• Ph.D. , , University of Delhi
• M.Sc , , Gauhati University

Dr Mahaswetta Saikia , Associate Professor , Department of Botany, Hansraj College, University of Delhi has done her M. Sc (Botany) from Gauhati University, Assam and completed her Doctoral Research on digestive physiology of Antheraea assamensis from the Department of Botany, University of Delhi under the Guidance of Professor Sudeshna Mazumdar-Leighton. For a brief period, she has also worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi. Dr Saikia has published her research work in Journals of international repute. In 2012, one of her paper in Insect Molecular Biology was among the two papers selected from Asian region, which demonstrated the strength and scope of the research on insect molecular biology emanating from Asia.

Taught in current semester:

1. Advanced tools and Analytical Techniques in Plant Biology
2. Microbiology and Plant microbe interactions

Year 2025-2026:

Convener, Library, Department of Botany, H.R.C

University of Delhi (Ph.D. Botany)

Title: 'Identification of diverse midgut serine proteinases in the fourth instar larvae of an economically important sericigenous Lepidoptera from North East India, Antheraea assamensis (Helfer) feeding on Persea bombycina (Kostermans) and Litsea monopetala (Roxburgh), two primary host plant species of the Lauraceae family'.

Book chapters:

1. Mahaswetta Saikia, Rakesh Kumar. 2020. Plant Proteinase Inhibitor and Protease Interaction During Insect-Plant Communication. Plant-Pest Interactions: From Molecular Mechanisms to Chemical Ecology pp 233-264, Springer
2. Mahaswetta Saikia. 2017. Use of medicinal plants in the treatment of women’s diseases, in Scope of phytochemically unexplored medicinal plants,167-173.Enriched Publications Pvt Ltd.Dwarka, New Delhi-75

1. Rahul Prasad Singh, Priya Yadav, Ajay Kumar, Amit Kaushik, Aditi Arya, Mahaswetta Saikia, Rajan Kumar Gupta, Laurent Dufossé. Salt-regulated triacylglycerol accumulation and biodiesel quality of Scenedesmus sp. BHU1 under two-stage cultivation,Energy Nexus,2026,100655.
2. Rahul Prasad Singh, Prince Kumar Singh, Indrajeet Kumar, Manish Kumar, Vivek Kumar Gaur, Amit Kaushik, Aditi Arya, Mahaswetta Saikia, Sergio de los Santos-Villalobos, Ajay Kumar, Laurent Dufossé,Sustainable bioenergy from microalgal lipid remodeling: An AI and genetic engineering approach for the circular economy.2026. Energy Strategy Reviews. Volume 64, 102050.
3. Ajay Kumar , Manoj Kumar Solanki , Manish Kumar, Amit Kaushik , Aditi Aryaf, Mahaswetta Saikia , Vivek Kumar Gaur , Rahul Prashad Singh , Sandeep Kumar Singh , Vipin Kumar Singh , Laurent Dufossé. The microbial strategies for the management of chemical pesticides: A Comprehensive review. 2026. Current research in microbial sciences. Vol.10.100519.
4. Mahaswetta Saikia. Plant based health supplements: An Indian Perspective.2025.International Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 14(5), 790-796.
5. Mahaswetta Saikia. 2023. Zymograms as a tool to detect PPIs in the host plants of Antheraea assamensis. Journal of Advanced Zoology. 44(4), 60-68.
6. Sochanngam Kashung, Parul Bharadwaj, Mahaswetta Saikia and Sudeshna Mazumdar Leighton. 2023. Midgut serine proteinases participate in dietary adaptations of the castor(Eri) silkworm Samia ricini Anderson transferred from Ricinus communis to an ancestral host, Ailanthus excelsa Roxb. Frontiers in Insect Science Vol 3,1-17.
7. Y Tunginba Singh, Sudeshna Mazumdar-Leighton, Mahaswetta Saikia, Prashant Pant, Sochanngam Kashung, Kartik Neog, Rajen Chakravorty, Suresh Nair, Javaregowda Nagaraju, Cheerukeri Raghavendra Babu. 2012. Genetic variation within native populations of endemic silkmoth Antheraea assamensis (Helfer) from Northeast indicates need for in situ conservation. PLOS One 7(11): e4997M.
8. M Saikia, YT Singh, A. Bhattacharya and S Mazumdar-Leighton. 2011. Expression of diverse midgut serine proteinases in the sericigenous Lepidoptera, Antheraea assamensis (Helfer) is influenced by choice of host plant species. Insect Molecular Biology 20(1), 1-13.2