Assistant Professor Dr. Alaa Hussein Ali, Rapporteur of the Department of Biology at the College of Science, participated as a member of the examination committee for a PhD dissertation in the Department of Forestry, College of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Mosul.

The defense was held on Wednesday, 4 March 2026, for the dissertation submitted by the student Sahera Saleh Shareef, titled:

“Effect of Foliar Spraying with Chitosan and Salicylic Acid on Growth and Genetic Variation of Two Cypress Trees (Cupressus spp.).”

The dissertation addressed three main aspects: the first focused on vegetative and physiological plant traits; the second included a chemical analysis of leaf content of endogenous salicylic acid and total phenols, as well as identification of active compounds using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR); while the third focused on molecular analysis to assess genetic distance and DNA fingerprinting using PCR and ISSR markers.

The results confirmed the genetic identity of the studied genotypes, which contributed to the registration of two new isolates in the global gene bank of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), enhancing the documentation of local isolates and increasing the scientific value of the study at the international level.

The examination committee was chaired by Prof. Dr. Sumoud Hussein Ali, with membership of Prof. Dr. Ammar Fakhri Khudair, Prof. Dr. Mohammed Subhi Mustafa, Assistant Prof. Dr. Namam Bahram Ismail, and Assistant Prof. Dr. Alaa Hussein Ali. The dissertation was supervised by Assistant Prof. Dr. Omar Muzaffar Omar and Assistant Prof. Dr. Arqam Mohammed Azhar.

This participation comes within the framework of strengthening academic cooperation between the University of Mosul’s colleges, contributing to supporting scientific research and exchanging expertise across different departments and disciplines.

We wish continued success and academic excellence to our esteemed faculty members.

Government Media and Communication Division
Saturday, 7 March 2026