Name: Yasser Mohamed Mabrouk

Present Occupation: Professor and Head of the Department of Genetics, Alexandria University

Address:

Department of Genetics

Alexandria University

163 Aflaton Street, El Shatby

Alexandria, 21545

EGYPT

Mobile: + (2) 0 1110203334

E-mail: yasser.mabrouk@alexu.edu.eg

Education

Ph.D. 1995, Collaborative advisor-ship with research supervisor Prof. Dr. Lawrence Bogorad, Harvard University, USA

Title: Genetical and molecular studies on gene expression for one of photosynthesis genes in maize

M.Sc. 1990, Alexandria University

Title: DNA damage induced by some environmental pollutants in mice and broad beans

B.Sc. 1984, Genetics - Alexandria University

Positions

Head of the Deartment (2014 till now), Alexandria University, Department of Genetics

Professor (2008 till now), Alexandria University, Department of Genetics

Associate Professor (2003-2008), Alexandria University, Department of Genetics

Assistant Professor (1995-2003), Alexandria University, Department of Genetics

Assistant Lecturer (1990-1995), Alexandria University, Department of Genetics

Instructor (1984-1990), Alexandria University, Department of Genetics

Research

Research Visits

Prof. Dr. Lawrence Bogorad, Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Harvard University, 24 August 1992 - 21 August 1994, USA. Mechanisms for regulating the cell specificity of rbcS-m3 gene in maize are elucidated. Protein binding sequences which are required for rbcS-m3 gene regulation are identified. Gene cloning, polymerase chain reaction, sequencing, gene transfer, and gel retardation approaches are used to unravel the complexity of rbcS-m3 gene regulation

Prof. Dr. Charles Arntzen, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Cornell University, 25 August - 10 September 1999, USA. Plant transformation mediated by Agrobacterium tumefaciens has become the most used method for the introduction of foreign genes into plant cells and the subsequent regeneration of transgenic plants. Genetic transformation mediated by Agrobacterium involves the transfer of a DNA molecule (T-DNA) from the bacterium to the eukaryotic host cell, and its integration into the host genome. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation parameters were optimized for potato shoot explants using β-glucuronidase (GUS) as a reporter gene

Prof. Dr. Richard Meagher Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, 2 September 2000 - 1 September 2002, USA. The cytoskeleton is important for controlling cell shape and cell motility and for organizing signaling complexes. Additionally, connections are being found between cytoskeletal proteins and the regulation of gene expression in the nucleus. Gene silencing is an effective experimental tool to study gene functions in plants. In recent years, sequence-specific gene silencing has become more popular because of its powerful effect to inhibit the expression of a homologous endogenous gene. RNA interference (RNAi) is one of these means to induce a gene-specific block to translation. The basic mechanism of RNAi is that the presence of dsRNA can target specific mRNAs for degradation, resulting in silencing their expression in a homology-dependent way. Two important events happened in the RNA interference pathway: (1) the formation of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) cut by the RNase III enzyme Dicer and (2) the cleavage and destruction of homologous mRNA by an RNA-induced silencing complex directed by siRNAs, or the block of its translation. Analysis of RNAi knockdown is typically performed by Western blot. Downregulation of cytoskeleton genes by RNA interference (RNAi) in Arabidopsis plants revealed its role in plant development

Research Interests

My main research interest focuses on functional genomics. Differential expression of potato WRKY1 gene was analyzed upon Erwinia carotovora infection. An exhaustive search was performed in GenBank for WRKY genes and predicted a WRKY-like gene in tomato using bioinformatics tools. A major challenge in the post-genome era of plant biology is to determine the functions of all the genes in the plant genome. A straightforward approach to this problem is to reduce or knock out expression of a gene with the hope of seeing a phenotype that is suggestive of its function. Insertional mutagenesis is commonly used in large-scale plant functional genomics, as mobile DNA tags of known sequence can be utilized to retrieve flanking gene sequences. RNA interference (RNAi) is a useful tool for this type of study, using constructs encoding self-complementary ‘hairpin’ RNA. These applications have been used very effectively to high-throughput Arabidopsis thaliana functional genomics. Arabidopsis profilin gene (PRF1) was analyzed by RNAi and phylogenetic approaches. Abiotic stresses such as drought dramatically influence the yield of many important crop plants. To overcome the yield losses due to abiotic stresses, plants need to possess mechanisms of avoidance and tolerance to stress. For sustainable agriculture development, future crops should have abiotic stress resistant traits and the mechanism for stress tolerance. Genetic enhancement of crop tolerance to abiotic stress can be improved by employing plant molecular biology and genomics tools. A T-DNA insertion mutant for NaCl-hypersensitivity was characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) has been studied for its potential role in osteoporosis risk in human. Genetic variation at APOE locus modulates bone mineral density. The association of the APOE gene polymorphisms with bone-related phenotypes is determined

Research Projects

Principal Investigator: "Biotechnological approach to search for candidate genes associated with Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in maize", Research Enhancement Program of Alexandria University. Grant No. AGRV-08-05. 2009-2012

Investigator: “Genetic Characterization of the Flora of Gramineae Plants Grown in North and NorthWest of Delta and Siwa Oasis”. National Strategy Programs for Biotechnology, Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt. Award No. 108. 2006-2010

Investigator: “Genetic Engineering of Potatoes for Enhanced Crop Value in Egypt“. A collaborative Research Program between Alexandria University and Cornell University. University Linkage Grant No. 93/01/18. 1997-2002

Professional Organization Membership

American Association for the Adcancement of Science

Genetics Society of America

International Society for Plant Molecular Biology

Conferences and Workshops

Third annual Massachusetts Biotechnology Symposium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 4 May 1994. Boston, USA

The 85th annual meeting of the American society for biochemistry and molecular biology, 21-25 May 1994. Washington DC, USA

The 26^th annual meeting of the Egyptian society of genetics, 29-30 September 1998. Alexandria, Egypt

The 3^rd Arab conference, modern biotechnology and areas of applications in the Arab world, 14-17 December 1998. Cairo, Egypt

The 5th annual BCMB symposium (Rebuild or model? The roles of chromatin in gene regulation, development and disease), 19-20 April 2001

Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

The 41th annual meeting of the American society for cell biology, 8-12 December 2001. Washington DC, USA

Ethical and social responsibilities in science & technology conference, 19-20 October 2002. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt

Workshop on: Genetic engineering and genomics, 5-8 December 2003. Alexandria, Egypt

Biovision: Ethics, Patents and the Poor, 3-6 April 2004. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt

Member of the organizer committee for the "International Symposium on Health & Production Benefits of Canola & Olive Oils" 5-6 June, 2005. Ministry of Agriculture. Cairo, Egypt

Biovision: Changing Lives, 26-29 April 2006. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt

Biovision: Promises to Practice, 12-16 April 2008. Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt

Supervised students

Currently 2 PhD and 2 MSc students are supervised

Fourteen PhD and MSc students have completed their thesis

Date	Title
2001	Genetical studies on an economic plant
2001	Induction of mutations in Bt. bacteria to increase toxicity against larvae of Spodoptera littoralis
2003	Biochemical genetics studies on the bioremediation ability of sunflower plants in contaminated soil with some heavy metals
2006	Genetic studies using biotechnology for the improvement of potato
2007	Genetical studies on Stevia plants as a natural sweetener
2008	Gene transfer in a flowering plant
2009	Molecular genetic studies on a flowering plant
2009	Genetical studies on Arabidopsis thaliana
2010	Application of DNA technology to detect food infection with some pathogenic bacteria
2011	Genetics of biotic stress tolerance in wheat
2012	Molecular genetic studies on mango
2013	Molecular studies for genetic assessment of iron efficiency in one of cereal Crops
2014	Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) detection in some Egyptian wheat varieties based on genes responsive to some abiotic stress
2014	Molecular genetic evaluation of (Cichorium endivia, L.) as an anti-cancer agent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Talks and Lectures

Sequence Alignment, and Phylogenetics, lectures presented in Bioinformatics Workshop, at the Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, 9-10 December 2013

Bioinformatics, lecture presented in the Plant Biotechnology training course, at the Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, 18 February 2010

Organizer and lecturer of the training course "Bioinformatics Tools for Genetics Research", at the Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, 8-10 May 2007

Recombinant Protein Expression in Prokaryotes, lecture presented in the International ICGEB-MuCSAT Workshop on "Cloning and Gene Expression in Prokaryotic System" 4 September 2006

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), lecture presented in the Basic Techniques in Molecular Biology training course, at the Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, 19 June 2005

Lecturer of the training course "Concepts and recent techniques in biotechnology", at the Department of Genetics, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, 20-30 June 1997

University committees' membership

Faculty of Agriculture Council - 2003/04, 2011/12 & 2014/15

Faculty of Agriculture, Postgraduate and Research affairs committee - 2014/15

Faculty of Agriculture, Libraries committee - 2009/10, 2010/11 & 2012/13

Faculty of Agriculture, Laboratories and Chemicals committee - 2007/08, 2008/09 & 2011/12

Faculty of Agriculture, Social committee - 2004/05

Faculty of Agriculture, Cultural affairs committee - 2003/04

Teaching experience

Undergraduate courses

Principles of Genetics

Molecular Genetics

Immunogenetics

Ph.D. and M.Sc. courses

Bioinformatics

Biophysics

Pharmacogenetics

Behavior Genetics and Environment

Bibliography

Badr, Effat A., M. A. Seehy and Y. Mabrouk (1993). Assessment of genotoxic effects of aluminum. XVII International Congress of Genetics, Birmingham, U.K. August 15-21. Abst. No. i33

Viret, J., Y. Mabrouk and L. Bogorad (1994). Transcriptional Photoregulation of Cell-Type-Preferred Expression of Maize rbcS-m3: 3' and 5' Sequences are Involved. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. Vol 91(18): 8577-8581

Purcell, M., Y. M. Mabrouk and L. Bogorad (1995). Red/Far-Red and Blue Light-Responsive Regions of Maize rbcS-m3 are Active in Bundle Sheath and Mesophyll Cells, Respectively. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. Vol 92(25): 11504-11508

Abdelaziz, A., Y. Mabrouk and A. El-Bendary (1998). Phylogenetic relationship between some tomato species, based on iaozyme variants. Proceedings of XXVI Annual Meeting of the Egyptian Society of Genetics, 29-30 September, Alexandria, vol. 1, pp. 39-45

Abdelaziz, A., Y. Mabrouk and A. El-Metainy (1998). Genetic variability in Lycopersicon species and their genetic relationships. Proceeding of the third Arab Conference on Modern Biotechnology and Areas of Application in the Arab World, 14-17 December, Cairo, pp. 730-741

El-Bendary, A., Y. Mabrouk and A. El-Metainy (1998). Peroxidase isozyme variants as genetic markers for early evaluation of Fe-efficiency and Fe-nutriyional status in maize lines. Field Crops Research. 59(3): 181-185

El-Bendary, A., A. Abdelaziz, Y. Mabrouk and A. El-Metainy (1999). Utilization of RAPD molecular markers for screening maize genotypes for iron-deficiency genes. Arab J. Biotech. 2 (2): 161-166

Badr, E. and Y. Mabrouk (2000). Identification of potato cultivars and somaclonal variations by RAPDs. Arab J. Biotech. 3(2): 181-188

Mabrouk, Y. (2002). Regulation of transcription by ARP7 protein of Arabidopsis thaliana plant. Alex. J. Agric. Res. 47(3): 55-62

Mabrouk, Y. (2002). Effects of salinity and zinc on profilin gene (PRF1) expression, growth and peroxidase activity of watermelon plant. J. Agric. Sci. Mansoura Univ. 27(12): 8313-8320

Makhlouf, A., Y. Mabrouk, M. El Saied and M. Mahdy (2002). In vitro selection for drought tolerance in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench: callus and regeneration evaluation of selected genotypes. Alex. J. Agric. Res. 47(1): 77-88

Shweil, S., Y. M. Mabrouk, H. Eldoksh and A. Abou-Youssef (2005). Genetic characterization of some Bacillus thuringiensis wild type isolates and their selected mutants. Egypt. J. Genet. Cytol. 34: 255-266

Riad, S., A. Hemeida and Y. M. Mabrouk (2006). Molecular evaluation of potato resistant clones against brown rot disease. Egypt. J. Genet. Cytol. 35(1): 49-64

Mabrouk, Y. M. (2007). Functional and Phylogenetic Analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana (Metallothionein) MT1a and MT2a Genes. Alex. J. Agric. Res. 52(3): 31-43

Mabrouk, Y. M. (2007). Analysis of Arabidopsis Profilin Gene (PRF1) by RNA Interference and Phylogenetic Approaches. The Egyptian Science Magazine. 4(2): 7-18

Heikal, H. A., Y. Mabrouk, O. M. Badawy, A. El-Shehawy and E. A. Badr (2007). Fingerprinting Egyptian Gramineae Species Using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Inter-simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) Markers. Research Journal of Cell and Molecular Biology, 1(1): 23-30

Mabrouk, Y. M. (2007). Proteomic Analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana Gene Expression Profiles in Response to Zinc Exposure. The Egyptian Science Magazine, 4(3): 35-41

Mabrouk, Y., E. Badr, F. Rakha and A. Ghazy (2008). Differential Expression of Potato WRKY1 Gene Upon Erwinia carotovora Infection and Bioinformatics Analysis for a Novel Tomato WRKY-like Gene. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 2(1): 30-36

Mabrouk, Y. M. and H. A. Heikal (2008). Characterization of a T-DNA insertion mutant for NaCl-hypersensitivity in Arabidopsis thaliana. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 2(1): 82-89

Badr, E., Y., Mabrouk, F. Rakha and A. Ghazy (2008). Agrobacterium tumefaciens-Mediated Transformation of Potato and Analysis of Genomic Instability by RAPD. Research Journal of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, 4(1): 16-25

Aziz, A. A., Y. M. Mabrouk, E. M Essa, A. Y. El-Metainy and A. Y. Abou-Youssef (2008). Genetic aspects of heavy metals phytoremediation abilities of sunflower plants. Egypt. J. Genet. Cytol. 37(1): 103-114

Ahmed, M. M. M., E. E. Hafez, M. A. Mkamer, H. A. Abdelrrassoul and Y. M. Mabrouk (2014). Detection of Baby Milk Powder Contamination by Microorganisms. World Applied Sciences Journal. 30(1): 93-98

Ahmed, M. M.  M., E. E. Hafez, M. A. Mkamer, H. A. Abdelrrassoul and Y. M. A. Mabrouk (2014).  Application of DNA Technology to detect food infection with some pathogenic bacteria using  16S rDNA gene; PCR-RFLP and sequencing. Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment. 12(2): 202-206

Ahmed, M. M.  M., E. E. Hafez, M. A. Mkamer., H. A. Abdelrrassoul and Y. M. Mabrouk (2014). DNA analysis of baby milk Contaminated with microorganisms using DNA Technology. Bothalia. 44(6): 139-148

Hafez E. E., E. A Badr., Y. M. Mabrouk, M. A. Seehy and S. A. Aggag (2014). Expression of Tumor-Markers and Cytokines in Response to Cichorium Endivia L. in Cancerous Mice. Int. J. Life Sc. Bt & Pharm. Res.,  3(4): 33-39

Badr E., H. A. Heikal, H. F. Elwakil, Y. Mabrouk, O. M. Badawy, M. El-Seehy, Y. Moustafa and S. Aggag (2014). Genetic Variability and Molecular Fingerprinting of Some Wild Egyptian Gramineae Plants. In Biotechnology and Conservation of Species from Arid Regions. Vol. 1: Chap. 21, 209-222. Eds: S. A. Farooq, R. M.M. Abed and S. Baqir. ISBN: 978-1-63117-872-6. Nova Science Publishers Inc