Dr. Nikolay Anachkov

Position: Laboratory manager/technician, Department Crop Quantitative Genetics, CPSBB

Dr. Nikolay Anachkov has a strong foundation in molecular biology and over 7 years of hands-on experience as a biotechnologist in research and development in the pharmaceutical sector. During his PhD he focused on the use of plant microspore cultures of pepper and tomatoes in molecular biology studies. Microspore embryogenesis is a process in which the immature male gametophyte is induced to undergo a switch from gametophytic to embryogenic development in in vitro culture. Haploid embryos obtained by this method can be converted into homozygous double haploid plants either spontaneously or after treatment with chromosome doubling agents. In turn, the focus of his bachelor and master studies was on studying transposon-associated polymorphisms in the model plant Arabidopis thaliana. During his RESIST secondment Nikolay will work on the evaluation of biostimulant products for their potential to mitigate oxidative stress during the reproductive phase and improve early plant establishment, tuber growth and yield in potato. Seaweed extracts based on Ascophyllum nodosum will be applied at critical growth stages and the plant responses to the biostimulant treatments will be monitored until maturity.