Biography of author

Dr. Mukesh Meena is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Botany, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. He completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Botany from the Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi. He subsequently carried out post-doctoral research at the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi.

Dr. Meena's research interests lie in the areas of plant-microbe interactions, fungal biology, phytotoxic metabolites, plant-pathogen interactions, and bioactive fungal biomolecules. His doctoral work focused on the “Physiological and biochemical changes induced in tomato by Alternaria alternata and its phytotoxic metabolites.” He is well-versed in fungal culture techniques, fungal taxonomy, and various analytical tools relevant to mycopathological and phytopathological research.

He is an active member of several professional scientific societies, including the Mycological Society of India (MSI), The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), The Association of Microbiologists of India (AMI), Asian PGPR Society for Sustainable Agriculture, and The Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors (IRED).

Throughout his academic career, Dr. Meena has received several prestigious fellowships and honors, including the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF) and the UGC Research Fellowship in Science for Meritorious Students (RFSMS Scheme). He received the Best Paper Presentation Award at the Fourth International Conference on Advances in Applied Science and Environmental Technology (ASET) held in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2016.

Dr. Meena has made significant contributions to the scientific community with over 150 peer-reviewed publications, including research articles, review papers, and book chapters. He has also authored six books published by international publishers, covering diverse topics such as fungal toxins, microbial enzyme technology, and beneficial microbes in agriculture.

Dr. Mukesh Meena serves on several prestigious editorial and review boards across internationally recognized journals. He is currently a Board Member of Scientific Reports (Springer Nature), and an Academic Editor for the Journal of Toxicology (Hindawi). He is also part of the Associate Editorial Board of Coronaviruses (Bentham Science), and has previously served on the editorial board of Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection (Taylor & Francis) from 2019 to 2022.

In addition, Dr. Meena is a Review Editor for the themed collection "Secondary Metabolites in Plants" for Scientific Reports, a Review Editor for the Crop Biology and Sustainability section of Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, and a Review Editor for the Fungal Biotechnology section of Frontiers in Fungal Biology.

He has been consistently recognized in the "World Ranking of Top 2% Scientists" database released by Stanford University (USA) and Elsevier for four consecutive years (2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025). Additionally, he was selected among the Top 2% Most Influential Scientists (Single Year) in 2023 and ranked in the Top 0.05% of scientists globally according to the 2024 ScholarGPS® Rankings.

Dr. Meena was listed among the Top-Cited Scholars of MDPI in 2025 and also received the Distinguished Scientist Award in the field of Botany from Scientist Laurels in 2026, recognizing his significant contributions to botanical research.