Biographical note

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. Dr. Ajay Kumar is currently working as an assistant professor at Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, India. Dr. Kumar recently completed his tenure as a visiting scientist from Agriculture Research Organization, Volcani Center, Israel. He has published more than 175 research, review articles, and book chapters in international and national journals. He serves as an associate editor for Frontiers in Microbiology and as guest editor for various journals such as Plants, Microorganisms, and Sustainability. Dr. Kumar has also edited more than 32 books with the leading publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley. Dr. Kumar has wide area of research experience, especially in the field of plant-microbe Interactions, microbial biocontrol, Postharvest management of fruits, microbial endophytes related to medicinal plants and cyanobacteria-pesticides interactions. Dr. Gustavo Santoyo obtained his Doctor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 2005 and did postdoctoral studies during 2005-2007 at the Center for Cancer Research, NIH, USA, as well as a sabbatical year (2014-2015) at the Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. He is currently a full-time research professor at the Institute of Chemical and Biological Research of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, in Morelia, Mexico. His research interest is led towards plant-microbe interactions, biocontrol of fungal pathogens, development of bioinoculants for agricultural crops, and basic research on microbial diversity of extreme environments. In these research areas has published 80 scientific publications with more than 4000 citations and a h-factor 29. In the Academy, He has supervised more than 30 doctoral, master and undergrad thesis. Dr. Santoyo is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and the National Research System (SNI) of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) in Mexico. 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