Abdelali Hannoufa, Western University

Research

alfalfa forage Gene regulation microRNA Plant physiology plant stress

Latest papers

The down-regulation of MsWOX13-2 promotes enhanced waterlogging resilience in alfalfa.
The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology · 2025
Aluminum Stress Response Is Regulated Through a miR156/SPL13 Module in Medicago sativa.
Genes · 2025 · senior author
miR156 Is a Negative Regulator of Aluminum Response in Medicago sativa.
Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025 · senior author

All 53 publications

Latest funding

Discovery Research towards Alfalfa Improvement
NSERC · 2018 · Principal investigator
$216,000
Discovery research towards improving alfalfa traits
NSERC · 2017 · Principal investigator
$34,000
Discovery and characterization of a novel regulator of carotenoid accumulation, plant architecture and plant-Rhizobia interactions
NSERC · 2011 · Principal investigator
$150,000

All 3 grants and awards

53 publications.

01

The down-regulation of MsWOX13-2 promotes enhanced waterlogging resilience in alfalfa.

Subedi U, Hughes KB, Lehmann M, Chen G, Acharya S, Hannoufa A, Nguyen CV, Singer SD

The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology2025

DOI: 10.1111/tpj.70411 PMID: 40836384

02

Aluminum Stress Response Is Regulated Through a miR156/SPL13 Module in Medicago sativa.

Allam G, Sakariyahu SK, Shan B, Aung B, McDowell T, Papadopoulos Y, Bernards MA, Hannoufa A

Genes2025Senior author

DOI: 10.3390/genes16070751 PMID: 40725407

03

miR156 Is a Negative Regulator of Aluminum Response in Medicago sativa.

Allam G, Sakariyahu SK, McDowell T, Pitambar TA, Papadopoulos Y, Bernards MA, Hannoufa A

Plants (Basel, Switzerland)2025Senior author

DOI: 10.3390/plants14060958 PMID: 40265915

04

Profiling Environmental Variations in Condensed Tannins and Other Metabolites of Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) Genotypes.

Sakariyahu SK, McDowell T, Renaud JB, Papadopoulos Y, Glover K, Brown RN, Peel MD, Riday H, Kohalmi SE, Hannoufa A

Plants (Basel, Switzerland)2025Senior author

DOI: 10.3390/plants14172766 PMID: 40941931

05

Effects of Transparent Testa8 (TT8) gene and Homeobox12 (HB12) gene silencing in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) on molecular structure spectral profile in relation to energy, degradation, and fermentation characteristics in ruminant systems.

Lei Y, Hannoufa A, Yu P

Animal nutrition (Zhongguo xu mu shou yi xue hui)2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.aninu.2023.02.010 PMID: 37359761

06

MsSPL9 Modulates Nodulation under Nitrate Sufficiency Condition in Medicago sativa.

Nasrollahi V, Allam G, Kohalmi SE, Hannoufa A

International journal of molecular sciences2023Senior author

DOI: 10.3390/ijms24119615 PMID: 37298564

07

Elucidation of Physiological, Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Salinity Response Mechanisms in Medicago sativa.

Singer SD, Lehmann M, Zhang Z, Subedi U, Burton Hughes K, Lim NZ, Ortega Polo R, Chen G, Acharya S, Hannoufa A, Huan T

Plants (Basel, Switzerland)2023

DOI: 10.3390/plants12102059 PMID: 37653976

08

Eliciting Targeted Mutations in Medicago sativa Using CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing: A Potential Tool for the Improvement of Disease Resistance.

Subedi U, Burton Hughes K, Chen G, Hannoufa A, Singer SD

Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)2023

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3159-1_16 PMID: 37249896

09

Priming seeds with salicylic acid modulates membrane integrity, antioxidant defense, and gene expression in Medicago sativa grown under iron deficiency and salinity.

Boukari N, Jelali N, Abdelly C, Hannoufa A

Physiologia plantarum2023Senior author

DOI: 10.1111/ppl.14026 PMID: 37882313

10

Deciphering the role of SPL12 and AGL6 from a genetic module that functions in nodulation and root regeneration in Medicago sativa

Nasrollahi V, Yuan Z-C, Lu QSM, McDowell T, Kohalmi SE, Hannoufa A

Plant Molecular Biology202213 citationsSenior author

DOI: 10.1007/s11103-022-01303-7

Discovery Research towards Alfalfa Improvement

Principal investigatorNSERC2018Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Hannoufa, Abdelali

Keywords: gene regulation; microrna; plant stress; plant physiology; alfalfa; forage

$216,000

Discovery research towards improving alfalfa traits

Principal investigatorNSERC2017Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Hannoufa, Abdelali

$34,000

Discovery and characterization of a novel regulator of carotenoid accumulation, plant architecture and plant-Rhizobia interactions

Principal investigatorNSERC2011Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Hannoufa, Abdelali

$150,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Biology
Plant Science
Animal and Poultry Science
Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science
Plant Sciences/College of Agriculture and Bioresources
Chemistry

Co-authors at Western University, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Peiqiang Yu

Animal and Poultry Science

10 shared papers, latest 2023

Guanqun Chen

Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science

5 shared papers, latest 2025

Fouad Daayf

Plant Science

1 shared papers, latest 2016

Bill Biligetu

Plant Sciences/College of Agriculture and Bioresources

1 shared papers, latest 2018

Genyi Li

Plant Science

1 shared papers, latest 2016

Yuhai Cui

Biology

1 shared papers, latest 2017

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mention

Subject: Prospective PhD student: alfalfa Dear Professor Hannoufa, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "The down-regulation of MsWOX13-2 promotes enhanced waterlogging resilience in alfalfa." (2025), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Abdelali Hannoufa

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

The down-regulation of MsWOX13-2 promotes enhanced waterlogging resilience in alfalfa.

Aluminum Stress Response Is Regulated Through a miR156/SPL13 Module in Medicago sativa.

miR156 Is a Negative Regulator of Aluminum Response in Medicago sativa.

Profiling Environmental Variations in Condensed Tannins and Other Metabolites of Birdsfoot Trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) Genotypes.

Effects of Transparent Testa8 (TT8) gene and Homeobox12 (HB12) gene silencing in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) on molecular structure spectral profile in relation to energy, degradation, and fermentation characteristics in ruminant systems.

MsSPL9 Modulates Nodulation under Nitrate Sufficiency Condition in Medicago sativa.

Elucidation of Physiological, Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Salinity Response Mechanisms in Medicago sativa.

Eliciting Targeted Mutations in Medicago sativa Using CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing: A Potential Tool for the Improvement of Disease Resistance.

Priming seeds with salicylic acid modulates membrane integrity, antioxidant defense, and gene expression in Medicago sativa grown under iron deficiency and salinity.

Deciphering the role of SPL12 and AGL6 from a genetic module that functions in nodulation and root regeneration in Medicago sativa

Discovery Research towards Alfalfa Improvement

Discovery research towards improving alfalfa traits

Discovery and characterization of a novel regulator of carotenoid accumulation, plant architecture and plant-Rhizobia interactions

Frequent collaborators

Peiqiang Yu

Guanqun Chen

Ze-Chun Yuan

Fouad Daayf

Peta Bonham-Smith

Bill Biligetu

Tao Huan

Genyi Li

Lining Tian

Yuhai Cui