Abdelali (Ali) Hannoufa, Ph.D.

Gamalat Allam, Yousef Papadopoulos, Mark A. Bernards, Abdelali Hannoufa (2022) miR156/SPL network negatively regulates aluminum stress tolerance in Medicago sativa by targeting SPL13. 2022 Meeting of the Canadian Association for Plant Biotechnology, May 22-25, Quebec City, Quebec (oral presentation)

Feyissa, B.A., Amyot, L., Nasrollahi, V., Papadopoulos, Y., Kohalmi, S.E., Hannoufa, A. (2021). Involvement of the miR156/SPL module in flooding response in Medicago sativa, 11(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82450-7

Nasrollahi V, Kohalmi SE, Hannoufa A (2021) Characterization of SPL12 role in regulating root architecture, nodulation and nitrogen fixation in Medicago sativa. The Eastern Regional Meeting of the Canadian Society of Plant Biologists. Carleton University, Nov 27 (virtual)

Nasrollahi V, Kohalmi SE, Hannoufa A (2021) miR156-SPL12-AGL6 module regulates root architecture and nodulation in Medicago sativa (alfalfa). 11th Biennial Biology Graduate Research Forum, University of Western Ontario, Nov 5, 2021

Allam G, Papadopoulos Y, Bernards BA, Hannoufa A (2021) miR156/SPL network negatively regulates aluminum stress tolerance in Medicago sativa. The 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists (virtual), Saskatoon, SK, June 7-10, 2021

Dan-Dobre M, Karagiannis J, Hannoufa A (2021) Characterization of SPL4 role in drought stress and trichome development in alfalfa. The 2021 Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists (virtual), Saskatoon, SK, June 7-10, 2021

The plant-specific transcription factors Squamosa Promoter Binding Protein-Like (SPL) are involved in a range of vital biological and regulatory processes, such as vegetative growth, flowering and stress response. While the SPL gene family has been well studied in some plants, a systematic study has not yet been reported in alfalfa (Medicago sativa). In the present study, a total of 28 novel SPL members, including six alfalfa-specific ones, were identified using in silico C-based analysis of the recently released genome sequence, and named based on their closest orthologs in Medicago truncatula. The SPL-specific SBP domain was detected in all members, and 16 of the 28 members showed miR156 recognition target sequences. Maximum-Likelihood phylogenetic analyses showed the presence of five subclades and three outgroup members. The sequences within groups showed motif conservation, which may imply the presence of redundant functionality between certain SPL members. However, the members overall had divergent motifs indicating diverse functional roles of SPLs in alfalfa. A large number of redundant and/or highly similar sequences observed during synteny analyses revealed extensive gene duplication within the alfalfa genome. This might imply that MsSPL gene expansion stemmed from segmental duplication processes. The present study provides a comprehensive foundation for elucidating the biological functions of these transcription factors and thereby provides new tools for biotechnological improvement of important alfalfa attributes.

Arshad, M., Puri, A., Simkovich, A.J., Renaud, J., Gruber, M.Y., Marsolais, F., Hannoufa, A. (2020). Label-free quantitative proteomic analysis of alfalfa in response to microRNA156 under high temperature, 21(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12864-020-07161-1

Feyissa, B.A., Renaud, J., Nasrollahi, V., Kohalmi, S.E., Hannoufa, A. (2020). Transcriptome-IPMS analysis reveals a tissue-dependent miR156/SPL13 regulatory mechanism in alfalfa drought tolerance, 21(1), http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12864-020-07118-4