Debrecen4U July 21, 2025

Two Debrecen professors among the best in the world

A review of the scientific productivity of fungal stress research was published in the renowned journal Fungal Biology. Both institutions and researchers active in the field were ranked. Two professors from the Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Microbiology, Institute of Biotechnology, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology of the University of Debrecen, István Pócsi and Tamás Emri, also achieved high rankings, the former in fifth and the latter in seventh. The University of Debrecen was ranked second in the stress biology of industrial fungi, while in the general stress biology of fungi, the latter was in sixth position.

“This is a pleasant surprise and a great joy for us; it confirms the work of the past more than thirty years. We deal with human, plant, and insect pathogenic fungi, as well as industrial microorganisms. Our domestic and international network of contacts and cooperation is also extensive, as indicated in the above-mentioned article. As can be seen from the ranking, China and the United States are the most effective in our field, and competition with them is only possible due to the difference in financial conditions if we work on a well-defined research topic in a relatively narrow segment, concentrating our efforts and taking advantage of our network of contacts,” István Pócsi explained.

The professor highlighted that in addition to their basic research activities, they always look at applied research opportunities.

“One of the goals of our research is to increase the stress tolerance of industrial fungi. Our results make it possible to produce biological control products and make probiotics, which are available commercially, safer. The development of new antifungal agents and treatments has always been a priority for us, and the past decade has also been about how to control the proliferation of fungi that produce mycotoxins, which are increasingly widespread due to climate change, “István Pócsi detailed.

As the professor pointed out, with the establishment of the HUN-REN-DE Fungal Stress Biology Research Group in 2022, their research has also reached a new level. In the research group, the elements of the stress response system are examined from the perspective of what points of attack would be possible in the future from the perspective of the development of antifungal agents. They have achieved significant results, among others, in the field of research on transcription factors coordinating the stress response system, as well as in understanding the cell death processes of fungi.

Researchers at the University of Debrecen are involved in numerous tenders: they have NKFIH tenders, but they also play a role in a Horizon Europe tender, and they are also in contact with the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute (Utrecht, Netherlands) and are participating in the development of an international project with them.

According to the Head of the Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Microbiology Tamás Emri, studying the stress responses of fungi is interesting not only because they can study how fungi adapt to their familiar environment, but also because they can examine how they are able to survive in a completely new situation.

“To illustrate with a current topic, for example, not only can our astronauts survive on the International Space Station, but fungi that arrive as stowaways also survive, some of which feel particularly good, multiply, and cause serious problems. It is not only that they acquire characteristics through mutations on the space station that help them survive, but they already come with a set of genes that allows them to be successful in this unknown world. An exciting question is why fungi that evolved on Earth feel so good in space. But I could also mention opportunistic human pathogenic fungi, many of which are assumed not to cause infection in humans because it is necessary for their survival. These species live here in our environment, inevitably entering our bodies. Our immune system does everything to ensure that they do not feel comfortable there, that they die, but still, if certain conditions are met, they survive and cause fatal diseases. We would not actually expect that a fungus would survive in such an extreme situation, in the human body, but it would still be able to adapt to it. The study of the stress responses of fungi is a very fortunate area of research, because on the one hand it attracts researchers because it formulates exciting questions, and on the other hand it is also tempting for research funders because we are trying to investigate questions whose solution can be beneficial from a practical point of view. And if these two interests meet in the long term, then great results can result,” the professor of the Faculty of Natural Sciences explained.

Source:dehir.hu