International Plant Genetics and Genomics Conference
Conference Program
Day I: September 21, 2026
Registration and Opening
13:00 – 13:30: Registration
13:30 – 13:40: Opening and welcome speech. Prof. Dr. Ahmed Sallam
13:40 – 14:00: Opening Scientific Address
From Genomics to Genetic Gain: Accelerating Crop Improvement for a Changing World.
Prof. Dr. Rajeev Varshney. Murdoch University, Australia.
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Session 1: Genetics and Breeding for Abiotic Stress Tolerance
14:00 – 17:35 (Cairo, Egypt time | GMT+3)
Moderators: Prof. Dr. Diaa Abdel Moneam & Prof. Dr. Ahmed Sallam
🎤 Keynote Lectures
14:00 – 14:40: Recent Advances in Developing Salt-tolerant Crop Varieties: Linking Genetic Identity to Nutritional Traits,
Prof. Dr. Jutta Papenbrock: Leibniz University Hannover, Germany
14:40 – 15:20: Peduncle Trait Variation and Its Genetic and Phenotypic Association with Spike Productivity
in Wheat under Contrasting Water Regimes,
Prof. Dr. Ahmed Sallam, Assiut University, Egypt
15:20 – 16:00: Development and Delivery of Stress Tolerant Crops for Marginal Environments,
Prof. Dr. Mark Tester, KAUST, Saudi Arabia.
16:00 – 16:20: ☕ Break
🧬 Oral & Poster Presentations
16:20 – 16:40: Identification and Validation of Novel Genes Associated with Lead Tolerance in Spring Wheat at the Seedling Stage,
Ms. Shrouk Abd Al-twab Abd Al-moneim, Assiut University, Egypt. Oral Presentation
16:40 – 17:00: Comparative Transcriptomic Meta-Analysis of Male Reproductive Heat Stress Responses in
Plants,
Neeta Lohani, TIET, India. Oral Presentation
17:00 – 17:20: Unravelling Critical Phenological Windows of Heat Stress Resilience in Bread Wheat Through Temporal NDVI and Canopy Temperature Dynamics,
Narain Dhar, Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut, India. Oral Presentation
17:20 – 17:35: Transcriptomic response of the wild plant Mesembryanthemum forsskalii Hochst. ex Boiss to
salinity stress: de novo assembly, functional annotation, and transcription factor profiling, Dr. Sumayah I. Alsanie, IAU, KSA. Poster Presentation
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Day II : September 22, 2026
09:30 – 10:00: Registration
Session 2: Advances in Molecular Plant Breeding and Genetics
10:00 – 13:50 (Cairo, Egypt time | GMT+3)
Moderators: Prof. Dr. Mohamed Ali & Prof. Dr. Diaa Abdel Moneam
🎤 Keynote Lectures
10:00 – 10:40 : Plant Genetic Resources for Genetic Studies on Abiotic Stress Tolerance,
Prof. Dr. Andreas Boerner, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK),
Germany
10:40 – 11:20: Translational Genomics for Wheat Breeding.
Dr. Awais Rasheed, CIMMYT, China
11:20 – 12:00 : Induced Genetic Diversity Through Mutagenesis in Wheat Gene Pool and Significant Use of SCoT
Markers to Underpin Key Agronomic Traits.
Dr. Mohamed Ali, Genetic Resources Department, Desert Research Center, Egypt
12:00 – 12:20 : ☕ Break
🧬 Oral & Poster Presentations
12:20 – 12:40: Genetic Dissection of Grain Zinc Concentration Reveals Novel QTL on Chromosome 6AS from Synthetic Hexaploid Wheat,
Youshaa Danyal, (CAAS), China. Oral Presentation
12:40 – 13:00: Genetic Diversity of Azerbaijani Wild Cherry Plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.): Molecular Characterization,
Shahmar R. Hajiyev, Azerbaijan State Agricultural University, Ganja, Azerbaijan. Oral Presentation
13:00 – 13:20: Population Structure and Migration Patterns of Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) Revealed by Genome-Wide SNP Analysis,
Oliver Johns, University of Lisbon, Portugal. Oral Presentation
13:20 – 13:35: Map-basedCloning of the Grain Zinc Concentration Gene TaNAS10-6D in Common Wheat,
Mengjing Sun, (CAAS), China. Poster Presentation
13:35 – 13:50 : Genome-wide Identification of Zn/Fe Homeostasis Genes and Association Mapping for the Candidate Gene TaZIP14-3A in Common Wheat
Ms. Huichun Ye, (CAAS), China. Poster Presentation
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Session 3: Legume Breeding and Genetics Session
16:00 – 20:00 (Cairo, Egypt time | GMT+3)
Moderators: Prof. Dr. Ahmed Sallam, Dr. Diaa Daghma
🎤 Keynote Lectures
16:00 – 16:40: Integrating Breeding and Omics Tools to Address Dry Bean Productivity and Quality,
Prof. Dr. Juan M. Osorno, North Dakota State University (NDSU), USA
16:40 – 17:20: Faba bean pan-omics.
Prof. Dr. Stig Andersen, Aarhus University, Denmark
17:20 – 18:00: Structural Variation and Breeding Trade-offs Underlying Disease Resistance in Pea
Dr. Sanu Arora, John Innes Centre (JIC), UK
18:00 – 18:20: ☕ Break
🧬 Oral & Poster Presentations
18:20 – 18:40: Genome-wide Association Mapping Highlights Stable SNP Markers Associated with Yield-related Traits in Faba bean
Ms. Salwa Mohammed Mahmoud, Assuit University, Egypt. Oral Presentation
18:40 – 19:00: Dissecting the Genetic Basis of White Mold Resistance in Common Bean through Genome-wide Association Analysis,
Neha G. Paserkar, McGill University, Plant Science Department, Canada. Oral Presentation
19:00 – 19:15: Genetic Diversity Assessment of Portuguese Cowpea Germplasm: A Foundation for Next-Generation
Breeding, Ms. Graça Pereira, INIAV, Portugal. Poster Presentation
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Day III : September 23, 2026
09:30 – 10:00: Registration
Session 4: Genetics and Breeding for Biotic Stress Resistance
10:00 – 13:50 (Cairo, Egypt time | GMT+3)
Moderators: Dr. Shams-eldeen Eltaher, Dr. Amira Mourad
🎤 Keynote Lectures
10:00 – 10:40: Map-based cloning of TaRLCK-2B Conferring Adult-plant Resistance to Powdery Mildew in
Common Wheat, Prof. Dr. Yuanfeng Hao, CAAS, China
10:40 – 11:20: Advances in Disease and Pest resistance in Faba Bean. Prof. Dr. Diego Rubiales. Sustainable
Agriculture Institute, Spain
11:20 – 12:00: Beyond Conventional Breeding: Protoplast-Based Technologies and Genome Editing for Sustainable Citrus Disease Management, Dr. Ahmad A. Omar, University of Florida, USA.
12:00 – 12:20: ☕ Break
🧬 Oral & Poster Presentations
12:20 – 12:40: Identification and Validation of a Novel Stripe Rust Resistance Locus on Chromosome 6BL
Using Genome–Wide Association Analysis in Common Wheat,
Yirga Kindie Wasihun, CAAS, China. Oral Presentations
12:40 – 13:00: Viral Discovery and Genomic Surveillance Reveal Emerging Plant Virus Threats in the Southeastern United States,
Abdelaal H. A. Shehata, Auburn University, USA. Oral Presentations
13:00 – 13:20: Exploring Genetic Variation and Stripe Rust Resistance in ICARDA's Rpring Bread Wheat
(Triticum aestivum L.) using GWAS in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region,
Alaa Youssef, ICARDA, Egypt. Oral Presentations
13:20 – 13:35: Map-based Cloning and Functional Validation of the Adult-plant Resistance locus
QPmjbr.caas-6BL t to Powdery Mildew in Common Wheat,
Xiaowan Xu, (CAAS), China. Poster Presentation
13:35 – 13:50: Characterization and Fine Mapping of a Major Adult-plant Resistance Locus on Wheat
Chromosome 4BL for Powdery Mildew in Cultivar Zhongmai 30,
Bingyi Liu, (CAAS), China. Poster Presentation
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Day IV : September 24, 2026
13:30 - 14:00: Registration
Session 5: AI-Accelerated Precision Plant Breeding
14:00 – 16:10 (Cairo, Egypt time | GMT+3)
Moderators: Dr. Diego Jarquin, Dr. Mohamed Ali
🎤Keynote Lectures
14:00 – 14:40: AI-Accelerated Data-Driven Breeding: Integrating Genomics, Phenomics, and Optimization.
Prof. Dr. Hiroyoshi Iwata, The University of Tokyo, Japan.
14:40 – 15:20: From Data to Seeds: Digital Technologies Driving Innovation in Plant Breeding and Farming
Dr. Ana Garcia-Oliveira, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária
(INIAV), Portugal
15:20 – 16:00 : Genomic AI Prediction Framework Assisted by Proximal and Remote Sensing Data:
Examples and Methods. Dr. Diego Jarquin, University of Florida, USA
16:00 – 16:10 : ☕ Break
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Day V : September 25, 2026
Session 6: Gene Editing for Crop Improvement
09:30 – 10:00: Registration
10:00 – 13:15 (Cairo, Egypt time | GMT+3)
Moderators: Dr. Diaa Daghma, Prof. Dr. Ahmed Sallam
🎤Keynote Lectures
10:00 – 10:40 : CRISPR-based Genome Editing for Climate-smart Agriculture, Prof. Kailash Bansal,
National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), India
10:40 – 11:20: Functional Validation of the MYB4-12 Homolog to Modulate PAL2-Mediated
Phenylpropanoid Flux Toward Capsaicin Biosynthesis in Capsicum annuum L.
Dr. rer. nat. Diaaeldin Daghma, Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI), Germany
11:20 – 12:00: New Breeding Tools to Enhance Crop Quality and Sustainability,
Dr. Domenica Nigro, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy.
12:00 – 12:20 : ☕ Break
12:20 – 13:00: Precision Plant Editing: From Barley to Amaranth with CRISPR in Hand,
Prof. Dr. Götz Hensel, Centre for Plant Genome Engineering (CPGE), Heinrich-Heine-Universität
Düsseldorf, Germany.
🧬 Oral & Poster Presentations
13:00 – 13:15: Novel Mitochondrial Genome Editing Reveals Cytoplasmic Male Sterility in Tobacco and Seedless Fruit Traits in Tomato,
Ms. Caitlin C. Kestell, North Carolina State University, USA. Poster Presentation
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