Environmental & Chemical Biology Research Group (ECBR)

Goals and Objectives

• The overall aim of the research group is to explore, exploit and conserve the natural resources of the UAE by establishing a research team in Sharjah specialized in all aspects of natural resources such as economically important plants, biodiversity, and conservation. The specific aims of the group can be summarized as follows:
• Exploration and utilization of the potentially important natural products of native plants
• Determination of candidate genes including their products (proteins and metabolites) that enable plants of hyper-arid deserts to tolerate abiotic stresses, such as drought, heat, and salinity
• Determination of the most important active chemical/biochemical constituents in native plants, environmental factors affecting such constituents, and their possible impact on the plant host, ecosystem, and our life including their medicinal uses.
• Studying foliar trichomes of selected medicinal plants and identifying their secreted substances including their biological activities.
• Using native plants in landscaping the UAE cities
• Barcoding/ fingerprinting of the UAE native plants by identifying unique short DNA sequences. An application includes the determination of natives from allied plants and possibly their sources.
• Establishing Palynotheca (pollen grains bank) and compiling a palynological Atlas for the UAE.
• Establishing a pollen calendar for Sharjah Emirate and linking the changes in pollen types and density to pollen allergenicity.
• Identifying and assessing the roles of potential natural engineer plants that could be used in combating desertification and rehabilitation/restoration of degraded desert ecosystems.   
• Assessing and conserving floral diversity in the UAE. Special priority will be given to the conservation of fragile habitats, threatened and endangered plants, and keystone trees.

 

Services

The ECB research group has the professional skills to provide a variety of services to the community. A summary of potential services is listed below.
Training, Consultancy, and Community Services:

• Specialized consulting services in the main research areas of the group
• Specialized research studies and natural product development
• All aspects of natural resources, such as medicinal plants, biodiversity and conservation    of indigenous plants, phytoremediation, and bioremediation, applications of  pollen grains  in medicine, agriculture, environment
• Support concerned governmental agencies and organizations

 

Outreach and Knowledge Transfer

• Organize  and deliver professional training, workshops, and conferences
• Provide updated knowledge  and research findings to the community

 

Training/Education Services

• Tailored professional training courses designed to support biotechnologists, chemists, and pharmacists
• Short courses on environmental sustainability, and exploration and conservation of natural resources
• Organizing conferences and workshops on the different fields of the group disciplines
• Seminars and distinguished research lectures

 Despite all the outlined objectives being important, priority will be given to projects that are currently funded or are expected to receive substantial funding in the coming months. Accordingly, the research group’s priorities will be as follows

• Establishing a molecular physiology lab that could help in defining candidate genes and their metabolites (e.g., osmolytes, phytohormones, antioxidants, etc) that help plants to tolerate the very harsh conditions of the UAE deserts. Priority will be given to the facultative halophytes unique to UAE stress conditions. These halophytes are known for their normal growth in both saline and non-saline habitats. These groups should have a set of genes that turned on/off, based on salinity levels. Using these plants will help in defining candidate genes that could tolerate both the salt and draught not only for UAE but also globally.
• Identification of unique short DNA sequences that can be used for barcoding all native plants to UAE which will help in their taxonomic classification and determination of exogenous and allied plants to UAE.
• Establishing a pollen grains bank, a palynological Atlas, and a pollen calendar for Sharjah Emirate and link the changes in pollen types and density with pollen allergenicity
• Using native plants in landscaping the UAE cities
• Identifying and assessing the 'Ecosystem function' roles of potential natural engineer plants that could be used in combating desertification and rehabilitation/restoration of degraded desert ecosystems. 
•  Exploring and utilizing the economic potentially important natural products of native plants
• Determination of the most important active chemical/biochemical constituents in native plants, environmental factors affecting such constituents, and their possible impact on the plant host, ecosystem, and our life including their medicinal uses.
• Studying foliar trichomes of selected medicinal plants and identifying their secreted substances and their biological activities.
• Assessing and conserving plant diversity in the UAE. Special priority will be given to the conservation of fragile habitats, threatened and endangered plants, and keystone trees.

 

Research Projects

1.  Title: Assessment of Forage Productivity and Carrying Capacity of Dubai Deserts rangelands: Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve as a case study "Phase 2". (AED 160,000).

     Principal Investigator: Ali El-Keblawy

     Sponsor: National Research Foundation, UAE

2.  Title: Assessment of Forage Productivity and Carrying Capacity of Dubai Deserts rangelands: Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve as a case study "Phase 1". (AED 173,000).

     Principal Investigator: Ali El-Keblawy

     Sponsor: National Research Foundation, UAE

3.  Title: Population structure, reproduction and sustainable management of the ghaf tree (Prosopis cineraria) in the UAE",  (AED 200,000).

     Principal Co-Investigator: Ali El-Keblawy

     Sponsor: National Research Foundation, UAE

4.  Title:  Ecological Studies and Seed Oil Composition of the Indigenous Moringa Peregrina: Toward Conservation and Economic Use of UAE Plants, (AED 160,000)

     Principal Investigator: Ali El-Keblawy

     Sponsor: Emirates Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE

5.  Title:  Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Analysis to Reveal Salt and Heat Stress-Related Genes, Phytohormones, and Osmolytes in Facultative Halophytes Plant of the UAE (AED 196,000)

     Principal Investigator: Kareem A. Mosa

     Principal Co-Investigators: Ali El-Keblawy, Mohamed El-Naggar, and Ihsan Ahmed Shehadi

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

6.  Title:  Investigations of the foliar secretory structures of potential native medicinal plants of UAE using microscopic techniques (AED 151,000)

     Principal Investigator: Sameh Soliman

     Principal Co-Investigators: Ali El-Keblawy,

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

7.  Title:  Discovery and design of effective and safe anti-Candida and anti-fungal drugs (AED 190,000)

     Principal Investigator: Sameh Soliman

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE 

8.  Title:  The role of nurse plants and nebkhas in combating desertification and restoration of degraded habitats of the arid deserts in the UAE. (AED 160,000)

     Principal Investigator: Ali El-Keblawy

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

9.  Title:  Inhibition of Biogas Production from Sewage Sludge Co-digested with Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) Seeds and Antibacterial and Anticancer Characteristics of Date Seeds Extracts.           (AED 150,000)

     Principal Co-Investigator: Ismail Saadoun

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

10.Title:  Employing congeneric and biogeographic approaches to study Prosopis juliflora invasion at regional and global scale (AED 400,000)

     Principal Investigator: Ali El-Keblawy

     Principal Co-Investigators: Ismail Saadoun

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE, and Sharjah Research Academy, Sharjah, UAE

11.Title:  Renewable and Alternative Fuels (Biodiesel and Biogas) from UAE Plants: Production Enhancement and Combustion Improvement using Nanoparticles (AED 400,000)

     Principal Co-Investigators: Ali El-Keblawy

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE, and Sharjah Research Academy, Sharjah, UAE

12 Title:  DNA Barcoding of Important Medicinal Plants in UAE (AED 400,000)

     Principal Investigator: Kareem A. Mosa

     Principal Co-Investigators: Ali El-Keblawy

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE, and Sharjah Research Academy, Sharjah, UAE  

13.Title: Physiological, biochemical and molecular responses of vegetable crops to metal nanoparticles: a phytotoxicity assessment (AED 200,000)

     Principal Investigator: Kareem A. Mosa

     Principal Co-Investigators: Ali El-Keblawy, Ihsan Ahmed Shehadi, Ahmed M Almehdi

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.

14.Title: Identification of Novel antimicrobial agents from probiotic cultures (AED 200,000)

     Principal Investigator: Sameh Soliman

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.

 

15.Title: Impacts of environmental factors on germination, growth, oil yield and composition and biologically active anticancer compounds in Citrullus colocynthis: a native oily seeded potential cash       crop for marginal desert lands. (192,000 AED)

     Principal Investigator: Prof. Ali El-Keblawy

     Principal Co-Investigator: Dr. Kareem Ali Mosa

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.

16.Title:  Using DNA barcoding to investigate the botanical origin of honey in Fujairah honey. (350,000 AED)

     Principal Investigator: Dr. Kareem Mosa

     Principal Co-Investigator: Prof. Ali El-Keblawy

     Sponsor: University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.

 

 

• Since its establishment, the ECB group members succeeded in establishing international collaborations with 12 countries, securing funds for eight projects, and publishing 48 peer-reviewed and eight conference articles. 
• The regional collaborations with four Arabian countries resulted in securing a 2.4 million Dirhams project and publishing ten peer-reviewed and six conference articles. 
• The local cooperation was with four research institutes and universities in the UAE and resulted in securing funds for three projects and publishing 14 peer-reviewed articles.  
• The number of researchers that the research group has cooperated was 72 researchers: 36, 23, and 13 at the international, regional, and local levels, respectively. During the last three years, the total projects, peer-reviewed articles, and conference articles were 11, 72, and 14, respectively. 

 

Research Equipment

• Plant Growth Chamber
• MP Kit Digital Soil Moisture Meter
• LI-3000C Portable Leaf Area Meter
• Chlorophyll concentration Meter
• FMS2 (Florescence Monitoring System)
• Lanzoni VPPS 2000 Sampler 
• OPTIKA B-1000 BF BRIGHTFIELD RESEARCH MICROSCOPE
• Wireless Temperature Station 
• Davis Instruments Vantage Pro2 Wireless Weather Station