Abstract:
Salicornia bigelovii is an attractive halophytic crop for saline soils in semi-arid areas. This work aimed to describe endophytic actinobacteria isolates from S. bigelovii roots and assess their impact on plant growth promotion. Twenty-eight endophytic isolates roots were chosen originally based on their ability to produce 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase. The addition of Micromonospora chalcea, which has the highest ACC deaminase activity, to S. bigelovii seedlings improved plant development under greenhouse conditions. This is the first study to show that endophytic actinobacteria can stimulate the growth of halophytic plants in semi-arid zones.

Bio:
Prof. Khaled El-Tarabily is a professor at the Biology Department of the College of Science, United Arab Emirates University. He is also an adjunct professor at Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Western Australia. His specialization is in the field of environmental microbiology and plant-microbe interaction. He obtained his PhD from Murdoch University, Western Australia in 1997. His research activities have diversified over several topics, including plant-microbe interaction, soil microbial ecology, soil-borne plant pathogens, biological control of plant pathogenic fungi, plant disease control, plant growth promotion using beneficial microorganisms, biological fertilizers, and organic farming. He taught a total of 17 different undergraduate courses in addition to 18 graduate courses in the Environmental Science, Molecular Biology, and Biotechnology Master Programs and the UAE University Ph.D. program. He has authored or co-authored over 180 scientific papers. His Google Scholar citations: = 8517 with Hi-index = 51 and i10-index = 123. Prof. El-Tarabily represented the UAE University in a total of 150 international and local conferences. Among these, 95 were presentations at international conferences outside the UAE, and 55 were at local and regional conferences within the UAE or in the Arabian Gulf Area. Most of the journals he published belong to the top 1% and 5% to the top 10% of the journals in applied microbiology and plant science. He has also supervised 33 Master's students and 8 PhD. students. As a result of his research accomplishments, he was awarded 38 research grants from the UAE University and external funding organizations (e.g., Sandooq Al Watan, Abu Dhabi Award for Research Excellence 2019 round (AARE-2019), Emirates Foundation for Philanthropy, Japan Cooperation Center Petroleum (JCCP), National Research Foundation, UAEU Program for Advanced Research), totaling around 2,460,163 USA$. Dr El-Tarabily also obtained five international patents from the USA, UK, and Hong Kong. Dr. El-Tarabily is also an associate editor in different journals such as the European Journal of Plant Pathology, Journal of General Plant Pathology, Letters in Applied Microbiology, Australasian Journal of Plant Pathology, Biology, and Biology and Fertility of Soils. He was selected in the world’s top 2% of scientists by Stanford University in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Dr. El-Tarabily obtained 41 awards, such as Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation in 2023, King Hamad Prize for Agricultural Development, Kingdom of Bahrain, Fourth Edition (2021-2023), the Khalifa Award for Education in 2022, Al Owais Creative Award in 2021, and 2018, Rashid Bin Humaid Award for Culture and Science in 2017, 2019, and 2021, and Think Science competition in 2017 and 2019. Dr. El-Tarabily is a verified reviewer in various international peer-reviewed journals. He reviewed 650 papers in 120 international journals from 1997 up to 2024. Dr. El-Tarabily also served the UAE community academically and professionally by providing scientific consultancy to many sectors within the UAE.