Dr. Lamari
انا لله و انا الیه راجعون
Dr. Lakhdar Lamari the professor of the University of Manitoba has passed away on December 11, 2009 at the age of 57 at the Grace Hospital. He died after a long time of fighting with diseases.
Dr. Lamari obtained his B.Sc. in Agriculture Engineering, with options in plant breeding and agronomy from the Institut de Technologie Agricole, Algeria, in 1974. He completed his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in plant pathology under Dr. Claude Bernier of the Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba. Dr. Lamari was hired in 1990 by the Department of Plant Science, University of Manitoba where he worked until his death.
Dr. Lamari was an international expert in the host-pathogen interactions of the Pyrenophora tritici-repentis – wheat pathosystem. He was the first to determine that there were two distinct symptoms of tan spot; necrosis and chlorosis. His studies established conclusively that the pathogen was highly specialized in its interaction with its wheat host, a conclusion which contradicted the prevailing ideas.
The “necrosischlorosis” hypothesis that has become the basis for most tan spot programs worldwide.
Inheritance studies demonstrated that the reaction to each toxin was controlled by a single locus in the host. Molecular work further validated the host-pathogen model that he proposed. This model states that host-specific toxins are the underlying mechanism of compatibility between the host and the pathogen and differences in virulence between races are explained by the combination of the different host-specific toxins they possess.
A third toxin, Ptr ToxC, was predicted by several of Dr. Lamari’s studies and was isolated by the North Dakota group. Dr. Lamari indicated in his writings that the wheat/P. tritici-repentis system is a mirrorimage of the classical gene-for-gene model, a conclusion of great significance. Through his work, Dr. Lamari was able to provide a coherent model of the host-pathogen interactions for this important disease and provide the underlying molecular proof.
His contributions to this field are now used by plant pathologists, breeders and molecular biologists involved in the study of tan spot worldwide. The work also resulted in the development of a wheat cultivar, in collaboration with Dr. A. Brule-Babel, with insensitivity to Ptr ToxA (necrosisinducing toxin) and resistance to tan spot, which was released as “Amazon”.
Dr. Lamari had a great interest in the application of digital image analysis for disease quantification. A fundamental problem in plant pathology remains the accurate, rapid and objective assessment of disease. The challenge for Dr. Lamari was not only the programming aspect, a daunting task in itself, but also the design and implementation of a functional and user-friendly interface. He successfully developed a user-friendly and intuitive software package named Assess, which requires no knowledge of computer programming or image processing. The software was designed and implemented to provide an accurate tool to quantify diseases, measure leaf area, ground cover, root length as well as any other tasks. It was released in 2002 and is marketed by the American Phytopathological Society. It represents the first software of this nature published by the APS. According to APS press staff, the release was highly successful and the software has been well received by researchers in the area of plant pathology, as well as other areas of research.
Dr. Lamari published 35 refereed publications in national and international journals, one book chapter and has given three invited papers at international conferences. He had also given invited seminars in Canada, Azerbaijan, Iran, Syria and the U.S.A. He had supervised nine M.Sc. students and four Ph.D. students, as well as served as a member of numerous graduate student committees.
In 2007 the Canadian Phytopathological Society (CPS) presented the Outstanding Research Award to Dr. Lakhdar Lamari.
He is married with "Janet ", he has two children Adam and Lewis.
