New Delhi: The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) researchers have discovered the first-ever genus of Cyanobacteria from the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir using a polyphasic approach. The study was conducted by Dr Prashant Singh, Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, BHU and Naresh Kumar, a doctoral student working under the supervision of Dr Singh. Naresh Kumar, the first author of this study sampled the cyanobacterium and went on to characterize as well as establish it as a new genus. This finding is a part of the Indo-US collaboration research coming out of the Fulbright Program.
Honouring the significant contributions of Senator James William Fulbright, who was instrumental in the creation of the prestigious Fulbright Program, the team has named the new genus as ‘Fulbrightiella’. Dr Prashant Singh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Botany, BHU was the recipient of the Fulbright Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship 2020-2021. He did an important part of this work in the laboratory of his Fulbright host Professor Jeffrey R Johansen, John Carroll University, Cleveland, United States. The work becomes even more special as it was carried out in 2021 when the Fulbright Program celebrated its 75th anniversary.