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Draft:Mikhail E. Nasrallah

  • Comment: Most claims are unsourced. Twinkle1990 (talk) 16:12, 28 May 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: He might qualify, but this article needs extensive work. At the moment it has long sections, very technical, which only someone in the field will understand. What is not mentioned is that he has a significant number of highly cited papers. Rewrite please, cut the technical details and just focus on his impact in the field (without bragging). Then you will have a chance of passing WP:NPROF. Ldm1954 (talk) 20:18, 28 January 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: Please make sure that pretty much everything (every material statement, anything potentially contentious, and all private personal details) is clearly supported by inline citations to reliable published sources. See WP:REFB / WP:ILC for advice.
    Please also remove the inline external links, which are not allowed. Convert to citations where relevant. DoubleGrazing (talk) 18:14, 11 January 2024 (UTC)


Mikhail Elia Nasrallah is Professor Emeritus in the Plant Biology Section of the School of Integrative Plant Science in the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University.

Education

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Nasrallah, a native of Kfarmishki, Lebanon, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and a certification in Agronomy [Ingénieur Agricole] from the American University of Beirut in 1960, a Master's degree in Horticulture from the University of Vermont in 1962 [1], and a doctorate degree in Plant Breeding and Genetics from Cornell University in 1965 [2].

Career and Research

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Nasrallah carried out postdoctoral research at Cornell University from 1965-1967 and had a faculty position in Genetics at the State University of New York/Cortland from 1967 to 1985. He moved to Cornell University in 1985 and was appointed a Professor of Plant Biology in 1992.

Much of Nasrallah's research has focused on the molecular genetic analysis of self-incompatibility in plants of the crucifer (Brassicaceae) family. self-incompatibility was first described as a genetic reproductive barrier that prevents a fertile plant having perfect flowers (i.e flowers containing both pistils and stamens) to produce zygotes and seed after self-pollination. This phenomenon, which is now known to prevent both self-pollination and mating among genetically-related plants, is the most prevalent mechanism used by angiosperms for preventing inbreeding and avoiding inbreeding depression, thus promoting outcrossing and ensuring the maintenance of genetic diversity in populations [3]. This phenomenon has long puzzled and fascinated plant scientists, including Darwin [4] who, based on his study of Fertilisation of Orchids, famously proclaimed it to be “… one of the most surprising facts which I have ever observed” [5].

Nasrallah is recognized as a pioneer in the study of self-incompatibility (SI). Over the course of his career, his work has resulted in numerous scientific publications which have been cited over 10,000 times (h-index=51) [6]. His research has also been featured in several perspective articles and paper alerts in high-impact journals [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15].

As a doctoral student at Cornell, Nasrallah made a major scientific contribution by devising a new approach to the molecular analysis of SI. Instead of the pollen-centric focus which at the time had been the norm in research aimed at identifying the molecular components of SI in various plant families [16], he reasoned that investigating the contribution of the pistil to the SI response would be a more successful approach for identifying molecules involved in SI. Working in Brassica, he focused on the stigma, which is the structure that caps the pistil and at the surface of which “self” pollen grains are inhibited in self-incompatible crucifers. This approach led him to identify the first molecule encoded by an SI-determining gene [17]. This strategy of using the pistil as a starting point for identifying the molecular components of SI has become common practice for molecular analysis of SI across various plant families [18].

The stigma molecule identified by Nasrallah was later used by his team at Cornell as a launching pad for a detailed analysis of the S locus, whose large number of variants (classically known as “alleles”) control recognition of “self” pollen in self-incompatible Brassica plants. This analysis led to the breakthrough demonstration that the S locus is a complex locus and that its “alleles” are in fact haplotypes each of which contains two genes that encode, respectively, the stigma and pollen determinants of SI: a receptor protein kinase displayed at the surface of the stigma epidermal cells that capture pollen [19] and its small protein ligand located in the outer coating of pollen grains [20]. Proof that these two genes are necessary and sufficient for determining specificity in the SI response was obtained by the Nasrallah team and others using gene transfer experiments [21], [22]. Additionally, the two genes were found to be required for the outcrossing mode of mating in crucifers since they can restore SI when transferred into the normally self-fertile model plant Arabidopsis thaliana which lacks functional versions of these genes [23], [24].

The subsequent finding that the interaction of the stigma receptor with its pollen ligand, and hence receptor activation, is S haplotype-specific (i.e. they will only occur if the pollen ligand and the stigma receptor are derived from the same S haplotype) explained how the stigma can discriminate between self- and non-self pollen grains in self-incompatible crucifers [25], [26]. This mechanism of self-recognition has now been shown to operate in all tested self-incompatible species from various genera, such as Brassica, Arabidopsis, and Capsella.

Awards and Honors

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Nasrallah received the American University of Beirut's highest scholastic honor, the Penrose Award, in 1960[27]; an award in Horticulture from the Burpee Foundation[28] in 1961; and an award from the American Institute of Biological Sciences[29] in 1970 in recognition of an outstanding research contribution related to a vegetable crop used for processing.

References

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  1. ^ Nasrallah, Mikhail (1962). MS thesis: Hybridization and inheritance studies in Solanum melongena L., and selected Solanum species. University of Vermont Howe Library. Retrieved 28 June 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Nasrallah, Mikhail (1965). Ph. D. Cornell University: Physiological and immunogenetic studies on self-incompatibility in Brassica oleracea var. capitata. Ithaca, NY. Retrieved 28 June 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ Charlesworth, D (2010). "Self-Incompatibility". F1000 Biol Rep. 2: 68. doi:10.3410/B2-68. PMC 2989624. PMID 21173841.
  4. ^ Darwin, C (1876). The effects of cross and self fertilization in the vegetable kingdom. London: John Murray.
  5. ^ Darwin, C (1862). On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing. London: John Murray.
  6. ^ "Mikhail E. Nasrallah". scholar.google.com. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  7. ^ Dickinson, H (1999). "Perspectives: Plant biology. No stigma attached to male rejection". Science. 286 (5445): 1690–1691. doi:10.1126/science.286.5445.1690. PMID 10610566.
  8. ^ Kao, Th; McCubbin, A (2000). "News and Views: A social stigma". Nature. 403 (6772): 840–841. doi:10.1038/35002702. PMID 10706265.
  9. ^ Scheres, B; Hofte, H (2000). "Plant Biology Paper alert". Current Opinion in Plant Biology. 3 (2): 85. Bibcode:2000COPB....3...85S. doi:10.1016/S1369-5266(99)00060-6.
  10. ^ Schneiz, K (2000). "Plant Biology Paper Alert". Current Opinion in Plant Biology. 3 (3): 167. doi:10.1016/S1369-5266(00)80002-3.
  11. ^ Charlesworth, D (2000). "Plant Genetics: Unlocking the secrets of self-incompatibility". Current Biology. 10 (5): r184–R186. Bibcode:2000CBio...10.R184C. doi:10.1016/s0960-9822(00)00347-x. PMID 10712893.
  12. ^ Franklin-Tong, VE; Franklin, FCH (2000). "Self-incompatibility in Brassica: The elusive pollen S gene is identified!". Plant Cell. 12 (3): 305–308. doi:10.1105/tpc.12.3.305. PMC 1464689. PMID 10715315.
  13. ^ "This week in Science". Science. 293 (5536): 5536. 2001. doi:10.1126/science.2001.293.5536.twis.
  14. ^ "This week in Science". Science. 297 (5579): 5597. 2002. doi:10.1126/science.2002.297.5579.twis.
  15. ^ Schneiz, K (2002). "Plant Biology Paper alert". Current Opinion in Plant Biology. 5: 467. doi:10.1016/S1369-5266(02)00308-4.
  16. ^ Lewis, D (1952). "Serological reactions of pollen incompatibility substances". Proceedings of the Royal Society London Series B Biological Sciences. 140 (898): 127–135. Bibcode:1952RSPSB.140..127L. doi:10.1098/rspb.1952.0049. PMID 13003917. S2CID 7071084.
  17. ^ Nasrallah, ME; Wallace, DH (1967). "Immunochemical detection of antigens in self-incompatibility genotypes of cabbage". Nature. 213 (5077): 700–701. Bibcode:1967Natur.213..700N. doi:10.1038/213700a0. S2CID 4174539.
  18. ^ Franklin-Tong, VE (2008). Self-incompatibility in Flowering Plants: Evolution, Diversity, and Mechanisms (eBook ed.). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 9783540684862.
  19. ^ Stein, JC; Howlett, B; Boyes, DC; Nasrallah, ME; Nasrallah, JB (1991). "Molecular cloning of a putative receptor protein kinase gene encoded at the self-incompatibility locus of Brassica oleracea". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 88 (19): 8816–8820. Bibcode:1991PNAS...88.8816S. doi:10.1073/pnas.88.19.8816. PMC 52601. PMID 1681543.
  20. ^ Schopfer, CR; Nasrallah, ME; Nasrallah, JB (1999). "The male determinant of self-incompatibility in Brassica". Science. 286 (5445): 1697–1700. doi:10.1126/science.286.5445.1697. PMID 10576728.
  21. ^ Schopfer, CR; Nasrallah, ME; Nasrallah, JB (1999). "The male determinant of self-incompatibility in Brassica". Science. 286 (5445): 1697–1700. doi:10.1126/science.286.5445.1697. PMID 10576728.
  22. ^ Takasaki, T; Hatakeyama, K; Suzuki, G; Watanabe, M; Isogai, A; Hinata, K (2000). "The S receptor kinase determines self-incompatibility in Brassica stigma". Nature. 403 (6772): 913–916. Bibcode:2000Natur.403..913T. doi:10.1038/35002628. PMID 10706292.
  23. ^ Nasrallah, ME; Liu, P; Nasrallah, JB (2002). "Generation of self-incompatible Arabidopsis thaliana by transfer of two S locus genes from A. lyrata". Science. 297 (5579): 247–249. Bibcode:2002Sci...297..247N. doi:10.1126/science.1072205. PMID 2114625.
  24. ^ Nasrallah, ME; Liu, P; Sherman-Broyles, S; Boggs, NA; Nasrallah, JB (2004). "Natural variation in expression of self-incompatibility in Arabdopsis thaliana: implications for the evolution of selfing". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 101 (45): 16070–16074. Bibcode:2004PNAS..10116070N. doi:10.1073/pnas.0406970101. PMC 528763. PMID 15505209.
  25. ^ Kachroo, A; Schopfer, CR; Nasrallah, ME; Nasrallah, JB (2001). "Allele-specific receptor-ligand interactions in Brassica self-incompatibility". Science. 293 (5536): 1824–1826. Bibcode:2001Sci...293.1824K. doi:10.1126/science.1062509. PMID 11546871.
  26. ^ Takayama, S; Shimosato, H; Shiba, H; Funato, M; Che, FS; Watanabe, M; Iwano, M; Isogai, A (2001). "Direct ligand-receptor complex interaction controls Brassica self-incompatibility". Nature. 413 (6855): 534–538. Bibcode:2001Natur.413..534T. doi:10.1038/35097104. PMID 11586363.
  27. ^ "Maingate/Then and Now" (PDF). No. Summer 2009. American University of Beirut. 2009.
  28. ^ "The Burpee Foundation". The Burpee Foundation.
  29. ^ "AIBS Awards". aibs.org.
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