In Vitro Application in Crop Improvement

Dr. A. Mujib, Ph D is a Lecturer n the Department of Botany at the Hamdard University, New Delhi. Dr. Mujib currently teaches molecular genetics, cytogenetics and plant biotechnology. His current research interests include micropropagation, somatic embryogenesis, somaclonal variation, in vitro mutagenesis, etc. Using plant tissue culture techniques. Dr. Mujib has over 50 publications as book chapters, review articles and original research papers. Dr. Mujib received his PhD degree in Botany from the University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India, working on in vitro studies on bulbous ornamental. Subsequently he held scientific positions in the Dept of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur before joining his current post.

Dr. Myeong-Je Cho has been leading crop transformation and gene expression at the University of California-Berkeley. He developed efficient tissue culture and transformation methods for commercial varieties of major monocot crop species. Using a new tissue culture system, major cereal crops and forage grasses have been successfully transformed with high frequencies. He also developed a stable gene expression system using seed-specific promoters to produce pharmaceuticals and to improve nutritional quality in cereals, and isolated and characterized trx and ntr genes from barely, which are being used for generation of hypoallergenic and hyperdigestible wheat and other cereals. Dr. Cho also leads the Plant Biotechnology and Genomics Programs at Byotix, Richmond, California. He is responsible for developing novel transformation technologies and gene expression systems for major crop species. He obtained his PHD in Agronomy (Soyabean Physiology and Biochemistry) from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. He did Postdoctoral study in the field of Soybean Molecular Biology at the University of Illinois. He has been a consultant/ scientific advisor to 4 biotech companies. Dr. Cho is an author of 50 scientific publications and 3 book chapters and has 4 issued patents and 1 pending regarding plant transformation, gene expression, and gene isolation/ characterization.

S. Banerjee (b. 1950) did his early schooling in Ranchi, Patna and Shillong. He graduated from the St. Edmund's College, Darjeeling and obtained master's degree in zoology from the University of Calcutta. His doctorate dissertation on Avian development is being widely acclaimed. He has written over a dozen of papers for national level seminars and conferences and is working on a book on molecular biology.

Dr. Predieri Stefano is a researcher at the Italian National Council of Research (CNR) with research interested in the areas of ecophysiology of woody plants exposed to stress factors, in vitro study of environmental stress, induction of genetic variability and selection of genotypes with increased tolerance to stress. Dr Stefano is currently working in Bologna, Italy, and is in charge of the IBIMET_BO Tissue Culture Lab. He is responsible for the research projects funded by Regione Emilia-Romagna on “In Vitro mutagenesis and field selection of pear” and on improvement of quality of fruit crops. He has conducted postdoctoral research in Belgium (CRA, Gembloux) and in UK (IHR, East Malling) on plant tissue culture, physiology, and biotechnology applied to fruit trees , and in USA (USDA, Beltsville) on developing in vitro models for studying UV- B effects on Plants. Has been a member of “EU Tematic group AGROFOOD” as an expert on sensory evaluation of fruits, and of the Scientific Committeesof the “8th International Pear Symposium ISHS” (2000) and “6th International peach Symposium ISHS” (2005).