The overall objective of PlantaSYST is to establish a Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology (CPSBB) in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, as a joint initiative of three Bulgarian research institutes located in Plovdiv (Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Maritsa Vegetable Crops Research Institute, and the Stefan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology, Laboratory of Metabolomics) and two institutes located in Potsdam, Germany (Potsdam University and Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology).

Here are enlisted the projects by the Bulgarian National Science Fund.

BG05M2OP001-1.003-0001-C01 “Complementary support for Bulgarian scientific organizations implementing projects under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, WIDESPREAD-Teaming Phase 2”.

A major challenge faced by modern agriculture is abiotic stress caused by unfavourable environmental conditions. Global warming is expected to further intensify these problems, including frequency and severity of drought stress, which seriously affect both crop quality and yield. In this project, we will study the genomes of several resurrection species and compare them with the genomes of desiccation-sensitive plants to identify molecular mechanisms that are involved in drought tolerance. In addition to the publicly available data of resurrection plants with already sequenced genomes, we will sequence and analyze two more – Haberlea rhodopensis and Xerophyta elegans. 

The abscisic acid (ABA) regulates plant growth and development as well as confers tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. However, the ABA pathways that orchestrate plant growth especially floral transition under environmental stresses are poorly explored. Recently, we found that SnRK2s, core components of ABA signalling, are desensitized by HOS15, a novel E3 ligase component. Besides their positive roles in stress adaptation, SnRK2s negatively regulate plant developmental.

NatGenCrop aims at improving stress tolerance of major vegetable crops and design new strategies for maintaining higher yields and food quality even during unfavourable weather conditions. One of the major research directions is exploring the wide genetic and phenotypic variations of vegetables to improve agronomical traits under abiotic stresses. A suite of genetics and genomics approaches, such as GWAS in combination with QTL, will be employed to identify genes contributing to high yield and stress tolerance. In another research direction, the fruit metabolic compositions will be characterized in terms of flavour and healthy related compounds to assess the impact of abiotic stress on fruit quality.

CropPrime brings together expertise in plant systems biology, chemical biology, as well as biostimulant preparation and characterization, to discover new and optimize existing biostimulants by tapping into innovative sources of natural compounds and integrative biology approaches for elucidating molecular mechanisms underlying stress priming. CPSBB contributes with expertise on abiotic stress physiology, signal transduction and stress tolerance characterization as well as in bioinformatics, especially transcriptomics analysis and data integration. Moreover, CPSBB coordinates the dissemination, communication and exploitation measures.

BOOSTER will improve drought tolerance in both maize and teff, while simultaneously exploring the potential for transferring species-specific drought responsive features. By exploiting natural genetic variation to achieve drought tolerant genotypes and by developing biostimulants derived from living organisms, BOOSTER will take advantage of the already available natural resources to steer our agriculture towards novel drought tolerant varieties. wo synergistic strategies will be implemented to achieve this goal. Firstly, a new approach will identify genomic variants in regulatory regions functionally associated with drought tolerance. Novel regulatory elements underlying resilience will inform efficient breeding efforts to create new drought tolerant cereal varieties.

Various forms of malnutrition, including hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and non-communicable diseases caused by unbalanced nutrition, threaten food security in Africa. The project HealthyDiest4Africa is based on the central hypothesis that diversification of the food system helps to combat all forms of malnutrition while minimizing its environmental footprint. To this aim, we will monitor dietary diversity in eight African countries representing different regions, and develop target group-specific metrics to measure the diversity of the food system and its health outcomes. 

The main objective of the project is the establishment of a talent exchange hub (TALENTify) in Plovdiv which will focus on specific aspects of scientific career, such as supporting the mobility and relocation of scientists, facilitating the attraction, admission and retention of researchers in the European Research Area (ERA). The activities of the Hub are designed to contribute to creating conditions for career development of researchers, attracting new talents and building an environment supporting scientific entrepreneurship. The project will involve universities, scientific organizations and business structures through joint events and initiatives that will help shape the city’s research vision. At national and local training events, participants will become familiar with the mentoring programs REBECCA and “Shape the Future of a Researcher Coming to Europe”, as well as with networking opportunities based on UniWeliS.

Investigation of the personnel motivation for career development in a regional cluster for crop production. The aim of the project is to study the staff motivation for career development by analyzing data from an empirical study. The main objective will be to analyze the attachment of employees to the organization they work in, as well as their social image. To realize its scientific activities, CPSBB cooperates with a wide range of scientific organizations from the country and abroad. Based on partnership relations and work on national and international projects, for the needs of the current project, a regional cluster on crop production will be formed. The project financed by the The Bulgarian National Science Fund.

The main goal of the project ‘Researchers in Knowledge Triangle’ (K-TRIO 3) is to bring researchers and their achievements closer to the society, and young people in particular. The project aims to contribute for increasing the number of researchers and innovators in Europe by making the society and especially young people aware of excellent achievements in research and innovation, in particular: FET flagship initiatives , large scale initiatives like “Next Generation Internet” and HPC, Centres of Excellence and projects with Bulgarian participation supported by the H2020.

COST Action CA20121 BenBedPhar: Bench to Bedside transition for Pharmacological regulation of NRF2 in non communicable diseases Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, respiratory or immune diseases, account for 77% of all deaths in Europe and remain the most prevalent and without effective therapy. Networking among multidisciplinary teams that explore disease from a perspective of causative pathomechanisms rather than clinical symptoms is the most appropriate approach to overcome this problem.

COST Action CA19116 PLANTMETALS: Trace metal metabolism in plants
PLANTMETALS aims at elucidating them by the combined expertise of researchers (physiologists, (bio)physicists, (bio)(geo)chemists, molecular geneticists, ecologists, agronomists and soil scientists). It furthermore aims at making this knowledge applicable to the needs of farmers and consumers, with input from companies for translating laboratory results into applied products.

The main goal of Researchers in the Knowledge Triangle (K-TRIO 4) project is to bring researchers closer to society, attract young people to STEM and boost citizens science The project contribute for increasing the number of researchers and innovators in Bulgaria by making the society and young people aware of excellent European achievements in research and innovation the success of Centres of Excellence (CoE) and Centres of Competence and their contribution to the Intelligent Strategy for Smart Specialisation in Bulgaria and regional development.

The Researchers in the Knowledge Triangle (K-TRIO 5) targets the general public, addressing and attracting people regardless of the level of their scientific background, with a special focus on families, pupils and students, and notably those who do not have easy access to, and thus are less inclined to engage in, STEAM or research activities. Activities can combine education aspects with entertainment, especially when addressing young audiences.

CPSBB is a partner in the project “Science and Journalism: Together Against Infodemic”, funded by the Active Citizens Bulgaria under the EEA FM 2014 – 2021. The project coordinator is the Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria and partners: NORSENSUS MEDIAFORUM – Norway, Thracian University – Stara Zagora, Association for Training and Career Development – Plovdiv.

CPSBB is a partner in the project AgroDigiRise, approved under the “Digital Europe” program. It is implemented by a consortium with a diverse profile and experience – industry organizations, scientific, research and development units, training services, technology companies and start-ups, importers of agricultural machinery, expert business development organizations, united to work for a more modern, efficient and digitized agro-food sector. Associated partner is the Municipality of Plovdiv.