Education Qualifications:

• Ph.D.: Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (2014)
• M.Sc.: Guru Nanak Khalsa College, University of Mumbai (2009)
• B.Sc.: Guru Nanak Khalsa College, University of Mumbai (2007)

Positions held, including current:

• Assistant Professor, UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai (2020-)
• DST-INSPIRE Faculty, UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai (2015-2020)
• Visiting fellow, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai (2015)
• Lecturer, Guru Nanak Khalsa College, University of Mumbai (2009)

Research Areas:

• Plant Pathology & Protection
• Plant-fungal interactions
• Plant genetic engineering and transgenic crops

Peer-reviewed Publications:

• Gurdaswani V, Ghag SB*, Ganapathi TR (2020) FocSge1 in Fusarium oxysporum sp. cubense race 1 is essential for full virulence. BMC Microbiology 20:255.
• Dash A, Gurdaswani V, D’Souza JS, Ghag SB* (2020) Functional characterization of a bidirectional promoter from Fusarium oxysporum sp. cubense. Scientific Reports 10: 2323.
• Bapat VA, Jagtap UB, Ghag SB, Ganapathi TR (2020) Molecular approaches for the improvement of under-researched tropical fruit trees: Jackfruit, Guava and Custard Apple. International Journal of Fruit Science 20(3):233-281.
• Ghag SB*, Ganapathi TR (2019) RNAi mediated protection against banana diseases. 3Biotech 9: 112.
• Ghag SB* (2019) Fusarium wilt disease of banana in India: Current Scenario. Agrotechnology (Editorial) 8:e121.
• Sirisha VL, Ghag SB, D’Souza JS (2018) Book review on Algal Green Chemistry Recent Progress in Biotechnology. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology 6:96.
• Suprasanna P, Ganapathi TR, Ghag SB, Jain SM (2017) Genetic modifications of horticultural plants by induced mutations and transgenic approach. Acta Horticulturae (ISHS) 1187: 219-232.
• Ghag SB* (2017) Host induced gene silencing, an emerging science to engineer crop resistance against harmful plant pathogens. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology 100: 242-254.
• Ghag SB, Ganapathi TR (2017) Genetically modified bananas: To mitigate food security concerns. Scientia Horticulturae 214: 91-98.

• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Hadapad AB, Ganapathi TR (2015) Stacking of host-induced gene silencing mediated resistance to banana bunchy top virus and Fusarium wilt disease in transgenic banana plants. Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy 9(3): 212-221.
• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Ganapathi TR (2015) Small RNA profiling of two important cultivars of banana and overexpression of miRNA156 in transgenic banana plants. PLoS ONE 10(5): e0127179.
• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Ganapathi TR (2015) Fusarium wilt of banana: biology, epidemiology and management. International Journal of Pest Management 61(3): 250-263.
• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Ganapathi TR (2015) Silencing of MusaANR1 reduces proanthocyanidin content in transgenic banana plants. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 121(3): 693-702.
• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Ganapathi TR (2014) Characterization of Fusarium wilt resistant somaclonal variants of banana by cDNA-RAPD. Molecular Biology Reports 41(12): 7929-7935.
• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Ganapathi TR (2014) Native cell-death genes as candidates for developing wilt resistance in transgenic banana plants. AoB PLANTS 6: plu037. 

• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Ganapathi TR (2014) Transgenic banana plants expressing a Stellaria media defensin gene (Sm-AMP-D1) demonstrate improved resistance to Fusarium oxysporum.  Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 119(2): 247-255.
• Shekhawat UKS, Ghag SB, Ganapathi TR (2014) Transgenic approaches for development of disease resistance in banana. BARC Newsletter (March-April 2014) 337: 18-23.
• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Ganapathi TR (2014) Host induced post-transcriptional hairpin RNA-mediated gene silencing of vital fungal genes confers efficient resistance against Fusarium wilt in banana. Plant Biotechnology Journal 12(5): 541-553.
• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Ganapathi TR (2013) Expression of C-terminal
  prodomain truncated Petunia floral defensins inhibits the growth of
  transgenic banana plants. Current Trends in Biotechnology and Pharmacy 7(1) 505-510.
• Ghag SB, Shekhawat UKS, Ganapathi TR (2012) Petunia floral defensins with unique prodomains as novel candidates for development of Fusarium wilt resistance in transgenic banana plants. PLoS ONE 7(6): e39557.