My research combines different biotechnological tools aiming to improve the plant viability and productivity in arid regions.
I first worked on date palm biotechnology and pest management under the supervision of Professor Noureddine DRIRA at the National School of Engineers of Sfax (Tunisia).
During my PhD work supervised by both Professor Mohamed MARS in Tunisia and Professor Said HAMDI in France, I generated a “grape tomato” transgenic plant from “cherry tomato” by biotechnological tools and studied the involvement of MYB transcription factors in elaborating the organoleptic quality of grape berries as well as the structure-function relationship of MYB transcription factors. The PhD work was been done in collaboration between the Institute of Plant Molecular Biology (IBPM) of Bordeaux (Pr. Michel HERNOULD's team) & the Institute of Wine and Grapevine Sciences (ISVV) of Bordeaux (Pr. Serge DELROT's team) - France.
The aim of my current research at the Center of Desert Agriculture (CDA) is to understand and modulate the mechanisms of plant responses to adverse environmental conditions such as high soil salinity and drought stress, as well as to improve the crop yield and quality by biotechnological tools.