, S. (2000) Molecular approaches towards development of novel Bacillus thuringiensis biopesticides. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 16: 781-793.
  2. Kaur, S. (2002) Potential for developing novel Bacillus thuringiensis strains and transgenic crops and their implications for Indian agriculture. AgBiotechNet Vol.4, May 2002, ABN088, http://www.agbiotechnet.com. CAB International. Wallingford. UK.
  3. Kaur, S. (2006) Molecular approaches for identification and construction of novel insecticidal genes for crop protection. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 22:233-253.
  4.  Kaur S. (2007) Deployment of Bt transgenic crops: development of resistance and management strategies in the Indian scenario. Biopesticides  International 3(1):23-42.       

Book Chapters:

  1. Sharma, R.P., Kumar, P.A. and Kaur, S. (1997) Genetic engineering of crop plants for insect resistance. In: Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tiwari, K.K. and Singhal, G.S. (Eds.) Narosa Publishers, New Delhi, pp 43-52.
  2. Kaur, S. (2004) Ecological, economic and social perspectives on transgenic crop protection: path for the developing world. In: Transgenic crop protection: Concepts and strategies. Koul, O. and Dhaliwal, D.S. (eds.) Science Publishers Inc. Enfield, New Hampshire, USA pp. 373-405.
  3. Kaur, S.*, Rai, R. and Singh, A. (2004) Role of transgenic microbes and endophytes in crop protection. In: Transgenic crop protection: Concepts and strategies. Koul, O. and  Dhaliwal, D.S. (Eds.)  Science Publishers Inc. Enfield, New Hampshire, USA pp. 289-306.
  4. Kaur, S. and Gujar G.T. (2004) Contemporary approaches for genetically     engineered insect resistant transgenic crops. In: Host Plant Resistance to Insects; Concepts and Applications.  Dhaliwal G.S. and Singh R.(Eds.) Panima Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. pp. 492-516.
  5. Kaur, S. (2012) Risk assessment of Bt transgenic crops.  In: Bacillus thuringiensis Biotechnology, Sansinenea E. (Ed.) Springer Publishers. Dordrecht, Netherlands. Heidelberg. p. 41-86. ISBN 978-94-007-3020-5.
  6. Kaur, S. (2013) Metagenomics: progress, opportunities and challenges. In: Advances of Biotechnology. Behera, K.K. (Ed.) New India Publishing Agency. New Delhi. pp. 141-162.ISBN : 978-93-81450-83-3.

Full length paper published in Conference proceedings:

  1. Kaur, S. (2002) Development of improved Bacillus thuringiensis biopesticides: progress and prospects. In: Biopesticides and pest management. (Vol.1) Koul, O., Dhaliwal, G.S.,  Marwaha, S.S. and Arora, J.K. (Eds.) Campus Books, New Delhi. pp 75-86.
  2. Stobdan, T., Kaur, S. * and Singh, A. (2002) Abundance of Bacillus thuringiensis in agricultural soils in the Ladakh region of India. In: Biopesticides and pest management.(Vol. 2) Koul, O., Dhaliwal, G.S.,  Marwaha, S.S. and Arora, J.K. (Eds.) Campus Books, New Delhi. Pp 131-135.