Andrés Marzal | Plant Physiology | Best Researcher Award

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Dr. Andrés Marzal | Plant Physiology | Best Researcher Award

Postdoctoral Fellow | Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA) | Spain

Andrés Marzal Blay, PhD, is an agricultural engineer specialising in plant molecular and cellular biology, with a focus on the physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying the adaptation of woody crops to abiotic stress. He completed a co-tutelle doctoral degree between the Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) and the Università degli Studi di Palermo (Italy), earning a European PhD with the highest distinction. His thesis provided new insights into the nutritional, hormonal, and genetic factors regulating alternate bearing in citrus, contributing to the understanding of fruit-induced floral inhibition. Dr Marzal has authored five SCI-indexed publications and has disseminated his research through more than fifteen scientific communications, including nine posters and six oral presentations, several as first author. His work has informed the development of cultivation techniques aimed at reducing production losses in major fruit crops, particularly citrus. He has undertaken international research stays at the IBMCP-CSIC and the Università degli Studi di Palermo, fostering collaborations in meristem biology, flowering regulation, and alternate-bearing physiology. His contributions have been recognised through competitive awards, including the Best Poster Award at the XIV International Citrus Congress (ISHS) and the ‘Young Researchers’ Entrepreneurial Potential’ Award from the Valencian Innovation Agency for the project Citrus Caviar. In parallel with his scientific activities, he has participated in higher-education teaching, co-authored a university handbook on citrus cultivation, supervised student research, and served as a reviewer for peer-reviewed journals and scientific committees. Dr Marzal is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Valencian Institute of Agricultural Research (IVIA) under an INVESTIGO–FEDER contract. His work investigates the impact of climate change on the flowering of species such as persimmon, avocado, and citrus, developing physiological and cultivation strategies to enhance the resilience and sustainability of modern horticultural systems.

Profiles: Google Scholar | Scopus | ORCID | ResearchGate

Featured Publications

  1. Mesejo, C., Marzal, A., Martínez-Fuentes, A., Reig, C., & Agustí, M. (2021). On how auxin, ethylene and IDA-peptide relate during mature Citrus fruit abscission. Scientia Horticulturae, 278, 109855. Cited by: 19

  2. Mesejo, C., Marzal, A., Martínez-Fuentes, A., Reig, C., de Lucas, M., Iglesias, D. J., et al. (2022). Reversion of fruit-dependent inhibition of flowering in Citrus requires sprouting of buds with epigenetically silenced CcMADS19. New Phytologist, 233(1), 526–533. Cited by: 18

  3. Mesejo, C., Lozano-Omeñaca, A., Martínez-Fuentes, A., Reig, C., Gambetta, G., Marzal, A., et al. (2022). Soil-to-fruit nitrogen flux mediates the onset of fruit-nitrogen remobilization and color change in citrus. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 204, 105088. Cited by: 7

  4. Agustí, M., Martínez-Fuentes, A., Mesejo, C., Marzal, A., & Reig, C. (2024). Expression of carbohydrate-related genes underlying 3, 5, 6-TPA-induced fruitlet abscission in citrus. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 26482. Cited by: 6

  5. Marzal, A., Cervera, A., Blasco, C., Martínez-Fuentes, A., Reig, C., & Lo Bianco, R. (2025). Influence of stem and bud auxin levels on bud release and flower meristem formation in Citrus. Plant Science / SSRN Preprint (4973539). Cited by: 3

Bing Han | Agricultural Sciences | Best Researcher Award

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Dr. Bing Han | Agricultural Sciences | Best Researcher Award

Assistant Researcher | Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences | China

Dr. Bing Han is an Assistant Researcher at the Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS), Beijing, specializing in genomics, genetic breeding, and molecular biology of weedy rice. With an h-index of 13, over 40 SCI-indexed publications, and more than 440 citations, Dr. Han has made significant contributions to advancing rice genetics and germplasm innovation. His research focuses on gene discovery, evolutionary analysis, and stress-resistance improvement in rice, emphasizing drought, cold, and salt tolerance. Through high-throughput resequencing, transcriptome, and proteomic analyses, Dr. Han has identified key genes and molecular markers governing tolerance traits and developed superior germplasm lines using weedy rice as a parental source. His discoveries—covering drought-, cold-, and salt-tolerance genes as well as grain-drop resistance loci—provide essential genetic resources for global rice breeding programs. He has published influential papers in Journal of Experimental Botany, Rice, Scientific Reports, and Plant Direct, among others, underscoring his international research visibility. Dr. Han has participated in major national programs, including the National Key R&D Program (14th Five-Year Plan) and the Agricultural Germplasm Resources Census, and holds several patent applications for molecular markers linked to resistance genes. As Guest Editor for the Special Issue Rice Gene Discovery and Genetic Breeding, he has fostered global scholarly exchange in rice genomics. His collaborations span Ningxia Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Chongqing University, and Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, promoting multi-institutional innovation in crop genetics. By integrating fundamental genomics with applied breeding, Dr. Han’s work significantly advances sustainable agriculture and food security, providing new genetic insights and breeding materials to enhance climate resilience in rice production worldwide.

Profiles: Scopus | ORCID

Featured Publications

  1. Han, B., Ma, X., Cui, D., Wang, Y., Geng, L., Cao, G., Zhang, H., Han, L. (2020). Comprehensive evaluation and analysis of the mechanism of cold tolerance based on the transcriptome of weedy rice seedlings. Rice (N.Y.), 13(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12284-019-0363-1

  2. Han, B., Ma, X., Cui, D., Geng, L., Cao, G., Zhang, H., Han, L. (2020). Parallel reaction monitoring revealed tolerance to drought proteins in weedy rice (Oryza sativa f. spontanea). Scientific Reports, 10(1), 12935. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-69739-9

  3. Han, B., Wang, J., Li, Y., Ma, X., Jo, S. M., Cui, D., Wang, Y., Park, D. S., Song, Y. C., Cao, G., Wang, X., Sun, J., Shin, D. J., Han, L. (2018). Identification of QTLs associated with drought tolerance traits in rice (Oryza sativa L.) under PEG and field drought stress. Euphytica, 214, 74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-018-2138-y

  4. Han, B., Cui, D., Ma, X., Cao, G., Zhang, H., Koh, H. J., Han, L. (2022). Evidence for evolution and selection of drought-resistant genes based on high-throughput resequencing in weedy rice. Journal of Experimental Botany, 73(7), 1949-1962. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erab515

  5. Zou, B., Han, B., Sun, J., Sun, M., Ma, X., Chen, L., Cui, D., Ma, J., Guo, X., Han, L. (2025). Identification and evolution of salt-tolerant genes in weedy rice through high-throughput resequencing. Plant Direct, 9(9), e70096. https://doi.org/10.1002/pld3.70096