Faculty

Abdul Latif Khan

Assistant Professor

Biotechnology

Office 218, Sugar Land Academic Building

Phone 713-743-5642

Fax 713-743-4032

Email alkhan [at] Central.uh.edu

Website Microbiome and Genomics Lab

Education

Ph.D., Plant physiology, Kyungpook National University, Republic of Korea
M.Phil. Phytochemistry, University of Tsukuba/Kohat University, Ibaraki Japan
M.Sc. Environmental Sciences, University of Peshawar, Pakistan
B.Sc. Biological Sciences, University of Peshawar, Pakistan

Professional Experience

Assistant Professor, College of Engineering Technology, University of Houston, Houston, USA
Associate Professor: Natural & Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Nizwa
Research Assistant Professor, Chair of Oman’s Medicinal Plants and Marine Natural Products, University of Nizwa, Nizwa
Post-Doctorate Fellow: at School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Prof. Dr. In-Jung Lee

RESEARCH EXCHANGE EXPERIENCES:

Visiting faculty, Department of Biology & Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, USA; Dr. Kerri Crawford,
Visiting faculty, Center of Biotechnology, College of Agriculture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln-Nebraska, USA; Prof. Daniel Schachtman
Visiting Research Faculty, School of Applied Biosciences, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea; Prof. Dr. In-Jung Lee, 2013 – 2016

SCHOLARLY ASSISTANCE:

Editor:

Journal of Plant Growth Regulations (Springer Nature, Associate Editor; 2021-present)
Frontiers in Plant Sciences (Associate Editor; 2016-2019)
Frontiers in Microbiology – Plant Microbe Interaction (Associate Editor; 2016-2019)
Frontiers in Chemistry (Guest Associate Editor; 2016-2019)

Review Editor

Horticulture Research, New Phytologists, Frontiers in Plant Sciences, Frontiers in Microbiology, Frontiers in Chemistry, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Journal of Agricultural & Food Chemistry, Journal Plant Growth Regulation, Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, PlosOne, Plant Physiology & Biochemistry, Biotechnology Advances, Frontiers in Genetics, Scientific Reports

Research Interests

Microbiome
Molecular stress physiology
Microbial and plant genomics
Microbiome-assisted bioaugmentation

RESEARCH SCOPE:

Adopting nature-friendly approaches to improve plant growth, productivity, and stress tolerance against changing global climatic conditions
Utilizing native and stress-fit microbial symbionts that enhance stress tolerance and yield. This helps to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in the complexity of plant microbe stress interactions
Exploring genomics and transcriptomics of ecologically and economically important but under-studied plants and microbial resources to establish sequence datasets from genes to genome structure and function
Integrating field and greenhouse-based studies, multi-omics (metagenomics, transcriptomics, genomics and metabolomics), microbiome networking and physio-molecular mechanisms to elucidate the complexity of plant microbiome environment interactions

GRANTS:

Abdul Latif Khan PI: Microbiome and plant physiology Lab. College of Engineering Technology, University of Houston, Houston, USA (2021-2023)
Abdul Latif Khan PI: Understanding the genomics, evolution and taxonomy of Frankincense producing genus Boswellia. Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Ali Al-Lawathi, Nadiya Al-Saadi, Daniel Schachtman, Jean-Jack Reithoven, Sajjad Asaf, Jason Eslamieh. Oman’s Animal and Plant Genetic Resource Center/The Research Council Oman, (2020-2022)

PUBLICATIONS:

List of some important peer-reviewed publications:

Khan, A.L., Numan, M., Bilal, S., Asaf, S., Crafword, K., Imran, M., Al-Harrasi, A., Al-Sabahi, J.N., ur Rehman, N., Ahmed, A. and Lee, I.J., 2021. Mangrove’s rhizospheric engineering with bacterial inoculation improve degradation of diesel contamination. Journal of Hazardous Materials, p.127046.
Khan, A.L., Asaf, S., Al-Rawahi, A. and Al-Harrasi, A., 2021. Decoding first complete chloroplast genome of toothbrush tree (Salvadora persica L.): insight into genome evolution, sequence divergence and phylogenetic relationship within Brassicales. BMC genomics, 22(1), pp.1-16.
Asaf, S., Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author), Numan, M. and Al-Harrasi, A., 2021. Mangrove tree (Avicennia marina): insight into chloroplast genome evolutionary divergence and its comparison with related species from family Acanthaceae. Scientific reports, 11(1), pp.1-15.
Al-Harrasi, A., Khan, A.L., (Corresponding author), Rehman, N.U. and Csuk, R., 2021. Biosynthetic diversity in triterpene cyclization within the Boswellia genus. Phytochemistry, 184, p.112660.
Khan, A.L., Asaf, S., Khan, A., Khan, A., Imran, M., Al-Harrasi, A., Lee, I.J. and Al-Rawahi, A., 2020. Transcriptomic analysis of Dubas bug (Ommatissus lybicus Bergevin) infestation to Date Palm. Scientific reports, 10(1), pp.1-15.
Asaf, S., Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author), Khan, A., Khan, G., Lee, I.J. and Al-Harrasi, A., 2020. Expanded inverted repeat region with large scale inversion in the first complete plastid genome sequence of Plantago ovata. Scientific reports, 10(1), pp.1-16.
Asaf, S., Numan, M., Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author) and Al-Harrasi, A., 2020. Sphingomonas: from diversity and genomics to functional role in environmental remediation and plant growth. Critical reviews in biotechnology, 40(2), pp.138-152.
Kang, S.M., Asaf, S., Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author, Khan, A., Mun, B.G., Khan, M.A., Gul, H. and Lee, I.J., 2020. Complete genome sequence of Pseudomonas psychrotolerans CS51, a plant growth-promoting bacterium, under heavy metal stress conditions. Microorganisms, 8(3), p.382.
Asaf, S., Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author), Khan, A. and Al-Harrasi, A., 2020. Unraveling the chloroplast genomes of two prosopis species to identify its genomic information, comparative analyses and phylogenetic relationship. International journal of molecular sciences, 21(9), p.3280.
Khan, A.L., Asaf, S., M Abed, R.M., Ning Chai, Y., N Al-Rawahi, A., Mohanta, T.K., Al-Rawahi, A., Schachtman, D.P. and Al-Harrasi, A., 2020. Rhizosphere microbiome of arid land medicinal plants and extra cellular enzymes contribute to their abundance. Microorganisms, 8(2), p.213.
Khan, A., Bilal, S., Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author), Imran, M., Shahzad, R., Al-Harrasi, A., Al-Rawahi, A., Al-Azhri, M., Mohanta, T.K. and Lee, I.J., 2020. Silicon and gibberellins: synergistic function in harnessing ABA signaling and heat stress tolerance in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.). Plants, 9(5), p.620.
Khan, A., Bilal, S., Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author), Imran, M., Al-Harrasi, A., Al-Rawahi, A. and Lee, I.J., 2020. Silicon-mediated alleviation of combined salinity and cadmium stress in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) by regulating physio-hormonal alteration. Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 188, p.109885.
Khan, A., Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author), Muneer, S., Kim, Y.H., Al-Rawahi, A. and Al-Harrasi, A., 2019. Silicon and salinity: crosstalk in crop-mediated stress tolerance mechanisms. Frontiers in plant science, 10, p.1429.
Khan, A., Kamran, M., Imran, M., Al-Harrasi, A., Al-Rawahi, A., Al-Amri, I., Lee, I.J. and Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author), 2019. Silicon and salicylic acid confer high-pH stress tolerance in tomato seedlings. Scientific reports, 9(1), pp.1-16.
Bilal, S., Shahzad, R., Khan, A.L., Al-Harrasi, A., Kim, C.K. and Lee, I.J., 2019. Phytohormones enabled endophytic Penicillium funiculosum LHL06 protects Glycine max L. from synergistic toxicity of heavy metals by hormonal and stress-responsive proteins modulation. Journal of hazardous materials, 379, p.120824.
Khan, A.L., Mabood, F., Akber, F., Ali, A., Shahzad, R., Al-Harrasi, A., Al-Rawahi, A., Shinwari, Z.K. and Lee, I.J., 2018. Endogenous phytohormones of frankincense producing Boswellia sacra tree populations. Plosone 13(12), p.e0207910.
Asaf, S., Khan, A.L. (Corresponding author), Khan, A., Khan, G., Lee, I.J. and Al-Harrasi, A., 2020. Expanded inverted repeat region with large scale inversion in the first complete plastid genome sequence of Plantago ovata. Scientific reports, 10(1), pp.1-16.
Bilal, S., Shahzad, R., Khan, A.L., Kang, S.M., Imran, Q.M., Al-Harrasi, A., Yun, B.W. and Lee, I.J., 2018. Endophytic microbial consortia of phytohormones-producing fungus Paecilomyces formosus LHL10 and bacteria Sphingomonas sp. LK11 to Glycine max L. regulates physio-hormonal changes to attenuate aluminum and zinc stresses. Frontiers in plant science, 9.
Shahzad, R., Khan, A.L., Bilal, S. and Lee, I.J., 2018. What is there in seeds? Vertically transmitted endophytic resources for sustainable improvement in plant. Growth Front Plant Sci 9: 24.
Bilal, S., Khan, A.L., Shahzad, R., Kim, Y.H., Imran, M., Khan, M.J., Al-Harrasi, A., Kim, T.H. and Lee, I.J., 2018. Mechanisms of Cr (VI) resistance by endophytic Sphingomonas sp. LK11 and its Cr (VI) phytotoxic mitigating effects in soybean (Glycine max L.). Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 164, pp.648-658.
Khan, A.L., Waqas, M., Asaf, S., Kamran, M., Shahzad, R., Bilal, S., Khan, M.A., Kang, S.M., Kim, Y.H., Yun, B.W. and Al-Rawahi, A., Al-Harrasi A, Lee IJ, 2017. Plant growth-promoting endophyte Sphingomonas sp. LK11 alleviates salinity stress in Solanum pimpinellifolium. Environmental and experimental botany, 133, pp.58-69.
Khan, A.L., Al-Harrasi, A., Asaf, S., Park, C.E., Park, G.S., Khan, A.R., Lee, I.J., Al-Rawahi, A. and Shin, J.H., 2017. The first chloroplast genome sequence of Boswellia sacra, a resin-producing plant in Oman. PloS one, 12(1), p.e0169794.
Khan, A.L., Asaf, S., Al-Rawahi, A., Lee, I.J. and Al-Harrasi, A., 2017. Rhizospheric microbial communities associated with wild and cultivated frankincense producing Boswellia sacra tree. PloS one, 12(10), p.e0186939.

BOOKS/CHAPTERS:

Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Abdul Latif Khan, Sajjad Asaf, Ahmed Al-Rawahi. Biology and Genomics of Boswellia. 2019. Springer Nature 10.1007/978-3-030-16725-7, XIX, 173, 978-3-030-16725-7
Khan, A.L., Shahzad, R., Al-Harrasi, A. and Lee, I.J., 2017. Endophytic Microbes: A Resource for Producing Extracellular Enzymes. InEndophytes: Crop Productivity and Protection (pp. 95-110). Springer, Cham.