Symbiotic Association of Microorganisms with Medicinal and Herbal Plants

Allah Ditta, PhD, earned his BSc (Hons) in 2007 and MSc (Hons) in 2009 from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. He earned his PhD from the Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan in 2014. He has carried out research projects in the areas of eco-restoration by using integrated organic, inorganic and microbial strategies. Dr. Ditta is serving as an Associate Professor and Chairman, Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Sheringal, Dir upper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan since 2021. He is also serving as an Adjunct Research Fellow at the School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, since 2018. He has also served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences, PMAS, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. His major research interests encompass the broad, interdisciplinary field of plant production, with a focus on eco-restoration under abiotic stresses. The breadth of his research spans from degraded land ecological amelioration, using integrated and sustainable approaches. He has supervised seven MPhil and eight undergraduate level research theses. Dr. Ditta has published more than 150 research and review articles (Impact factor 455) in internationally well-recognized journals along with 19 book chapters. He has also edited two books; Bio-organic Amendments for Heavy Metal Remediation: Water, Soil and Plant Approaches and Technologies (Plant biology, sustainability and climate change) with Elsevier, USA and Nanomaterials in Industrial Chemistry with CRC Press, USA.

Sajid Mehmood, PhD, completed his BSc (Hons.) in Agriculture from Arid Agricultural University of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in 2012, he continued his MSc (Hons.) in Soil Science and graduated in 2014. Since 2015, he moved to Wuhan, China and finished his PhD under Prof. Dr. Shuxin Tu in June 2018 at the College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China, and examined the different types of risk, management strategies and efficiency at crop level using biochar, slag and ferrous manganese ore. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Hainan University in the Department of Ecology and Environment and working on the remediation of fish pond sediments for the utilization of sediments as a fertilizer. He has 3 years research experience on as-is and modified (magnetic and acidic) biochars. He has published his findings in science journals. Dr. Sajid worked as a research associate in a project of National Natural Science Foundation of China. Dr. Sajid has been on the editorial board and the panel of reviewers of several reputed journals of Elsevier, Frontiers Media SA, Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, RSC, Oxford University Press, Sciendo, The Royal Society, CSIRO, PLOS and John Wiley & Sons.

Azamal Husen, PhD, is a Professor at Sankalchand Patel University, Visnagar, India; and Adjunct Professor at Graphic Era (Deemed to be University), Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. He is also working as a Visiting Professor at University Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; and acting as a Foreign Delegate at Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita, Ethiopia. Previously, he served as Professor and Head of the Department of Biology, University of Gondar, Ethiopia. He also worked as a Visiting Faculty of the Forest Research Institute and the Doon College of Agriculture and Forest at Dehra Dun, India. His research and teaching experience of 25 years encompasses biogenic nanomaterial fabrication and application; plant responses to nanomaterials; plant adaptation to harsh environments at the physiological, biochemical, and molecular levels; herbal medicine; and clonal propagation for improvement of tree species. He has conducted research sponsored by the World Bank, the National Agricultural Technology Project, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, the Indian Council of Forest Research Education, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation. Dr. Husen has published extensively (~300) and served on the editorial board and as reviewer of reputed journals published by Elsevier, Frontiers Media, Taylor & Francis, Springer Nature, RSC, Oxford University Press, Sciendo, the Royal Society, CSIRO, PLOS, MDPI, John Wiley & Sons, and UPM Journals. He is on the advisory board of Cambridge Scholars Publishing, UK. He is a fellow of the Plantae group of the American Society of Plant Biologists, and a member of the International Society of Root Research, Asian Council of Science Editors, and International Natural Product Sciences. He is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Plant Physiology, and a Series Editor of Exploring Medicinal Plants (Taylor & Francis Group, USA); Plant Biology, Sustainability, and Climate Change (Elsevier, USA); and Smart Nanomaterials Technology (Springer Nature, Singapore).