Mohamed Abdelhalim

• Abdelhalim, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed; Brurberg, May Bente; Hofgaard, Ingerd Skow; Rognli, Odd Arne & Tronsmo, Anne Marte (2020). Pathogenicity, host specificity and genetic diversity in Norwegian isolates of Microdochium nivale and Microdochium majus. European journal of plant pathology.  ISSN 0929-1873.  156(3), s 885- 895 . doi: 10.1007/s10658-020-01939-5 Show summary

  Microdochium majus and Microdochium nivale cause serious disease problems in grasses and cereal crops in the temperate regions. Both fungi can infect the plants during winter (causing pink snow mould) as well as under cool humid conditions during spring and fall. We conducted a pathogenicity test of 15 M. nivale isolates and two M. majus isolates from Norway at low temperature on four different grass cultivars of Lolium perenne and Festulolium hybrids. Significant differences between M. nivale isolates in the ability to cause pink snow mould were detected. The M. nivale strains originally isolated from grasses were more pathogenic than isolates from cereals. The genetic diversity of M. nivale and M. majus isolates was studied by sequencing four genetic regions; Elongation factor-1 alpha (EF-1α), β-tubulin, RNA polymerase II (RPB2) and the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS). Phylogenetic trees based on the sequences of these four genetic regions resolved M. nivale and M. majus isolates into separate clades. Higher genetic diversity was found among M. nivale isolates than among M. majus isolates. M. nivale isolates revealed genetic differences related to different host plants (grasses vs. cereals) and different geographic regions (Norway and UK vs. North America). Sequence results from the RPB2 and β-tubulin genes were more informative than those from ITS and EF-1α. The genetic and phenotypic differences detected between Norwegian M. nivale isolates from cereals and grasses support the assumption that host specialization exist within M. nivale isolates.

• Abdelhalim, Mohamed; Rognli, Odd Arne; Hofgaard, Ingerd Skow; Østrem, Liv & Tronsmo, Anne Marte (2016). Snow mould resistance under controlled conditions and winter survival in the field in populations of perennial ryegrass, meadow fescue and Festulolium are partly dependent on ploidy level and degree of northern adaptation. Canadian Journal of Plant Science.  ISSN 0008-4220.  96(4), s 579- 589 . doi: 10.1139/cjps-2015-0259
• Kovi, Mallikarjuna Rao; Abdelhalim, Mohamed; Kunapareddy, Anil; Ergon, Åshild; Tronsmo, Anne Marte; Brurberg, May Bente; Hofgaard, Ingerd Skow; Asp, Torben & Rognli, Odd Arne (2016). Global transcriptome changes in perennial ryegrass during early infection by pink snow mould. Scientific Reports.  ISSN 2045-2322.  6:28702 . doi: 10.1038/srep28702 Full text in Research Archive. Show summary

  Lack of resistance to pink snow mould (Microdochium nivale) is a major constraint for adaptation of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) to continental regions with long-lasting snow cover at higher latitudes. Almost all investigations of genetic variation in resistance have been performed using cold acclimated plants. However, there may be variation in resistance mechanisms that are functioning independently of cold acclimation. In this study our aim was to identify candidate genes involved in such resistance mechanisms. We first characterized variation in resistance to M. nivale among non-acclimated genotypes from the Norwegian cultivar ‘Fagerlin’ based on relative regrowth and fungal quantification by real-time qPCR. One resistant and one susceptible genotype were selected for transcriptome analysis using paired-end sequencing by Illumina Hiseq 2000. Transcriptome profiles, GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis indicate that defense response related genes are differentially expressed between the resistant and the susceptible genotype. A significant up-regulation of defense related genes, as well as genes involved in cell wall cellulose metabolic processes and aryl-alcohol dehydrogenase (NADP+) activity, was observed in the resistant genotype. The candidate genes identified in this study might be potential molecular marker resources for breeding perennial ryegrass cultivars with improved resistance to pink snow mould.

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• Abdelhalim, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed; Tronsmo, Anne Marte; Rognli, Odd Arne; Brurberg, May Bente; Hofgaard, Ingerd Skow; Marum, Petter & Ergon, Åshild (2016). Snow mould resistance in perennial grasses for future climates. Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) Thesis. 32.
• Abdelhalim, Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed; Kovi, Mallikarjuna Rao; Brurberg, May Bente; Ergon, Åshild; Rognli, Odd Arne & Tronsmo, Anne Marte (2014). Quantification of fungal biomass by qPCR and the expression of disease resistance genes during early infection by Microdochium nivale.
• Tronsmo, Anne Marte; Abdelhalim, Mohamed; Brurberg, May Bente; Ergon, Åshild; Hofgaard, Ingerd Skow & Rao, Kovi Mallikarjuna (2014). Mitigating the risk of snow mould damage in high yielding grass species adapted for future climate.
• Tronsmo, Anne Marte; Abdelhalim, Mohamed; Brurberg, May Bente; Ergon, Åshild; Hofgaard, Ingerd Skow & Rao, Kovi Mallikarjuna (2014). Mitigating the risk of snow mould damage in high yielding grass species adapted for future climate. Third Nordic International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation, Adapting to Change: From Research to Decision-making. Copenhagen, Denmark. 25-27. August 2014. Abstracts.
• Kovi, Mallikarjuna Rao; Ergon, Åshild; Kunapareddy, Anil; Abdelhalim, Mohamed; Asp, Torben; Tronsmo, Anne Marte & Rognli, Odd Arne (2013). Global transcriptome changes in perennial ryegrass during early infection by pink snow mould.
• Kovi, Mallikarjuna Rao; Ergon, Åshild; Kunapareddy, Anil; Abdelhalim, Mohamed; Asp, Torben; Tronsmo, Anne Marte & Rognli, Odd Arne (2013). Transcriptome analysis of infected perennial ryegrass with M.nivale through RNA Seq. approach.
• Abdelhalim, Mohamed; Ergon, Åshild; Kovi, Mallikarjuna Rao; Kunapareddy, Anil; Brurberg, May Bente; Hofgaard, Ingerd; Tronsmo, Anne Marte & Rognli, Odd Arne (2012). Gene expression analysis of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) during pink snow mould infection.

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