AGYA Member

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About me

I am Assistant Professor at the Center of Biotechnology of Borj-Cedria (CBBC), Tunisia. My field of research is agriculture and plant biotechnology with specialization in investigating the physiological adaptations of plants with respect to salinity and the development of crops with increased salt tolerance qualities. In my work I use a multidisciplinary strategy involving several ecophysiological, biochemical, and molecular approaches.

Starting more than ten years ago, in the framework of an INCO-DC project supported by the European Union, I established strong and fruitful scientific collaboration with German partners. More importantly, my research stays in Germany not only gave me the opportunity to meet and work with excellent researchers but also to learn that a successful research strategy must rely on a multidisciplinary approach which brings together competencies and techniques from different backgrounds – precisely what the AGYA offers.

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Current projects

 

• Member of the AGYA Working Group Energy, Water and Environment
• Since 2016, local coordinator of the German-Tunisian project entitled “Proteomics and Halophyte Stress Tolerance”, involving the CBBC and the Department of Plant Proteomics (Institute of Plant Genetics) at the Leibniz University of Hannover. This project is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the framework of the line 4 of the “Deutsch-Arabische Transformationspartnerschaft” program.
• Contract programme of the Laboratoire des Plantes Extrêmophiles (LPE) from the Center of Biotechnology of Borj Cédria (CBBC), supported by the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technologies of Information and Communication.

 

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Academic Career

2011 -	Assistant Professor, Center of Biotechnology of the Technopark of Borj-Cedria; Tunis, Tunisia
2011	Contractual Engineer, Center of Biotechnology of the Technopark of Borj-Cedria; Tunis, Tunisia
2007 - 2009	Post-doctoral Fellow, Institute of Botany, Leibniz Universität Hannover; Germany
2005	PhD in Plant Biology, Laboratoire d’Adaptation des Plantes aux Stress Abiotiques, Centre de Biotechnologie de Borj-Cedria (CBBC); Hammam-Lif, Tunisia
2003	Contractual Assistant, National Institute of Scientific and Technical Research (INRST); Hammam-Lif, Tunisia
2001 - 2003	Fellow of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as a PhD student
2000	Contractual researcher-student, INRST; Hammam-Lif, Tunisia
1999	Master in Plant Physiology, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis; Tunisia

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Selected Publications

 

• Debez, A., Belghith, I., Friesen, J., Montzka, C. & Elleuche, S. (2017).Facing the challenge of sustainable bioenergy production: Could halophytes be part of the solution? Journal of Biological Engineering 11 (1), 27.
• Ben Rejeb, K., Benzarti, M., Debez, A., Bailly, C., Savouré, A. & Abdelly, C. (2015). NADPH oxidase-dependent H2O2 production is required for salt-induced antioxidant defense in Arabidopsis thaliana, Journal of Plant Physiology 174, 5-15.
• Debez, A., Braun, H.-P., Pich, A., Taamalli, W., Koyro, H.-W., Abdelly, C. & Huchzermeyer, B. (2012). Proteomic and physiological responses of the halophyte Cakile maritima to moderate salinity at the germinative and vegetative stages. Journal of Proteomics 75, 5667-5694.

 

see a full list of publications>