Dr. Rafet Al-Tobasei

Assistant Professor

Dr. Rafet Al-Tobasei
(615) 898-5848
Room 404, James E. Walker Library (LIB)
MTSU Box 48, Murfreesboro, TN 37132

Degree Information

  • PHD, Middle Tennessee State University (2017)
  • MA, Middle Tennessee State University (2011)
  • MS, Middle Tennessee State University (2011)
  • BS, Tennessee State University (2007)

Areas of Expertise

My primary research is focused on using bioinformatics tools to help Biology Scientists solve complex problems related to Aquaculture species.

Area of interest:

RNA seq

Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS)

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP)

Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)

Methylation

Chip-Seq

Publications

Streeter SA, Williams AG, Evans JR, Wang J, Guarnaccia AD, Florian AC, Al Tobasei, Liu Q, Tansey WP, Weissmiller AM. Mitotic gene regulation by the N-MYC-WDR5-PDPK1 nexus. BMC Genomics. 2024 Apr 11;25(1):360. doi: 10.1186/s12864-024-10282-6. PubMed PMID: 38605297; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11007937.  

Ali, A., Shaalan, W. M., Al Tobasei, R. F., Salem, M. S. (2022). Coding and Noncoding Genes Involved in Atrophy and Compensatory Muscle Growth in Ni...

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Streeter SA, Williams AG, Evans JR, Wang J, Guarnaccia AD, Florian AC, Al Tobasei, Liu Q, Tansey WP, Weissmiller AM. Mitotic gene regulation by the N-MYC-WDR5-PDPK1 nexus. BMC Genomics. 2024 Apr 11;25(1):360. doi: 10.1186/s12864-024-10282-6. PubMed PMID: 38605297; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11007937.  

Ali, A., Shaalan, W. M., Al Tobasei, R. F., Salem, M. S. (2022). Coding and Noncoding Genes Involved in Atrophy and Compensatory Muscle Growth in Nile Tilapia. Cells, 11(16). doi: 10.3390/cells11162504. PubMed PMID: 36010581; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9406742  

Ahmed, R. O., Ali, A., Al Tobasei, R. F., Leeds, T., Kenney, B., Salem, M. S. (2022). Weighted Single-Step GWAS Identifies Genes Influencing Fillet Color in Rainbow Trout. Genes, 13(8). doi: 10.3390/genes13081331. PubMed PMID: 35893068; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9332390.  

Salem, M. S., Al Tobasei, R. F., Ali, A., Kenney, B. (2022). Integrated Analyses of DNA Methylation and Gene Expression of Rainbow Trout Muscle under Variable Ploidy and Muscle Atrophy Conditions. Genes, 13(7). doi: 10.3390/genes13071151. PubMed PMID: 35885934; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9319582.  

Al-Tobasei, R., Ali, A., Garcia, A.L.S. et al. Genomic predictions for fillet yield and firmness in rainbow trout using reduced-density SNP panels. BMC Genomics 22, 92 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-021-07404-9.  PubMed PMID: 33516179; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7847601.  

Ali A, Al-Tobasei R, Lourenco D, Leeds T, Kenney B, Salem M. Genome-wide scan for common variants associated with intramuscular fat and moisture content in rainbow trout. BMC Genomics. 2020 Jul 31;21(1):529. doi: 10.1186/s12864-020-06932-0. PubMed PMID: 32736521; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7393730.  

Ali A, Al-Tobasei R, Lourenco D, Leeds T, Kenney B, Salem M. Genome-wide identification of loci associated with growth in rainbow trout. BMC Genomics. 2020 Mar 5;21(1):209. doi: 10.1186/s12864-020-6617-x. PubMed PMID: 32138655; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7059289.  

Minoo Bagheri, Hemant K Tiwari, Anarina L Murillo, Rafet Al-Tobasei, Donna K Arnett, Tobias Kind, Dinesh Kumar Barupal, Sili Fan, Oliver Fiehn, Jeff O’Connell, May Montasser, Stella Aslibekyan, Marguerite R Irvin, "A lipidome-wide association study of the lipoprotein insulin resistance index," Lipids in Health and Disease, vol. 19, no. 1, p. 153, 2020/06/25 2020, doi: 10.1186/s12944-020-01321-8. PubMed PMID: 32586392; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7318473.  

Ali Ali, Al-Tobasei Rafet, Lourenco Daniela, Leeds Tim, Kenney Brett, Salem Mohamed. Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Genomic Loci Affecting Filet Firmness and Protein Content in Rainbow Trout. Frontiers in Genetics. 2019.00386. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00386. eCollection 2019. PubMed PMID: 31130980; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6509548.       

Salem, M; Al-Tobasei R; Ali, A; Lourenco, D; Gao, G; Palti, Y; Kenney, B. Genome-wide association analysis with a 50K transcribed gene SNP-chip identifies QTL affecting muscle yield in rainbow trout. Frontiers in Genetics, 2018:00387. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2018.00387. eCollection 2018. PubMed PMID: 30283492; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6157414.  

A. Ali, R. Al-Tobasei, B. Kenney, T. D. Leeds, and M. Salem, "Integrated analysis of lncRNA and mRNA expression in rainbow trout families showing variation in muscle growth and fillet quality traits," Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 12111, 2018/08/14 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-30655-8. PubMed PMID: 30108261; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6092380.  

B. Paneru, A. Ali, R. Al-Tobasei, B. Kenney, and M. Salem, "Crosstalk among lncRNAs, microRNAs and mRNAs in the muscle ‘degradome’ of rainbow trout," Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 1, p. 8416, 2018/05/30 2018. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-26753-2. PubMed PMID: 29849185; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5976669.    

Al-Tobasei, R., A. Ali, T. D. Leeds, S. Liu, Y. Palti, B. Kenney & M. Salem (2017) Identification of SNPs associated with muscle yield and quality traits using allelic-imbalance analyses of pooled RNA-Seq samples in rainbow trout. BMC Genomics, 18, 582.  

B. D. Paneru, R. Al-Tobasei, B. Kenney, T. D. Leeds, and M. Salem, "RNA-Seq reveals MicroRNA expression signature and genetic polymorphism associated with growth and muscle quality traits in rainbow trout," Scientific Reports, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 9078, 2017/08/22 2017.

Abdelrahman, H., M. ElHady, A. Alcivar-Warren, S. Allen, R. Al-Tobasei, L. Bao, B. Beck, H. Blackburn, B. Bosworth, J. Buchanan, J. Chappell, W. Daniels, S. Dong, R. Dunham, E. Durland, A. Elaswad, M. Gomez-Chiarri, K. Gosh, X. Guo, P. Hackett, T. Hanson, D. Hedgecock, T. Howard, L. Holland, M. Jackson, Y. Jin, K. Khalil, T. Kocher, T. Leeds, N. Li, L. Lindsey, S. Liu, Z. Liu, K. Martin, R. Novriadi, R. Odin, Y. Palti, E. Peatman, D. Proestou, G. Qin, B. Reading, C. Rexroad, S. Roberts, M. Salem, A. Severin, H. Shi, C. Shoemaker, S. Stiles, S. Tan, K. F. J. Tang, W. Thongda, T. Tiersch, J. Tomasso, W. T. Prabowo, R. Vallejo, H. van der Steen, K. Vo, G. Waldbieser, H. Wang, X. Wang, J. Xiang, Y. Yang, R. Yant, Z. Yuan, Q. Zeng & T. Zhou (2017) Aquaculture genomics, genetics and breeding in the United States: current status, challenges, and priorities for future research. BMC Genomics, 18, 191.  

Paneru B, Al-Tobasei R, Palti Y, Wiens GD, Salem M (2106) Differential expression of long non-coding RNAs in three genetic lines of rainbow trout in response to infection with Flavobacterium psychrophilum. Scientific Reports 2016, 6:36032.

Al-Tobasei R, Paneru B, Salem M (2016) Genome-Wide Discovery of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Rainbow Trout. PLoS ONE 11(2): e0148940. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148940 2015  

Salem M, Paneru B, Al-Tobasei R, Abdouni F, Thorgaard GH, et al. (2015) Transcriptome Assembly, Gene Annotation and Tissue Gene Expression Atlas of the Rainbow Trout. PLoS ONE 10(3): e0121778. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121778

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