“Monday Update” is a platform for PhD Students and early-stage Postdoctoral Fellows to present their findings, results, and ideas within the scientific community of RECROP COST Action CA22157 (cost.eu/actions/CA22157). Postdoctoral Fellow from Danchenko lab—Olha Lakhneko—is a Core Group member of RECROP (Young Researcher and Innovator Engagement Coordinator). Earlier this week, at the inaugural “Monday Update”…

The 65th Annual Symposium of the International Plant Science Association (IAVS 2023) took place in Coffs Harbor, New South Wales, Australia, 3-8 September. This year, the main theme of the symposium was “The Future of Vegetation in the 22nd Century”. Against the backdrop of global climate change, IAVS provided an invaluable platform for the botanists…

Recent article from Danchenko Lab, published in Frontiers in Plant Science (doi:10.3389/fpls.2023.1181834), focused on drought, which severely limits wheat production.This collaborative research of Slovak and Ukrainian Scientists used a combination ofphysiological and biochemical methods. Leading author—Olha Lakhneko—showed that atolerant cultivar apparently dissipated excessive light energy by photorespiration,maintained photosynthesis, effectively induced protective enzymes, and had a…

In June and July 2023, Ph.D. student Lucia Čahojová from the Institute of Botany, Plant Science, and Biodiversity Center SAS participated in an internship in Slovenia at the Jovan Hadži Biological Institute of the Scientific Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Biološki inštitut Jovana Hadžija ZRC SAZU) in Ig, near the…

Last month we obtained two important instruments, real-time PCR cycler Roche LightCycler 96 and DeNovix spectrophotometer/fluorometer DS-11, in a total value of 45.000 EUR. We believe in their long service and some great discoveries. This equipment was bought thanks to IMPULZ grant (IM-2021-23) from the Slovak Academy of Sciences and NextGenerationEU through the Resilience and…

The study of plant diversity along altitudinal gradient has been interesting for the scientific community for a long-time. The response of species richness along the gradient varies specifically: a U-shaped pattern was identified in monodominant beech forests. Our study of the effects of environmental variables and dendrometric characteristics on species richness showed a strong mutual…

Dr Maryna Kryvokhyzha started a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute of Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in March 2023. She has a solid background in both academic and industry research. Maryna earned PhD in Radiobiology from the Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering, Ukraine, clarifying how ionizing and ultraviolet radiation modulates flowering. She practiced gene…

In connection with the signing of the Cooperation Agreement between the SAS and the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – CSIC) on 6 March 2023, we welcomed its representatives Dr Francisco Javier Moreno Fuentes, Monica Martin-Lanuz Olmedo and Soraya Olmedillo Maria to our Centre, who the Vice President of the SAS…

Botanists from the Department of Biodiversity and Plant Ecology of the Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre of the SAS together with mathematicians from the Department of Mathematics, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava have been developing the NaturaSat software for identifying the protected sites in the Natura 2000 network as part of the long term…

Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre (PSBC) SAS collaborates with University of Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia in research of tropical ectomycorrhizal trees in Colombia. One of the focal tree species is Trigonobalanus excelsa (common name roble negro or black oak) which is a slow growing tree with very limited reproduction. This species is endemic of the Colombian…