The Saffron Genome

Crocus sativus saffron: A 360 degree overview.- Reference genome of Saffron "The Golden condiment".- "SaffronOMICS: Novel approaches towards putting saffron data at work".- Bioinformatics for saffron-omics and crop improvement.- Genetic mapping and molecular markers in Saffron.- Soil Classification, Nutrient Management and Land Cover of Saffron Growing Areas of Kashmir Valley.- Cultromic and metabarcodic insights into saffron-microbiome associations.- "Saffron, bacteria and mycorrhiza".- Diversity and bioprospection of fungal endophytic microbiome of Crocus sativus L. (saffron).- Epidemiology and Management of Corm Rot of Saffron.- Pathogenicity and genetic diversity of microbes in Crocus sativus L. and various strategies combating diseases.- Tissue culture techniques for Saffron improvement.- Saffron production under control condition.- Saffron: Metabolomics and quality points of view.- Saffron in phytotherapy : Pharmocological properties and medicinal uses.- Economic Aspects of Saffron in the World.- Marketing prospects for Saffron in domestic market: the case of Moroccan PDO.

 Prof. Jyoti Vakhlu, the former director School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, India, has 22 years of teaching and research experience. She has been teaching courses based on molecular biology, recombinant DNA technology, genomics and metagenomics to Master's, M.Phil., and doctoral students in the University of Jammu that includes theory as well as practical courses. She has published about 50 research papers in reputed scientific journals. She has been able to generate extra mural research funding from national and international agencies such as DBT, DST, ICAR, UGC, NMPB, DAAD, Germany, ICGEB, Italy, India-Sri Lanka research foundation, and WTZ-OEAD, Austria. Prof Vakhlu's group is involved in unravelling the cultivation-dependent and cultivation-independent microbial diversity in extreme environment soil from north-western Himalayas, healing clay of Chamlyal and saffron, Crocus sativus L. by using molecular tools. 

Dr. Sheetal Ambardar, Assistant Professor at School of Biotechnology, University of Jammu, is a promising young researcher with an experience in genomics, transcriptomics, microbiomics, next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, and bioinformatics analysis. She has been working in this area for the m last 14 years. She is involved in teaching Microbiology, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics to postgraduate and Ph.D students of the School. Previously, she was working as a DST women scientist-A at National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru. She has pioneered the research on saffron microbe/microbiome interaction. A distinction holder throughout her academic carrier and gold medallist in her Masters in microbiology, Dr. Ambardar has qualified most of the national level fellowships in India for research, such as DST Women Scientist Award, DST,(2018), National Postdoctoral Fellowship (N-PDF), SERB, DST,(2016), UGC-MKU-NRCBS Visiting Fellowship