Research Interests
My research focuses on understanding the symbiotic interaction between fungal endophytes and their host grasses. Endophytic fungi of the genus Epichloë and its asexual form Neotyphodium are common in many species of the Poaceae.
The grass plant provides the endophyte with shelter and nutrients and facilitates its propagation because the endophyte is transmitted through the plant seed. In return, endophytes can provide a wide range of benefits to their host plants. The most well documented benefit is the host protection from insect herbivores which is caused by fungus-produced secondary metabolites. By contrast, symbiosis-specific alkaloids can have detrimental effects on grazing livestock causing toxicosis problems of economic importance.
In addition to bioprotective benefits, endophytes are also known to confer the host with higher fitness and eventually with a competitive advantage. Examples for the positive effects of endophyte infection on plant growth are enhanced biomass production, seed yield, and root growth, improved persistence and higher stress tolerance against abiotic factors. One type of environmental stress that is of great interest especially under the predicted climate change scenarios is drought. In some grass species, endophyte infection may result in improved host tolerance to, and recovery from drought.
Because of the wide array of endophyte-mediated benefits especially for agronomic grass species, the relationship between fungal endophytes and grass plants is generally viewed as mutualistic symbiosis. However, considering the findings of the last years for some native grass species, there are several reasons to describe the symbiosis as symbiotic continuum ranging from mutualism to antagonism. Genetic factors and interacting environmental factors may modify the nature of the symbiosis. The complex understanding of the symbiosis poses a scientific challenge but also offers prospects for new opportunities in grass breeding and practical grassland management.
Currrent Research Projects
- Effect of drought and endophyte infection on plant physiology of Lolium perenne
- Biosynthesis of bioprotective metabolites in N. lolii/L. perenne associations
- Metabolic response of endophyte-free and endophyte-infected perennial ryegrass on drought
- Occurrence and diversity of endophytes in Bulgarian grass ecotypes
Previous Research Projects
- Costs and benefits of endophytes - a practical view
- Efficient methods for the detection of endophytes (Tissue print immunoblot assay)
- Characterization of embryogenic microspore cultures of Brassica napus
- Identification of varieties and hybrids in grasses by means of isoenzymes and storage protein profiles