In the 2023 funding period, Prof. Kamal (as a postdoc at PGSB, Helmholtz Munich) received an ERC Starting Grant (News). The project, RESIST, aims to investigate the drought stress resistance of oats, a healthy emerging cereal crop. Drought represents a significant threat to agricultural yields with extensive economic consequences. Since oats are particularly vulnerable to drought, advancements in breeding drought-resistant varieties are essential. This research is enabled by the recently fully annotated oat genome, which opens new possibilities for improving water use efficiency and increasing yields under extreme environmental conditions.

Project duration: 04/2024 - 03/2029

Funding: ERC Starting Grant, Horizon Europe

The TRR356  "Genetic Diversity Shaping Biotic Interactions of Plants - PlantMicrobe" focuses on improving plant health by researching and utilizing genetic diversity and biotic interactions between plants and microorganisms. This innovative research project uses genetic variations as a key to deciphering and influencing these interactions, supported by modern genome research methods and bioinformatic analysis of large datasets. Together with PGSB we conduct comparative genomics and analyse the genetics diversity of the molecular interface of plant-microbe interactions in the TRR356 project "Z03: Comparative genomics to study the diversity and conserved components inherent to the molecular interface of plant-microbe interactions." and provide Bioinformatics support for the TRR356. The long-term goal is to identify genetic factors that promote plant health and to develop biotechnological approaches to improve nutrient supply and disease control in agriculture.

Project duration: 01/2023 - 12/2026

Funding: German Research Foundation (DFG)

HYDROOT is an interdisciplinary research project at the Technical University of Munich aimed at developing climate-resilient crops. The project focuses on how root traits, plant genetic factors, and the root-associated microbiome influence the adaptation of maize to drought and fluctuating water availability. To address this, HYDROOT combines modern approaches in root phenotyping, imaging, microbiome analysis, transcriptomics, and multi-omics data integration. The project is part of the second Bavarian climate research network, bayklif2, and is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts.

Project partners: Nadia Kamal, Mutez Ahmed, Peng Yu, and Chris-Carolin Schön, all at the Technical University of Munich.

Project duration: 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2030

Funding: Bavarian State Ministry for Science and the Arts (StMWK)

This is an international research project focused on harnessing the diversity of a wild wheat relative for wheat improvement. The project develops genomic resources for Aegilops longissima, including a pangenome, diversity panel analyses, and gene expression data, and integrates these with phenotyping, metabolomics, and GWAS to identify genes and metabolites associated with rust resistance and salt tolerance. By combining genomics, stress phenotyping, and functional analyses, the project aims to advance our understanding of Aegilops longissima diversity and evolution while generating new resources and targets for the development of more resilient wheat varieties. 

Project duration: 36 months

Project partners: Nadia Kamal (Technische Universität München, Germany), Raz Avni (University of Haifa, Israel), Martin Mascher (IPK Gatersleben, Germany), Amir Sharon (Tel Aviv University, Israel) und Nir Sade (Tel Aviv University, Israel)

Funding: DFG project no. 560945069, with an international collaboration with Israel in partnership with the Israel Science Foundation.