The USDA Foreign Agricultural Service has selected the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences as the host site for two Norman E. Borlaug fellows. Miroslava Hristova-Cherbadzhi, agronomy faculty member at the University of Forestry in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Mariana Petkova-Andonova, assistant professor of genetics and plant breeding at the Agricultural University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, will spend several months conducting collaborative research in the department.
Hristova-Cherbadzhi and her NDSU host faculty, Brent Hulke, adjunct professor and USDA-Agricultural Research Service research geneticist of sunflowers, are conducting analysis of molecular markers from a single nucleotide polymorphism marker platform to map a resistance gene to the parasitic plant Orobanche cumana. In addition to studying yield and nursery trials, Hristova-Cherbadzhi has observed sunflower disease and insect resistance evaluation nurseries. The pair also has visited with other collaborators in the United States during her stay.
Petkova-Andonova, a canola breeder hosted by Michael Foley, adjunct professor and USDA-Agricultural Research Service supervisory plant physiology, and Muklesur Rahman, research assistant professor of canola breeding and genetics, has been conducting research on molecular and genetic approaches to improving food and energy values of canola/rapeseed oils.
The Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship Program helps developing countries strengthen sustainable agricultural practices by providing scientific training and collaborative research opportunities to visiting researchers, policymakers and university faculty.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.