Avishek Banik

Assistant Professor

• B. Sc. in Microbiology (Hons.)  (The University of Burdwan, 2009)
• M.Sc. in Microbiology (The University of Burdwan, 2011)
• Ph.D. in Microbiology (ICAR- National Rice Research Institute and The University of Burdwan, 2016)
• Postdoctoral Research (Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, California, USA  (2018- 2019)

Dr. Avishek Banik’s research career is marked by sustained contributions to microbial biotechnology, with a strong focus on harnessing beneficial microbes and microbial metabolites for sustainable agriculture, crop quality enhancement, and environmental remediation. His work integrates microbial ecology, chemical biology, and translational biotechnology to address real-world challenges.

A significant component of Dr. Banik’s research has focused on plant-microbe interactions in cereal and plantation crops. He characterized a rice root endophytic Azotobacter sp. (MCC 3432) and systematically optimized its plant growth–promoting potential across laboratory, net house, and field conditions, demonstrating its applicability as a bioinoculant for sustainable rice cultivation (Planta, 2016; Microbiological Research, 2019).

Extending his expertise to plantation crops, Dr. Banik made notable contributions to tea biotechnology. He characterized a tea pest-specific Bacillus thuringiensis strain and identified a novel toxin, immune inhibitor A, using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The strain was successfully scaled up in a 250-litre fermenter and has been adopted by Goodricke Group Ltd. for pest management, representing a successful academia-industry translation (Industrial Crops & Products, 2019).

In recent years, his research has increasingly focused on microbial modulation of secondary metabolite pathways in tea. He developed a Trichoderma-based formulation for enhancing tea leaf flavonoid content, which has been protected through an Indian patent filing (Application No. 202431070487, dated 18 September 2024). Further advancing this work, he established a Trichoderma–tea root-associated microbial protoconsortia system capable of enhancing both flavonoid and terpenoid production in Camellia sinensis, providing mechanistic and applied insights into microbiome-driven crop quality improvement (Microbiological Research, 2025).

Beyond agriculture, Dr. Banik has contributed to environmental and chemical biology research. He developed a bacteria-algae consortia-based protocooperation system for heavy-metal remediation in aquaculture systems, offering a sustainable solution for pollution management (Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 2022). Additionally, he elucidated the anti-yeast mechanism of a lipophilic quinazolinone, providing molecular insights into its antifungal potential and expanding its relevance for controlling fungal infections (Small, 2025).

Collectively, Dr. Banik’s major contributions demonstrate a coherent research trajectory that bridges fundamental microbial science with applied and translational outcomes, spanning sustainable agriculture, crop quality enhancement, biocontrol, environmental remediation, and antimicrobial discovery.

Fellowships availed from

1. University of California, Davis, California, USA
2. Indian Council of Agricultural Research
3. DST-PURSE, Govt. of India

Honours and Awards

1. Selected as a Young Investigator at “Young Investigators' Meeting 2023” at IIT Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad University, organized by IndiaBioscience

2. Awarded AMI- YOUNG SCIENTIST in Agricultural Microbiology by the Association of Microbiologists of India for the year 2019.

3. Awarded Best Young Researcher National by IRDP AWARDS, (October, 2018), Chennai, India, for Teaching, Research and Publications.
4.  Awarded Post-Doctoral Fellowship from Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, State of Israel / Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development. (2018) (Not availed) 

5. Awarded Post-Doctoral Fellowship from Department of Plant Sciences, Mail Stop 5, University of California, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, California 95616, USA (2017)

Research area: Plant-microbe interaction

The plant-microbe interaction plays a crucial role in shaping plant growth and development. Beneficial microorganisms can promote plant growth and increase crop yield, while harmful microorganisms can cause diseases and limit plant growth. The use of metabolomics has emerged as a powerful tool for studying the plant-microbe interaction and understanding the metabolic pathways involved.

Research Question:

What is the role of metabolomics in understanding the plant-microbe interaction and how can it be used to develop new strategies for sustainable agriculture?

Objectives:

1. To investigate the metabolic pathways involved in the plant-microbe interaction.
2. To identify the changes in metabolite profiles in plants in response to microbial colonization.
3. To evaluate the potential of beneficial microbes as biocontrol agents for plant diseases.

My research mainly focused on different aspects of plant-microbe interactions through metabolomics, phenotyping, bio-imaging, and different molecular biological techniques. I would love to supervise enthusiastic postgraduate students to decode different interactions between microbes with Rice/ Groundnut/ Tea ecologies.

Editorial activity of Journals

1. Frontiers in Agronomy (Guest Associate Editor, 2020-2021)
2. Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports (Section: Microbiology; ISSN 2045-2322), Springer Nature

Regular peer reviewers for journals

1. Science of the Total Environment (Elsevier: ISSN: 0048-9697),
2. Food Chemistry (Elsevier: ISSN: 0308-8146),
3. Physiologia Plantarum (Wiley: ISSN: 1399-3054),
4. Plant Science (Elsevier: ISSN: 0168-9452), 
5. Land Degradation & Development (Wiley: ISSN: 1099-145X),
6. Applied Soil Ecology (Elsevier: ISSN: 0929-1393),
7. European Journal of Soil Biology (Elsevier: ISSN: 1164-5563),
8. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation (Springer: ISSN: 0721-7595),
9. Journal of King Saud University – Science (Elsevier: ISSN: 1018-3647),
10. CLEAN - Soil, Air, Water (Wiley; ISSN:1863-0669),
11. Marine Environmental Research (Elsevier: ISSN: 0141-1136),
12. International Journal of Phytoremediation (Taylor & Francis; ISSN:1522-6514),
13. Archives of Microbiology (Springer: ISSN: 0302-8933),
14. International Journal of Phytoremediation (Taylor & Francis: ISSN:1522-6514),
15. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B - Plant Soil Science  (Taylor & Francis; ISSN:0906-4710),
16. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition (Springer: ISSN: 0718-9508),
17. International Journal of Environmental Research (Springer: ISSN: 2008-2304),
18. BioMed Research International (Hindawi: ISSN: 2314-6133),
19. Journal of Crop Research (Sci Technol: ISSN: 2454-1761),
20. The Open Microbiology Journal (Bentham Open: ISSN: 1874-2858),
21. Frontiers in Agronomy (Frontiers: ISSN: 2673-3218)
22. Industrial Crops & Products (Elsevier: ISSN: 0926-6690)

Extramurally funded research projects as PI

1. University Grants Commission [UGC] (2020-  2023): Topic: Rice microbiome
2. Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology [SERB] (2020- 2022):Topic: Tea microbiome
3. Department of Biotechnology [DBT] (2024-2025): Topic: Bacterial EPS
4. Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council [BIRAC] (2024-2027): Bacteria-Fungus interaction. 

1. General Microbiology
2. Agricultural Microbiology
3. Environmental Microbiology
4. Industrial microbiology

Prospective students

Highly motivated students with CSIR-UGC JRF/NET or BET (DBT) or ICMR-JRF with their own fellowship having a background in Microbiology or any other allied disciplines are welcome to contact at avishek.dbs@presiuniv.ac.in

• Current lab members

 1.   Anupam Mondal (Project Assistant in SERB project and registered research scholar)

2.   Dipankar Bera (DBT-SRF, registered research scholar)

3.   Anirban Shaoo (Ph.D. Scholar, registered research scholar)

4.   Amrita Ghosh (DBT- Project JRF, Ph.D. enrolled)

5.   Sk Soyal Parvez (Project Associate-I in DBT-BIRAC project)

Doctoral student (Ph.D. awarded: 1):  Dr. Chandrashekhar PS (RK University, Gujarat, 2021)

M. Sc.  dissertation students

1. Sk Soyal Parvez (M.Sc. Dissertation Student, PU, 2024),
2. Madhurima Pal (M.Sc. Dissertation Student, PU, 2024),
3. Somdatta Maiti (M.Sc. Dissertation Student, PU, 2023),
4. Shamita Maji (M.Sc. Dissertation Student, Vidyasagar University, 2023)
5. Ms. Sushreeta Paul (SBT, Presidency University, 2022)
6. Ms. Sanchari Dey (Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, 2022)
7. Ms. Anusha Majumder (SBT, Presidency University, 2021)
8. Ms. Pooja Pandya (Department of Microbiology, RK University, 2016-2017)
9. Ms. Maya Dangar (Department of Microbiology, RK University, 2016-2017)
10. Ms. Rutvika Tholiya (Department of Microbiology, RK University, 2016-2017)

1. Life member of THE ASSOCIATION OF MICROBIOLOGISTS OF INDIA (AMI) 
2. Life member of The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) 

Indian patent: 01 (Application field on 18th September, 2024)

Publication

Research articles

1.  Sk Soyal Parvez, Anupam Mondal, Kalpna Sharma, Andrei Stecc Steindorff, Igor V. Grigoriev, Utpal Bakshi, Avishek Banik*. Trichoderma sp. strain AM6 whole-genome guided untargeted metabolomics: Terpenoid backbone synthesis and modulation of VOCs in tea (Camellia sinensis L.). Microbiological Research (2025) 298,128215. I.F.: 6.9 (Corresponding Author)

2. Pijus Ghorai, Shubhankar Ghorai, Purabi Dutta, Dipankar Bera, Avishek Banik*, Jhuma Ganguly*. Synthesis of Lipophilic Quinazolinone Template as Pollutant's Scavenger in Aqueous System and Evaluation of Its Anti-Yeast Activity. Small (2025). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202503859 I.F.: 12.1 

3.   Purabi Dutta, Dipankar Bera, Shubhankar Ghorai, Pijus Ghorai, Avishek Banik*, and Jhuma Ganguly*. Fabrication of Functionalized Alkyne-Conjugated Chitosan With Bactericidal Efficacy. Journal of Applied Polymer Science (2025): e70014. I.F. 2.8

4.   Anupam Mondal, Sk Soyal Parvez, Anusha Majumder, Kalpna Sharma, Bimal Das, Utpal Bakshi, Masrure Alam,* Avishek Banik*. Co-inoculation of Trichoderma and tea root-associated bacteria enhance flavonoid production and abundance of mycorrhizal colonization in tea (Camellia sinensis). Microbiological Research (2025) 293,128084. I.F.: 6.9 (Co-Corresponding Author)

5.       Baishali Pandit, Abdul Moin, Anupam Mondal, Avishek Banik, Masrure Alam. Characterization of a biofilm-forming, amylase-producing, and heavy-metal-bioremediating strain Micrococcus sp. BirBP01 isolated from oligotrophic subsurface lateritic soil. Archives of Microbiology (2023) 205, 351 I.F. 2.6

6.       Chandrashekharaiah P.S., Yash Gupte, Purbasha Sarkar, Shyam Prasad, Debanjan Sanyal, Santanu Dasgupta, Avishek Banik*. Algae-bacterial aquaculture can enhance heavy metals (Pb2+ and Cd2+) remediation and water re-use efficiency of synthetic streams. Resources, Conservation & Recycling (2022) 180, 106211. I.F.: 10.9 (Corresponding Author)

7.       Anusha Majumder, Sunil Kanti Mondal, Samyabrata Mukhoty, Sagar Bag, Anupam Mondal, Yasmin Begum, Kalpna Sharma, Avishek Banik*. Virtual screening and docking analysis of novel ligands for selective enhancement of tea (Camellia sinensis) flavonoids. Food Chemistry: X (2022) 13, 100212. I.F.: 8.2 (Corresponding Author)

8.       Chandrashekharaiah P.S., Debanjan Sanyal, Santanu Dasgupta, Avishek Banik*. Phycoremediation and photosynthetic toxicity assessment of lead (Pb2+) by two freshwater microalgae Scenedesmus acutus and Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Physiologia Plantarum (2021) 173 (1), 246-258. I.F.: 3.6 (Corresponding Author) 

9.       Chandrashekharaiah P.S., Debanjan Sanyal, Santanu Dasgupta, Avishek Banik*. Cadmium biosorption and biomass production by two freshwater microalgae Scenedesmus acutus and Chlorella pyrenoidosa: An integrated approach. Chemosphere (2021) 269, 128755. (Corresponding Author)

10.       Trinetra Mukherjee, Avishek Banik, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay. Plant Growth-Promoting Traits of a Thermophilic Strain of the Klebsiella Group with its Effect on Rice Plant Growth. Current Microbiology (2020) 77, 2613–2622. I.F.: 2.6

11.    Rajesh Kumar Mohapatra, Avishek Banik, Sarat Kumar Sahu, Sudarsan Panda, Tushar Kanti Dangar. Parasites and bacteria associated with Indian pangolins Manis crassicaudata (Mammalia: Manidae). Global Ecology and Conservation (2020) 23, e01042. I.F.: 3.4

12.    Avishek Banik, Amarnath Chattopadhyay, Subir Ganguly, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay. Characterization of a tea pest specific Bacillus thuringiensis and identification of its toxin by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Industrial Crops & Products (2019) 132, 549-556. I.F.: 6.2

13.    Avishek Banik*, Gautam Kumar Dash, Padmini Swain, Upendra Kumar, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Tushar Kanti Dangar*. Application of rice (Oryza sativa L.) root endophytic diazotrophic Azotobacter sp. strain Avi2 (MCC 3432) can increase rice yield under green house and field condition. Microbiological Research (2019) 219, 56-65. I.F.: 6.9 (Co-corresponding Author)

14.    Satyajit Mondal, Moumita Chakraborty, Antu Mondal, Bholanath Pakhira, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Avishek Banik, Swaraj Sengupta, Shyamal Kumar Chattopadhyay. Crystal structure, spectroscopic, DNA binding studies and DFT calculations of a Zn (II) complex. New Journal of Chemistry (2019) 43, 5466-5474. I.F.: 2.5

15.    Avishek Banik*, Pooja Pandya, Bhoomi Patel, Chirag Rathod, Maya Danger. Characterization of halotolerant, pigmented, plant growth promoting bacteria of groundnut rhizosphere and its in-vitro evaluation of plant-microbe protocooperation to withstand salinity and metal stress. Science of the Total Environment (2018) 630, 231-242. I. F.: 8 (*Corresponding Author)

16.    Upendra Kumar, P. Panneerselvam, Avishek Banik, K. Annapurna. Lower Frequency and Diversity of Antibiotic-Producing Fluorescent Pseudomonads in Rhizosphere of Indian Rapeseed–Mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern.). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences (2018) 88: 579-586.

17.    Ranjan C. Khunt, Khushal M. Kapadiya, Yashwantsinh S. Jadeja, Avishek Banik. In silico and in vitro studies of fluorinated chroman-2-carboxilic acid derivatives as an anti-tubercular agent. Folia Medica (2018) doi: 10.2478/folmed-2018-0034  

18.    Avishek Banik*, Upendra Kumar, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Tushar Kanti Dangar*. Dynamics of endophytic and epiphytic bacterial communities of Indian cultivated and wild rice (Oryza spp.) genotypes. Ecological Genetics and Genomics (2017) 3-5, 7-17. (Co-corresponding Author)

19.    Upendra Kumar, P. Panneerselvam, V. Govindasamy, L. Vithalkumar, M. Senthilkumar, Avishek Banik, K. Annapurna. Long-term aromatic rice cultivation effect on frequency and diversity of diazotrophs in its rhizosphere. Ecological Engineering (2017) 101, 227-236. I. F.: 4.1

20.    Avishek Banik, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Tushar Kanti Dangar. Characterization of N2-fixing plant growth promoting endophytic and epiphytic bacterial community of Indian cultivated and wild rice (Oryza spp.) genotypes. Planta (2016) 243, 799-812. I. F.:3.8 (Recommended in F1000Prime)

21.    Avishek Banik, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Animesh Sahana, Debasis Das, Tushar Kanti Dangar. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) based technique for tracking of endophytic bacteria in rice roots. Biology and Fertility of Soils (2016) 52, 277- 282. I. F.:  5.6

22.    Abhijit Ghosh, Sangita Adhikari, Sabyasachi Ta, Avishek Banik, Tushar Kanti Dangar, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Jesús Sanmartín Matalobos, Paula Brandão, Vítor Félix, Debasis Das. Tuning of azine derivatives for selective recognition of Ag+ with in-vitro tracking of endophytic bacteria in rice root tissue. Dalton Transactions (2016) 45, 19491-19499. I. F.: 3.3

23.    Abhijit Ghosh, Sabyasachi Ta, Milan Ghosh, Subhajit Karmakar, Avishek Banik, Tushar Kanti Dangar, SubhraKanti Mukhopadhyay, Debasis Das. Dual mode ratiometric recognition of zinc acetate: nano-molar detection with in-vitro tracking of endophytic bacteria in rice root tissue. Dalton Transactions (2016) 45, 599-606. I. F.: 3.3

24.    Barnali Naskar, Ritwik Modak, Yeasin Sikdar, Dilip K. Maiti, Avishek Banik, Tushar Kanti Dangar, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Debasish Mandal, Sanchita Goswami. A simple Schiff base molecular logic gate for detection of Zn2+ in water and its bio-imaging application in plant system. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry (2016) 321, 99-109. I. F.: 4.7

25.    Debasis Karak, Avishek Banik, Arindam Sarkar, Shyamalendu Chatterje, Jesus Sanmartín Matalobos, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Debasis Das. 9-Acridone-4-carboxylic acid: Crystal structure, immune-fluorescence detection of viral antigen and cell imaging studies. Journal of The Indian Chemical Society (2014) 91, 245-251. I. F.: 3.4

26.    Avishek Banik, Subir Ganguly, Bansi Badan Mukhopadhyay, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay. A new report on rapid, cheap and easily extractable mass spore production of Beauveria bassiana using recyclable polyurethane foams as support medium; Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology Research (2014) 4 (1): 1-6

27.    Arindam Sarkar, Avishek Banik, Bani K Pathak, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Shyamalendu Chatterjee. Envelope protein gene based molecular characterization of Japanese encephalitis virus clinical isolates from West Bengal, India: a comparative approach with respect to SA14-14-2 live attenuated vaccine strain; BMC Infectious Diseases (2013) 13, 368-381. I. F.: 3.4

28.    Animesh Sahana, Arnab Banerjee, Sisir Lohar, Avishek Banik, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Damir Safin, Maria G. Babashkina, Michael Bolte, Yann Garcia and Debasis Das. FRET based tri-color emissive rhodamine-pyrene conjugate as Al3+ selective colorimetric and fluorescence sensor for living cell imaging; Dalton Transactions (2013) 42, 13311-13314. I. F.: 3.3

29.    Ajit Kumar Mahapatra, Saikat Kumar Manna, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Avishek Banik.  First Rhodhamine-Based “Off-On” Chemosensor with High Selectivity and Sensitivity for Zr4+ and Its Imaging in Living Cell; Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical (2013) 183, 350-355. I. F.: 7.7

30.    Ajit Kumar Mahapatra, Jagannath Roy, Prithidipa Sahoo, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Avishek Banik, Debasish Mandal. Carbazole phenylthiosemicarbazone-based ensemble of Hg2+ as selective fluorescence turn-on sensor toward cysteine in water; Tetrahedron letters (2013) 54, 2946-2951. I. F.: 1.5

31.    Sisir Lohar, Animish Sahana, Arnab Banerjee, Avishek Banik, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Jesús Sanmartín Matalobos, Debasis Das. Antipyrine Based Arsenate Selective Fluorescent Probe for Living Cell Imaging. Analytical chemistry (2013) 85 (3), 1778– 1783. I. F.: 6.7

32.    Sisir Lohar, Arnab Banerjee, Animesh Sahana, Avishek Banik, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Debasis Das. A rhodamine–naphthalene conjugate as a FRET based sensor for Cr3+ and Fe3+ with cell staining application. Analytical Methods (2013) 5, 442-445. I. F.: 2.6

33.    Ajit Kumar Mahapatra, Rajkishor Maji, Prithidipa Sahoo, Prasanta Kumar Nandi, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Avishek Banik. A new colorimetric chemodosimeter for mercury ion via specific thioacetalde protection in aqueous solution and living cells; Tetrahedron Letters (2012) 53, 7031–7035. I. F.: 1.5

34.    Ajit Kumar Mahapatra, Jagannath Roy, Saikat Kumar Manna, Supratim Kundu, Prithidipa Sahoo, Subhra Kanti Mukhopadhyay, Avishek Banik. Hg2+ Selective “turn-on” fluorescent chemodosimeter derived from glycine and living cell imaging; Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry (2012) 240, 26–32. I. F.: 4.7

Review articles

1.     Sushreeta Paul, Sk Soyal Parvez, Anusree Goswami, Avishek Banik*. Exopolysaccharides from agriculturally important microorganisms: Conferring soil nutrient status and plant health. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (2024) 262, 129954.  I.F.:  8.5 (Corresponding author) (Review)

2.     Somdatta Maiti, Avishek Banik*. Strategies to fortify the nutritional values of polished rice by implanting selective traits from brown rice: A nutrigenomics-based approach. Food Research International (2023) 173, 113271. I.F.:  8 (Corresponding author) (Review)

3.     Sagar Bag, Anupam Mondal, Anusha Majumder, Sunil Kanti Mondal, Avishek Banik*. Flavonoid mediated selective cross-talk between plants and beneficial soil microbiome. Phytochemistry Reviews (2022). 21, 1739–1760.  I.F.: 7.6 (Corresponding Author)

4.     Sagar Bag, Anupam Mondal, Anusha Majumder, Avishek Banik*. Tea and its Phytochemicals:  Hidden Health Benefits & Modulation of Signaling Cascade by Phytochemicals. Food Chemistry (2022) 371, 131098. I.F.: 9.8 (Corresponding Author)

5.     Sagar Bag, Anupam Mondal, Avishek Banik*. Exploring tea (Camellia sinensis) microbiome: Insights into the functional characteristics and their impact on tea growth promotion. Microbiological Research (2022). 254, 126890 I.F.: 6.9 (Corresponding Author)

Editorial

1.         Avishek Banik. Plant Endophytes: True Symbiont or Opportunistic Pathogens? EC Microbiology (2019) 15 (7): 533-535.

2.         Avishek Banik*, Muhammad Arslan Ashraf, Ganesan Govindan and Mariadhas Valan Arasu. Plant-growth promoting microbes: A Green approach to enhance crop productivity. Frontiers in Agronomy (2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fagro.2022.991329. I. F.: 4.1

Book chapters

1.     P. S. Chandra Shekharaiah, Debanjan Sanyal, Santanu Dasgupta, Ajit Sapre, Avishek Banik*. Heavy Metal Mitigation with Special Reference to Bioremediation by Mixotrophic Algae-Bacterial Protocooperation; Cellular and Molecular Phytotoxicity of Heavy Metals. Springer Nature Switzerland AG. (2020): 305-334 (ISBN:978-3-030-45974-1) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45975-8_15 (*Corresponding Author)

2.     Avishek Banik. Plant growth promoting microbes of rice and their application for sustainable agriculture; “Agriculturally Important Microorganisms: Mechanisms and Applications for Sustainable Agriculture”. Page: 14; eBook ISBN " 9781003245841; CRC Press, London,  2021.

{C}3.     {C}Avishek Pahari, Sudipta Maity, Avishek Banik, Suraj Nayak, Bibhuti Bhusan Mishra. Microbial Nitrogen fixation: A Potential substitution to synthetic nitrogen fertilizer; “Agriculturally Important Microorganisms: Mechanisms and Applications for Sustainable Agriculture” Page: 137; eBook ISBN " 9781003245841; CRC Press, London, 2021.

4.    Ronita Chandra and Avishek Banik*. Detoxification and bioconversion of arsenic and chromium, in “Nanobiotechnology: Microbes and plant assisted synthesis of nanoparticles, mechanisms and applications. Elsevier (2021) (ISBN: 9780128228784) https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822878-4.00016-X

5.     Rizwan Rasheed, Muhammad Arslan Ashraf, Shafaqat Ali, Muhammad Iqbal, Sadia Zafar, Ali Akbar, Avishek Banik. “Role of NO in plants: a current update” in Nitric Oxide in Plant Biology, Academic Press, 2022, Pages 139-168, ISBN 9780128187975, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818797-5.00021-2.

6.      Anupam Mondal, Sagar Bag, Ronita Chandra, Avishek Banik*. “Nanobiotechnology of endophytes” in “Agricultural Nanobiotechnology” Elsivier (2022)

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-91908-1.00018-3

7.     Sagar Bag, Anupam Mondal, Avishek Banik*. Regulation of Plant Growth by Microbe-Assisted Nitric Oxide Production in “Nitric Oxide in Plants: A Molecule with Dual Roles”, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (ISBN: 9781119800156). (2022) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119800156.ch6

8.     Aranya Mitra, Avishek Banik*. Extremophiles: Xerophiles in Diversity, Adaptation and Applications, Bentham Books (2022). ISBN: 978-981-5080-36-0

Extended Summaries

1.     Upendra Kumar, Megha Kaviraj, P Panneerselvam, A. Banik, TK Dangar, AK Nayak. An unfolding success story of endophytic diazotroph Azotobacter chroococcum Avi2: A substantial substitute of n-fertilizer in rice. 1st Indian Rice Congress – 2020, Rice Research and Development for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals, December 8-9, 2020

E-publication (NCBI)

1.                                           Microbial Sequence submitted to NCBI genbank, BANKIT: 119

(Bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequence = 108, Bacterial nifH gene sequence= 11, ITS=2)

2.                                           BioSample: SAMN31404869; Sample name: S; SRA: SRS15503027

(Whole metagenomics sequencing of tea rhizospheric soil sample)

3.                                                             BioSample: SAMN31404868; Sample name: R; SRA: SRS15503030 (Whole metagenomics

sequencing of surface sterile tea root sample)

4.  Trichoderma sp. strain AM6 genome Accession no.: SAMN35637920

5. Bacillus subtilis strain J1 genome Accession no.:  SAMN35344861

6. Tea (Camellia sinensis) RNA Seq: SAMN33591153, SAMN33591154, SAMN33591155