On September 26, 2024, the preliminary discussion of Naima Niyazova's dissertation on the topic "Study of the responses of tomato varieties (Solanum Lycopersicum L.) to the effects of drought stress, rehydration, and potential biostimulants" was held at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnologies of the MSE AR. The supervisors of the work submitted to receive a PhD in biology in the speciality 2406.02 "Biochemistry" are the director general of IMBB, academician Irada Huseynova and the employee of the Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection of the Italian National Research Council, Biancaelena Maserti.

The applicant explained the main provisions of the dissertation and gave detailed information about the results she received. She noted that the main goal of the dissertation was to study the responses of local and Italian tomato varieties to drought stress, rehydration, and potential biostimulants. Increasing the tomato plant's resistance to environmental stress factors and reducing yield loss is critical for assuring population food security and avoiding economic losses. The biostimulant and antifungal effect of the extract obtained from the cyanobacterium Nostoc piscinale and macroalgae on the tomato plant was studied for the first time in Azerbaijan in the dissertation work.

The reviewers' speeches were heard after the presentation, and substantial discussions were made about the dissertation. Naima Niyazova answered the questions and conveyed her views to the reviews and suggestions. At the end of the meeting, a decision was made to let the dissertation work to the next stage of defense.