Dr. Abdul Samad Mumtaz
Assistant Professor TTS
Department of Plant Sciences
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
asmumtaz@qau.edu.pk, 0092-51-90643072
After obtaining my Ph.D. (Biosciences) from the School of Biosciences, University of
Birmingham, United Kingdom, I joined the Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam
University in May 2006 under the placement program of Higher Education Commission
Pakistan for one year. In August 2007, I got a regular position as Assistant Professor of Plant
Sciences on TTS in the University. Since then I have been engaged in teaching and research.
During this period I have managed to secure funding from Higher Education Commission
and established a genotyping laboratory and seed bank with over 2000 national and
international wheat accessions.
Research Interests
My research focus has been to develop protein and DNA based markers to study genetic
diversity of wild natural plant populations and crop species. I started developing molecular
methods such as RAPD (Muhammad et al., 2010) and AFLP to study various plant
families/genera such as: Asclepiadeae (Apocynaceae), Artemisia (Asteraceae), perennial
grasses (Nisar et al, 2010) etc. Recently, I have started working on crop plants. Along with
my research students, I have developed SSR, STS, and SCAR markers to study the genetics of
leaf and stripe rusts in spring wheat (Rasheed & Mumtaz, in review Euphytica; Sohail et al,
in review Phytopathology).
In addition to wheat, I have developed RAPD markers to study genetic diversity in various
other crops such as: cotton varieties of Pakistan (Mumtaz et al., 2010 accepted in Pakistant
Journal of Botany), Sugarcane (Mumtaz et al., 2010 submitted to Pakistan Journal of Botany)
and more recently in tomato to screen the germplasm for Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl disease
resistance (Farooq & Mumtaz in prep).
I wish to extend my marker based studies to characterize national wheat germplasm to
identify effective rust resistant genes and design pre-breeding and breeding program for
wheat improvement in collaboration with national and international wheat programs.
Research Funding
Project Title
Assessment of plant genetic
resources through molecular
methods
Upgradation of Plant Genomics
Laboratory
Principal /
Co-Principal
Investigator
Amount
Sponsoring
Agency
Duration
Principal
Investigator
Rs 4,530,255
HEC
(2007-10)
3 years
QAU
Rs. 975,000
HEC
(2007)
1 year
1
PhD. Research Students
Student’s Name
1- Mr Ghulam Mustafa
2- Mr SamiUllah
3- Ms Rizwana Khanum
Thesis title
Molecular breeding technology to enhance wheat
immunity against leaf rust in Pakistan
Application of novel quorum sensing techniques for crop
improvement
Genetic diversity, ecogeography and phyto-chemical
analysis of selected Asclepiads of Pakistan.
Year
3rd
3rd
2nd
M. Phil. Students Supervised
S.No
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13
Student’s Name
Thesis title (Short title)
Genetic diversity of selected perennial grasses of Cholistan,
M. Farrukh Nisar
Pakistan
Characterization of cultivated peas of Pakistan through
Mrs Madeha Qazi
molecular markers
Ms Nadia Mubarak Comparative molecular study of family Asclepiadaceae
Mrs Dur-e-Nayab
Genetic Diversity Studies in selected genotypes of
Sugarcane
Ms Saima Yousaf
Characterization of rice germplasm using molecular
markers
Ms Madeha Iftikhar Protein markers to study variation in pea cultivars of
Pakistan
Mr. M. Naveed
Genetic diversity studies in Cotton
Mr. Amjad-urMorphological and molecular markers to study variation in
Rahman
selected wheat accessions
Mr. Awais Rasheed Marker Assisted Selection for leaf rust resistance in
intraspecific population of wheat
Mr. Younas Sohail
Molecular and Morphological evaluation of leaf rust
resistance in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
Mr. Hamid Majeed Sequence Specific Amplification Polymorphism markers to
study genetic diversity in pea
Ms Irum Farooq
Genetic assessment of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus
(TYLCV) resistance in Lycopersicum esculentum
Ms Mehwish Iram
Genetic diversity analysis of Artemisia L. species from
Kaghan
Year
2008
2008
2008
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2010
2010
2010
Administrative Jobs
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Store In-charge, Department of Plant Sciences
Departmental Representative, TTS Committee
Member, ASA executive body
Member, M.Sc. admission committee
Member, M.Phil./Ph.D. admission committee
Member, Board of Studies of Plant Sciences
2
Publications

Assessment of genetic diversity and germination pattern in selected cotton genotypes
of Pakistan. (Accepted). Mumtaz, A. S., Muhammad, N. and Shinwari, Z.K. Pakistan
Journal of Botany (Pakistan). 2010.

A molecular study of genetic diversity in Shisham. Muhammad, A., Mumtaz, A. S.,
Riasat, R. Pakistan Journal of Botany. (Pakistan). 42(1): 79-88. 2010.

Proteins as biomarkers for taxonomic identification of Traditional Chinese Medicines
(TCMs) from subsection Rectae genus Clematis from China. Ishtiaq, M., Mumtaz, A. S.,
Wang, Y, Yiyu, C. Mehmood, T. and Ashraf, M. World Applied Sciences Journal (Egypt or
Iran). 8: 62-70. 2010

Evaluating the agro-morphological variation in Panicum antidotale retz. in Cholistan
desert. Nisar, M.F., Mumtaz, A. S. Muhammad, A. Majeed, A., Hussain, K. and Nawaz, K.
International Journal of Agriculture and Biology. (Pakistan) 12: 416–420. 2010.

Ultrastructural study of synaptonemal complex in meiocytes of Datura innoxia.
Muhammad, A., Mumtaz, A. S. and Khan, M. A. Pakistan Journal of Botany (Pakistan).
40(4): 1809-1815. 2008.

Isolation, Purification and Characterization of Alpha Amylase from Citrus sinensis.
Muhammad, A., Yasin, M., Mumtaz, A. S. and Hina, I. Journal of Chemical Society of
Pakistan. (Pakistan) 30(2): 264-270. 2008.

Lysine requirement of Broiler Chickens fed low-density diets under tropical conditions.
Aftab, U., Muhammad, A., Mumtaz, A. S. and Jiang, Z. Asian Australian Journal of
Animal Sciences (Korea). 20 (6): 939-943. 2007.

Characterization of Alpha Amylase from Date (Phoenix dactylifera). Muhammad, A.,
Mumtaz, A. S. and Yasin, M. Journal of Chemical Society of Pakistan. (Pakistan)
29(6):624-627. 2007.

Diagnosis of heavy metal contamination in agro-ecology of Gujranwala, Pakistan using
cattle egret (Bulbulcus ibis) as bioindicator. Bostan, N., Muhammad, A., Mumtaz, A. S.
and Ahmed, I. Ecotoxicology (United Kingdom). 16: 247-251. 2007.
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
The collection and ecogeography of non-cultivated peas (Pisum L.) from Syria. Mumtaz,
A. S., Shehadeh, A., Ambrose, M., Ellis, T. H. N. and Maxted. N. Plant Genetic Resources
Newsletter (Italy). 146: pp. 3-8. 2006.

Pollinarium morphology in Ceropegia bulbosa Roxb. and allies from Pakistan. Sultan, A.,
Mumtaz, A.S., Ahmed, Z., Mehboob, F. and Khan, M.A. Asklepios (United Kingdom) 94:
12-15. 2005.

Leaf Epidermal Anatomy of Medicinal Grasses of Islamabad, Attock and Mirpur (A. K.)
Chaudary, M. I., Mumtaz, A. S. and Khan. M. A. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences
(Pakistan). 4 (12). pp. 1466-1469. 2001.

Taxonomic studies in the genus Artemisia L. from Murree and Hazara.. Mumtaz, A. S.,
Khan, M. A. and Qureshi, R. A. Hamdard Medicus (Pakistan). 44 (3) pp. 72-78. 2001.

Palynological studies in Artemisia L. Mumtaz, A. S., Khan, M. A. and Akhtar, T. Pakistan
Journal of Forestry (Pakistan). 50 (1). pp. 57-65. 2000.
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