Elsayed Elsayed Wagih - Research Collaboration

Research Collaboration

Beside his main research stream, he worked collaboratively as a visiting scientist with many famous scientists from different parts of the world:

He was very lucky to be involved in research with a very active research group at London University led by both Dr. R.H.A. Coutts and Prof. R.K.S. Wood (FRS), Virology laboratory, Imperial College of Science. The work was centred around elucidating the molecular basis of gene expression in terms of protein synthesis and enzyme activities in plant tissues exposed to biotic (necrosis-eliciting viruses or fungal infections) or abiotic stresses.

He was also privileged by working as a visiting scientist in 1981, with Dr. R.H.A. Coutts on the replication and gene expression of single stranded DNA viruses (Geminiviruses) in protoplasts.

In 1983, he had another chance, sponsored by the British Council, to work, with Dr. R.H.A. Coutts, as an academic visitor in the Department of Pure and Applied Biology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, looking for the possible subgenomic messages of Tobacco necrosis virus ssRNA genome in vivo using the cDNA technology.

In 1986, he spent almost a year as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and the Hybridoma Centre, Noble Research Centre, Oklahoma State University, U.S.A., working, in collaboration with both Professor H.A. Melouk and Dr. J. L. Sherwood, on the pathology and molecular aspects of some peanut viruses. During this relatively short period of time which was, indeed, very productive, he discovered two viruses, Peanut Chlorotic Ringspot (PCRV) and Peanut Top Paralysis (PTPV) Virus. In addition, he developed a new technique, "Mirror Image in vivo Electroblotting Technique (Mi-Tech.) to visualise virus particles (or any foreign protein) electrophoretically transferred from infected tissue onto nitrocellulose membrane and detected by an enzyme-linked immunobinding technique. This technique was the basis of what has been termed later by others as "Tissue blotting".

In the summer of 1990, he had another chance to work as a Visiting Scientist with Dr. Jaquline Fletcher, Professor of Mycoplasmology, of the Department of Plant Pathology, Noble Research Centre, Oklahoma State University, U.S.A. During this visit he invented another new technique, termed 'zymoblot' (published in Canadian Journal of Microbiology 39: 543-547) to detect enzyme activity in spiroplasmas and Bacteria. In addition, he used the electrophoretic zymogram analysis to study both the qualitative (Gene expression) and the quantitative alterations in some selected enzymes in spiroplasma- infected tissues in an attempt to elucidate the biochemical changes and gene expression associated with spiroplasma infections in plants.

From 2000 to 2003, he led a research team working collaboratively with a number of active scientists from the Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI) who were also working under his guidance and close supervision as a senior and co-principal investigator in a large research project whose fund exceeded 1.5 million Egyptian Pounds. The project was on 'The Use of Genetic Engineering Techniques To Develop Transgenic Banana Resistant To Virus Infections'. In this work, two strategies were adopted, the Coat protein-mediated resistance and the antisense technology to suppress the Replicase gene. Because of the intellectual property right issues, restrictions on publishing the work have been imposed by the sponsor.

In 2001, he went on a sabbatical leave to collaboratively work with Dr. Philip Dale and N. S. Al-Kaff of John Innes Centre, Nowrich, UK. The work was centred on studying the mechanism of gene silencing in virus-infected and transgenic plants and the possible involvement of DNA-methylation including the restriction sites of some selected restriction enzymes of relevance to this phenomenon.