Dr. Ajinder Kaur joined PAU as Assistant Plant Breeder (Pulses) on 18.09.2002 after completing B.Sc. Agr. (Hons.) and M.Sc. (Plant Breeding) from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana in 1997 and 1999, respectively. She did her Ph.D. (Plant Breeding) from PAU in 2004. She joined as Associate Professor (Biotechnology) on 18.09.2014 and Professor (Biotechnology) on 18.09.2017 (till date). Her field of specialization is Biotechnology. She has completed three projects funded by UGC, DBT and Punjab Govt. as PI during 2015-16, and six projects funded by UGC, DBT and ICAR in 2015, 2016 and 2020. She has guided, 20 B.Tech. Biotech, 12 M.Sc. and 4 Ph.D. students as major advisor, published 68 research papers in national and international journals, 15 book chapters and presented 20 papers in national and international conferences. Presently, she is the chairperson of the teaching committee of School of Agricultural Biotechnology. She is a member of Atam Pargas Social Welfare Council, PAU, Ludhiana.

Professional Accomplishments

Education: B.Sc. Agri. (Hons.), PAU, Ludhiana (1997); M.Sc. (Plant Breeding), PAU, Ludhiana (1999); Ph.D. (Plant Breeding), PAU, Ludhiana (2004)

Positions held: Assistant Plant Breeder (Pulses), PAU (18.9.2002-17.9.2006), Assistant Plant Breeder (Pulses) Senior Scale (18.9.2006-17.9.2014), Associate Professor (Biotechnology), PAU (18.9.2014-17.9.2017), Professor (Biotechnology), PAU (18.9.2017-Till Date)

Research Interests:

1. Genetic transformation in pigeonpea 
2. Micropropagation of sugarcane 
3. Marker assisted selection in chickpea & pigeonpea 

Research Projects (Ongoing/Completed):

• Genetic engineering and event evaluation for water use efficiency and productivity in rice funded by DBT in 2015 as PI.  

1. Genetic engineering of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L.) through the introduction of cryIAc  gene for developing resistance against pod borer (Helicoverpa armigera) funded by UGC in 2015 as PI.
2. Genetic transformation of sugarcane for developing tolerance against abiotic stresses using DREB gene funded by UGC in 2015 as Co-PI. 
3. Alien genes introgression in oat by developing oat-maize addition (oma) lines funded by UGC in 2016 as Co-PI.  
4. Genetic transformation of sugarcane and molecular characterization of putative transgenic sugarcane plants having DREB1A gene funded by DBT in 2016 as Co-PI.
5. Mass production of elite planting material of selected field and horticultural crops through micropropagation funded by Punjab Govt. in 2016 as PI.
6. ICAR-Consortium research platform on hybrid technology for higher productivity in selected field and horticultural crops – Pigeonpea funded by ICAR in 2020 as Co-PI.  
7. Introgression of Bt-Cry1Ac gene into elite chickpea lines through backcross breeding and evaluation of introgressed lines against Helicoverpa armigera funded by DBT in 2020 as Co-PI.  

Research Publications:

1. Singh M, Kaur Ajinder, Taggar GK, Sandhu JS, Malik P, Rani M, Singh I, Singh R and Singh S (2023) Inheritance and expression analyses of cry1Ab gene in transgenic pigeonpea tolerant to Maruca pod borer. Crop Breeding and Applied Biotechnology 23(4): e458723412. (NAAS rating: 7.48)
2. Malik P, Kaur Ajinder, Bansal M and Gosal SS (2024) Media optimization for direct somatic embryogenesis, regeneration in sugarcane and genetic transformation using cry1Ac gene. Sugar Tech, doi.org/10.1007/s12355-024-01381-5. (NAAS rating: 7.90)
3. Sharma AS, Kalia A, Sharma A, Sidhu MS, Sanghera GS, Chhabra G, Sharma M, Singh M, Patel E, Das P, Hazra S, Kaur Ajinder, Singla D and Sandhu JS  (2024) Expression of Trichoderma spp. endochitinase gene improves red rot disease resistance in transgenic sugarcane. PLoS ONE 19(9): e0310306. (NAAS rating: 9.70)
4. Ekta Patel E, Das P, Hazra S, Sharma M, Chhabra G, Gill BS, Sharma S, Kaur Ajinder, Singla D and Sandhu JS (2025) Mutation in soybean Lox-2 PLAT/LH2 domain through CRISPR/Cas9 reduces seed lipoxygenase activity: responsible for undesirable flavour. Transgenic Research 34(1): 29. (NAAS rating: 8.7)
5. Kaur L, Kaur Ajinder, Malik P, Singh S, Rani U, Vikal Y, Singh I and Sharma P (2025) Genetic analysis and mapping of ascochyta blight resistance in kabuli chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 95(5): 578-582. (NAAS rating: 6.3)

Awards/Honours/Distinctions

1. Recipient of Academic Roll of Honour, University Gold Medal and Dr. Ram Dhan Singh Gold Medal for securing 1st position in B.Sc. Agri. (Hons. in Crop Science) in the subject of Plant Breeding.
2. Best Poster Award for the paper: Rani M, Malik P, Kaur A, Rani U, Bindra S, Vikal Y, Chunneja P and Singh S (2024) ‘Mapping of QTLs linked to Ascochyta blight resistance using NGS-based bulk segregant analysis in chickpea’ presented in National Symposium on “Genomics Revolution to Foster Advances and Innovations in Crop Improvement” from 27th to 29th Feb. 2024 at PAU, Ludhiana.
3. Best Poster Award for the paper: Raje RS, Bohra A, Singh I, Patil DK, Satheesh Naik SJ, Gite VK, Vij S, Singh G, Durgesh K, Prashat R, Das TR, Rani U, Kaur Ajinder, Chandra H, Gaur GK, Malik A, Joshi R, and Saraswat H (2025) ‘Expoitation of heterosis for productivity enhancement in pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millspaugh)’ presented in National Symposium on “Hybrid Technology for Enhancing Crop Productivity” from 8th to 10th Jan. 2025 at National Agricultural Science Centre, Pusa Campus, New Delhi.