Ikram Blilou

Ikram Blilou
Born	Morocco
Alma mater	Abdelmalek Essaâdi University University of Granada
Scientific career
Fields	Root development Transcriptional regulation Root stem cells Fluorescence imaging
Institutions	Utrecht University, The Netherlands Wageningen University Research, The Netherlands King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Thesis	Aspectos moleculares de la respuesta defensiva de las plantas a la formación de la simbiosis micorriza arbuscular (1998)
Website	www.kaust.edu.sa/ikram-blilou https://bliloulab.com/

Ikram Blilou is a Dutch Moroccan plant biologist who is a professor of plant sciences at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. Her research investigates developmental programs controlling plants growth focusing on the root system as an important organ to engineer resilient crops

Early life and education

Blilou was born in Morocco. She had originally intended to study medicine, but switched to plant sciences after being asked to dissect a mouse. She studied biology at the Abdelmalek Essaâdi University. She completed her doctoral research at the University of Granada, where she investigated the early defensive response of plants to arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis.

Research and career

After graduating, Prof. Blilou moved to the Netherlands for postdoctoral research at Utrecht University, where she studied cell-cycle regulation and polar auxin transport. After completing her postdoctoral work, she was appointed as an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at Utrecht University in 2003, where she established a line of research focusing on mechanisms regulating protein movement in plant roots. In 2006, she was awarded the prestigious Dutch VIDI and Aspasia grant and was promoted to the rank of associate professor. In 2012, she moved along with her department to Wageningen University, where she continued studying root development in Arabidopsis.  In 2017, she moved to KAUST, where she is currently leading several research projects, including stem cell regulation in model plants focusing on transcription factor networks as well as understanding how plants cope in desert environments. Her team uses multidisciplinary approaches, including high-resolution microscopy, tissue culture and plant transformation, genome editing technologies, and transcriptional assays. The team also implements deep learning and computer vision to analyze and quantify dynamic processes in vivo, ranging from protein associations to pathogen invasion, disease detection, and growth quantification.

Blilou is interested in how plants adapt to extreme environments. In particular, she looks at how plants develop resilience in desert environment focusing on date palm that she considers as a crop for the future due to the high nutritional value of its fruits.

In 2020, she was Awarded the first prize of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation 2020 in the category Distinguished Innovative Studies and Modern Technology. In 2024, she won the international award from the National Center of Palms and Dates (NCPD), MEWA, in the category of the best scientific research.

Selected publications

• Ikram Blilou; Jian Xu; Marjolein Wildwater; et al. (1 January 2005). "The PIN auxin efflux facilitator network controls growth and patterning in Arabidopsis roots". Nature. 433 (7021): 39–44. Bibcode:2005Natur.433...39B. doi:10.1038/NATURE03184. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 15635403. Wikidata Q33340720.
• Mitsuhiro Aida; Renze Heidstra; Viola Willemsen; et al. (1 October 2004). "The PLETHORA genes mediate patterning of the Arabidopsis root stem cell niche". Cell. 119 (1): 109–120. doi:10.1016/J.CELL.2004.09.018. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 15454085. Wikidata Q42468459.
• Jirí Friml; Eva Benková; Ikram Blilou; et al. (1 March 2002). "AtPIN4 mediates sink-driven auxin gradients and root patterning in Arabidopsis". Cell. 108 (5): 661–673. doi:10.1016/S0092-8674(02)00656-6. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 11893337. Wikidata Q33336995.