Associate Professor Desislava Todorova, PhD Building 21, Office 103 Phone.: +359-2-9792676 Е-mail: dessita@bio21.bas.bg

Date and place of birth – 26.08.1972, Pernik, Bulgaria

Nationality – Bulgaria

Languages – Russian, English

Education and Academic degree

• MSc degree in Chemical Engineering, 1995, University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, Sofia, Bulgaria, Master thesis: Mass transfer from a single grain to a fluid in an inert fixed bed.
• PhD, 2003, Acad. M. Popov Institute of Plant Physiology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. PhD thesis: Natural and induced senescence in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.

Professional Background

• Researcher (1996-1998), Acad. M. Popov Institute of Plant Physiology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Regulation of plant growth and development.
• PhD Student (1998–2003), Acad. M. Popov Institute of Plant Physiology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Regulation of plant growth and development.
• Assistant Professor (2004-2010), Acad. M. Popov Institute of Plant Physiology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Regulation of plant growth and development.
• Assistant Professor (2010-2016), Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics –  Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Regulation of plant growth and development.
• Associate Professor (2016-continue) Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics- Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Laboratory of Regulators of plant growth and development.
• Laboratory Leader (2012-continue), Institute of Plant Physiology and Genetics – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Department of Regulators of plant growth and development.

Research field

Plant physiology; regulation of plant growth and development, plant growth regulators, ethylene, cytokinins, polyamines, plant stress, oxidative stress, plant defence systems, stress markers.

Publication activity and list of selected publications

Dr. Todorova has published 102 peer-reviewed papers, including 90 articles in Journals with IF or SJR, 5 book chapters and 3 reviews. Total citations – over 1000, H index – 12.

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

Todorova, D., T. Genkov, I. Vaseva-Gemisheva, V. Alexieva, E. Karanov, A. Smith, M. Hall, 2005. Effect of temperature stress on the endogenous cytokinin content in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh plants. Acta Physiol. Plant., 27 (1), 13-18.

Todorova, D., I. Vaseva, J. Malbeck, A. Trávníčková, I. Macháčková, E. Karanov, 2007. Cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase activity as a tool in gibberellic acid/cytokinin cross talk. Biol. Plant. 51(3), 579-583.

Todorova, D., I. Sergiev, V. Alexieva, E. Karanov, A. Smith, M. Hall, 2007. Polyamine content in Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh during recovery after low and high temperature treatments. Plant Growth Regul. 51 (3), 185-191.

Vaseva, I., D. Todorova, J. Malbeck, A. Travnichkova, I. Machackova, 2008. Response of cytokinin pool and cytokinine oxidase/dehydrogenase activity to abscisic acid exhibits organ specificity in pea. Acta Physiol. Plant. 30 (2), 151-155.

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 Regul. 57 (2), 193-202.

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, 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., N. B. Talaat, Z. Katerova, V. Alexieva, B. T. Shawky, 2016. Polyamines and brassinosteroids in drought stress responses and tolerance in plants, In: Water Stress and Crop Plants: A Sustainable Approach (ed P. Ahmad), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK. Pp. 608-627. doi: 10.1002/9781119054450.ch35, ISBN 9781119054368, Online ISSN 9781119054450.

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, 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, 2019. Exogenous auxin type compounds amend PEG-induced physiological responses of pea plants. Scientia Horticulturae, 248, 200-205.

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.

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

Talaat, N.B., Todorova, D. 2022. Antioxidant Machinery and Glyoxalase System Regulation Confers Salt Stress Tolerance to Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Plants Treated with Melatonin and Salicylic Acid. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr, 22(1):1-14.

Todorova D, Aleksandrov V, Anev S, Sergiev I. 2022. Photosynthesis alterations in wheat plants induced by herbicide, soil drought or flooding. Agronomy 12 (2): 390.

Jankovska-Bortkevič E, Jurkonienė S, Gavelienė V, Šveikauskas V, Mockevičiūtė R, Vaseva I, Todorova D, Žižytė-Eidetienė M, Šneideris D, Prakas P. 2023, Dynamics of polyamines, proline, and ethylene metabolism under increasing cold in winter oilseed rape. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24, 14, 11402.

Katerova, Z, Todorova, D, Vaseva, I, Shopova, E, Petrakova, M, Iliev, M, Sergiev, I. 2024. Effects of Melatonin Pre- and Post-Drought Treatment on Oxidative Stress Markers and Expression of Proline-Related Transcripts in Young Wheat Plants. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25(22), 12127.

Nikolova, T, Todorova, D, Vatchev, T, Stoyanova, Z, Lyubenova, V, Taseva, Y, Yanashkov, I, Sergiev, I. 2025. Dose-Dependent Effect of the Polyamine Spermine on Wheat Seed Germination, Mycelium Growth of Fusarium Seed-Borne Pathogens, and In Vivo Fusarium Root and Crown Rot Development. Agriculture, 15, 15, 1695.

Petrova A., Katerova Z., Sergiev I., Todorova D. 2025. Effect of Exogenous Plant Growth Regulators on Antioxidant Defense in Zucchini Cotyledons Under Different Light Regimes. Agriculture, 15, 12, 1258.

Todorova D, Nikolova T, Sergiev I, Anev S. 2025. The Effect of Seed Priming with Polyamine Spermine on Key Photosynthetic Parameters in Fusarium culmorum Infected Winter Wheat. Agronomy. 15, 12, 2675.

Participation in scientific projects

Dr. Todorova leaded or coordinated 11 scientific projects and participated in total of 31.  

1. Oxidative stress in economically important plant species and possibilities for its alleviation by application of environmentally friendly substances. (2011-2013). (Project leader).
2. Alleviation of adverse effects of water stress on cereals by application of plant growth regulators. Bulgaria-Egypt bilateral research agreement (2013-2015) (Project leader).
3. 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) (Project leader).
4. Support for training and development of young competitive research experts in the field of physiology, phytochemistry, genomics, proteomics and biodiversity of eucariotic organisms, Project funded by OPHRD 2007-2013 and ESF. (2012-2015) (Project Coordinator)
5. Plant growth regulators – tools for increasing plants tolerance to temperature stress. Bulgaria-Lithuania bilateral research agreement (2016-2018) (Project leader).
6. Assessment of ability of synthetic auxin type compounds to counteract herbicide stress in crop plants. Bulgaria-Lithuania bilateral research agreement (2019-2021) (Project leader).
7. Mitigation of adverse effects of abiotic stress on cereals by application of plant growth regulators. Bulgaria-Egypt bilateral research agreement (2019-2021) (Project leader).
8. Assessment of the physiological responses of wheat and triticale to soil drought and waterlogging after routine application of selective herbicide (2021-2024) (Project leader)
9. A multidisciplinary study of the effects of seed pre-treatment with polyamine spermine on fungal plant pathogens of Fusarium and disease development on wheat (2024-2027) (Project leader).
10. Response of crop plants to microbial biostimulant under herbicide treatment (Bulgaria-Lithuania bilateral research agreement (2025-2027) (Project leader).
11. A holistic model for evaluating the effectiveness of a plant extract against Erwinia amylovora and the physiological response of strawberry plants to combined biotic and abiotic stress (2025-2028) (Project Coordinator).

Teaching activity

Supervisor of M.Sc. degree projects of 6 undergraduate students (1999 – 2001, 2025) and 2 Bachelor’s degree project (2011-2013). Supervisor of PhD student (2025-2028).

Membership in national and international scientific associations, federations and societies

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

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