Dr. Avinash Chandra Rai is currently working as a visiting scientist at Agriculture Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan, Israel. Dr. Rai has been completed his Ph.D. degree in Biotechnology from Banaras Hindu University, Uttar Pradesh, India. He is currently serving as a visiting Scientist in Institute of Plant Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization-The Volcani Centre, Israel. He has more than thirteen years of research experience, particularly in the area of plant molecular biology and plant physiology. His research interest is in deciphering the insights of plant abiotic stresses with the applications of molecular and physiological tools. He also has a keen interest in emerging environmental and physiological issues of crop plants. He is currently working to see the effect of auxin and ethylene in the process of abscission in mango and find out the role of essential gene involved in the pathways mechanism in abscission of fruit. Dr. Rai has more than seventeen research articles and book chapters in journals of national and international repute to his credit. He is a lifetime member of the Biotech Research Society of India (BRSI) and Society of vegetable Sciences, India. He is also the recipient of Young Scientist Associate award from Bioved Research Society, Allahabad, India in 2016. He has also actively participated in many national and international conferences, symposia and workshops related to his research field in India and abroad.
Dr. Ved Prakash Rai Assistant Research Scientist at Agricultural Research Station, Navsari Agricultural University, Tanchha, Bharuch, Gujarat, India. He completed his doctoral research from the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. He has fourteen years of research experience in the area of molecular breeding for biotic and abiotic stresses in pepper, rice, wheat and pulse crops. Presently, he is working on abiotic stress tolerance in pulse and vegetable crops.
Ajay Kumar is currently an Assistant Professor at the Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, India. He previously served as a Visiting Scientist at the Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Israel (2018–2022), and completed his doctoral research at the Department of Botany, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, focusing on plant–microbe interactions. Dr. Kumar’s research expertise spans plant–microbe interactions, microbial biocontrol, postharvest fruit disease management, microbial endophytes of medicinal plants, and cyanobacteria–pesticide interactions. He is a prolific author in leading international journals and is also actively engaged in academic editing with major publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, CRC Press, and Wiley. Dr. Kumar currently serves as an Associate Editor for
Frontiers in Microbiology and
BMC Microbiology, a Guest Editor for
Microorganisms and Plants (MDPI), and a Series Editor for
Plant and Soil Microbiome (Elsevier).
Gustavo Santoyo is a Professor of Agrogenomics at the Institute of Chemical and Biological Research, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Mexico. He holds two BSc degrees, one in Biology and the other in Psychology. He earned his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Dr. Santoyo conducted postdoctoral studies at the Center for Cancer Research, The National Institutes of Health, USA, and was a visiting professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. His current research focuses on elucidating plant–soil–microbe interactions and on investigations in agrogenomics. He is a prolific book author/editor and journal reviewer. He serves as a Special Content Editor for Microbiological Research (Elsevier) and as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Plant Sciences (Frontiers), Journal of Advanced Research (Elsevier), and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (Springer). He is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and holds the Nivel III distinction in the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores of Mexico. In 2024, he received the State Award for Science, Technology, and Innovation, granted by the Government of the State of Michoacán.
Dr. Lucas C. B. Azevedo holds a degree in Agronomy (State University of Londrina, Brazil), MSc in Soil Science (Federal University of Lavras, Brazil), and PhD in Soil Science and Plant Nutrition (University of São Paulo, Brazil), which included an internship at Kansas State University, USA. He was named Assistant Professor at the Federal Institute of Goiás State, Brazil teaching Soil and Environmental Microbiology classes. He was named Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences of the Federal University of Uberlândia and is currently Associate Professor teaching the subjects of Soil Microbiology, Bioremediation, and Introduction to Soil Science to undergraduate courses of Agronomy and Environmental Engineering. For graduate courses in Environmental Quality and Agronomy, he has taught Soil Ecology classes. As a researcher, he has studied and collaborated in investigations of soil quality indicators soil microbiology soil contamination and remediation and plant growth promoting microorganisms
