Said Amin (Gabe) Ghabrial (October 1, 1939 – November 26, 2018) was an Egyptian-American

plant pathologist Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungus, fung ...

, known for his work on

mycovirus Mycoviruses (Ancient Greek: μύκης ' ("fungus") + Latin '), also known as mycophages, are viruses that infect fungi. The majority of mycoviruses have double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) genomes and isometric particles, but approximately 30% have po ...

es – viruses of fungi – and particularly their effects on the

virulence Virulence is a pathogen's or microorganism's ability to cause damage to a host. In most, especially in animal systems, virulence refers to the degree of damage caused by a microbe to its host. The pathogenicity of an organism—its ability to ca ...

of plant-pathogenic fungi. He also researched bean pod mottle virus, an economically important

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...

disease. He was professor of plant pathology at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

(1986–2014).

Early life and education

Ghabrial was born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

, where he attended public schools and then the College of Agriculture at Cairo University, gaining a BS in agriculture (1959). He worked at the Egyptian Ministry of Land Reform (1959–61) and then briefly did national service in the Egyptian Army. In 1961, he went to the United States on a government scholarship, and studied in the Plant Pathology Department of

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

, where he gained an MS (1963) and PhD (1965) in plant pathology, supervised by Thomas Pirone. His MS research was on tomato leaf mold, a fungal disease of tomatoes caused by ''Cladosporium fulvum'' (''

Passalora fulva ''Passalora fulva'' is a fungus, fungal plant pathogen that causes tomato leaf mold. References External links USDA ARS Fungal Database
Fungal plant pathogens and diseases Tomato diseases Mycosphaerellaceae Fungi described in 2003 ...

''). His PhD research was on wilting of Tabasco pepper ('' Capsicum frutescens'') caused by tobacco etch virus.

Career and research

Ghabrial carried out post-doctoral research at the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

, on Southern bean mosaic virus under Robert Shepherd and

Raymond Grogan Raymond Gerald Grogan (July 22, 1920 – July 30, 2016) was an American phytopathologist (plant disease researcher). During his career at the University of California, Davis, he primarily researched diseases that affected crops like lettuce, toma ...

(1965–66). After returning to Egypt, where he worked for the Ministry of Agriculture on economically important plant viruses (1966–70), he moved to the United States and took up a post-doctoral position in the Botany and Plant Pathology Department of

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

(1970–72) under Richard M. Lister; he worked on the segmented plant viruses tobacco rattle virus and tobacco streak virus. In 1972, Ghabrial moved to the

, where he remained until his retirement, holding successively assistant (1972–75), associate (1975–86) and full professorships (1986–2014) in the Plant Pathology Department. He also held visiting professorships at the University of California, Davis (1978–79),

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

(1988–89) and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(2000–01). One major focus of his research at Kentucky was on

es that infect fungal pathogens of plants. He discovered and characterized a virus in the ''

Totiviridae ''Totiviridae'' is a family of double-stranded RNA viruses. Giardia lamblia, leishmania, trichomonas vaginalis, and fungi serve as natural hosts. The name of the group derives from Latin ''toti'' which means undivided or whole. There are 28 spec ...

'' family that infects the fungal pathogen '' Helminthosporium victoriae'', which causes the economically important disease Victoria blight in oats. Most fungal viruses do not affect their host but Ghabrial showed that the virus attenuates the

of the fungus. This raises the possibility that such viruses might in future be used in the biological control of plant diseases caused by fungi. Another long-term research focus was viral diseases of

(''Glycine max''), particularly the economically important bean pod mottle virus. He was elected a fellow of the American Phytopathological Society in 2002. He twice chaired the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses's fungal virus subcommittee (1987–93 and 2011–14) and was one of the editors of the sixth edition (1995) of its ''Virus Taxonomy'' report. He authored or co-authored around 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as many book chapters.

Personal life

Ghabrial married Karlin Upton Ghabrial, whom he met in Davis, in 1966. They had a son and two daughters. He died on November 26, 2018.

Selected publications

;Books *Said A. Ghabrial (ed.) ''Mycoviruses (Advances in Virus Research 86)'' (Academic Press; 2013) () * Frederick A. Murphy, Claude M. Fauquet, David H. L. Bishop, Said A. Ghabrial, Audrey W. Jarvis, Giovanni P. Martelli, Mike A. Mayo, Max D. Summers (eds) ''Virus Taxonomy'' (Springer-Verlag; 1995) ;Reviews * * * ;Research articles * * *

References

External links

Profile at the University of KentuckyPublications list
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghabrial, Said 1939 births 2018 deaths Scientists from Cairo Cairo University alumni Louisiana State University alumni University of Kentucky faculty Egyptian biologists American phytopathologists American virologists