Professor of Plant Science and Faculty Member of the Center for Desert Agriculture, KAUST
Dr. Ikram Blilou
Chair, Plant Science Program, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, KSA
Professor, Plant Science, Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division, KAUST, Thuwal, KSA
Ph.D. CSIC and University of Granada, Spain
B.Sc. Biology, University Abdelmlek Essadi, Morocco
Professor Blilou' s research focuses on how plant cells communicate to transfer positional information and to instruct specific functions during pattern formation. This involves studying regulatory networks that control protein movement and asymmetric cell division in plant roots, by mapping protein complexes in vivo at the cellular resolution, and by unraveling how their distinct spatial distribution leads to specific gene expression and proper cell fate acquisition.
Dr. Blilou's research group also aims to understand molecular mechanisms of growth/defense trade-offs in plants by unraveling how the same set of developmental genes can regulate defense response under stress conditions. The team also intends to understand adaptive strategies used by desert plants (using date palms as a model) to survive in hostile conditions.
Dr. Blilou is also Chair of the Plant Science (PS) program at KAUST which aims to develop an integrated understanding of how plants can grow under extreme environmental conditions as found, for example, in Saudi Arabia. The program addresses the fundamental biology of plants at the molecular and physiological level, as well as their interactions with other organisms and adaptation to unfavorable environmental conditions. Integrating this understanding in a larger systems concept will enable improving plant tolerance to abiotic and biotic factors and help reestablish sustainable agriculture in arid regions of the world.