Completed B.Sc. Agriculturein 1997, M.Sc.Plant Breeding and Genetics in 1999 and Ph.D. Plant Breeding and Genetics in2003 from Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana. Served as Assistant Plant Breeder, PAU Ludhiana (2004-2016), Senior Breeder (2016-2019) and currently posted as Principal Scientist cum Incharge (Oilseeds) in the Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, PAU, Ludhiana. Worked on wide hybridization, genetics, breeding and genomics of Brassica oilseeds. Associated with the development of 10 varieties/hybrids of rapeseed-mustard crops released at state or national level. Published 30 research papers in the journal of international repute. Developed wide hybrids between Brassica and wild species such as Erucastrumcardamonides (Theor Appl Genet. 2004 08(8):1620-26), detected first marker trait association in the introgression lines of Brassica juncea–Erucastrumcardaminoides (Front in Plant Sci. 2019 doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.01015), physically mapped fertility restorer gene for ogu (Theor Appl Genet (2020) doi: 10.1007/s00122-020-03648-3.), developed KASP for erucic acid (Front in Plant Sci, 2021. 12.738805), identified genes for phosphatase activity in Indian mustard (Front in Plant Sci. 2022,13. 1056028). Completed six competitive grant projects (3 as PI; 3 as Co-PI) from funding agencies like DBT and DST.

Professional Accomplishment :

Important Publications :

1. Upadhyay P, Gupta M, Sra SK, Kaur G,Sardana V, Sharda R, Sandhu N, Akhatar J and Kaur G Association mapping for root system architecture under varying levels of phosphorus application in Brassica juncea L. Czern&Coss. (Accepted).
2. Upadhyay P, Gupta M, Sra SK, Sharda R, Sharma S, Sardana VK, Akhatar J, Kaur G (2022) Genome-wide association studies for acid phosphatase activity at varying phosphorous levels in Brassica juncea L. Frontiers in Plant Science 13:1056028.
3. Gupta M, Kaur G, Banga SS, Virk DS (2022) Increasing seed set and pollen proofing in Brassica juncea and Brassica napus through novel non-woven synthetic pollination control bags. Journal of Crop Improvement 37 (4) 447-462 doi: 10.1080/15427528.2022.2109546.
4. Gill KS, Kaur G, Kaur G, Kaur J, Kaur Sra S, Kaur K, Gurpreet K, Sharma M, Bansal M, Chhuneja P, Banga SS (2021) Development and Validation of Kompetitive Allele-Specific PCR Assays for Erucic Acid Content in Indian Mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern and Coss.]. Frontiers in Plant Science12:738805.
5. Gudi S, Atri C, Goyal A, Kaur N, Akhtar J, Mittal M, Kaur K, Kaur G, Banga SS (2020) Physical mapping of introgressed chromosome fragment carrying the fertility restoring (Rfo) gene for Ogura CMS in Brassica juncea L. Czern&Coss. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 133(10):2949-2959.
6. Gupta S, Sharma N, Akhatar J, Atri C, Kaur J, Kaur G, Banga SS (2019) Analysis of epigenetic landscape in a recombinant inbred line population developed by hybridizing natural and re-synthesized Brassica juncea (L.) with stable C-genome introgressions. Euphytica 215:174.
7. Sra SK, Sharma M, Kaur G, Sharma S, Akhatar J, Sharma A, Banga SS (2019) Evolutionary aspects of direct or indirect selection for seed size and seed metabolites in Brassica juncea and diploid progenitor species. Molecular Biology Reports. 46(1):1227-1238,

Ongoing Projects:

1. Mapping and transfer of Alternaria blight resistance from a wild crucifer –Diplotaxiserucoides in oilseed brassicas.
2. Marker-assisted stacking of genes associated with seed quality and aphid resistance in highy yielding mustard cultivars.
3. Consortia for Research Platform (CRP)-ICAR on ‘Molecular breeding for improvement of tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, yield and quality traits in crops – Mustard

Consortia for Research Platform (CRP)-ICAR on ‘Hybrid technology for higher productivity in selected field and horticultural crops– Mustard

PG Students (Present Students):

PhD: (1)           Pardeep Beniwal                      L-2022-A-38-D            7876111176

MSc:  (2)         Bhalodiya Vivek Dhirajlal        L-2023-A-262-M                      9328126345

                        Chetan Nagar                           L-2024-A-304-M                      7688933397