Количествена генетика на културните растения

Да се използва богатото природно генетично разнообразие при зеленчуковите култури чрез подходи на количествена генетика и системна биология, с цел разбиране на растителните отговори към абиотични стресови фактори и постигане на култури с повишена устойчивост на стрес, както и с подобрени хранителни свойства. Ръководител на отдела ще бъде носителят на ERA Chair – изтъкнатият учен д-р Сале Алсекх, който има впечатляващ научен опит и публикации (над 120 публикации в международни рецензирани списания, включително Nature Biotechnology, Nature Communications, Nature Genetics, Molecular Plant, Plant Cell, Trends in Plant Science и др., както и повече от 3500 цитирания). Под негово ръководство изследователският отдел ще разшири приложните изследвания в областта на селекцията на зеленчукови култури в ЦРСББ и региона.

Освен това, новият отдел на ЦРСББ ще установи връзки с български и международни научни организации, компании и асоциации на земеделски производители в областта на растителните науки, създавайки екосистемна мрежа, която е силно привлекателна за талантливи изследователи и предоставя иновации на крайните потребители в полза на обществото.

Публикации:

2025

• Alseekh S., Klemmer A., Yan J., Guo T., Fernie A.R. (2025)
  • Embracing plant plasticity or robustness as a means of ensuring food security. Nature Communications. 6(1): 461. (IF 14.7)

• López C.M., Alseekh S., Martínez Rivas F.J., Fernie A.R., Prieto P., Alamillo J.M. (2025)
  • CRISPR/Cas9 editing of two adenine phosphoribosyl transferase coding genes reveals the functional specialization of adenine salvage proteins in common bean. Journal of Experimental Botany. 76(2): 346–362. (IF 5.8)

• Marks R.A., Ekwealor J.T.B., Artur M.A.S., Bondi L., Boothby T.C., Carmo O.M.S., Centeno D.C., Coe K.K., Dace H.J.W., Field S., Hutt A., Porembski S., Thalhammer A., Pas L., Wood A.J., Alpert P., Bartels D., Boeynaems S., Datar M.N., Giese T., Seidou W..I, Kirchner S.M., Köhler J., Kumara S., Kyung J. Lyall R., Mishler B.D., Ndongmo T., Otegui S., Reddy V., Rexroth J., Tebele SM, VanBuren R., Verdier J., Vothknecht U.C., Wittenberg M.F., Zokov E., Oliver M.J., Rhee S.Y. (2025)
  • Life on the dry side: a roadmap to understanding desiccation tolerance and accelerating translational applications. Nature Communications. 16(1): 3284. (IF 14.7)

• Priego-Cubero S., Knoch E., Wang Z., Alseekh S., Braun K.H., Chapman P., Fernie A.R., Liu C., Becker C. (2025)
  • Subfunctionalization and epigenetic regulation of a biosynthetic gene cluster in Solanaceae. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 122(8): e2420164122. (IF 9.4)

• Sacharowski S.P., Kubala S., Cwiek P., Steciuk J., Gratkowska-Zmuda D., Oksinska P., Bucior E., Rolicka A.T., Ciesla M., Nowicka K., Alseekh S., Tohge T., Giavalisco P, Zugaj D.L., Stolze S.C., Harzen A., Franzen R., Huettel B., Grzesiuk E., Hajirezaei M.R., Nakagami H., Koncz C., Fernie A.R., Sarnowski T.J. (2025)
  • BAF60/SWP73 subunits define subclasses of SWI/SNF chromatin remodelling complexes in Arabidopsis. New Phytologist. DOI: 10.1111/nph.70182. (IF 8.3)

• Tiozon R.N., Pasion-Uy E., Alseekh S., Sartagoda K.J.D., Gempesaw S., Tolentino J.H.G., Fernie A.R., Sreenivasulu N. (2025)
  • Lipidomics-based association study reveals genomic signatures of anti-cancer qualities of pigmented rice sprouts. Frontiers in Plant Science. 16: 1533442. (IF 4.1)

• Vatov E., Gechev T. (2025)
  • Recent evidence for transgenerational adaptation resulting from stress induced changes in the cytosine methylation landscape of plants. Plant Stress. DOI: 10.1016/j.stress.2025.100812. (IF 6.8)

• Zhang J., Alseekh S., Fernie A.R., Qian D., Huang L. (2025)
  • Chemical characterization of lipids provides new insights into goji berry metabolism. ACS Food Science and Technology. 5(2): 761–769. (IF 2.6)

2024

• Badoni S., Pasion‑Uy A., Kor S., Kim S.R., Tiozon R.N., Misra G., Buenafe R.Q., Labarga L.M., Ramos‑Castrosanto A.R., Pratap V., Slamet‑Loedin I., Steimker J.V., Alseekh S., Fernie A.R., Kohli A., Khush G.S., Sreenivasulu N. (2024)
  • Multiomics of a rice population identifies genes and genomic regions that bestow low glycemic index and high protein content. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 121(36): e2410598121. (IF 9.4)

• Bortlik J., Lühle J., Alseekh S., Weiste C., Fernie A.R., Dröge‑Laser W., Börnke F. (2024)
  • DOMAIN OF UNKNOWN FUNCTION581‑9 negatively regulates SnRK1 kinase activity. Plant Physiology 194(3): 1853‑1869. (IF 8.0)

• Domer A., Jasinska W., Rosental L., Shochat E., Alseekh S., Fernie A.R., Brotman Y., Ovadia O. (2024)
  • Comparative analysis of the plasma metabolome of migrating passerines: novel insights into stopover metabolism. Journal of Avian Biology 2024: e03331. (IF 1.5)

• Dziubek D., Poeker L., Siemiątkowska B., Graf A., Marino G., Alseekh S., Arrivault S., Fernie A.R., Armbruster U., Geigenberger P. (2024)
  • NTRC and thioredoxins m1/m2 underpin the light acclimation of plants on proteome and metabolome levels. Plant Physiology 194(2): 982‑1005. (IF 6.6)

• Ebert A., Alseekh S., D’Andrea L., Roessner U., Bock R., Kopka J. (2024)
  • Detailed profiling of 17‑Hydroxygeranyllinalool diterpene glycosides from Nicotiana species reveals complex reaction networks of conjugation isomers. Metabolites 14(10): 562. (IF 3.4)

• Farag M.A., Baky M.H., Kühnhold H., Kriege E.A., Kunzmann A., Alseekh S., Al‑Hammady M.A., Ezz S., Fernie A.R., Westphal H., Stuhr M. (2024)
  • Effects of thermal and UV stress on the polar and non‑polar metabolome of photosymbiotic jellyfish and sea anemones. Marine Pollution Bulletin 208: 116983. (IF 5.3)

• Fontanet‑Manzaneque J.B., Laibach N., Herrero‑García I., Coleto‑Alcudia V., Blasco‑Escámez D., Zhang C., Orduña L., Alseekh S., Miller S., Bjarnholt N., Fernie A.R., Matus J.T., Caño‑Delgado A.I. (2024)
  • Untargeted mutagenesis of brassinosteroid receptor SbBRI1 confers drought tolerance by altering phenylpropanoid metabolism in Sorghum bicolor. Plant Biotechnology Journal 22(12): 3227‑3535. (IF 11.2)

• Kanojia A., Lyall R., Sujeeth N., Alseekh S., Martínez-Rivas F., Fernie A.R., Gechev T., Petrov V. (2024)
  • Physiological and molecular insights into the effect of a seaweed biostimulant on enhancing fruit yield and drought tolerance in tomato. Plant Stress. 14: 100692. (IF 6.8)

• Kazakov P., Alseekh S., Ivanova V., Gechev T. (2024)
  • Biostimulant‑based molecular priming improves crop quality and enhances yield of raspberry and strawberry fruits. Metabolites 14(11): 594. (IF 3.4)

• López-Tubau J.M., Laibach N., Burciaga-Monge A., Alseekh S., Deng C., Fernie A.R., Altabella T., Ferrer A. (2024)
  • Differential impact of impaired steryl ester biosynthesis on the metabolome of tomato fruits and seeds. 177(1): e70022. Physiologia Plantarum. (IF 5.4)

• Naake T., Zhu F., Alseekh S., Scossa F., Perez de Souza L., Borghi M., Brotman Y., Mori T., Nakabayashi R., Tohge T., Fernie A.R. (2024)
  • Genome‑wide association studies identify loci controlling specialized seed metabolites in Arabidopsis. Plant Physiology 194(3): 1705‑1721. (IF 6.5)

• Stavrakeva K., Metodieva K., Benina M., Bivolarska A., Dimov I., Choneva M., Kokova V., Alseekh S., Ivanova V., Vatov E., Gechev T., Mladenova T., Mladenov R., Todorov K., Stoyanov P., Gyuzeleva D., Popova M., Apostolova E. (2024)
  • Metabolic composition of methanolic extract of the Balkan endemic species Micromeria frivaldszkyana (Degen) Velen and Its Anti-Inflammatory Effect on Male Wistar Rats. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 25(10): 5396. (IF 5.6)

• Steimker J., Tripodi P., Wendenburg R., Tringovska I., Nankar A., Stoeva V., Pasev G., Klemmer A., Todorova V., Bulut M., Tikunov Y., Bovy A., Gechev T., Kostova D., Fernie A.R., Alseekh S. (2024)
  • The genetic architecture of the pepper metabolome and the biosynthesis of its signature capsianoside metabolites. Current Biology 34(18): 4209‑4223.e3. (IF 8.1)

• Timm S., Klaas N., Niemann J., Jahnke K., Alseekh S., Zhang Y., Souza P.L., Hou L.Y., Cosse M., Selinski J., Geigenberger P., Daloso D.M., Fernie A.R., Hagemann M. (2024)
  • Thioredoxins o1 and h2 jointly adjust mitochondrial dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase-dependent pathways towards changing environments. Plant, Cell & Environment. 47(7): 2542-2560. (IF 7.947)

• Tiozon R.J.N., Alseekh S., Fernie A.R., Bonto A.P., Yu J., Buenafe R.J.Q., Sreenivasulu N. (2024)
  • Comprehensive lipidomic insights of differentially accumulating lipids in large pigmented rice sprout collection and the changes in starch composition upon germination. Food Chemistry 460(Pt 2): 140677. (IF 8.5)

• Wijesingha Ahchige M., Fisher J., Sokolowska E., Lyall R., Illing N., Skirycz A., Zamir D., Alseekh S., Fernie A.R. (2024)
  •  The variegated canalized-1 tomato mutant is linked to photosystem assembly. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal. 23: 3967-3988. (IF 4.5)

• Yu Y., Alseekh S., Zhu Z., Zhou K., Fernie A.R. (2024)
  • Multiomics and biotechnologies for understanding and influencing cadmium accumulation and stress response in plants. Plant Biotechnolgy Journal. 22: 2641-2659. (IF 13.8)

• Zhu F., Ahchige M.W., Wen W., Cheng Y., Alseekh S., Fernie A.R. (2024)
  • The natural variance of Arabidopsis secondary metabolism on extended darkness. Scientific Data 11(1): 841. (IF 9.8)

2023