Faculty Proflle

Biography:

Dr. Rashid Nazir is an Assistant Professor at COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Abbottabad Campus in the department of Environmental Sciences. After completing his PhD in 2012 from University of Groningen The Netherlands, Dr. Nazir came back to Pakistan and joined COMSATS in January 2013. He is a principal investigator for four different research projects including an international one funded from TWAS. Along with institutional responsibilities and research engagements, Dr. Nazir has established a student chapter of American Society for Microbiology i.e. ASM-Himalaya; managing various microbiological activities to spread the understanding about the existence and functionality of microbes.

Educational Information

Year	Degree	Board / University

2012	PhD	University of Groningen, The Netherlands
2008	MS-equivalence	University of Groningen, The Netherlands
2006	BSc (Hons) Agri	University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan

Academic Experience

From	To	Post Held	Organization

2013	Present	Assistant Professor	COMSATS University Islamabad, Abbottabad-Campus
23/01/2013	30/10/2020	Assistant Professor	COMSATS University Islamabad - Abbottabad Campus
31/10/2020	Present	Associate Professor	COMSATS University Islamabad - Abbottabad Campus

Publications

Key Publications

Farhan Hafeez,Bilal Ahmad Zafar Amin, Uzair Akbar, Akhtar Iqbal, Faridullah, Muhammad Bilal,Rashid Nazir''Assessment of phosphorus availability in soil by introducing P-solubilizing novel bacterial and fungal strains of Lower Himalaya'',COMMUNICATIONS IN SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT ANALYSIS,2019.
Zeb, I.,,Ma, J.,,Mehboob, F., Kafle, G.K., Amin, B.A.Z., Nazir, R., Ndegwa, P., Frear, C.''Kinetic and microbial analysis of methane production from dairy wastewater anaerobic digester under ammonia and salinity stresses'',Journal of Cleaner Production,2019.
Shafiq, S., ,Zeb, Q., ,Ali, A., Sajjad, Y., Nazir, R., Widemann, E., and Liu, L.''Lead, Cadmium and Zinc Phytotoxicity Alter DNA Methylation Levels to Confer Heavy Metal Tolerance in Wheat'',International Journal of Molecular Sciences,2019.
Hafeez, F., ,Zafar, N., ,Nazir, R., Javeed, H.M.R., Rizwan, M., Faridullah., Asad, S.A., Iqbal, A.''Assessment of flood-induced changes in soil heavy metal and nutrient status in Rajanpur, Pakistan.'',Environmental Monitoring and Assessment,2019.
Farhan Hafeez,,Bilal Ahmad Zafar Amin, Uzair Akbar, Akhtar Iqbal, Faridullah, Muhammad Bilal,Rashid Nazir''Assessment of phosphorus availability in soil by introducing P-solubilizing novel bacterial and fungal strains of Lower Himalaya'',Taylor and Francis,2019.
Rehman, P., ,Nazir, R., ,Naqvi, TA., Pervez, A., Irshad, U.''Bacterial feeder Nematodes: Facilitator or competitor for Plant Phosphorus in soil'',Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition,2018.
Hussain, A., ,Ali, S., ,Rizwan, M., Rehman, M.Z., Javed, M.R., Imran, M., Chatha, S.A.S., Nazir. R. ''Zinc oxide nanoparticles alter the wheat physiological response and reduce the cadmium uptake by plants'',Environmental Pollution,2018.
Pratama, A.D., ,Haq, I.U., ,Nazir, R., De Mares M.C., van Elsas, J.D.''Draft genome sequences of three fungal-interactive Paraburkholderia terrae strains, BS007, BS110 and BS437'',Standards in Genomic Sciences,2017.
Nazir, R., ,Shen, J.P., ,Wang, J.T., Hu, H.W., He J.Z.''Fungal networks serve as novel ecological routes for enrichment and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes as exhibited by microcosm experiments'',Scientific Reports,2017.
Nazir, R., ,Mazurier, S., ,Yang, P., Lemanceau, P., and van Elsas, J.D.''The ecological role of type three secretion systems in the interaction of bacteria with fungi in soil and related habitats is diverse and context-dependent'',Frontiers in Microbiology,2017.
Hayat, W., ,Aman, H., ,Irshad, U., Azeem, M., Iqbal, A., Nazir, R.,''Analysis of Ecological attributes of Bacterial Phosphorus Solubilizers, Native to Pine Forests of Lower Himalaya'',Applied Soil Ecology,2017.
Nazir, R., ,Hayat, W., ,Rehman, P., Iqbal, A., and Irshad, U.''Novel P-Solubilizers from calcium bound phosphate rich pine forest of Lower Himalaya'',Geomicrobiology Journal,2017.
Vila, T.V.M., ,Nazir, R.,,Rozental, S., dos Santos, G.M.P., Calixto, R., Bergter, E.B., Wick, L., and van Elsas, J.D.''The role of hydrophobicity and surface receptors at hyphae of Lyophyllum sp. strain Karsten in the interaction with Burkholderia terrae BS001 – implications for interactions in soil'',Frontiers in Microbiology,2016.
Nazir, R., ,Tazetdinova, D.I., ,van Elsas, J.D.''Burkholderia terrae BS001 migrates proficiently with diverse fungal hosts through soil and provides protection from antifungal agents'',Frontiers in Microbiology,2014.
ul-Haq, I., ,Graupner, K., ,Nazir, R., van Elsas, J.D.''The genome of the fungal-interactive soil bacterium Burkholderia terrae BS001 - A plethora of outstanding interactive capabilities unveiled.'',Genome Biology and Evolution,2014.
Nazir, R., ,Semenov, A.V., ,Sarigul, N., and van Elsas, J.D.''Bacterial community establishment in native and non-native soils and the effect of fungal colonization'',Microbiology Discovery,2013.
Hardoim, P.R.,,Nazir, R., ,Sessitsch, A., Elhottová, D., Korenblum, E., van Overbeek, L. S., and van Elsas, J.D.''The new species Enterobacter oryziphilus sp. nov. and Enterobacter oryzendophyticus sp. nov. are key inhabitants of the endosphere of rice.'',BMC Microbiology,2013.
Nazir, R., ,Warmink, J.A., ,Voordes, D.C., van de Bovenkamp, H.H., and van Elsas, J.D.''Inhibition of mushroom formation and induction of glycerol release - ecological strategies of Burkholderia terrae BS001 to create a hospitable niche at the fungus Lyophyllum sp. strain Karsten'',Microbial Ecology,2013.
Nazir, R.,,Zhang, M.,,de Boer, W., and van Elsas, J.D.''The capacity to comigrate with Lyophyllum sp. strain Karsten through different soils is spread among several phylogenetic groups within the genus Burkholderia'',Soil Biology and Biochemistry,2012.
Nazir, R., ,Hansen, M.A., ,Sorensen, S., and van Elsas, J.D.''Draft genome sequence of the soil bacterium Burkholderia terrae strain BS001, which interacts with fungal surface structures'',Journal of Bacteriology,2012.
Warmink, ,Nazir, R., ,van Elsas, J.D.''Hitchhikers on the fungal highway: The helper effect for bacterial migration via fungal hyphae'',Soil Biology and Biochemistry,2011.
Nazir, R.,,Warmink, J.A., ,Boersma, F.G.H. and van Elsas, J.D.''Mechanisms that promote bacterial fitness in fungal-affected soil microhabitats'',FEMS Microbiology Ecology,2010.
Boersma, F.G.H., ,Otten, R., ,Warmink, J.A., Nazir, R. and van Elsas, J.D.''Selection of Variovorax paradoxus-like bacteria in the mycosphere and the role of fungal-released compounds'',Soil Biology and Biochemistry,2010.
Nazir, R., ,Boersma, F.G.H., ,Warmink, J.A., and van Elsas, J.D.''Lyophyllum sp. strain Karsten alleviates pH pressure in acid soil and enhances the survival of 5 Variovorax paradoxus HB44 and other bacteria in the mycosphere'',Soil Biology and Biochemistry,2010.
Warmink, J.A., ,Nazir, R., ,van Elsas, J.D.''Universal and species-specific bacterial 'fungiphiles' in the mycospheres of different basidiomycetous fungi'',Environmental Microbiology,,2009.

Conferences

Year	Level	Country	City	Conference

2013	International	Slovenia	Ljubljana	BAGECO-12
2019	International	Pakistan	Abbottabad	ESDEV

Awards

Year	Awarding Organization	Description

2015	Chinese Academy of Sciences	PIFI PostDoc in Beijing, China
2007	HEC	Overseas Scholarship for MS leading to PhD in Netherlands
1999	Govt. Pakistan	Top Ten Position in District Narowal for Matriculation.

Memberships

From	To	Title	Organization

2019	Present	Member	American Society for Microbiology

Courses Taught

Course Code	Type	Title	University	Semester

ENV460	Under Graduate	Basic Research Methodology	CUI-Abbottabad	FA18
ENV433	Under Graduate	Climate Change and Global Initiatives	CUI-Abbottabad	FA18
ENV623	Graduate	Sustainable Water Sanitation	CUI-Abbottabad	SP18
ENV433	Under Graduate	Climate Change and Global Initiatives	CUI-Abbottabad	SP18
ENV433	Under Graduate	Climate Change and Global Initiatives	CUI-Abbottabad	FA17
BTY100	Under Graduate	Introductory Cell Biology	CUI-Abbottabad	FA17
ENV342	Under Graduate	Energy Resources	CUI-Abbottabad	SP17
GE0212	Under Graduate	Soil Sciences	CUI-Abbottabad	SP17
ENV-361	Under Graduate	Basic Environmental Impact Assessment	CUI-Abbottabad	SP15
BIO100	Under Graduate	Fundamentals of Biology	CUI-Abbottabad	SP15
ENV-361	Under Graduate	Basic Environmental Impact Assessment	CUI-Abbottabad	FA14
BIO100	Under Graduate	Fundamentals of Biology	CUI-Abbottabad	FA14
ENV-361	Under Graduate	Basic Environmental Impact Assessment	CUI-Abbottabad	SP14
BIO100	Under Graduate	Fundamentals of Biology	CUI-Abbottabad	SP14
BIO100	Under Graduate	Fundamentals of Biology	CUI-Abbottabad	FA13
ENV-433	Under Graduate	Environmental Hazards and Natural Disasters	CUI-Abbottabad	FA13
BIO100	Under Graduate	Fundamentals of Biology	CUI-Abbottabad	SP13
ENV-343	Under Graduate	Environmental Monitoring	CUI-Abbottabad	SP13
ENV-433	Under Graduate	Climate Change and Global Initiatives	CUI-Abbottabad	SP19
ENV723	Graduate	Biological Wastewater Treatment	CUI-Abbottabad	SP19
ENV433	Under Graduate	Climate Change and Global Initiatives	CUI-Abbottabad	FA19
ENV465	Under Graduate	Food Security and Climate Change	CUI-Abbottabad	FA19

Supervisions

Title	From	To	Organization / Institute	Type

Biochemical Strategies of Phosphorus Solubilizing Microbes for their Ecological Success in Kakul Region, Abbottabad	2014	2015	CUI-Abbottabad	Project Supervision
A Case Study for the Assessment of Diversified Multidrug Resistance Related to Prevailing Hygienic Conditions	2018	2019	CUI-Abbottabad	Research Supervision
Development of engineered microbial consortia to improve lignocellulytic degradation potential using various substrates of Galiyat, Abbottabad	2018	2019	CUI-Abbottabad	Project Supervision
Isolation and Characterization of Phosphorous Solubilizing Bacteria from Pinus spp. Rhizosphere	2013	2014	CUI-Abbottabad	Research Supervision
Exploration and Characterization of Lignocellulytic Enzyme Producing Novel Microbial Consortia from Galiyat Region, Abbottabad	2017	2020	CUI-Abbottabad	Research Supervision

Services

From	To	Institute / Organization	Job Specification

2017	Present	CUI-Abbottabad	Established a Microbial Ecology lab and now running it for research purposes.

Books

Title	Subject	First Author	Second Author	Third Author	Year	Publisher

The ecological success of Burkholderia terrae BS001 and related strains in the mycosphere	Bacterial-Fungal Interactions	Rashid Nazir			2012	University of Groningen, The Netherlands

Fundings

From	To	Type	Title	Source	Amount

2019	2020	Research Grant	Impact of veterinary medicines on anaerobic digestion efficiency to generate biogas and potential spread of environmental multidrug resistance	TWAS	2000000.00
2017	2020	Research Grant	P-solubilizing Microbial Consortia from Lower Himalayas and their Potential for Bioethanol Production	HEC	4400000.00
2014	2015	Research Grant	Metabolic bases of soil-biota interactions and their biocontrol potential for host plants	HEC	500000.00
2019	2020	Research Grant	Purification of Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase expressed in Escherichia coli and in-house preparation for PCR reactions	CRGP	300000.00
2012	2012	Conferences	Unusual phenotypes of fungal-interactive Burkholderia terrae BS001	ISME	100000.00
2011	2011	Conferences	Soil fungi provide hospitable niches for soil bacteria-mechanisms and concepts	FEMS	100000.00
2013	2013	Conferences	Comparative analysis of different Burkholderia genomes reveals the basis of fungal interactive bacterial strategies	HEC	250000.00

Active Collaborations

From	To	Type	Country	Organization

2017	Present	Research	China	Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
2017	Present	Research	Australia	University of Melbourne, Australia

Industrial / Consulting Experience

From	To	Post Held	Organization

No records to display.

Extracurricular Activities

Hobbies	Interests

Pros and Poetic writing	Folk and Sufi music

Languages and Skills

Languages	Skills

Urdu Punjabi English	Molecular and Microbiological techniques

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Publication Year	Key Publications

1 2019	1 Farhan Hafeez,Bilal Ahmad Zafar Amin, Uzair Akbar, Akhtar Iqbal, Faridullah, Muhammad Bilal,Rashid Nazir''Assessment of phosphorus availability in soil by introducing P-solubilizing novel bacterial and fungal strains of Lower Himalaya'',COMMUNICATIONS IN SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT ANALYSIS,2019.
2 2019	2 Zeb, I.,,Ma, J.,,Mehboob, F., Kafle, G.K., Amin, B.A.Z., Nazir, R., Ndegwa, P., Frear, C.''Kinetic and microbial analysis of methane production from dairy wastewater anaerobic digester under ammonia and salinity stresses'',Journal of Cleaner Production,2019.
3 2019	3 Shafiq, S., ,Zeb, Q., ,Ali, A., Sajjad, Y., Nazir, R., Widemann, E., and Liu, L.''Lead, Cadmium and Zinc Phytotoxicity Alter DNA Methylation Levels to Confer Heavy Metal Tolerance in Wheat'',International Journal of Molecular Sciences,2019.
4 2019	4 Hafeez, F., ,Zafar, N., ,Nazir, R., Javeed, H.M.R., Rizwan, M., Faridullah., Asad, S.A., Iqbal, A.''Assessment of flood-induced changes in soil heavy metal and nutrient status in Rajanpur, Pakistan.'',Environmental Monitoring and Assessment,2019.
5 2019	5 Farhan Hafeez,,Bilal Ahmad Zafar Amin, Uzair Akbar, Akhtar Iqbal, Faridullah, Muhammad Bilal,Rashid Nazir''Assessment of phosphorus availability in soil by introducing P-solubilizing novel bacterial and fungal strains of Lower Himalaya'',Taylor and Francis,2019.
6 2018	6 Rehman, P., ,Nazir, R., ,Naqvi, TA., Pervez, A., Irshad, U.''Bacterial feeder Nematodes: Facilitator or competitor for Plant Phosphorus in soil'',Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition,2018.
7 2018	7 Hussain, A., ,Ali, S., ,Rizwan, M., Rehman, M.Z., Javed, M.R., Imran, M., Chatha, S.A.S., Nazir. R. ''Zinc oxide nanoparticles alter the wheat physiological response and reduce the cadmium uptake by plants'',Environmental Pollution,2018.
8 2017	8 Pratama, A.D., ,Haq, I.U., ,Nazir, R., De Mares M.C., van Elsas, J.D.''Draft genome sequences of three fungal-interactive Paraburkholderia terrae strains, BS007, BS110 and BS437'',Standards in Genomic Sciences,2017.
9 2017	9 Nazir, R., ,Shen, J.P., ,Wang, J.T., Hu, H.W., He J.Z.''Fungal networks serve as novel ecological routes for enrichment and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes as exhibited by microcosm experiments'',Scientific Reports,2017.
10 2017	10 Nazir, R., ,Mazurier, S., ,Yang, P., Lemanceau, P., and van Elsas, J.D.''The ecological role of type three secretion systems in the interaction of bacteria with fungi in soil and related habitats is diverse and context-dependent'',Frontiers in Microbiology,2017.
11 2017	11 Hayat, W., ,Aman, H., ,Irshad, U., Azeem, M., Iqbal, A., Nazir, R.,''Analysis of Ecological attributes of Bacterial Phosphorus Solubilizers, Native to Pine Forests of Lower Himalaya'',Applied Soil Ecology,2017.
12 2017	12 Nazir, R., ,Hayat, W., ,Rehman, P., Iqbal, A., and Irshad, U.''Novel P-Solubilizers from calcium bound phosphate rich pine forest of Lower Himalaya'',Geomicrobiology Journal,2017.
13 2016	13 Vila, T.V.M., ,Nazir, R.,,Rozental, S., dos Santos, G.M.P., Calixto, R., Bergter, E.B., Wick, L., and van Elsas, J.D.''The role of hydrophobicity and surface receptors at hyphae of Lyophyllum sp. strain Karsten in the interaction with Burkholderia terrae BS001 – implications for interactions in soil'',Frontiers in Microbiology,2016.
14 2014	14 Nazir, R., ,Tazetdinova, D.I., ,van Elsas, J.D.''Burkholderia terrae BS001 migrates proficiently with diverse fungal hosts through soil and provides protection from antifungal agents'',Frontiers in Microbiology,2014.
15 2014	15 ul-Haq, I., ,Graupner, K., ,Nazir, R., van Elsas, J.D.''The genome of the fungal-interactive soil bacterium Burkholderia terrae BS001 - A plethora of outstanding interactive capabilities unveiled.'',Genome Biology and Evolution,2014.
16 2013	16 Nazir, R., ,Semenov, A.V., ,Sarigul, N., and van Elsas, J.D.''Bacterial community establishment in native and non-native soils and the effect of fungal colonization'',Microbiology Discovery,2013.
17 2013	17 Hardoim, P.R.,,Nazir, R., ,Sessitsch, A., Elhottová, D., Korenblum, E., van Overbeek, L. S., and van Elsas, J.D.''The new species Enterobacter oryziphilus sp. nov. and Enterobacter oryzendophyticus sp. nov. are key inhabitants of the endosphere of rice.'',BMC Microbiology,2013.
18 2013	18 Nazir, R., ,Warmink, J.A., ,Voordes, D.C., van de Bovenkamp, H.H., and van Elsas, J.D.''Inhibition of mushroom formation and induction of glycerol release - ecological strategies of Burkholderia terrae BS001 to create a hospitable niche at the fungus Lyophyllum sp. strain Karsten'',Microbial Ecology,2013.
19 2012	19 Nazir, R.,,Zhang, M.,,de Boer, W., and van Elsas, J.D.''The capacity to comigrate with Lyophyllum sp. strain Karsten through different soils is spread among several phylogenetic groups within the genus Burkholderia'',Soil Biology and Biochemistry,2012.
20 2012	20 Nazir, R., ,Hansen, M.A., ,Sorensen, S., and van Elsas, J.D.''Draft genome sequence of the soil bacterium Burkholderia terrae strain BS001, which interacts with fungal surface structures'',Journal of Bacteriology,2012.
21 2011	21 Warmink, ,Nazir, R., ,van Elsas, J.D.''Hitchhikers on the fungal highway: The helper effect for bacterial migration via fungal hyphae'',Soil Biology and Biochemistry,2011.
22 2010	22 Nazir, R.,,Warmink, J.A., ,Boersma, F.G.H. and van Elsas, J.D.''Mechanisms that promote bacterial fitness in fungal-affected soil microhabitats'',FEMS Microbiology Ecology,2010.
23 2010	23 Boersma, F.G.H., ,Otten, R., ,Warmink, J.A., Nazir, R. and van Elsas, J.D.''Selection of Variovorax paradoxus-like bacteria in the mycosphere and the role of fungal-released compounds'',Soil Biology and Biochemistry,2010.
24 2010	24 Nazir, R., ,Boersma, F.G.H., ,Warmink, J.A., and van Elsas, J.D.''Lyophyllum sp. strain Karsten alleviates pH pressure in acid soil and enhances the survival of 5 Variovorax paradoxus HB44 and other bacteria in the mycosphere'',Soil Biology and Biochemistry,2010.
25 2009	25 Warmink, J.A., ,Nazir, R., ,van Elsas, J.D.''Universal and species-specific bacterial 'fungiphiles' in the mycospheres of different basidiomycetous fungi'',Environmental Microbiology,,2009.

Dr. Rashid Nazir

Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences, CUI Abbottabad Campus