Yigal Elad Full Professor
Researcher
- Institute of Plant Protection
- Plant Pathology and Weed Research
- Department of Plant Pathology
- +972-39683539
Biography
Prof. Yigal Elad is an active retired senior researcher at the Dept. of Plant Pathology and Weed Research, Institute of Plant Protection of the Volcani Institute. He is also Full Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture. He graduated at the Faculty of Agriculture, Rehovot, Israel and was granted the M. Sc. (1979) and Doctorate (1983). Then he conducted a Post Doc research in the Colorado State University with the late Prof. Ralf Baker followed by a Post Doc with Prof. Ilan Chet at the Faculty of Agriculture. Prof. Elad joined the Volcani Institute during 1985 and since then he works as a researcher in the Dept. of Plant Pathology. Prof. Elad spent Sabbatical leaves at IPO-DLO, Wageningen (1992) and the University of London (Birkbeck College) and Lincoln University New Zealand (2002-2003). He served as the President (2009-11) and Honorary President (2019-22) of the Israeli Society of Phytopathology. He served as the head of the Department of Plant Pathology (1998-2002) and of the Institute of Plant Protection (2014-17) in the Volcani Institute. During 2002-2010 Prof. Elad served has the head of Plant Pathology Unit of research center at Istituto Agrario di S. Michele all’Adige (IASMA), Trentino, Italy. He was the Convenor of Integrated Control of Plant Pathogens Working Group of the IOBC/WPRS during two terms (1998-2008) and a member of the council of IOBC/WPRS (2009-13). Prof. Elad was honored with the Volcani Institute prizes and Researcher of the Year (1999) and Life Achievements (2018) and internationally honored with the Fellow Awards of the American Society of Phytopathology (APS, 2010) and the International Society of Plant Pathology (ISPP, 2023). He was elected twice to lead the working group of IOBC plant diseases BCAs and served many years as an IOBC council member. He served as an organizer, a member of committees, a keynote speaker, an invited lecturer, and a chairperson at many international conferences. Elad was involved in many research programs, including cooperation with USA, European, Mediterranean, Colombian and Palestinian groups. He headed major projects, e.g., climate change effect on plant-pathogen interactions, diseases in herbal crops, IR commercialization, and gene editing for disease resistance. Elad voluntarily led phytopathology courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Education
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1974-1977
B.Sc. with honors in Agriculture at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture (HUJI), Rehovot, Israel
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1978
M. Sc. with honors at the HUJI Title of thesis: Biological control of Sclerotium rolfsii with Trichoderma harzianum Supervision by: I. Chet, Y. Katan, and Y. Henis
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1979-1983
Ph. D., HUJI Title of thesis: The mechanism of biological control of soil-borne plant pathogens by Trichoderma harzianum Supervision by: I. Chet
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1983-1984
Postdoctoral position (Visiting Scientist) at Colorado State University, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology with R. Baker Research subject: Interaction of Pseudomonads with Fusaria
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1984-1985
Researcher at HUJI, Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology Research subject: Biocontrol of Pythium aphanidermatum with bacteria
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1992
Visiting scientist during Sabbatical leave at IPO-DLO, Wageningen, The Netherlands with N.J. Fokkema Research subject: Suppression of infection and conidiation of Botrytis cinerea
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2002-2003
Honorary Scientific Research Fellow during Sabbatical leave at Birkbeck College, University of London with J.L. Nicklin Faull, S. Baker, and P. Bridge Research subject: Interaction between host plant, biocontrol agent, pathogen, and indigenous microflora
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2003
Short Sabbatical leave at Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand with A. Stewart Research subject: Molecular aspects of biocontrol
Research Interests
In his early research Prof. Elad studied mechanisms and application of biocontrol of soil-borne diseases. Elad continued his biocontrol studies at the Volcani Institute, finding, developing, and implementing new BCAs like Trichoderma that was patented, registered worldwide, and commercialized (‘Trichodex’). Elad’s laboratory in the Volcani Institute has become a world center for biocontrol research, developing biocontrol preparations, cooperating with many research groups and industries worldwide. His work triggered and stimulated numerous studies worldwide on biocontrol-based and integrated disease management. This led to the development of a novel decision support system and researching biocontrol modes of action (i.e. his leading research describes induced resistance (IR) by biocontrol agents). Furthermore, management of plant diseases with nutritional elements’, physical treatments’, biochar’s, entomopathogenic agents’ and agro-techniques’ effects were studied and developed. Induced resistance was characterized in various patho-systems and also was well characterized in plants affected by arthropod pests. The phenomena are characterized by plant-molecular work and led in recent years to the development of patented, IR commercial products with local and international agrochemical companies.
Elad’s basic and applied research on gray mold, powdery and downy mildews led to integrated management systems used in greenhouses and in open field, thus reducing applications of chemical fungicides and preventing the development of fungicides’ resistance in practice. Prof. Elad is recognized as a leader in Botrytis research; he organized Botrytis symposia and edited with three editors the Springer’s ‘Botrytis, Biology, Pathology, and Control’ (2004) and ‘Botrytis – the Fungus, the Pathogen and its Management in Agricultural Systems’ (with S. Filinger, 2016). Past and present Prof. Elad’s research cooperation with researchers spans locally in the Volcani Institute and Israeli institutes as well as in various countries. He supervised more than 80 M.Sc. and Doctorate students, PostDocs and young researchers. He published >228 reviewed articles as well as many books, book chapters, proceeding articles and publications in Hebrew.
Yigal Elad Reviewed publications 3 2025
Books and Book chapters Yigal Elad 3 2025
Symposium papers and monographs Yigal Elad 5 2025
Allowed patents and commercial products Yigal Elad 3 2025
Yigal Elad 3 2025 Abstracts presented in scientific meetings
Research Areas
- Plant diseases, Plant -pathogen interaction, Disease control, Pest management, Biological control, Cultural control
- Development of control means, Induced resistance, Resistance of pathogens to fungicides, Integrated management
- Biocontrol agent, Trichoderma, Bacillus, Plant Pathogen, Botrytis, Gray mold, Downy mildew, Powdery mildew