Dendrobiology Research Group/ Arboretum Mlyňany

Head of the Research Group

Areas of research

Improvement of the abiotic stress tolerance in ornamental plantations for fitting the future climate/urban extremes, as based on the introduction programme of the allochtonous dendroflora in the Mlyňany Arboretum
Analysis of the endophytic microbiome dynamics in ornamental woody plants in respect of environmental and biological factors, endophytic microbiome bioprospecting in medicine and agriculture (screening for secondary metabolite production)
In vitro protocols set up for micropropagation of the attractive woody plant genotypes
Bio-technologies enhancing production of the pharmacologically active compounds in the woody plant tissues
Assessment of the three-way interactions between plants, arthropods and microbes, effectivity of microbes in plant disease regulation and pH influence on the microbial composition (meta-analysis of the current knowledge utilizing statistical analysis and modeling)
Study of the role of growth, reproduction-biology and eco-plasticity features in the woody plant invasion process, prediction of the future invasions
Searching for bio-herbicides effective in regulation of the most dangerous invasive woody plant species, revealing of their metabolic targets

to enhance the abiotic stress tolerance in the introduced woody plant species for stabilization of the ornamental plantations under the continuous climate change/urban environment
to better understand the seasonal dynamics of plant endophyte microbiome and factors shaping the endophytic community, to identify endophytes promoting plant growth and/or stress tolerance of woody plants as well as antimicrobial activities for plant protection/medicinal use
to create protocols for effective micropropagation of the attractive ornamental woody plants
to formulate methods for maximalization of the pharmacological compounds production
to describe general patterns, knowledge gaps and most important impacts of three-way plant-arthropod-microbe interactions on woody plants to be able to predict outcomes of the complex biological interactions
to reveal what is behind the switch of non-native woody plants to the invasive behaviour
to identify effective allepathic agents/bio-herbicides able to suppress the most invasive woody plant species