Dr. Kumari Neelam has joined PAU, as Assistant Biotechnologist, in the Year 2012. Before Joining PAU, She worked at North Carolina State University, USA, as Postdoctoral Fellow for two years, (October, 2010 to August, 2012). Her field of specialization includes Wide hybridization, Molecular breeding, Rice genomics and functional genomics. At PAU, she is maintaining an active collection of 1100 accessions of wild species of rice comprising of diploid genomes (AA, BB, CC, EE, FF and HH) along with tetraploid species having BBCC, CCDD genomes. Her major work includes identification of novel genes for Brown plant Hopper resistance, White back plant hopper resistance and Sheath blight tolerance, utilizing wild species of rice. Three of the genes Bph34, bph42 and bph46 were mapped and markers for MAS have been developed. Pyramiding of two of the major BPH resistance gene Bph34 and Bph33 is accomplished. The bacterial blight resistance genes in rice (xa45 and xa49) was fine mapped. The QTLs for Sheath blight resistance, false smut and other yield related traits have been mapped and utilized in breeding programs for trait improvement. Allele mining from wild species of rice for getting superior alleles for disease resistance, Phosphorus tolerance, quality and yield contributing traits is another important aspect of her lab. We successfully obtained better alleles for rice bran oil (PLD locus), Grain number (GN1) and Phosphorus Tolerance gene (PSTOL1) and CEN-H3 variants for induction of haploid.

Professional Accomplishments

Education: Ph. D (Biotechnology) – I.I.T, Roorkee; M.Sc. (Plant Breeding and Genetics)- RAU, Pusa; B.Sc Ag. & AH. – GBPUA&T, Pant Nagar.

Positions held: Assistant Biotechnologist, PAU, Ludhiana, 6.9.2012- till date; Post Doctoral Fellow, North Carolina State University, U.S.A, Oct, 2010- Aug, 2012; Research Fellow, I.I.T, Roorkee, Sept, 2009- Sept. 2010

Research Interests:

1. Rice molecular breeding 
2. Wide hybridization and marker aided selection 
3. Genomics of crops 

Important Achievements

1. Three novel brown Plant Hopper resistance genes Bph34, bph42 and Bph46 have been identified and utilized in breeding programs.
2. Two of the bacterial blight resistance genes xa45 and xa49 was identified. A rice variety PR127 was released for cultivation carrying xa45 gene, having resistance to all the ten Xanthomonas pathotypes of Punjab.
3. Two of the rice varieties PR128, and PR129 with higher grain yield and improved grain colour is released for cultivation in Punjab. 
4. Five germplasm stocks INGR21008 (ILGSPAU_BPH34), INGR21007 (IET17948), INGR21010 (IET19339), INGR21091 (IL274), INGR21009 (PR114_xa38) have been registered at NBPGR, New Delhi for bacterial blight resistance and Brown plant hopper resistance.
5. Sheath blight resistance QTLs were identified and mapped from O. nivara and O. rufipogon and landraces. Some of the introgression lines are under initial yield trails.
6. Introgression lines from wild species Oryza punctata have been identified for salinity tolerance, earliness and yield related traits.

Research Projects:

Completed Projects

1. 1. Fine mapping, cloning and validation of brown plant hopper resistance introgressed from Oryza  nivara into O. sativa L.
   2. Pyramiding of genes contributing to the resistance to Brown Plant Hopper (Biotype 4 ) in rice.
   3. Allele mining for Phosphorus Starvation Tolerance gene (PSTOL1) in Oryza rufipogon and its transfer to elite rice cultivars using marker aided selection.
   4. Program support on Enhancing durability of resistance to biotic stresses in selected cereal and fiber crops through biotech approaches.

Selected Research Publications :

1. Rasool, S., Babbar, A., Kumari, S.  Javed S, Lore J.S, Kaur R, Sidhu N, Vikal Y, Singh K, Neelam K. (2025) Molecular mapping and transfer of sheath blight resistance QTLs from PAU-shb8 to cultivated rice PR-121. Mol Genet Genomics 300, 21 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-024-02220-8.
2. Kaur, P,  Neelam, K,  Sarao, PS, Saini, NS,  Dhir, YW,  Khanna, R, Vikal, Y and Singh, K (2024). Mapping of a novel recessive brown planthopper resistance gene bph46 from wild rice (Oryza nivara). Euphytica, 220(4), p.61.
3. Neelam K, Aggarwal S K, Kumari S, Kumar K, Kaur A, Babbar A, Lore J S, Kaur R, Khanna R, Vikal Y. (2024) Molecular Mapping and Transfer of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) for Sheath Blight Resistance from Wild Rice Oryza nivara to Cultivated Rice (Oryza sativa L.). Genes 15(7):919.
4. Kaur K, Neelam K, Singh J, Malik P, Singh K (2023) Uncovering natural allelic and structural variants of OsCENH3 gene by targeted resequencing and in silico mining in genus Oryza. Scientific Reports 13(1):830
5. Malik P, Huang M, Neelam K, Bhatia D, Kaur R, Yadav B, Singh J, Sneller C, Singh K (2022) Genotyping-by-sequencing based investigation of population structure and genome wide association studies for seven agronomically important traits in a set of 346 Oryza rufipogon accessions. Rice 15(1):37

Book Chapters

1. Neelam K, Kishor Sinha, Harcharan Singh Dhaliwal, Kuldeep Singh. 2016. “Introgression and exploitation of QTLs for yield and yield components from related wild species to rice cultivars”. Gene Pool Diversity and Crop Improvement – Volume 1. Springer Verlag book. page- 171-202. 
2. Kuldeep Singh, Kumari Neelam, Amanpreet Kaur, Karminderbir Kaur. 2016. Inter-specific hybridization in rice: limitations and opportunities. Chapter in a book “Broadening the genetic base of grain cereals” Springer. 

Awards/Honours/Distinctions: 

1. Awarded Indo-U.S. WISTEMM fellowship by Indo-U.S. Science & Technology Forum (IUSSTF) by DST.
2. National Doctoral Fellowship (NDF) by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). 
3. Junior Research Fellowship by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
4. India National Eligibility Test (NET) for Lecturer ship award conducted by Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board (ASRB).