Genetic Resources

Dr. Gritsenko is an Associate Professor and the head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the Institute of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National Agrarian University, Almaty, Kazakhstan, since 2019. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Technology from Al-Farabi KazNU (2006-2010) and her master’s degree in Natural Sciences from Al-Farabi KazNU (2010-2012). She did her PhD in 2019 with a thesis on "Creation of a viral vector for the production of recombinant proteins in plants and the study of their expression efficiency" at the Tolkovsky Laboratory at the Volcani Center Plant Protection Institute in Israel. She was awarded the Nazarbayev Scholarship by the President for academic excellence and high achievements in research in 2011. She has authored over 50 scientific works. Dr. Gritsenko's research interests include the genetic resources and pathology of plants, with a particular focus on studying wild apple species, especially Malus sieversii, the wild ancestor of domesticated apples. Currently, studies are being conducted on the development patterns of Malus sieversii populations in Kazakhstan, focusing on their genetic diversity and population structure.

Dr. Turgunbaev Kubanychbek is a Professor at the Department of Forestry and Fruit Production at Kyrgyz National Agrarian University, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers. He studied at the Kyrgyz Agricultural Institute, named after K.I. Skryabin. Specialty: scientist-agronomist. In 1991-1992 he began his career at KSAI, as a 2nd category engineer in the laboratory of Biotechnology of agricultural plants. 1992-1996, he worked at KSAI as an assistant in the department of "Fruit and Vegetable Growing and Viticulture". He defended his dissertation in 2000 in the specialty of botany. In 2005, he was awarded the academic title of associate professor. He led several projects with international collaborators to assess the diversity and conservation of fruit crops and their wild relatives in Central Asia. He also worked as an associate professor at the Department of Forestry of KAU, Dean of the Agronomic Faculty of KNAU, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Agriculture of the Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University (part-time), and head of the Department of Forestry and Fruit Growing of KNAU.

Dr. Elnara Khankishiyeva Ahmadova is the Deputy Director of the Absheron Experimental Station of the Scientific Research Institute of Fruit- and Tea-growing of the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan Republic. She completed her graduate work, bachelor's and master's degrees in Plant Pathology at Azerbaijan State Agricultural University. She earned her PhD from the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Genetic Resources Institute Immunology and Genetics. She performed research on screening for resistance genes against scab of apple genotypes and application in breeding at the Plant Protection and Gene analysis laboratories at the Julius Kühn Institut Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants in Dresden-Germany. In her research at JKI, she identified Rvi1, Rvi2, Rvi8, Rvi3, Rvi4, Pl2, Rvi9, Rvi11, Rvi12, Rvi13, and Rvi15 genes resistant to the pathogen Venturia inaequalis for the first time in Azerbaijan. She has also led the projects "Preparation and organization of short-term training courses on orchard management" (with the financial support of the German Society for International Cooperation - GIZ - Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), private sector development support project in the South Caucasus) and complex development of villages, funded by IFAD. In her more than 13 years of research experience, she has published over 30 research papers and review articles in international refereed journals.