Ahmed Elhady

Postdoctoral Fellows

Postdoctoral Fellow

Location:

Building 2, Level 3, 3271

Social Profile:

Biography

Ahmed Elhady is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST, whose work is focused on Plant-Nematode-Microbe interaction. He received his PhD with the highest distinction, "Summa Cum Laude", from TU Braunschweig in Germany. Throughout his career, he has successfully acquired third-party funding and research grants from organizations such as CIHEAM, DAAD, and the German Research Foundation (DFG). With the support of two DFG-funded projects, he began his independent career and research, resulting in promising findings that shed light on the mechanisms behind nematode suppression by microbes in the rhizosphere. Ahmed is passionate about exploring how microbes interact in the network and support the functional traits of plants and ecosystems. He has recently joined the Darwin21 lab at KAUST with the goal of linking basic and applied research to benefit society in the Kingdom.

Research Interests

Ahmed's research aims to understand how crop-coexisting microbial networks can be harnessed and engineered to breed resilient plants that are tolerant to soil pathogens and can confer sustainable yield stability. Specifically, he focuses on the plant-nematode-microbe interaction, investigating the mechanisms underlying nematode suppression in the rhizosphere due to enriched microbes. Ahmed is also interested in how nematodes regulate microbial signals in the soil and whether such signals can be developed for new eco-friendly plant health products. He firmly believes that the desert ecosystem has significant potential to act as a sink for CO2 and mitigate the challenges of climate change.

Selected Publications

  • Microbiomes associated with infective stages of root-knot and lesion nematodes in soil, A. Elhady, A. Giné, O. Topalovic, S. Jacquiod, SJ. Sørensen, FJ. Sorribas, H. Heuer, PloS one, 2017, 12 (5), e0177145.
  • Rhizosphere microbiomes modulated by pre-crops assisted plants in defense against plant-parasitic nematodes, A. Elhady, S. Adss, J. Hallmann, H. Heuer, Frontiers in microbiology 9, 1133.
  • Bacteria isolated from the cuticle of plant-parasitic nematodes attached to and antagonized the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne hapla, O. Topalović, A. Elhady, J. Hallmann, KR. Richert-Pöggeler, H. Heuer, Scientific reports 9 (1), 1-13.
  • Genetic Differences in Barley Govern the Responsiveness to N-Acyl Homoserine Lactone, A. Shrestha, A. Elhady, S. Adss, G. Wehner, C. Böttcher, H. Heuer, F Ordon, A. Schikora, Phytobiomes Journal 3 (3), 191-202.
  • Symbiosis of soybean with nitrogen fixing bacteria affected by root lesion nematodes in a density-dependent manner, A. Elhady, J. Hallmann, H. Heuer, Scientific Reports 10 (1), 1-12.
  • Responsiveness of elite cultivars vs. ancestral genotypes of barley to beneficial rhizosphere microbiome, supporting plant defense against root-lesion nematodes, A. Elhady, S. Abbasi, N. Safaie, H. Heuer, Frontiers in Plant Science, 1725.
  • Priming Soybean cv. Primus Leads to Successful Systemic Defense Against the Root-Lesion Nematode, Pratylenchus penetrans, S. Adss, B. Liu, L. Beerhues, V. Hahn, H. Heuer, A. Elhady, Frontiers in Plant Science 12, 651943.
  • Two New Rhizobiales Species Isolated from Root Nodules of Common Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) Show Different Plant Colonization Strategies, S. Ashrafi, N. Kuzmanović, S. Patz, U. Lohwasser, B. Bunk, C. Spröer, M. Lorenz, A. Elhady, A. Frühling, M. Neumann-Schaal, S.Verbarg, M. Becker, T. Thünen, Microbiology Spectrum 10 (5), e01099-22.

Education

  • PhD, Microbiology (Nematode-Plant-Microbe interaction), Microbiology - Faculty of Life Sciences of the Technical University Carolo-Wilhelmina zu Braunschweig, Germany, 2018
  • Predoctoral fellow, Entomopathogenic Nematodes, Faculty of Agriculture, Plant Protection Department, Benha University, Egypt, 2013
  • Diploma, Sustainable Agriculture, International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), Chania, Crete, Greece, 2012
  • MSc, Agricultural science (Plant protection), Faculty of Agriculture, Plant Protection Department, Benha University, Egypt, 2010
  • BSc, Agricultural science (Plant protection), Faculty of Agriculture, Plant Protection Department, Benha University, Egypt, 2010

Professional Profile

  • 2022-2022: Postdoctoral researcher, Institute for National and International Plant Health - Julius Kühn Institute, Braunschweig
  • 2021: Postdoctoral researcher, Institute for Plant Protection in Horticulture and Forests - Julius Kühn Institute, Braunschweig
  • 2019–2021: Postdoctoral researcher/Principal investigator, Institute for Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics - Julius Kühn Institute, Braunschweig
  • 2014–2018: Institute for Epidemiology and Pathogen Diagnostics - Julius Kühn Institute, Braunschweig and Institute of Microbiology - Technische Universität Braunschweig
  • 2010-2013: Assistant lecturer, Faculty of Agriculture, Plant Protection Department, Benha University, Egypt
  • 2007-2010: Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Agriculture, Plant Protection Department, Benha University, Egypt

Scientific and Professional Membership

Awards

  • DFG funding within the framework of the DFG Second Young Scientists Academy: Agroecosystem Research and Plant Production, Title: Engineering of the soybean microbiome to suppress root lesion nematodes. (EL 1038/2-1, Sachbeihilfen). Awarded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
  • German-Egyptian Long-Term Scholarship (GERLS) awarded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) for PhD studies
  • CIHEAM full-grant for a specialized diploma in Sustainable Agriculture at the Institute of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies in Chania, Crete, Greece

KAUST Affiliations

Research Interests Keywords

microbiome nematodes microbial signals networking coalescence desert ecosystem plant breeding pathogen resistance