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Dr. SANTOSH KUMAR
Scientist-E
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Highest Academic degree, year
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Ph.D.(Zoology); 2011
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Department/Division
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Protozoology Section,
Zoological Survey of India
M-Block, New Alipore, Kolkata – 700 053
West Bengal, India
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Email Address
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santoshcbio@gmail.com; santoshkumar@zsi.gov.in
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Phone Number
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Area of Expertise
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Taxonomy, ecology, biogeography, and molecular biology ofCiliated protists, Gastrotrichs, and freshwater flatworms.
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Experience after Ph. D.
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12 years
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Significant Achievements
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- New genera- 07; New Species- 29;New Records- 34; New comb- 04; Redescription- 15; Augmentation to NZC, ZSI : over 80 species.
- Worked on taxonomy of ciliates from India, Italy, Australia, Jamaica, Dominican Republic,South Korea, and USA.
- Dispersal of ciliated protist cysts through phoresy on mites.
- Novel ciliates from heavy metal contaminated industrial outlet and petroleum contaminated soils. Characterization of toxicysts/extrusomes from ciliates.
- Documentation of faunal diversity (protozoa to mammals) of Ramsar wetlands of India.
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Mentorship
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Supervising 01 PhD students
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Research Focus
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- Taxonomy, ecology, biogeography, and molecular phylogenetics of ciliated protists, gastrotrichs, and flatworms from freshwater, terrestrial and marine habitats. Faunal composition of Ramsar wetlands of India.
- Development of a ciliate-based product/device for cleaning and sanitizing water, as well as improving soil health. Ciliated protozoa as bio-indicators of soil/water quality.
- Parasitic ciliates (marine ciliates) and bacteria associated with Indian corals and diseases.
- Study on ciliates and their adaptation to high sulphur tolerance, photosensitivity, feeding behaviour, and cytotoxic compounds.
- Development of a Tetrahymena-based assay: a "prognostic" assay capable of detecting sub-lethal toxicant effects in contaminated water and soil through the exploitation of stress gene activation responses. Response of heavy metals/nanoparticles in the resting cyst and vegetative cells of soil/water ciliates.
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Publications
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- Books: 03 (02 authored, 01 edited)
- Papers: 42
- Chapters: 11
Selected articles:
- Bharti D., Kumar S. 2023. Description of a new oxytrichid ciliate, Oxytricha buxai n. sp. and redescription of O. quadricirrata Blatterer and Foissner, 1988 based on morphology and 18S rDNA analyses. European Journal of Protistology. 88: 125959. (IF- 2.9).
- Kumar S., Bharti D., Shazib SUA. Shin M.K. 2021. Characterization of a novel hypotrich ciliate from heavy metal-contaminated industrial outlet in Onsan, Ulsan, South Korea. Frontiers in Microbiology. 12:761961. (IF-5.2).
- Bharti D., Kumar S., La Terza A., Chandra K. 2020. Dispersal of ciliated protist cysts: mutualism and phoresy on mites. Ecology. 101 (9), e03075. (IF- 4.8).
- Bharti D., Kumar S., Varatharajan G.R, Kamra K., La Terza A. 2018. Shedding light on the polyphyletic behavior of the genus Sterkiella: the importance of ontogenetic and molecular phylogenetic approaches. PLoS ONE. 13(11): e0207688 (IF- 3.7).
- Geisan et al. 2017. Soil protistology rebooted: 30 fundamental questions to start with. Soil Biology & Biochemistry. 111:94e103. (IF- 9.7).
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ResearchGate profile
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https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Santosh_Kumar119
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Social Media
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Twitter: @
FB: @
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