Profile

Dr. Dharminder Bhatia joined Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) as a Quantitative Geneticist on August 6, 2014. He earned his B.Sc. (Hons.) in Agriculture in 1998, M.Sc. in Plant Breeding and Genetics in 2001, and Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics in 2015,from PAU, Ludhiana. For his doctoral research, he was awarded the prestigious Monsanto Beachell-Borlaug International Fellowship and spent a year as a visiting scholar at the Arizona Genomics Institute, University of Arizona, USA.Dr. Bhatia has twice attended the World Food Prize Ceremony at Iowa State University, USA. His expertise in working with wild rice led to the identification of two major bacterial blight resistance genes (Xa38 and xa45) and one brown planthopper resistance gene (BPH34). He played a pivotal role in developing Punjab Basmati 3, the first basmati rice cultivar bred using marker-assisted selection, and was instrumental in establishing a speed breeding facility at PAU.With over 70 research papers published in high-impact journals, he has made significant contributions to the field of rice genetics and breeding.

Professional Accomplishments

Projects accomplished:

• Identification of donors and QTLs for sheath blight resistance in collection of Oryza nivara(Sharma & Shastry) accessions funded by SERB-DST, India
• Developmentofahaploidinducerstockthrough CRISPR/Cas9 RibonucleoproteincomplexmediatedknockoutofZmPLA1gene anditsorthologueinMaizeand Rice funded by DBT, India
• Development of Haploid Inducer rice lines using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system for high induction frequency, funded by DBT, India
• Genomic Approaches forenhancing yield potentialand resistance to majorbiotic stresses in BasmatiRice under Centre ofexcellence project on“Development andIntegration of AdvancedGenomicTechnologies forTargeted Breeding”, funded by DBT, India
• Genomic assisted mapping and introgression of root knot nematode resistance gene(s) from African rice species glaberrima to the Asian rice O. sativa, funded by SERB-DST, India
• Molecular cloning and characterization of Xa38 loci conferring resistance to bacterial blight (BB) disease in rice and identification of novel and superior alleles, funded by DBT, India
• Tackling emerging diseases and insect pests problem in rice through innovative Genomic approaches, funded by DBT, India

Research Publications (5):

1. Lore J S, Pinili D, Bhatia D, Balloyan L R, Navea I P et al. (2025) Pathogen informed strategies for durable resistance in rice: lessons from bacterial blight. Annual Review of Phyopathology. Vol. 63. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-phyto-121923-080533[NAAS: 15.10]
2. Gowda R S R, Sharma S, Gill R S, Mangat G S and Bhatia D (2023) Genome wide association studies and candidate gene mining for understanding the genetic basis of straw silica content in a set of Oryzanivara (Sharma et Shastry) accessions.Frontiers in Plant Science 14:1174266 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1174266[NAAS: 12.63]
3. Kumar K, Sarao PS, Bhatia D, Meelam K, Kaur A, Mangat GS, Brar DS and Singh K (2018) High-resolution genetic mapping of novel brown planthopper resistance locus, Bph34 in Oryza sativa X Oryza nivara (Sharma & Shastry) derived interspecific F₂ population. Theoretical and Applied Genetics131:1163-1171 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-018-3069-7[NAAS: 11.57]
4. Bhatia D, Joshi S, Das A, Vikal Y, Sahi G K, Neelam K, Kaur K and Singh K (2017) Introgression of yield component traits in rice (Oryza sativa sspindica) through interspecific hybridization. Crop Science 57:1-17. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2015.11.0693[NAAS: 8.00]
5. Bhatia D, Sharma R, Vikal Y, Mangat GS, Mahajan R, Sharma N, Lore J S, Singh N, Bharaj TS and Singh K (2011) Marker assisted development of bacterial blight resistant, dwarf and high yielding versions of two traditional Basmati rice cultivars. Crop Science51:759-770.[NAAS: 8.00] https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2010.06.035 

Awards and Recognitions

1. Awarded Monsanto-Beachell Borlaug International Scholarship in 2011
2. Conferred more than ten Best Poster Awards at national and international conferences for excellence in research.
3. Joint Secretary, Gurdev Singh Khush Foundation for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences