Daniela Ristova

Daniela Ristova is a researcher at the Institute for Plant Sciences, University of Cologne, and active member of CEPLAS (Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences). Her work focuses on molecular mechanisms of nutrient signaling and metabolism in plants to improve agricultural nutrient use efficiency (NUE), addressing critical challenges like 30-50% nutrient loss in modern farming and climate change impacts.

Her research integrates systems biology to decode regulatory networks governing plant adaptation to nutrient availability, with emphasis on root architecture, nutrient-metabolism-development interconnections, and climate resilience. Key methodologies include transcriptomic-phenotypic network analysis and computational tools like RootScape for root phenotyping, primarily using Arabidopsis thaliana as a model system.

Recent publications reveal strong trends in plant systems biology, particularly combinatorial effects of nitrogen/hormones on root development and natural genetic variation in nutrient uptake. Her work spans fundamental molecular mechanisms to applied agricultural solutions, with increasing focus on data science integration and synthetic biology approaches for optimizing plant performance.

As part of CEPLAS, Ristova collaborates within interdisciplinary teams across four research areas: plant metabolism-development interfaces, plant-microbe metabolic networks, synthetic biology, and theoretical plant sciences. The cluster provides technology platforms for metabolomics, imaging, and data science, supporting her systems-level investigations into sustainable crop solutions.