Dr. Shamim Akhtar

Biography:

Dr. Shamim Akhtar has served International Islamic University, Islamabad on IPFP and University of Gujrat as Tenured Associate Professor. Currently she is working as Associate Professor in the Department of Botany, Rawalpindi Women University, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi. She has completed her PhD Botany from PMAS-Arid Agriculture Rawalpindi in 2013 under HEC indigenous fellowship scheme phase IV. Her PhD research title was “Amelioration of iron deficiency in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)”. Twenty locally grown groundnut genotypes were evaluated morpho-physiologically and at molecular level for their iron deficiency response through hydroponics and pot experiments. She has supervised 03 PhD and 20 MPhil Theses. Her major interests are to link research with industry and commercialize the products. She has completed one SRGP project.

Brief statement of Research Interest:

She has a vast experience in the field of Plant Stress Physiology. She is interested in to adsorb heavy metals and antibiotics from soil and water. She has also enhanced the shelf life of banana through silver nanoparticles, which is the maximum shelf life of banana reported till date. She is also working on Biofortification to enhance iron in plants.

Qualification:

Ph.D (Plant Stress Physiology)

Honors and Awards:

● IRSIP for research at the Laboratory of Plant Biotechnology, The University of Tokyo.
● HEC indigenous fellowship.
● Merit scholarships in MSc and MPhil.
• Foreign Training at Scotland Funded by HEC and British Government in 2018.
• First position in poster presentation at SAARC Regional Conference held at Marriott in 2012
• Bronze Medal in MPhil
• Travel grant for oral presentation at Valencia Spain in 2019.

Supervisions:

03 PhD
20 MPhil

Service Activity: On Job

Journal Publications:

  1. Nayab, D & Akhtar,S. (2023). Green synthesized silver nanoparticles from eucalyptus leaves can enhance shelf life of banana without penetrating in pulp. Plos One. 18 (3). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281675. Impact Factor:3.9
  2. Tassadduq, S. S.,Akhtar, S., Waheed, M., Bangash, N., Nayab, D. E., Majeed, M., …& Yessoufou, K. (2022). Ecological Distribution Patterns of Wild Grasses and Abiotic factors. Sustainability, 14(18), 11117.Impact Factor: 3.89
  3. Jamil, M. D., Waheed, M., Akhtar, S., Bangash, N., Chaudhari, S. K., Majeed, M., … & Jones, D.A. (2022). Invasive plants diversity, ecological status, and distribution pattern in relation to edaphic factors in different habitat types of district Mandi Bahauddin, Punjab, Pakistan. Sustainability, 14(20),13312. Impact Factor: 3.89
  4. Bangash, N., Mahmood, S., Akhtar, S., Hayat, M. T., Gulzar, S., & Khalid, A. 2021. Formulation of biofertilizer for improving growth and yield of wheat in rain dependent farming system.24 Impact Factor 5.23
  5. Iqbal, M.S., Akber, M., Akhtar, S., Fatima, S. & Ghafoor, A. 2020. Multivariate analysis and its application for characterizing cowpea landraces. Legume research. Impact Factor: 0.531
  6. Akbar, M., I N Sherazi, T. Khalil, M. S. Iqbal, S. Akhtar and S. N. Khan. 2020. Identification of Antifungal compounds from Slender Amaranth. Planta Daninha.38 (1-8). Impact Factor=0.5
  7. Qureshi, H., Anwar, T., Fatima, S., Akhtar,S., Khan, S., Waseem, M…… & Azeem, M. (2020). Invasion impact analysis of Broussonetia papyrifera in Pakistan. Pol. J.Environ. Stud, 29 (4); 1-7. Impact Factor : 1.3
  8. Akbar, M., Aslam, N., Khalil, T., Akhtar, S., Siddiqi, E. H., & Iqbal, M. S. (2019). Effects of seed priming with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria on wheat yield and soil properties under contrasting soils. Journal of Plant Nutrition, 42(17), 2080-2091. Impact Factor 0.7
  9. Iqbal, M. S., Ghafoor, A., Akbar, M., Akhtar, S., Fatima, S., & Siddqui, E. H. (2019). Genetic variation and path analysis for yield and other agronomic traits in Nigella sativa l. Germplasm. Bangladesh journal of Botany, 48(3), 521-527. Impact Factor 0.23.
  10. Akhtar et al., 2019.Comparison of foliar and soil applications for correction of iron deficiency in peanut (Arachis hypohaea L.). Pakistan Journal of Botany. 51(3),1121-1127. Impact Factor: 0.672
  11. Akhtar et al., 2019. Foliar Applications for Amelioration of Iron deficiency in Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.). Online Published in Legume Research. 42(1): 84-89. Impact factor: 0.531
  12. Akhtar et al., 2018. Foliar applications of FeSO4 alone and in combination with citric acid can reduce iron deficiency induced chlorosis in two Pakistani Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) varieties. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 16(3): 2873-2884. Impact Factor: 0.721
  13. Akbar, M., T. Khalil, M.S.Iqbal, K. H. Bhatti, M. Ishfaq, S. Fatima, and S. Akhtar. Bioactivity of Mycotoxins isolated from Drechslera hawahensis Mb Ellis. Bangladesh Journal of Botany, 47(2): 265-270. Impact factor: 0.23
  14. Fatima, S., S.K. Chaudhari, S. Akhtar, M.S. Amjad, M. Akbar, M.S.Iqbal, M. Arshad and T. Shehzad. 2018. Mapping QTLs for yield and yield components under drought stress in Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 16 (4):4431-4453.Impact Factor: 0.721
  15. Nayab, D., M. Z. Haider, Q.ALi, T. Iftikhar, N. Habib, M. Niaz, S. Akhtar and S. Shahid. 2018. In silico phylogenetic analysis of fungal lipase genes and harnessing the inherent potential of Aspergillus niger IBP2013 for extracellular triglyceriol Acyle Hydrolase Production under solid state fermentation. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 50(5): 2019-2029. Impact Factor: 0.75
  16. Iqbal S.M., A. Ghafoor, S. Fatima, S. Akhtar, M. Akbar and E. H. Siddiqi. Tracking agronomic diversity in land races of cowpea {Vigna ungiculata (L.) Walpers} collected from Pakistan. Pure and Applied Biology. 6(4):1260-1268. Non-Impact
  17. Talat, A., K. Nawaz, K. Hussain, S.Fatima, S. Akhtar, E.H. Siddiqi, S. Jhan, S, Bashir and M. Javeria. 2017. Modulation of growth, gaseous exchange parameters and antioxidants in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by foliar spray of glycine betaine (GB) at different growth stages under salt (Na2SO4) stress. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research. 15(3): 1611-1623. Impact Factor: 0.721
  18. Akhtar, S., Y. Kakei, K. Bahsir, A. Shahzad, T, Yamakawa, M. Arshad, F. Hassan. H. Nakanishi and N K Nishizawa. 2015. Characterizing the expression of genes involved in iron transporter in Pakistani peanut varieties under iron deficiency stress. Turkish Journal of Botany. 39: 996-1007. Impact factor: 1.17.
  19. Akhtar, S, Bangash, N, Shahzad, A, Arshad, M, Hassan. F, and Ahmed I.2014. Morpho-Physiological and Genetic Diversity of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.). Genotypes Under Iron Deficiency Stress. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences.51:953-961. Impact Factor: 0.677
  20. Akhtar, S., N. Bnagash, R. Asghar, M. Munir and N. Khalid. 2014. Allelopathic Assessment of Selected Invasive Species of Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Botany. 46: 1709-1713. Impact factor: 0.75
  21. Akhtar, S., N. Khalid, I. Ahmed, A. Shehzad and H.A. Suleria. 2014. Physiochemical characteristics, functional properties and nutritional benefits of peanut oil: A review. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 54 (12) :1562-1575. Impact factor: 6.07
  22. Akhtar, S., A. Shahzad, M. Arshad and F. Hassan. 2013. Morpho-physiological evaluation of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes for iron deficiency tolerance. Pakistan Journal of Botany. 45(3) :893-899. Impact factor: 0.75.
  23. Bashir, K., R. Takahashi, S. Akhtar,Y. Ishimaru, H. Nakanishi and NK Nishizawa. 2013. The knockdown of OsVIT2 and MIT2 affects iron localization in rice seed. Rice. 6:31. Impact factor: 3.9.
  24. Chaudhari, S.K., M. Arshad. E. Ahmed, G. Mustafa, S. Fatima, S. Akhtar and M.S. Amjad. 2013. Ethnobotanical evaluation of grasses from Thal Desert, Pakistan. Archives Des Sciences, 66 (5): 248-255. Impact factor: 0.00.

Conference Papers / Presentations:

  1. Akhtar, S., A. Shehzad, M. Arshad, F. Hassan and R. Qureshi. Morpho-physiological evaluation of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) genotypes for iron deficiency tolerance. 12th National and 3rd international conference of Botany. Sept. 1st to 3rd, 2012, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.
  2. Akhtar, S. and M. D. Jamil. Investigation of heavy metal contents in some medicinal plants of Pakistan. Plant 2019. Valencia. Spain
  3. Akhtar, S., Y. Kakei, K. Bashir, A. Shehzad , M. Arshad, F. Hassan, R. Qureshi H. Nakanishi and NK Nishizawa. Characterizing the expression of genes involved in Fe transport in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) varieties under iron deficiency response. SAARC Regional conference on “New frontiers in Agricultural genomics and biotechnology. June 5-, 7,2012. Marriott Hotel Islamabad. pp76
  4. Akhtar, S., A. Shehzad, M. Arshad, F. Hassan, R. Qureshi, Y.Kakei, K. Bashir, H. Nakanishi and NK Nishizawa. Comparison of iron deficiency responses in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.). 53rd annual meeting of JSSP March 16-18, 2012. Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan. pp288.
  5. Akhtar, S., A. Shehzad, M. Arshad, F. Hassan, R. Qureshi and M.S. Masood. Iron Deficiency Responses in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Genotype. 2nd International Conference of Plant Scientists & 11th National Meeting of Plant Scientists. February 22-24, 2011.
  6. Akhtar, S., R. Asghar, Z. Yousaf and Z. Ahmed. Allelopathic Effect of Eucalyptus glabra on the growth and development of varios vegetables. International Conference on Role of Allelopathy in Sustainable Agriculture held on 22-24, March 2007.