Elizaveta Lukina

Research Interests
​I am fascinated by the investigation of fungi-plant and fungi-bacteria interactions on the molecular level. During the development of my previous research projects, I focused on the study of several aspects of phytopathogenic and endophytic microscopic fungi, including their biodiversity, morphology, phylogeny, secondary metabolites and the special role of these compounds in the plant-fungi interaction. Currently, as a PhD student of the Environmental Genomics group, I have a great opportunity to delve into the study of fungi and their interactions with other organisms at the genetic level. My project focuses on the investigation of the potential mechanisms by which the global wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici can interact with endophytic bacteria and fungi inhabiting the wheat phyllosphere. One of the main goals of this research is to figure out genetic loci that can be associated with the expression of new effector proteins or novel biosynthetic pathways of secondary metabolites and would be responsible for the fungus-microorganisms interaction.



Short CV
2025–present: PhD student, Christian-Albrechts University, Prof. Dr. Eva Stukenbrock’s group Environmental Genomics, the project funded by DFG RTG 2501 Trans-Evo Programme.

2023–2025: Junior researcher in the Laboratory of Phytotoxicology and Biotechnology at the Russian National Institute for Plant Protection (VIZR)

2021–2023: M. Sc. in Biology, Saint Petersburg State University. Thesis: Identification of Phoma-like fungi isolated from Cirsium and Sonchus and evaluation of their potential as producers of natural herbicides. Supervisors: Dr. Alexander Berestetskiy, Prof. Dr. Dmitry Vlasov

2017–2021: B. Sc. in Biology, Saint Petersburg State University. Thesis: Identification of the causal agent of the Canada thistle shoots bleaching and its biologically active metabolites. Supervisors: Dr. Alexander Berestetskiy, Prof. Dr. Dmitry Vlasov