Scientific interest:
Mechanisms of plant adaptation under heavy metal stress (accumulation of metal detoxifying ligands; localisation of metals at tissue, cellular and subcellular levels), antioxidant mechanisms, functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus. Morphological, physiological and genetic differences between plant populations from metal-contaminated and non-contaminated sites. Plant-microbe interactions under metal stress. Phytoremediation and phytomanagement of contaminated sites.
Recent research projects:
Horizon Europe grant entitled. ‘Curing contaminated and saline land with Industrial crops and producing biomass for high-value applications’ (acronym IASIS), EC Agreement No. 101157430, implementation period: 2024-2028 (Polish group leader)
Horizon 2020 grant entitled. ‘Bridging the gap between phytoremediation solutions on growing energy crops on contaminated lands and clean biofuel production’ (acronym GOLD, www.gold-h2020.eu), EC Agreement No. 101006873, implementation period: 2021-2025 (Polish group leader)
Grant from Hasselt University, Belgium, under the Bilateral Scientific Cooperation Programme (BOF24BL06) entitled: ‘The effect of biostimulants on the production of biofuels. ‘The effect of biostimulants on the growth and physiological parameters of selected species of energy crops’, implementation period: 2023-2025 (scientific supervisor)
Grant funded by the Voivodship Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Lublin, entitled. ‘Ex situ conservation of the protected species of bearberry Actostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng’, Agreement No. 71/2020/D/OP, implementation period: 2020 (principal researcher)
Grant from Hasselt University, Belgium under the Bilateral Scientific Cooperation Programme (BOF 2019: BOF19BL05) entitled. ‘Functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus and metabolic and microbial defence systems in metallicolous and nonmetallicolous ecotypes of Dianthus carthusianorum L. exposed to lead, cadmium and excess zinc’, implementation period: 2019-2021 (scientific supervisor)
Grant founded by Ministry of Science and Higher Education entitled. ‘Adaptation mechanisms in plants colonising landfills of zinc and lead ore processing waste - ecological, floristic and physiological studies’, Grant No. N N305 185737, implementation period: 2009-2012 (grant manager)
Recent publications:
Krzemińska B., Borkowska I., Malm M., Tchórzewska D., Vangronsveld J., Vassilev A., Dos Santos Szewczyk K., Wójcik M. 2024. Comparative study of the photosynthetic efficiency and leaf structure of four Cotoneaster species. Scientific Reports, 14, 25113
Sugier P., Jakubowicz-Gil J., Zając A., Sugier D., Wójcik M., Czarnecka J., Krawczyk R., Urban D., Sęczyk Ł. 2024. Phytochemical profiles and anti-glioma activity of bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng. leaf extracts. Applied Sciences, 14, 3418.
Oleńska E., Małek W., Wójcik M., Szopa S., Swiecicka I., Aleksandrowicz O., Włostowski T., Zawadzka W., Sillen W.M.A., Vangronsveld J., Cholakova I., Langill T., Thijs S. 2023. Bacteria associated with Zn-hyperaccumulators Arabidopsis halleri and Arabidopsis arenosa from Zn–Pb–Cd waste heaps in Poland as promising tools for bioremediation. Scientific Reports, 13, 12606.
Langill T., Jorissen L.-P., Oleńska E., Wójcik M.,Vangronsveld J., Thijs S. 2023a. Community profiling of seed endophytes from the Pb-Zn hyperaccumulator Noccaea caerulescens and their plant growth promotion potential. Plants, 12, 643.
Langill T., Wójcik M., Vangronsveld J., Thijs S. 2023b. Endophyte community changes in the seeds of eight plant species following inoculation with a multi-endophytic bacterial consortium and an individual Sphingomonas wittichii strain obtained from Noccaea caerulescens. Plants, 12, 3660.
Oleńska E., Małek W., Sujkowska-Rybkowska M., Szopa S., Włostowski T., Aleksandrowicz O., Swiecicka I., Wójcik M., Thijs S., Vangronsveld J. 2022. An alliance of Trifolium repens-Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii-mycorrhizal fungi from an old Zn-Pb-Cd rich waste heap as a promising tripartite system for phytostabilization of metal polluted soils. Frontiers in Microbiology 13:853407.
Rabêlo F.H.S., Gaziola S.A., Lanzoni Rossi M., Silveira N.M., Wójcik M., Bajguz A., Piotrowska-Niczyporuk A., Lavres J., Linhares F.S., Azevedo R.A., Vangronsveld J., Alleoni L.R.F. 2021. Unravelling the mechanisms controlling Cd accumulation and Cd-tolerance in Brachiaria decumbens and Panicum maximum under summer and winter weather conditions. Physiologia Plantarum 173, 20-44
Sugier P., Sęczyk Ł., Sugier D., Krawczyk R., Wójcik M., Czarnecka J., Okoń S., Plak A. 2021. Chemical characteristics and antioxidant activity of Arctostaphylos uva-ursi L. Spreng. at the southern border of the Geographical Range of the Species in Europe. Molecules 26, 7692.
Thijs S., Vasilev A., Wójcik M., Vangronsveld J. 2020. Phytomanagement of pollutants in soil and groundwater. In: Soil and Groundwater Remediation Technologies. A Practical Guide. Ok Y. S., Rinklebe J., Hou D., Tsang D. C.W., Tack F. M. G. (eds), CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 131-151
Oleńska E., Małek W., Wójcik M., Swiecicka I., Thijs S., Vangronsveld J. 2020. Beneficial features of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria for improving plant growth and health in challenging conditions: A methodical review. Sci. Tot. Environ. 743, 140682
Oleńska E. , Imperato V., Małek W., Włostowski T., Wójcik M., Swiecicka I., Vangronsveld J., Thijs S. 2020. Trifolium repens-associated bacteria as a potential tool to facilitate phytostabilization of zinc and lead polluted waste heaps. Plants 9, 1002
Hendrix S., Jozefczak M., Wójcik M., Deckers J., Vangronsveld J., Cuypers A. 2020. Glutathione: A key player in metal chelation, nutrient homeostasis, cell cycle regulation and the DNA damage response in cadmium-exposed Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 154, 498-507
Sugier D., Olesińska K., Sugier P., Wójcik M. 2019. Chemical composition of essential oil from flower heads of Arnica chamissonis Less. under a nitrogen impact. Molecules 24, 4454
Hawrylak-Nowak B., Hasanuzzaman M., Wójcik M. 2019. Biostimulation and biofortification of crop plants – new challenges for modern agriculture (Editorial). Acta Agrobot. 2019;72(2):1777
Wójcik M., Gonnelli C., Selvi F., Dresler S., Rostański A., Vangronsveld J. 2017. Metallophytes of serpentine and calamine soils – their unique ecophysiology and potential for phytoremediation. Advances in Botanical Research 83, 1-42
