Mohamed SH, Khalifa MOA, Babiker NN (2018b) Physiological and
symbiotic characteristics of rhizobia isolated from medicago
polymorpha L and trigonella stellate L growing in semi-arid regions
of Libya. Adv Biosci Bioeng 6(4):34–41
Moubasher AH (2010) Endangered desert truffles in Egypt and
neighbouring Arab countries, with further notes on their distribution. Mycol Balc 7(1):59–64
Mouchacca J (2005) Mycobiota of the arid middle east: check-list of
novel fungal taxa introduced from 1940 to 2000 and major recent
biodiversity titles. J Arid Environ 60(3):359–387
Naim MS (1965) Development of rhizosphere and rhizoplane
microflora of Aristida coerulescens in the Libyan Desert. Archiv
für Mikrobiologie 50(4):321–325
Naim MS (1967) Contribution to the knowledge of soil fungi in Libya.
Mycopathologia et mycologia applicata 31(4):296–299
Naim M S (1976a). Contribution to the knowledge of soil fungi in
Libya. I. Rhizosphere and soil fungi of Artemisia herbaalba in
Tripoli. Mycopath. Mycol. Appl. (31):296–299
Naim M S (1976b) Contribution to the knowledge of soil fungi in
Libya. II. Fungus flora under Citrus trees in Libya. Mycopath Mycol
Appl (31):296–299
Sedra MH (2010) Evaluation of soil receptivity of date palm groves in
Arab countries to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis, causal agent
of Bayoud disease of date palm. In: IV international date palm
conference, vol 882, pp 515–525
Selim, Nour El Dein MS (1971) Search for antagonistic Actinomycetae
in Libyan soils. Canad J Microbiol 17(5):731–735
Selim, Nour El Dein MS, Khalil GA (1979) Investigations into
rhizosphere microflora of some plants in Libya. Mikrobiologie der
Landwirtschaft, der Technologie und des Umweltschutzes 134
(3):237–242
Shaban G M (1986) Physiological and ecological studies on the genus
Trichoderma in Egypt soils. PhD Thesis, Faculty of Science,
El-Minia University, El-Minia, Egypt
Shaieb FM, Elghazawani AH, Issa A (2015) Studies on crude oil
degrading bacteria isolated from Libyan desert. Int J Current
Microbiol Appl Sci 4(2):920–927
Shoaib FM, Fitouri MY, Attiat Allah EH (2009) Tolerance of some
Rhizobium leguminosae bv. Vicia strains to different salt concentrations. Al-Mukhtar J Sci 23:127–140
Taher AA, Abubaker NS, Hesham MA, El-Komy (2019) Screening of
different isolates of Azospirillum for growth at different salt (Nacl)
concentrations. The third international conference on basic science
and their applications. Special conference issue, vol 1, no 1,
pp 454–462
Watanabe T, Uematsu S, Inoue Y (1988) Pathogenicity of twenty-three
Pythium isolates from soils of Shikoku Island. Trans Mycol Soc Jpn
54:565–570
Watanabe T (2002) Pictorial atlas of soil and seed fungi, Morphologies
of cultured fungi and key to species, 2nd edn. CRC Press
Youssef YA (1974) On the fungal flora of Libyan soils. Arch Microbiol
99:167–171
Zahran HH (1991) Conditions for Successful Rhizobium-legume
Symbiosis in saline environments. Biol Fertil Soil 12:73–80
Zahran HH (1999) Rhizobium- legume symbiosis and nitrogen fixation
under severe condition and in arid climate. Microbiol Mol Biol Rew
63:968–989
Zaid AM, Mayouf M, Said YF (2014) The effect of pre-emergent
herbicides on soil microflora and N-fixing bacteria in pea field. Int J
Sci Basic Appl Res 15:131–138
Zekry Y (2005) Libyan Climate an applied study of physiological
climate patterns. PhD Dissertation, Department of Urban
development Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography, University of
Mentouri. Constantine, Algeria
Zurqani H, Mikhailova E, Post C, Schlautman M, Sharp J (2018)
Predicting the classes and distribution of salt-affected soils in
north-west Libya. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 49(6):689–700
Zurqani HA, Mikhailova EA, Post CJ, Schlautman MA, Elhawej AR
(2019) A review of Libyan soil databases for use within an
ecosystem services framework. Land 8(5):82
Dr. Eman Ali Ferjani is an associate professor at the Department of Soil
and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tripoli, Tripoli,
Libya. She received the M.Sc. (Agricultural Science) in 1997 from
University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya. Dr. Ferjani completed her Ph.D. (in
Microbiology) from science and biotechnology, School of Microbiology,
UKM University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2011. She started her career
as a researcher in environmental microbiology since 1990. She received
intensive training from The International Center for Agricultural Research in
the Dry Area (ICARDA) in the field of biofertilizer and biological nitrogen
fixation in 1989/1990. Dr. Ferjani held the position of head of the Basic
Sciences Department of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tripoli,
Tripoli, Libya from 2013 to 2018. Her major research and teaching activity
focused mainly on soil microbiology, biotechnology and soil, water, and
plant analysis in addition to soil fertility. Her current research centers on
environmental pollution mainly on the biodegradation of waste oil, plastics,
and heavy metals in soil. She teaches courses of microbiology, soil
microbiology, and soil, water, and plant analysis, and has supervised the
graduation of master’s and bachelor’s degree students. Dr. Ferjani is also
working as an associate professor in the Department of Environmental
Engineering, Libyan Academy, Tripoli.
Dr. Merfat Taher Ben Mahmoud is an assistant professor of soil science
at the Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya. She received her M.Sc. (Agricultural
Sciences) in 1998 from University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya. Dr. Ben
Mahmoud completed her Ph.D. in (Soil Microbiology) from RMIT
University, Melbourne, Australia, in 2009. She specialized in biotechnology
and environmental biology. Her main research interests focused on soil
fertility, plant nutrition, soil microbiology, and biofertilizer studies. She has
been teaching courses and has supervised the graduation of master’s and
bachelor’s degree students since 2009.
Dr. Asma Alnajjar, Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, is an associate professor
at the Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya. She has over 30 years of experience as
a researcher in environmental microbiology and biotechnology. Her past
research subjects were on harmful plant–microbe interaction, antimicrobial
effects of native medicinal plant extracts, biodegradation, and decolorization
of synthetic dyes. Her current research is focusing on improving soil quality
through the study of the role of soil microorganisms in nutrition and protection, the effect of agrochemicals on non-targeted soil microorganisms,
and soil biocementation. Future research will concentrate on regenerative
agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions for food security. She teaches
graduate and undergraduate courses of microbiology, biochemistry,
molecular biology, and biotechnology. Apart from her research and teaching
activities, she has participated as one of the team for the establishment of the
biotechnology research center in Tripoli. For the past few years, she has
served as a department graduate coordinator and also director of the graduate and training office in the faculty of agriculture.
118
E. A. Ferjani et al.
symbiotic characteristics of rhizobia isolated from medicago
polymorpha L and trigonella stellate L growing in semi-arid regions
of Libya. Adv Biosci Bioeng 6(4):34–41
Moubasher AH (2010) Endangered desert truffles in Egypt and
neighbouring Arab countries, with further notes on their distribution. Mycol Balc 7(1):59–64
Mouchacca J (2005) Mycobiota of the arid middle east: check-list of
novel fungal taxa introduced from 1940 to 2000 and major recent
biodiversity titles. J Arid Environ 60(3):359–387
Naim MS (1965) Development of rhizosphere and rhizoplane
microflora of Aristida coerulescens in the Libyan Desert. Archiv
für Mikrobiologie 50(4):321–325
Naim MS (1967) Contribution to the knowledge of soil fungi in Libya.
Mycopathologia et mycologia applicata 31(4):296–299
Naim M S (1976a). Contribution to the knowledge of soil fungi in
Libya. I. Rhizosphere and soil fungi of Artemisia herbaalba in
Tripoli. Mycopath. Mycol. Appl. (31):296–299
Naim M S (1976b) Contribution to the knowledge of soil fungi in
Libya. II. Fungus flora under Citrus trees in Libya. Mycopath Mycol
Appl (31):296–299
Sedra MH (2010) Evaluation of soil receptivity of date palm groves in
Arab countries to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis, causal agent
of Bayoud disease of date palm. In: IV international date palm
conference, vol 882, pp 515–525
Selim, Nour El Dein MS (1971) Search for antagonistic Actinomycetae
in Libyan soils. Canad J Microbiol 17(5):731–735
Selim, Nour El Dein MS, Khalil GA (1979) Investigations into
rhizosphere microflora of some plants in Libya. Mikrobiologie der
Landwirtschaft, der Technologie und des Umweltschutzes 134
(3):237–242
Shaban G M (1986) Physiological and ecological studies on the genus
Trichoderma in Egypt soils. PhD Thesis, Faculty of Science,
El-Minia University, El-Minia, Egypt
Shaieb FM, Elghazawani AH, Issa A (2015) Studies on crude oil
degrading bacteria isolated from Libyan desert. Int J Current
Microbiol Appl Sci 4(2):920–927
Shoaib FM, Fitouri MY, Attiat Allah EH (2009) Tolerance of some
Rhizobium leguminosae bv. Vicia strains to different salt concentrations. Al-Mukhtar J Sci 23:127–140
Taher AA, Abubaker NS, Hesham MA, El-Komy (2019) Screening of
different isolates of Azospirillum for growth at different salt (Nacl)
concentrations. The third international conference on basic science
and their applications. Special conference issue, vol 1, no 1,
pp 454–462
Watanabe T, Uematsu S, Inoue Y (1988) Pathogenicity of twenty-three
Pythium isolates from soils of Shikoku Island. Trans Mycol Soc Jpn
54:565–570
Watanabe T (2002) Pictorial atlas of soil and seed fungi, Morphologies
of cultured fungi and key to species, 2nd edn. CRC Press
Youssef YA (1974) On the fungal flora of Libyan soils. Arch Microbiol
99:167–171
Zahran HH (1991) Conditions for Successful Rhizobium-legume
Symbiosis in saline environments. Biol Fertil Soil 12:73–80
Zahran HH (1999) Rhizobium- legume symbiosis and nitrogen fixation
under severe condition and in arid climate. Microbiol Mol Biol Rew
63:968–989
Zaid AM, Mayouf M, Said YF (2014) The effect of pre-emergent
herbicides on soil microflora and N-fixing bacteria in pea field. Int J
Sci Basic Appl Res 15:131–138
Zekry Y (2005) Libyan Climate an applied study of physiological
climate patterns. PhD Dissertation, Department of Urban
development Faculty of Earth Sciences, Geography, University of
Mentouri. Constantine, Algeria
Zurqani H, Mikhailova E, Post C, Schlautman M, Sharp J (2018)
Predicting the classes and distribution of salt-affected soils in
north-west Libya. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 49(6):689–700
Zurqani HA, Mikhailova EA, Post CJ, Schlautman MA, Elhawej AR
(2019) A review of Libyan soil databases for use within an
ecosystem services framework. Land 8(5):82
Dr. Eman Ali Ferjani is an associate professor at the Department of Soil
and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tripoli, Tripoli,
Libya. She received the M.Sc. (Agricultural Science) in 1997 from
University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya. Dr. Ferjani completed her Ph.D. (in
Microbiology) from science and biotechnology, School of Microbiology,
UKM University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2011. She started her career
as a researcher in environmental microbiology since 1990. She received
intensive training from The International Center for Agricultural Research in
the Dry Area (ICARDA) in the field of biofertilizer and biological nitrogen
fixation in 1989/1990. Dr. Ferjani held the position of head of the Basic
Sciences Department of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tripoli,
Tripoli, Libya from 2013 to 2018. Her major research and teaching activity
focused mainly on soil microbiology, biotechnology and soil, water, and
plant analysis in addition to soil fertility. Her current research centers on
environmental pollution mainly on the biodegradation of waste oil, plastics,
and heavy metals in soil. She teaches courses of microbiology, soil
microbiology, and soil, water, and plant analysis, and has supervised the
graduation of master’s and bachelor’s degree students. Dr. Ferjani is also
working as an associate professor in the Department of Environmental
Engineering, Libyan Academy, Tripoli.
Dr. Merfat Taher Ben Mahmoud is an assistant professor of soil science
at the Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya. She received her M.Sc. (Agricultural
Sciences) in 1998 from University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya. Dr. Ben
Mahmoud completed her Ph.D. in (Soil Microbiology) from RMIT
University, Melbourne, Australia, in 2009. She specialized in biotechnology
and environmental biology. Her main research interests focused on soil
fertility, plant nutrition, soil microbiology, and biofertilizer studies. She has
been teaching courses and has supervised the graduation of master’s and
bachelor’s degree students since 2009.
Dr. Asma Alnajjar, Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, is an associate professor
at the Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture,
University of Tripoli, Tripoli, Libya. She has over 30 years of experience as
a researcher in environmental microbiology and biotechnology. Her past
research subjects were on harmful plant–microbe interaction, antimicrobial
effects of native medicinal plant extracts, biodegradation, and decolorization
of synthetic dyes. Her current research is focusing on improving soil quality
through the study of the role of soil microorganisms in nutrition and protection, the effect of agrochemicals on non-targeted soil microorganisms,
and soil biocementation. Future research will concentrate on regenerative
agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions for food security. She teaches
graduate and undergraduate courses of microbiology, biochemistry,
molecular biology, and biotechnology. Apart from her research and teaching
activities, she has participated as one of the team for the establishment of the
biotechnology research center in Tripoli. For the past few years, she has
served as a department graduate coordinator and also director of the graduate and training office in the faculty of agriculture.
118
E. A. Ferjani et al.