3-HC-MAMBD_Newsletter_January_2010

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The High Council of Moroccan American Medical and Biology Doctors (HC—MAMBD)

The HC—MAMBD Newsletter
Inside this issue: Volume 1, Issue 3 January 2010
Creation of a Scientific
Publishing Partnership
1
Three Council’s Board Members Started A Scientific
Drs. Hamamouch & 2-3
Publishing Partnership
Idaghdour
PAG 2010 4-5
Three Council’s Board Members, Drs. Ab- Food sciences, Animal Sciences, Genome,
NIMAP, Morocco 6-7 delmajid Kasselm Allah Boutajangout, and Genetics, Biotechnology, Marine sciences,
Khalid Meksem along with other colleagues Microbiology, Molecular biology, Plant sci-
Dr. Bendahmane 8
started KBM Scientific Publishing, LP (KBM ences, Forensic sciences, Ecology, Physics,
Dr. El Ayadi 9 -SPLP). Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Science Educa-
KBM-SPLP is specialized in publishing high tion etc.
Dr. Allal Boutajangout 10
quality peer-reviewed online international KBM—SPLP’s Advisory Board includes sev-
journals and books in all scientific fields. eral prominent scientists in their fields in-
KBM-SPLP was created for scientists by cluding medical doctors, researchers, and
scientists to promote the advancement of university professors in all scientific fields.
sciences. Below, is the growing list of KBM—SPLP’s
KBM-SPLP launches several journals in all Advisory Board members.
Council Members Publi- 11- scientific fields including but not limited to
cations 12
Medical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Dr. Abdelmajid Kassem Council’s Publications Team
13 Biological Sciences, Environmental sciences,

Saadia Bihmidine 14- KBM-SPLP’s Advisory Board Members
15
• Thomas Wisniewski, Professor, New York University, NC, USA
Comics Section 16
University, NY, USA • Barry Margulies, Associate Professor, Towson

Photo Galleries 17-
• David Lightfoot, Professor, Southern Illinois University, MD, USA
23 University, IL, USA • Ahmed Al Hejin, Assistant Professor, King
• James Saunders, Professor, Towson Univer- Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia
2010 International Con- 24 • Sherrice Allen, Assistant Professor, Fayetteville
sity, MD, USA
ferences
• George Perry, Professor and Dean, College of State University, NC, USA
KBM—SPLP’s Call For 25 Arts and Sciences, The University of Texas at • Allah Boutajangout, Research Assistant Pro-
Papers San Antonio, USA fessor, New York University, NY, USA
• Abdelhafid Bendahmane, Research Director, • Barakat Abdelali, Research Associate, Penn
INRA, France State University, PA, USA
• Khalid Meksem, Professor, Southern Illinois • Mohamed Dehbi, PhD, Senior Scientist and
University, IL, USA Head, Dasman Center for Research & Treatment
• My Abdelmajid Kassem, Professor, Fayette- of Diabetes, Kuwait
ville State University, NC, USA KBM-SPLP’s Advisory Board is still growing with
• Juma Booker, Professor, Fayetteville State prominent experts in the sciences.
Dr. Noureddine Hamamouch’s Recent Visit to Morocco

Dr. Noureddine Hamamouch, a Council’s Board member
visited Morocco recently and presented his work at the Col-
lege of Science, University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah. His
talk was entitled: “Application of biotechnology to engineer
resistance to parasitic weeds and nematodes”. This work
was done at Eric Davies’ Lab, Department of Plant Pathology,
North Carolina State University (NCSU) where Dr. Hama-
Dr. Noureddine Hamamouch
mouch is still working.

Dr. Hamamouch also met the faculty at the College and discussed possibilities of
collaboration with his Lab at NCSU. Dr. Hamamouch also met the students and ad-
vised them on best ways to get scholarships and pursue their graduate studies in US
“Yes, I enjoyed my
recent visit to Morocco institutions of higher education.
and the University Sidi
Mohanmed Ben Dr. Hamamouch published the following two articles and the other two are in
Abdellah. I felt that
press:
the faculty enjoyed my
presentation about my
research findings, and Patel N, Hamamouch N, Li CY, et al. Similarity and Functional Analyses of Expressed
the students enjoyed Parasitism Genes in Heterodera schachtii and Heterodera glycines. J. Nematol-
my advise about ogy 40 (4): 299-310. December 2008.
graduate studies in
the US”. Said
N o u r e d d i n e Abad P, Gouzy J, Aury JM, et al. Genome sequence of the metazoan plant-parasitic
Hamamouch. nematode Meloidogyne incognita. Nature Biotech 26 (8): 909-915. August 2008.

Salaheddine Bakkali Yakhlef, Imane Guenoun, Benaîssa Herdouch, Noureddine Hama-
mouch, and Mohamed Abourouch. Efficient DNA Isolation from Moroccan Arar
tree [Tetraclinis articulata (Val) Masters] leaves and Optimization of the RAPD-
PCR Molecular Technique. Act Botanical Malacitana. 2009. In Press.

Nrupali Patel, Noureddine Hamamouch, Chunying Li, Tarek Hewezi, Richard S.
Hussey, Thomas J. Baum, Melissa G. Mitchum, and Eric L. Davis. A nematode
effector protein similar to annexins in host plants. Journal of Experimental Bot-
any. 2009. In Press.

Congratulations Noureddine and keep up the good work.

Council’s Publications Team

Page 2
Dr. Youssef Idaghdour, A Young Moroccan Talent!

Dr. Youssef Idaghdour is a young Moroccan scientist who
just graduated with a PhD in Genetics in one of the world’s Genetics 4(4):e1000052.
famous universities, North Carolina State University, Raleigh,
Idaghdour Y, Broderick D, Korrida A
NC, USA. During his PhD research projects, Youssef worked and Chbel F (2004) Mitochondrial
on how the environment and geographic location interact to control region diversity of the hou-
shape phenotypic variation in humans. Moreover, Youssef bara bustard Chlamydotis undulata
complex and genetic structure Dr. Youssef Idaghdour
choose to do most of these studies in the Amazigh population
along the Atlantic seaboard of
living in Southern Morocco. From his PhD work, he published North Africa. Molecular Ecology
the following publications including the upcoming Nature Ge- 13(1), 43-54.
netics paper:
Idaghdour Y, Czika W, Shianna K, Lee H, Visccher PM, Mar- Idaghdour Y, Broderick D and Korrida A (2003) Faeces as a
tin H, Miklaus K, Jadallah S, Goldstein DB, Wolfinger RD source of DNA for molecular studies into a threatened popu-
and Gibson G (2009) Geographical Genomics of Human lation of great bustards in Morocco. Conservation Genetics 4
Leukocyte Gene Expression Variation in Southern Mo- (6):789-792.
rocco. Nature Genetics 42, 62-67.
Youssef is now a Potdoctoral Fellow at CHU Sainte-Justine
Kennerly EM, Idaghdour Y, Olby NJ, Osborne JN and Gib- Research Center, University of Montreal, Canada.
son G (2009) Pharmacogenetic Association Study of 30
genes with Phenobarbital Drug Response in Epileptic Congratulations Youssef for your PhD & your wonderful work.
Dogs. Pharmacogenomics and Genetics (in press) Keep up the Good Work!

Idaghdour Y, Storey JD, Jadallah SJ and Gibson G (2008) A
Genome-wide Gene Expression Signature of Lifestyle and Council’s Publications Team
Geography in Leukocytes of Moroccan Amazighs. PLoS

Youssef Idaghdour’s Dissertation Abstract

“In humans, study of how environment and genome interact to shape phenotypic variation is particularly relevant to understanding the origins
of complex diseases and the increase in their prevalence coinciding with major shifts from traditional to urbanized lifestyles. Gene expression is
the first step in a complex and multi-step process towards the production of higher-level phenotypes. While genetic analysis of gene expression
variation in humans using cell lines and clinical samples is subject to extensive research, little is known about the contributions of environment
and geography to transcriptional variation. To estimate these contributions, I examined gene expression in peripheral blood leukocyte samples
from 46 desert nomadic, mountain agrarian and coastal urban Moroccan Amazigh individuals. Strikingly, as much as one third of the leuko-
cyte transcriptome was found to be differentially expressed among lifestyles. Genome-wide polymorphism analysis indicates that genetic differ-
entiation in the total sample is limited and is unlikely to explain the expression divergence. Methylation profiling of 1,505 CpG sites suggests
limited contribution of methylation to the observed differences in gene expression. To estimate the contributions of genetic and environmental
factors jointly, I generated gene expression profiles and whole genome genotypic data from 208 and 203 individuals, respectively, from leuko-
cyte samples of two groups of urban dwellers and two groups of rural villagers representing Arab and Amazigh ethnicities in southern Mo-
rocco. Again, the analysis revealed strong effects of environmental geography but also suggested that the interplay between non-genetic envi-
ronmental factors and genes is a major modulator of the transcriptome. Both studies confirm that genetic factors are neither the sole, nor
even the major, source of variation affecting the leukocyte transcriptome. The amplitude and functional characteristics of the observed differ-
ences in both studies suggest a significant impact on immune response and disease susceptibility. The analysis was extended by performing a
gene expression genome-wide association where each of 516,972 genotypes was tested against each of 22,300 expressed transcripts while
accounting for gender, location, genetic ethnicity, relatedness, and interaction effects. This analysis revealed 1,744 genome-wide significant
associations involving 380 cis-eSNP and 16 trans-eSNP all robust to population structure and environmental modulation. No evidence for
genotype-by-environment interactions modulating transcript abundance was detected for the genome-wide significant associations suggesting
environmental geography and genotypes act in a largely additive manner. Further, I confirmed numerous previously reported regulatory signals
and validated several previous trait and disease GWAS findings as being modulated by variation in gene expression levels. These results fur-
ther our understanding of gene expression variation in humans and emphasize the biomedical importance of expression divergence within and
among human populations”. Source: NCSU: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-06152009-021927/.
Page 3
Moroccan Plant Scientists at the International Plant & Animal
Genome Conference XVIII, January 9—13, 2010, San Diego, CA
As usual since a decade, several Moroccan scientists, mainly Dr. Faouzi Bekkaoui presented the following poster:
Plant Geneticists & Genomicists, attend the International Plant & • “Beyond Brassica rapa: Facilitating Brassica Research
Animal Genome Conference XVIII that took place in San Diego, Through Whole Genome Sequencing” By I Parkin, C
CA from January 9th to January 13th, 2010. The following Moroc- Koh, F Bekkaoui, M Links, J Nowak, R Wood, C Hai-
can Scientists were present: Dr. Abdelhafid Bendahmane, a manot, A Sharpe.
Research Director at INRA, France; Mr. Adnane Boualem, a Dr. Bekkaoui was also part of the oral presentation entitled
Research Engineer and PhD Students, INRA, France; Dr. Abde- “454 Transcript Profiling For SNP Discovery In Pulse Crops”
lali Barakat, A Research Associate at Penn State University, and presented by Andrew Sharpe (Other coauthors: R Li, C
USA; Dr. Khalid Meksem, A Professor at Southern Illinois Uni- Sidebottom, S Qiu, M Links, L Sanderson, P Vijayan, B Vanden-
versity, USA; Dr. Abdelmajid Kassem, A Professor at Fayette- berg, K Bett, B Taran, T Warkentin, R Datla, G Selvaraj, F
ville State University, USA; and Dr. Serraj Rachid, A Research Bekkaoui, D Murrell, W Keller).
Scientists, The International Rice Research Institute, Philippines;
and Faouzi Bekkaoui, a Research Director at the National Re- Dr. Serraj Rachid gave an oral presentation entitled
search Council, Canada. “Dissection Of Dehydration Avoidance, Root Water Uptake
Adnane Boualem gave an oral presentation entitled “Sex Deter- And Drought Resistance Mechanisms In Rice” by R Serraj, A
mination in Cucurbits: Genetic and Epigenetic Implications” in the Henry, VRP Gowda, A Kumar, KL McNally, S Kikuchi, A Ya-
“Genomics of Plant Development and Signal Networks Work- mauchi, N Kobayash. Dr. Serraj also presented the following
shop”. poster:
• “Transcriptomes Of Near-Isogenic Lines In Rice With
Dr. Abdelhafid Bendahmane organized the “Sex Chromosomes Contrasting Responses To Drought Stress Revealed De-
and Sex Determination Workshop” that was held at the Royal velopment-Dependent, Drought-Tolerant Candidate
Palm Salon 5 & 6 Sunday, Juanuary 10, 2010 from 3:50 to 6:00 PM. Genes” By K Satoh, V Ramaiah, A Kumar, R Mauleon, V
Bartolome, R Serraj, H Leung, S Kikuchi.
Dr. Khalid Meksem organized the “Genomics of Plant Develop-
ment and Signal Networks Workshop” that was held at the Dr. Abdelmajid Kassem was accompanied by two of his un-
Golden Ballroom Sunday, Juanuary 10, 2010 from 3:50 to 6:00 dergraduate students Mrs. Virginia Salvador and Mrs. Megan
PM. Pagan. They presented the following posters:
• “Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) That Underlie Root And
Dr. Abdelali Barakat gave an oral presentation entitled Shoot Traits In The Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]
“Analyses of the Transcriptome of the Fagaceae Species” and pre- ‘Hartwig’ By ‘Flyer’ Recombinant Inbred Line (RIL) Popu-
sented the following three posters: lation” By K Ouertani, E Washington, P Lage, DA
•
“Forest Health Initiative For American Chestnut Restora- Lightfoot, MA Kassem.
tion” By JE Carlson, AG Abbott, S Anagnostakis, K Baier, • “Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) That Underlie Yield And
Yield Components In The Soybean ‘Hartwig’ By ‘Flyer’
A Barakat, JB James, N Islam-Faridi, S Ficklin, F Hebard, T
Kubisiak, C Maynard, SM Merkle, W Miller, CJ Nairn, W Recombinant Inbred Line Population” By K Ouertani, E

Powell, SC Schuster, LP Tomsho, TK Wagner, CD Nelson. Washington, P Lage, DA Lightfoot, MA Kassem.
• “Genomic Resources For Black Cherry” By T Orendovici- • “Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) For Leaf Traits In Soybean
Best, A Barakat, K Steiner, TK Wagner, JE Carlson. [Glycine max (L.)]” By Salvador V, M Pagan, J Good-

• “Organization Of The Chromosome Region Containing A ing, MA Kassem.
Floricaula/Leafy Gene In Liriodendron” By H Liang, A Ba-
rakat, J Carlson.

Page 4
January 2010
The International Plant & Animal Genome Conference XVIII, January 9—13, 2010,
PAG Meeting (Cont’d)
The International Plant & Animal Genome Conference was ranked among the top ten international conferences in life
sciences. Each year, nearly 5,000-6,000 scientists across the globe attend and present their research findings during
this conference. Many companies in the life sciences, scientific publishers, and federal funding agencies such as NSF
and USDA also attend the conference.
Of course, with science comes always fun! The Moroccan scientists had fun narrating some of the latest jokes
(‘noukat’) from the Moroccan culture. They also visited and enjoyed the warm weather of San Diego, CA.

Council’s Publications Team
San Diego, CA Photo Gallery

Page 5
The Council Welcomes Dr. Abdelmalek El Meskaoui, a Research
Scientist at the PhytoBiotechnologies Unit, National Institute of
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Taounate, University of Sidi Mohammed
Ben Abdellah, Fes, Morocco
Dr. Abdelmalek El Meskaoui is
About the National Institute of Medicinal and
a Research Professor at the Phyto-
Aromatic Plants: Biotechnologies Unit, National In-
Background stitute of Medicinal and Aromatic
Plants, Taounate, University of Sidi
The research activities of the Phytobiotechnologies Mohammed Ben Abdellah, Fes, Mo-
Unit (PBU) presently concern the development and the rocco. Dr. El Meskaoui’s research
application of Plant Tissue Culture (PTC) techniques on expertise is on (1) Conservation
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) for the valoriza- and valorisation of Medicinal and
tion and conservation. These research activities have Aromatic Plants, (2) Plant cell and
been set-up mainly on the domestication of some en- tissues culture for secondary metabolites production, (3)
demic MAPs of Morocco included surveys of the natural Somatic embryogenesis of conifer, (4) Automated system for
population, identification of high yielding genotypes, PTC, somatic embryo production, (5) In vitro and ex vitro
micro propagation, cultivation and the development of mycorrhization and micropropagation, (6) In vitro plantlets
protocols for germplasm bank and in vitro cell and tissue and greenhouse seeds potato production (nuclear class.), (7)
for secondary metabolites production. Cryoconservation, and (8) Physiological and biochemical
PTC my be established by placing explants from spe- studies of somatic embryos maturation and in vitro plant-
cific parts of the whole plant in nutrient media under lets. Currently, Dr. El Meskaoui is working on several re-
aseptic conditions. The starting point for all tissue cul- search projects such as “Use of biotechnological tools in se-
tures is plant tissue, called an explant. It can be initiated lection, domestication, production and preservation of me-
from any part of a plant such as root, stem, petiole, leaf dicinal and aromatic endemic plant species in Morocco: Thy-
or flower. It is essential that the surface of the explants mus, Origanum, Rosmarinus, Argania and Cedrus. The domesti-
is sterilized to remove all microbial contamination. The cation research included surveys of the natural population,
explants are then incubated on a sterile nutrient medium identification of high yielding genotypes, propagation, cultiva-
to initiate the tissue culture. These explants can be in- tion, sustainable harvest procedures and the development of
duced to form undifferentiated callus culture, or differ- protocols for in vitro germplasm bank”, and “Development of
entiated shoot or embryo cultures by the application of the strategies and research programs for the NIMAP; Univer-
plant growth regulators. Plant tissue culture has signifi- sité Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah, Fes, Morocco. Use of in
cantly contributed many biotechnologies especially for vitro culture techniques in selection, domestication, produc-
multiplication plants those are having difficulty in their tion and preservation of medicinal and aromatic plants in
natural propagation and for plant conservation. Morocco” To name a few.
The success of our previous projects demonstrates
our technical capabilities to develop a prototype PTC Recently, Dr. El Meskaoui and his colleague published
process for the production plantlets and cell culture sys- the following article:
tems of our interest.
El Meskaoui A & Tremblay F (2009) "Effects of exogenous
Facilities, capabilities & infrastructure: polyamines and inhibitors of polyamine biosynthesis on
endogenous free polyamine contents and the maturation
Our Unit was equipped to undertake a complete of white spruce somatic embryos." African Journal of
range of in vitro studies i.e. micropropagation, suspen-
Biotechnology, vol. 8 (24) 6807-6816
sion cell culture, somatic embryogenesis, etc.

Besides reserach, the unit also undertaks contact Welcome and Congratulations Abdelmalek, Keep Up the
plant production and able to engages with external cli- Good Work!
ents for consultation and PTC protocols development
on contractuel basis. Source: A El Meskaoui. Council’s Publications Team
Page 6
National Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Taounate,
Morocco (Photo Gallery) Page 7
After their Publication in “Science”, Adnane Boualem and Abdelhafid
Bendahmane Published A New Manuscript in “Nature” Page 8

change resulted from the insertion of a transposon, which is required
After a success in publishing their work on sex determination
in cucurbits, Adnane Boualem, a PhD Student and Engineer and for initiation and maintenance of the spreading of DNA methylation
Abdelhafid Bendahmane, a research Director at INRA, France to the CmWIP1 promoter. Expression of CmWIP1 leads to carpel
abortion, resulting in the development of unisexual male flowers.
published the following article in the prestigious scientific journal
“Nature”: Moreover, we show that CmWIP1 indirectly represses the expression
“A transposon-induced epigenetic change leads to sex determina- of the andromonoecious gene, CmACS-7, to allow stamen develop-
tion in melon” By A Martin1, C Troadec1, A Boualem1, M Ra- ment. Together our data indicate a model in which CmACS-7 and
CmWIP1 interact to control the development of male, female and
jab1, R Fernandez1, H Morin2, M Pitrat3, C Dogimont3 & A
Bendahmane1. hermaphrodite flowers in melon.” Nature 461: 1135–1139.
_______________________________________________
Abstract:
1INRA-CNRS, UMR1165, Unite´ de Recherche en Ge´nomique Ve´ge´tale, 2
“Sex determination in plants leads to the development of unisexual rue Gaston Cre´mieux, F-91057 Evry, France. 2Plateforme de Cytologie et d’I-
flowers from an originally bisexual floral meristem1,2. This mechanism magerie Ve´ge´tale, Institut Jean. Pierre Bourgin, INRA, 78026 Versailles
results in the enhancement of outcrossing and promotes genetic vari- Cedex, France. 3INRA, UR 1052, Unite´ de Ge´ne´tique et d’Ame´lioration des
Fruits et Le´gumes, BP 94, F-84143 Montfavet, France.
ability, the consequences of which are advantageous to the evolution of
a species3. In melon, sexual forms are controlled by identity of the _______________________________________________
alleles at the andromonoecious (a) and gynoecious (g) loci4. We previ- CONGRATULATIONS Adnane & Abdelhafid.
ously showed that the a gene encodes an ethylene biosynthesis enzyme,
Keep Up the Good Work!
CmACS-7, that represses stamen development in female flowers5.
Here we show that the transition from male to female flowers in gy-
noecious lines results from epigenetic changes in the promoter of a Council’s Publications Team
transcription factor, CmWIP1. This natural and heritable epigenetic
Dr. Amina El Ayadi's Recent Activities

Amina El Ayadi, the Council’s Secretary is an active and dynamic scientist who attended and pre-
sented at the following international conferences

Meetings Attended in 2008

Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC: Neuroscience 2008.
Oral presentation: 210.10 on Sunday, Nov 16, 2008, 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM.
Title: Ubiquilin-1 is a potent mediator of amyloidal precursor protein turnover
*A. EL AYADI, E. S. STIEREN, J. M. BARRAL, D. F. BOEHNING; Dr. Amina El Ayadi
Neurosci. and cell Biol., Univ. of Texas Med. Br., Galveston, TX

Oral presentation: 210.9 on Sunday, Nov 16, 3:00 - 3:15 PM
Title: - Ubiquilin-1 is neuroprotective by inhibiting the maturation and aggregation of APP species *E. S. STIEREN1,
A. EL AYADI1, E. SILLER1, M. L. LANDSVERK4, A. A. GALVAN2, H. H. HERCE3, J. M. BARRAL1, D. BOEHNING1;
1Neurosci& Cell Biol., 2Grad. Sch. of Biomed. Sci., 3MSSRP, Univ. Texas Med. Br., Galveston, TX; 4Pediatrics, Univ. of Washington,
Seattle, WA

Meetings Attended in 2009:

1- FASEB SUMMER RESEARCH CONFERENCES: AMYLOID FIBRIL FORMATION AND PROTEIN MISFOLDING: MOLECULAR
MECHANISMS AND CELLULAR EFFECTS. JUNE 28 – JULY 3, 2009
SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLORADO
Poster + Oral presentation
Title: Ubiquitin-1 Is A Molecular Chaperone for the Amyloid Precursor Protein
E. Stieren, A. El Ayadi, J.Barral, D. Boehning
Department of Neuroscience and cell Biology. University Of Texas Medical Branch Galveston.

2- Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago: Neuroscience 2009.

Poster#: 46.15/F24
Design and characterization of in vivo α-synuclein shRNA delivery

*J. R. CANNON1, A. EL-AYADI 2, Q. BAI1, V. SHAH1, J. T. GREENAMYRE1, E. A. BURTON1;
1Neurol. Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; 2Neurosci. and Cell Biol., Univ. of Texas Med. Br. Galveston, Galveston, TX.

Congratulations Amina and Keep up the Good Work!

Council’s Publications Team

Page 9
Dr. Allal Boutajangout’s Recent Activities

The Council’s President, Dr. Allal Boutajangout, had an outstanding and rewarding
year 2009! He published the following articles, abstracts, and received a grant.

Published articles in 2009:

Wisniewski T and Boutajangout A. Immunotherapeutic approaches for Alzheimer's
disease in transgenic mouse models. Brain Struct Funct. In press but available in Pub-
Med.
Dr. Allal Boutajangout
Wisniewski T and Boutajangout A. Vaccination as a Therapeutic Approach to Alz-
heimer’s Disease. MS JOURNAL OF MEDICINE 77:000–000, 2010. In press February will be in PubMed.

Boutajangout A, Goni F, Knudsen E, Schreiber F, Asuni A, Quartermain D, Frangione B, Chabalgoity A,
Wisniewski T, Sigurdsson EM. Diminished Amyloid-beta Burden in Tg2576 Mice Following a Prophylactic
Oral Immunization with a Salmonella-Based Amyloid-beta Derivative Vaccine. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
18 (2009) 961–972

Scholtzova H, Kascsak RJ, Bates KA, Boutajangout A, Kerr DJ, Meeker HC, Mehta PD, Spinner DS,
Wisniewski T. Induction of toll-like receptor 9 signaling as a method for ameliorating Alzheimer's disease-
related pathology. J Neurosci. 2009 Feb 11;29(6):1846-54.

Published abstracts in 2009.

Allal Boutajangout, Blas Frangione, Thomas Wisniewski, Jean-Pierre Brion, Einar M. Sigurdsson. Influence
of presenilin mutation on tau pathology in a novel Alzheimer's disease mouse model. Alzheimer's and Demen-
tia, Volume 5, Issue 4, Supplement 1, July 2009, Pages P445-P446

Pavan K. Krishnamurthy, Hameetha Banu Rajamohamed Sait, Allal Boutajangout, Einar M. Sigurdsson. Im-
munotherapy targeting Alzheimer's phospho-tau epitope within the microtubule binding region of tau clears
pathological tau and prevents functional decline in a mouse model of tauopathy. Alzheimer's and Dementia, Vol-
ume 5, Issue 4, Supplement 1, July 2009, Page P112

Henrieta Scholtzova, Richard J. Kascsak, Kristyn A. Bates, Allal Boutajangout, Daniel J. Kerr, Harry C.
Meeker, Pankaj D. Mehta, Daryl S. Spinner, Thomas Wisniewski. Toll-like receptor 9 ligand CpG ODN as a
new highly effective agent for prevention and/or treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's and Dementia,
Volume 5, Issue 4, Supplement 1, July 2009, Pages P137-P138

Grants Received as Principal Investigator (PI) 2009.

Rising Researchers Receive Grants from Alzheimer’s Association.
Dr. Allal Boutajangout as member of Center of Excellence on Brain aging, was recently awarded a grant of
$170,000 for Dementia Research by the Alzheimer Association from October 2009 to October 2012.

Congratulations Allal and Keep up the Good Work!

Council’s Publications Team
Page 10
Antoine Martin, Christelle Triadic, Adnane Boualem, Maze Rajab, Ronan Fernandez1, Halima
Morin, Michel Pit rat, Catherine Dogimont and Abdelhafid Bendahmane. A Transposon-
Induced Epigenetic Change Leads t Sex Determination in Melon. Nature 461—22 October
2009.
Salaheddine Bakkali Yakhlef, Imane Guenoun, Benaîssa Herdouch, Noureddine Hamamouch, and
Mohamed Abourouch. Efficient DNA Isolation from Moroccan Arar tree [Tetraclinis articulata
Recently Published Articles By Council’s Members

(Val) Masters] leaves and Optimization of the RAPD-PCR Molecular Technique. Act Botanical
Malacitana. 2009. In Press.
Nrupali Patel, Noureddine Hamamouch, Chunying Li, Tarek Hewezi, Richard S. Hussey, Thomas
J. Baum, Melissa G. Mitchum, and Eric L. Davis. A nematode effector protein similar to annexins
in host plants. Journal of Experimental Botany. 2009. In Press.
Idaghdour Y, Czika W, Shianna K, Lee H, Visccher PM, Martin H, Miklaus K, Jadallah S, Goldstein
DB, Wolfinger RD and Gibson G (2009) Geographical Genomics of Human Leukocyte Gene
Expression Variation in Southern Morocco. Nature Genetics, 2010 In Press.
Kennerly EM, Idaghdour Y, Olby NJ, Osborne JN and Gibson G. Pharmacogenetic Association
Study of 30 genes with Phenobarbital Drug Response in Epileptic Dogs. Pharmacogenomics and
Genetics, 2009 In Press.
Idaghdour Y, Storey JD, Jadallah SJ and Gibson G. A Genome-wide Gene Expression Signature of
Lifestyle and Geography in Leukocytes of Moroccan Amazighs. PLoS Genetics 4(4):e1000052.
2008.
Idaghdour Y, Broderick D, Korrida A and Chbel F. Mitochondrial control region diversity of the
houbara bustard Chlamydotis undulata complex and genetic structure along the Atlantic sea-
board of North Africa. Molecular Ecology 13(1), 43-54. 2004.
Patel N, Hamamouch N, Li CY, et al. Similarity and Functional Analyses of Expressed Parasitism
Genes in Heterodera schachtii and Heterodera glycines. J. Nematology 40 (4): 299-310. De-
cember 2008.
Abad P, Gouzy J, Aury JM, Hamamouch N, et al. Genome sequence of the metazoan plant-
parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita. Nature Biotech 26 (8): 909-915. August 2008.
Wisniewski T and Boutajangout A. Immunotherapeutic approaches for Alzheimer's disease in
transgenic mouse models. Brain Struct Funct. In press but available in PubMed.
Wisniewski T and Boutajangout A. Vaccination as a Therapeutic Approach to Alzheimer’s Dis-
ease. MS JOURNAL OF MEDICINE 77:000–000, 2010. In press February will be in PubMed.
Boutajangout A, Goni F, Knudsen E, Schreiber F, Asuni A, Quartermain D, Frangione B, Chabal-
goity A, Wisniewski T, Sigurdsson EM. Diminished Amyloid-beta Burden in Tg2576 Mice Follow-
ing a Prophylactic Oral Immunization with a Salmonella-Based Amyloid-beta Derivative Vaccine.
Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 18 (2009) 961–972.
Page 11
Hartz C, P Petty, K Ouertani, S Burgado, C Lawrence, and MA Kassem. Influence of Iron, Po-
Recently Published Articles By Council’s Members
tassium, Magnesium, and Nitrogen Deficiencies on the Growth and Development of Sor-
ghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) and Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Seedlings. J Biotech Research
1 (3): 64-71. October 2009.
Boualem Adnane, Christelle Triadic, Irina Kovalski, Marie-Agnes Sari, Rafael Perl-Treves, and
Abdelhafid Bendahmane. A Conserved Ethylene Biosynthesis Enzyme Leads to Andro-
monoecy in Two Cucumis Species. PLoS ONE 4(7): e6144. doi:10.1371/
journal.pone.0006144.
Kai-Shu Ling, Karen R. Harris, Jenelle D. F. Meyer, Amnon Levi, Nihat Guner, Todd C.
Wehner, Abdelhafid Bendahmane and Michael J. Havey. Non-synonymous single nu-
cleotide polymorphisms in the watermelon eIF4E gene are closely associated with resis-
tance to Zucchini yellow mosaic virus. Theor Appl Genet. 120, (1): 191-200, 2009.
Karima B, Abdelhafid Bendahmane, G Cardinet, C Triadic, A Moing, E Dirlewange. Pheno-
typic and fine genetic characterization of the D locus controlling fruit acidity in peach. BMC
Plant Biol. 2009 May 15;9(1):59. PMID: 19445673.
Hofer J, L Turner, C Moreau, M Ambrose, P Isaac, S Butcher, J Weller, A Dupin, M Dalmais,
CL Signor, and Abdelhafid Bendahmane, and Noel Ellis. Tendril-less Regulates Tendril
Formation
El Meskaoui A & Tremblay F (2009) "Effects of exogenous polyamines and inhibitors of poly-
amine biosynthesis on endogenous free polyamine contents and the maturation of white
spruce somatic embryos." African Journal of Biotechnology, vol. 8 (24) 6807-6816.
Scholtzova H, Kascsak RJ, Bates KA, Boutajangout A, Kerr DJ, Meeker HC, Mehta PD, Spin-
ner DS, Wisniewski T. Induction of toll-like receptor 9 signaling as a method for ameliorat-
ing Alzheimer's disease-related pathology. J Neurosci. 2009 Feb 11;29(6):1846-54.

Council’s Publications Team

THE HIGH-COUNCIL WELCOMES ALL ITS NEW MEMBERS WHO
JOINED US SINCE JULY 2009!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND WELCOME TO YOUR
COUNCIL!

Page 12
Two of Dr. Abdelmajid Kassem’s Graduate Students Defended Their MS
Degree Theses
Mr. Khaled Ouertani and Mr. Evandres Washington, two of Dr. Abdelmajid Kassem’s graduate
students graduated with their Masters Degree in Biology. They defended their theses as fol-
lows:
Mr. Evandrew Washington (Tony) defended on November 25th, 2009 and his thesis title was:
“Genetic Analysis of Roots, Shoots, and Several Morphologic Traits in Soybean [Glycine
max (L.) Merr.]”.
Committee Members: Drs. Abdelmajid Kassem (Chair), Muhammad Lodhi, and Paris
Jones.

Mr. Khaled Ouetani defended on November 30th, 2009 and his thesis title was: “The Soybean
[Glycine max (L.) Merr.] ‘Hartwig’ by ‘Flyer’ Recombinant Inbred Line Population: I.
Comparison Between Early and Conventional Soybean Planting Systems: ESPS and
CSPS. II. Genetic Mapping of Yield, Root, and Shoot Traits.”.
Committee Members: Drs. Abdelmajid Kassem (Chair), Muhammad Lodhi, and Mohsen
Souissi.
Another MS student, Ms. Patricia Lage (see photo bellow) , is scheduled to defend her thesis
in Spring 2010.

Khaled and Tony graduated in December 12, 2009. Congratulations!

Council’s Publications Team

Page 13
Saadia Bihmidine, A Future Plant Scientist With Talent! Page 14
Saadia Bihmidine is a PhD Student at the University Saadia Bihmidine’s Biography:
of Nebraska, Lincoln. Saadia has several Research Saadia Bihmidine was born in Tafraout, Morocco, in
Funding Grants among which: 1981, where she attended primary, middle, and high
1. Interdisciplinary Research Program Grant school. She did her undergraduate studies in Marra-
($39,300). Saadia Bihmidine, Tala Awada, kech at the University of Cadi Ayyad and earned her
Julie Stone, Jiusheng Lin, Tom Clemente, and MS degree in the Department of Biotechnology &
James Specht. Plant Improvement. In 2004, she received a full schol-
2. Hardin Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, arship from the International Center for Advanced
UNL ($1,000). David H. & Annie E. Larrick Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (I.C.A.M.A.S),
Student Travel Grant, UNL ($500). France, which allowed her to attend the Mediterra-
nean Agronomic Institute in Chania (MAICH),
3. Center for Great Plains Studies Grants-in-Aid
Greece, and earned an MS degree in 2006 from the
Fellowship, UNL ($600).
Department of Horticultural Genetics and Biotech-
Saadia received several awards such as the UNL nology. Saadia is currently a Graduate Research As-
Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award sistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln under
($1,000) in 2010; the First Prize Award at the the supervision of Tala Awada, Associate Professor in
Agronomy and Horticulture Graduate Student An-
the School of Natural Resources, and Tom Clemente,
nual Poster Competition, UNL ($125) in 2009; the
Professor in the Department of Agronomy and Hor-
School of Natural Resources Meritorious Graduate
ticulture. Saadia is working on several interdiscipli-
Student Award, UNL ($500) in 2009; the Hardin
Distinguished Graduate Fellowship Award, UNL nary research projects, all involving the study of
($2,000) in 2007; the Milton E. Mohr Graduate Re- drought effect on plants (mainly soybean and to-
search Assistant Award, UNL ($1,000) in 2007, and bacco). The overall objective of her research is to
a Full Academic Scholarship, International Centre for generate a framework to test how transgenic plants
Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies expressing abiotic stress-related transgenes respond
(I.C.A.M.A.S), Mediterranean Agronomic Institute in to drought at both the molecular and physiological
Chania (MAICH) from 2004 to 2006. levels. Completing these objectives will allow her and
Saadia published also the following articles: her colleagues to determine the utility of the selected
abiotic-stress related genes for generating transgenic
Bihmidine S, Bryan, N.M., Payne, KR, Parde, M.R.,
Okalebo, J.A., Cooperstein, S., and Awada, T.N. crop plants with enhanced perform under drought
(2009) Photosynthetic performance of invasive conditions. Her degree program and research pro-
Pinus ponderosa and Juniperus virginiana seedlings jects continues to provide her with opportunities to
under gradual soil water depletion. Plant Biology. In
work in collaboration with scientists from different
press
laboratories with diverse skills, including plant eco-
Spaniolas, S., Bazakos, C., Ntourou, T., Bihmidine,
S., Georgousakis, A., and Kalaitzis, P. (2008) Use physiology, plant biotechnology, and plant biochemis-
of lambda DNA as a marker to assess DNA stabil- try. Saadia enjoys working both in the lab and in the
ity in olive oil during storage. European Food Re- field, and she also enjoys teaching and being involved
search and Technology 227:175-179. in the graduate student association.
Council’s Publications Team
Saadia Bihmidine Page 15
COMICS SECTION!

Page 16
The Council’s Photo Gallery Page 17

Khaled and his thesis Committee Members. From right to
left Drs. Mohsen Souissi, Abdelmajid Kassem (Chair), Khalid,
Khaled Ouertani Defending his MS thesis
and Dr. Muhammad Lodhi.

Dr. Abdelmajid Kassem and his three MS students. From
right to left: Tony Washington, Patricia Lage, Khalid Ouer-
tani, and Abdelmajid Kassem.
The Council’s Photo Gallery Page 18

From left to right: Adnane Boualem, Abdelhafid Bendahmane, Antoine Martin, Said, Khalid Meksem, Abdelali
Barakat, and Abdelmajid Kassem

Downtown San Diego, CA. A beautiful city!
The Council’s Photo Gallery Page 19
The Council’s Photo Gallery Page 20

Coronado Island
The Council’s Photo Gallery Page 21
Photo Gallery—Minister’s Visit (NYU Medical Center) Page 22
Photo Gallery—Minister’s Visit (NYU Medical Center) Page 23
International Conferences—2010 Page 24
Stem Cells World Congress Stem Cells Europe
20-21 January, South San Francisco, CA, USA 24-25 August 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland

Screening Europe World Biobanking Summit
11-12 February, Barcelona, Spain 24-25 August 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland

Advances in Synthetic Biology Cellular Therapy Summit
4-5 March 2010, London, England 24-25 August 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland

ADMET Europe RNAi & miRNA Europe
8-9 April 2010, Munich, Germany 14-15 September 2010, Dublin, Ireland

Advances in Synthetic Chemistry Advances in qPCR
8-9 April 2010, Munich, Germany 14-15 September 2010, Dublin, Ireland

MedChem Europe Epigenetics Europe
8-9 April 2010, Munich, Germany 14-15 September 2010, Dublin, Ireland

Pharma Outsourcing Congress Genomics Automation Europe
8-9 April 2010, Munich, Germany 14-15 September 2010, Dublin, Ireland

RNAi & miRNA World Congress Single Cell Analysis Summit
6-7 May 2010, Boston, MA, USA 27 October 2010, San Diego, CA, USA

Epigenetics World Congress Lab-on-a-Chip World Congress
6-7 May 2010, Boston, MA, USA 28-29 October 2010, San Diego, CA, USA

Genomics Automation Congress Microarray World Congress
6-7 May 2010, Boston, MA, USA 28-29 October 2010, San Diego, CA, USA

Lab-on-a-Chip European Congress Molecular Diagnostics World Congress
25-26 May 2010, Dublin, Ireland 28-29 October 2010, San Diego, CA, USA

Advances in Microarray Technology Critical Assessment of Massive Data Analysis
25-26 May 2010, Dublin, Ireland 28-29 October 2010, San Diego, CA, USA

Single Cell Analysis Congress Advances in Metabolic Profiling
25-26 May 2010, Dublin, Ireland 9-10 November 2010, Florence, Italy

Advances in BioDetection Technologies Mass Spec Europe
25-26 May 2010, Dublin, Ireland 9-10 November 2010, Florence, Italy

Cancer Proteomics European Biomarkers Summit
8-9 June 2010, Berlin, Germany 9-10 November 2010, Florence, Italy

Advances in Antibody and Peptide Therapeutics Advances in Protein Crystallography
8-9 June 2010, Berlin, Germany 9-10 November 2010, Florence, Italy

AgriGenomics World Congress
8-9 July 2010, Brussels, Belgium
CALL FOR PAPERS
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