Researchers from South Africa, Spain, Argentina, Italy and Türkiye Joined CPSBB
CPSBB proudly welcomes researchers from Argentina, Italy, South Africa, Spain, and Turkiye who are seconded to advance scientific research on the CropPrime and NatGenCrop projects.
CPSBB as a fully independent Center of Excellence in Bulgaria, aims to position itself and the country as a preferred research destination for foreign scientists, fostering an environment of innovation and collaboration. By attracting and welcoming talented researchers worldwide, CPSBB contributes to Bulgaria’s scientific community, encourages knowledge sharing, and works towards becoming a place of strong scientific expertise. This effort helps enhance research capabilities and improve Bulgaria’s reputation in science and technology, which can support economic growth and inspire future researchers.
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Dr. Motseoa Lephatsi, South Africa, Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Motseoa Lephatsi joined CPSBB from South Africa within the CropPrime project. She has obtained her PhD Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Johannesburg, Faculty of Science, Department of Biochemistry, where she is now a postdoctoral research fellow. The scientific research of Dr. Lephatsi is focused on the field of metabolomics abiotic stress in plants, as well as on the application of advanced computational tools in natural product research. Her PhD research integrates cutting-edge 4IR technologies into metabolomics, particularly within natural product research. In her thesis, she leveraged computational tools such as MS2LDA, NAP, SIRIUS, molecular networking, network pharmacology, and molecular docking to elucidate the anti-cancer activity of Helichrysum plants. Currently, in her postdoctoral research, Dr. Lephatsi continues to explore the complex metabolic pathways in plant systems, intending to advance natural product research and its applications through integrative omics approaches. At CPSBB, Dr. Lephatsi performs transcriptomic analyses to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the priming effect of Laminaria spp. extracts in Arabidopsis thaliana using RNA-seq technology. Her main task is focused on global transcriptome profiling and identifying key molecular pathways affected by these biostimulants.
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Dr. Christina Silvar, Postdoctoral Researcher, Spain
Dr. Christina Silvar is a Senior Lecturer in Plant Physiology at the University of Coruña, Spain. She joined CPSBB as a guest scientist, hosted by Dr. Saleh Alseekh – Head of the Crop Quantitative Genetics Department of CPSBB. She is responsible for the metabolite analysis of a vast collection of pepper landraces from the Iberian Peninsula and South America. Her research is partially funded by the University of Coruña and supervised by Dr. Saleh Alseekh. The main goal of the large-scale scientific project is to assess a collection of pepper landraces from the Iberian Peninsula and South America (Mexico, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia) to select accessions with valuable traits in terms of human health, nutrition and fruit commercialisation. The evaluation is performed at three levels: genomics, phenomics and metabolomics. In addition, these three approaches will be combined to develop Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS), which will allow the identification of genomic regions underlying the traits of interest. The research is done in collaboration with the Horticultural Germplasm Bank (Zaragoza, Spain), the Portuguese Vegetable Germplasm Bank (Braga, Portugal), the Institute for Resistance Research and Stress Tolerance-JKI (Quedlinburg, Germany) and the Technical University of Machala (Machala, Ecuador).
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Catalina Feuli, PhD student, Argentina
Catalina Feuli is from Argentina and joined the CPSBB team within the CropPrime project as a PhD student in Biological Sciences. She recently graduated from the National University of Rosario in Argentina with a Master’s in Biotechnology. Her thesis was focused on establishing new pathosystems for studying the priming effect of rosemary extract as a biostimulant for plants. During her research, she worked with Nicotiana tabacum plants and plant pathogens, both bacteria and fungi. Catalina is also a technician at the Molecular and Cellular Biology Institute of Rosario (IBR-CONICET), where she studies different potato (Solanum tuberosum) cultivars and their resistance/susceptibility to viruses and oomycetes. Her research is focused on exploring various molecular mechanisms that could potentially enhance crop productivity and plant resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. At CPSBB and within the CropPrime project, she will study the effect of rosemary extract on plants. At IBR, her team researched this extract as a bioprotectant and biostimulant, which led to results which indicated that it could enhance plant defence response. At CPSBB, the main goal will be to prove or reject the hypothesis that this extract could also enhance abiotic stress tolerance in plants.
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Dr. Hatice Cetinkaya, Postdoctoral Researcher, Türkiye
Dr. Cetinkaya is a postdoctoral researcher in Molecular Stress Physiology and she joined the team as a seconded researcher within the Erasmus+ programme for mobility and training. The main focus of Dr. Cetinkaya’s research is the plant defense system against abiotic stress (mainly salinity and drought), induced by applying priming technologies and endogenous plant defense mechanisms (antioxidant enzyme, hormones, etc.), as well as the identification of relevant genes and/or gene expressions. At CPSBB, her research in molecular stress physiology is guided by Prof. Dr. Burcu Seckin Dinler from Sinop University and CPSBB’s Director – Prof. Dr. Tsanko Gechev.
The analysis and results will be further showcased with a dedicated scientific article.
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Gabriele Adornato, PhD Student
Gabriele Adornato is from Italy. He graduated with a Master’s in Molecular and Medical Biotechnology from the University of Verona.
At CPSBB, Gabriele will be a PhD student within the NatGenCrop project, investigating tomato and pepper’s genetic, molecular, and physiological responses to pathogens. Based on his research at CPSBB, he will develop his PhD thesis.
His future ambitions for professional development are related to gaining skills and knowledge in Genetics, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, and Bioinformatics.
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