Associate Professor Iskren Sergiev, PhD Building 21 Office 119 Lab 105 Phone: +359-2-9792698 Е-mail: iskren@bio21.bas.bg ORCID: 0000-0002-2420-9146 Scopus Author ID: 6603230596

Date and place of birth – 1966, Pernik, Bulgaria
Languages – English [RWS], Russian [R-s]

Research Interests

Plant physiology, synthetic plant growth regulators, phytohormones, cytokinins, anticytokinins, polyamines, herbicides, plant stress, oxidative stress, stress markers.

Education and Academic Degrees

• MSc – 1991, Biochemistry and Microbiology, “St. Kliment Ohridski” University of Sofia, Bulgaria.
• PhD – 1999, Acad. M. Popov Institute of Plant Physiology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. PhD Thesis: “Cytokinin antagonists – structure-activity relationships and some physiological properties”.

Professional Background

• Researcher (1991-1995) – Acad. M. Popov Institute of Plant Physiology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Regulation of plant growth and development.
• PhD Student (1995–1998) – Acad. M. Popov Institute of Plant Physiology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Regulation of plant growth and development.
• Researcher (1998-1999) – Acad. M. Popov Institute of Plant Physiology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Regulation of plant growth and development.
• Assistant Professor (2000-2006) – Acad. M. Popov Institute of Plant Physiology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Regulation of plant growth and development.
• Associate Professor (2006-) – Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Laboratory of Regulators of plant growth and development.

Publication Activity

Publications: 83 peer-review articles, including 61 in Journals with Impact Factor, 5 Book Chapters and 4 Reviews.

Citations: 2416

Scopus h-index: 11

Participation in scientific projects

• Plant defense mechanisms induced by cross-adaptation and cross-synergism (1995-1998).
• Role of plant growth regulators in physiological and biochemical adaptation of cereals to drought. Bilateral Cooperation between Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and National Center for Scientific investigations – Italy (1998-2000).
• Interaction between ethylene and cytokinins in perception and transduction processes in the control of senescence. INCO Copernicus Programme ERBIC15CT960914 (1997-2000).
• Role of phytohormones, polyamines and oxidative burst towards parthenogenic embryo development in melon. Funded by Singenta (former Novartis) 2001.
• Interaction of UV-radiation and some natural stresses on defence mechanisms in plants. Bilateral Cooperation between Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and National Center for Scientific investigations – Italy (2001-2003).
• Investigations of bioactive substances against phytopathogen infections. Bilateral Cooperation between Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and National Center of Natural Sciences and Technology – Vietnam (2001-2004).
• Protective effect of some plant growth regulators against heavy metal stress. Bilateral Cooperation between Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and F.W.O. – Flanders, Belgium (2002-2003).
• Protective effect of some plant growth regulators against heavy metal stress. Bilateral Cooperation between Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and F.W.O. – Flanders, Belgium (2004-2005).
• Interaction of UV-radiation and some natural stresses on defence mechanisms in plants. Bilateral Cooperation between Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and National Center for Scientific investigations – Italy (2004-2006).
• Hydrogen peroxide pretreatment alleviates abiotic stress injury in plants, Bilateral Cooperation between Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and National Science Council – Taiwan (2004-2006).
• Progress in plant investigations for improvement of the sustainability of agriculture (2006-2008).
• Protective role of salicylic acid derivatives against some pathogens of wheat, tomato and tobacco (2005-2008).
• Study and optimization of the biological activity of synthetic and natural plant growth regulators. Mechanisms of stress-induced changes and enhanced sustainability of different plant species to diverse abiotic stress factors by plant growth regulators, allelopathy, etc. (2009-2012).
• Alleviation of adverse effects of water stress on cereals by application of plant growth regulators. Bulgaria-Egypt bilateral research agreement (2013-2015).
• Alleviation of adverse effects of temperature stress on mono- and dicotyledonous crops by application of plant growth regulators. Bulgaria-Lithuania bilateral research agreement (2013-2015).
• Interaction between stress, role of oxidative events, protective effects of H₂O₂ and other xenobiotics . Bilateral cooperation with Taiwan, Partner – University of Changhua, Taiwan (2014–2015).
• Chemical regulation of the stress tolerance in plants. Bulgaria-Belgium bilateral research agreement. Partner – VIB Department of Plant Systems Biology, University of Gent (2014–2015).
• Plant growth regulators – tools for increasing plants tolerance to temperature stress. Bulgaria-Lithuania bilateral research agreement (2016-2018).
• Assessment of ability of synthetic auxin type compounds to counteract herbicide stress in crop plants. Bulgaria-Lithuania bilateral research agreement (2019-2021).
• Mitigation of adverse effects of abiotic stress on cereals by application of plant growth regulators. Bulgaria-Egypt bilateral research agreement (2019-2021).
• National Research Program: Environmental protection and reduction of the risk for adverse climate changes (2019-2023).
• Assessment of the physiological responses of wheat and triticale to soil drought and waterlogging after routine application of selective herbicide. National Science Fund (2020-2023).
• Physiological and molecular mechanisms of drought tolerance after treatment with phytohormones. Bulgaria-Lithuania bilateral research agreement (2022-2024).
• Тhe ancient wheat – growth and physiological characteristics under unfavorable stress factors and possibilities to alleviate the negative effects. National Science Fund (2022-2025).
• Comparative analysis of the physiological effects of melatonin on Bulgarian wheat varieties with different drought resistance. National Science Fund (2022-2025).

Membership in Scientific Organisations

• Union of Scientists of Bulgaria (since 1998).
• Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology – FESPB (since 1997).

Selected publications

Sergiev I, V Alexieva, E Karanov (1995) Cytokinin and anticytokinin effects on growth and free polyamine content in etiolated and green radish cotyledons. J. Plant Physiol., 145(3): 266-270.

Alexieva V, I Sergiev, S Mapelli, E Karanov (2001) The effect of drought and ultraviolet radiation on growth and stress markers in pea and wheat. Plant, Cell & Environment, 24: 1337-1344.

Alexieva V, S Ivanov, I Sergiev, E Karanov (2003) Interaction between stresses (Mini Review). In: Bulg. J. Plant Physiol., Special issue – Proceedings of the European Workshop on Environmental Stress and Sustainable Agriculture, 7–12 September, 2002, Varna, Bulgaria, V. Alexieva, I. Sergiev, E. Karanov, M. Hall (Eds.), 1-17.

Sergiev I, D Todorova, V Alexieva, E Karanov, A Smith, M Hall (2003) Rosette leaf senescence in wild type and ethylene-insensitive mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh during inflorescence and fruit development. In: Phytohormones in plant biotechnology and agriculture, I. Machackova, G. Romanov (Eds.), Kluwer Acad. Publ., The Netherlands, 217-228.

Sergiev I, V Alexieva, S Ivanov, V Bankova, S Mapelli (2004) Plant growth regulating activity of some flavonoids. Compt. Rend. Acad. Bulg. Sci., 57(4): 65-70.

Sergiev I, B Hadjieva, V Alexieva, V Kalcheva, B Galabov, M Markova, E Karanov (2004) Synthesis and anticytokinin properties of trisubstituted ureas and thioureas. Compt. Rend. Acad. Bulg. Sci., 57(8): 51-57.

Alexieva V, I Sergiev, D Todorova, E Karanov, A Smith, M Hall (2004) Effect of ethylene and its antagonist 1-MCP on the senescence of detached leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Biologia Plantarum, 48(4): 593-595.

Sergiev I, V Alexieva, S Ivanov, V Bankova, S Mapelli, E Karanov (2005) UV-protecting properties of exogenously applied flavonoids on excised cucumber cotyledons. Compt. Rend. Acad. Bulg. Sci., 58(4): 427-432.

Vaseva-Gemisheva I, I Sergiev, D Todorova, V Alexieva, E Stanoeva, V Lachkova, E Karanov (2005) Antagonistic effects of triazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidine and pyridylurea derivatives on cytokinin-induced cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase activity in young pea plants. Plant Growth Regulation, 46: 193-197.

Sergiev I, V Alexieva, S Ivanov, I Moskova, E Karanov (2006) The phenylurea cytokinin 4PU-30 protects maize plants against glyphosate action. Pestic. Biochem & Physiol., 85: 139-146.

Sergiev I, D Todorova, M Somleva, V Alexieva, E Karanov, E Stanoeva, V Lachkova, A Smith, M Hall (2007) Influence of cytokinins and novel cytokinin antagonists on the senescence of detached leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Biologia Plantarum, 51(2): 377-380.

Todorova D, I Moskova, I Sergiev, V Alexieva, S.Mapelli (2008) Changes in endogenous polyamines and some stress markers content induced by drought, 4PU-30 and abscisic acid in wheat plants. In: Abiotic stress and plant responses. Nafees A. Khan, Sarvajeet Singh (Eds.), I. K. International Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 978-81-89866-95-2, Chapter 11, pp. 205-215.

Moskova I, D Todorova, V Alexieva, S Ivanov, I Sergiev (2009) Effect of exogenous hydrogen peroxide on enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants in leaves of young pea plants treated with paraquat. Plant Growth Regulation, 57(2): 193-202.

Todorova D, I Sergiev, V Alexieva (2012) Application of natural and synthetic polyamines as growth regulators to improve the freezing tolerance of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Acta Agronomica Hungarica, 60(1): 1-10.

Ivanov S, E Shopova, P Kerchev, I Sergiev, L Miteva, D Polizoev, V Alexieva (2013) Long-term impact of sublethal atrazine perturbs the redox homeostasis in pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants. Protoplasma, 250: 95–102.

Todorova D, Z Katerova, I Sergiev, V Alexieva (2013) Role of polyamines in alleviating salt stress. In: Ecophysiology and Responses of Plants Under Salt Stress. (Eds. Parvaiz Ahmad, MM Azooz, MNV Prasad) Chapter 13. pp. 355-379. Springer Science+Business Media, New York, USA, ISBN 978-1-4614-4747-4.

Todorova D, Z Katerova, E Shopova, A Nikolova, N Georgieva, I Sergiev, S Mapelli (2013) Polyamine spermine protects young pea plants against Ultraviolet-C radiation. Biotechnology & Biotechnological Equipment, 27(3): 3798–3802.

Sergiev I, D Todorova, I Moskova, N Georgieva, A Nikolova, S Simova, D Polizoev, V Alexieva (2013) Protective effect of humic acids against heavy metal stress in triticale. Compt. rend. Acad. bulg. Sci., 66(1): 53-60.

Todorova D, Z Katerova, I Sergiev, V Alexieva (2014) Polyamines –involvement in plant tolerance and adaptation to stress. In Plant adaptation to environmental changes. Significance of amino acids and their derivatives (Eds. A Anjum, SS Gill, R Gill), Chapter 11. pp. 194-221. CABI, UK. ISBN 978-1-78064-273-4.

Todorova D, I Sergiev, I Moskova, Z Katerova, N Georgieva, V Alexieva, I Brambilla, S Mapelli (2014) Biochemical responses of triticale plants treated with UV-B irradiation and nutrient solution enriched with humic acids. Turkish Journal of Botany, 38: 747-753.

Damyanova M, D Todorova, I Sergiev (2014) Polyamine alterations in isolated zucchini cotyledons grown in presence of cytokinins and Cu²⁺. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 5: 2141-2147.

Moskova I, D Todorova, V Alexieva, I Sergiev (2014) Protective effect of hydrogen peroxide against paraquat toxicity in young pea plants: Possible role of endogenous polyamines. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 5: 3408-3416.

Katerova Z, D Todorova, I Sergiev, C-W Yu, V Alexieva (2016) Biochemical responses of young wheat plants irradiated with UV-C and pretreated with β-Monomethyl ester of itaconic acid (MEIA) or polyamine spermine. Compt. rend. Acad. bulg. Sci., 68(1): 31-36

Damyanova M, D Todorova, I Sergiev (2015) Endogenous polyamine profiles of isolated zucchini cotyledons incubated on solutions of Cu²⁺ and methyl jasmonate. Oxidation communications, 38(1): 104-113.

Todorova D, Z Katerova, E Shopova, M Jodinskiene, S Jurkoniene, I Sergiev (2016) Responses of garden pea (Pisum sativum L.) plants to heat stress and spermine treatment. Zemdirbyste-Agriculture, 103(1): 99-106.

Sergiev I, D Todorova, L Brankova, V Alexieva (2016) Prohexadione-Ca and copper effect on growth and accumulation of endogenous polyamines in pea plants. Botanica Lithuanica, 22(1): 65-71.

Katerova Z, D Todorova, I Sergiev (2017) Plant secondary metabolites and some plant growth regulators elicited by UV irradiation, light and/or shade. In: Ghorbanpour M., Varma A. (eds) Medicinal Plants and Environmental Challenges. Springer, Cham, Chapter 6, pp. 97-121. ISBN 978-3-319-68717-9, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68717-9_6.

Sergiev I, D Todorova, E Shopova, Z Katerova, J Jankauskiene, S Jurkoniene (2017) Auxin-like compounds act as protectors against UV-B irradiation in garden pea plants. Botanica Lithuanica, 23(2): 79-88.

Sergiev I, Todorova D, Atanasova L (2018) High salinity-induced proline and polyamine changes in organs of pea (Pisum sativum L. Cv. Ran). Compt. Rend. Acad. Bulg. Sci. 71 (11), 1479-1487.

Sergiev I, D Todorova, Z Katerova, I Brambilla, S Mapelli, S Simova (2018) Polyamines and amino acids in triticale plants grown on humic acids enriched nutrient solution and treated with UV-B irradiation. Theoretical and Experimental Plant Physiology, 30(2): 153–163.

Sergiev I, D Todorova, E Shopova, J Jankauskiene, E Jankovska-Bortkevič, S Jurkoniene (2018) Effects of auxin analogues and heat stress on garden pea. Zemdirbyste-Agriculture, 105(3): 243‒248.

Sergiev IG, DA Todorova, VK Gins, SM Motyleva, EM Gins, EA Moskalev (2019) Nutritional value of vegetable Amaranthus tricolor L. seedlings grown in Moscow region. RUDN Journal of Agronomy and Animal Industries, 14(3): 225-238.

Sergiev I, D Todorova, E Shopova, J Jankauskiene, E Jankovska-Bortkevič, S Jurkoniene (2019) Exogenous auxin type compounds amend PEG-induced physiological responses of pea plants. Scientia Horticulturae, 248: 200-205.

Moskova I, Dikova B, Balacheva E, Sergiev I (2020) Protective effect of plant growth regulators MEIA and 4PU-30 against Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) on two tomato genotypes. Compt. Rend. Acad. Bulg Sci. 73 (11), 1538-1544.

Sergiev I, Todorova D, Shopova E, Brankova L, Jankauskiene J, Jurkoniene S, Gaveliene V, Mockeviciute R (2020) Assessment of synthetic auxin type compounds as potential modulators of herbicide action in Pisum sativum L. Biologia 75, 1845-1853.

Shopova E, Mihailova B, Todorova D, Sergiev I, Stoimenova E (2020) Systemic Acquired Resistance Induced by Compatible and Incompatible Tomato Mosaic Viruses Effectively Controls Bacterial Spot and Speck Diseases in Tomato. Agriculture 10 (7), 302.

Shopova E, Dimitrova S, Todorova D, Sergiev I (2020) Comparative study of singlet oxygen and superoxide radical effects on endogenous polyamines and diamine and polyamine oxidase activities in young pea seedlings. Compt. Rend. Acad. Bulg. Sci. 73 (8), 1076-1085.

Todorova D, Katerova Z, Dimitrova R, Petrova M, Hristozkova M, Sergiev I (2020) Exogenous spermine application increases quantity of rosmarinic acid and carnosic acid in salt-treated Salvia officinalis L. plants in pot experiments. Compt. Rend. Acad. Bulg. Sci. 73 (6), 800-808.

Jankovska-Bortkevic E, Gaveliene V, Šveikauskas V, Mockeviciute R, Jankauskiene J, Todorova D, Sergiev I, Jurkoniene S (2020) Foliar Application of Polyamines Modulates Winter Oilseed Rape Responses to Increasing Cold. Plants 9 (2), 179.

Jurkoniene S, Jankauskiene J, Mockevičiūtė R, Gaveliene V, Jankovska-Bortkevic E, Sergiev I, Todorova D, Anisimoviene N (2021) Elevated temperature induced adaptive responses of two lupine species at early seedling phase. Plants, 10, 1091. DOI:10.3390/plants10061091

Katerova Z, Sergiev I, Todorova D, Shopova E, Dimitrova L, Brankova L (2021) Physiological Responses of Wheat Seedlings to Soil Waterlogging Applied after Treatment with Selective Herbicide. Plants, 10, 6, 1195-1200. DOI:10.3390/plants10061195

Moskova I, Sergiev I, Kirova E, Dikova B (2021) Effects of triacontanol on pepper plants infected with tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV). Comptes rendus de l’Académie bulgare des Sciences, 74, 7, 1091-1097. DOI:10.7546/CRABS.2021.07.17

Seckin Dinler B, Cetinkaya H, Sergiev I, Shopova E, Todorova D (2021) Paclobutrazol induced non-enzymatic antioxidants and polyamine levels in soybean plants grown under salinity stress. Botanica, 27, 2, 149-159. DOI:10.35513/Botlit.2021.2.5

Shopova E, Brankova L, Katerova Z, Dimitrova L, Todorova D, Sergiev I, Talaat NB (2021) Salicylic Acid Pretreatment Modulates Wheat Responses to Glyphosate. Crops, 1, 2, 88-96. DOI:10.3390/crops1020009

Shopova E, Katerova Z, Brankova L, Dimitrova L, Sergiev I, Todorova D, Talaat NB (2021) Modulation of Physiological Stress Response of Triticum aestivum L. to Glyphosate by Brassinosteroid Application. Life, 11, 11, 1156-1167. DOI:10.3390/life11111156

Todorova D, Sergiev I, Shopova E, Brankova L, Jankauskiene J, Jurkoniene S, Gaveliene V, Mockevičiūtė R (2021) Physiological responses of pea plants to treatment with synthetic auxins and auxin-type herbicide. Botanica, 27, 2, 125-133. DOI:/10.35513/Botlit.2021.2.2

Todorova D, Sergiev I, Katerova Z, Shopova E, Dimitrova L, Brankova L (2021) Assessment of the Biochemical Responses of Wheat Seedlings to Soil Drought after Application of Selective Herbicide. Plants, 10, 4, 733-745. DOI:10.3390/plants10040733

Other skills and interests

MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint ~ Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign ~ Autodesk AutoCAD, Fusion360, MeshMixer ~ Labcenter Proteus ~ WordPress ~ HTML, CSS, PHP, Python, С++ ~ Arduino, RasPi …
Heavy Metal ~ SciFi ~ Audi ~ Archery ~ Iaido ~ Honey Bees ~ Aquascaping ~ Fishing …

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