Isabella Grishkan, Ph.D.
Senior Lecturer
Author and coauthor of 62 scientific papers and 3 books.
Research Interests:
Soil microfungi of Israel (and not only): species composition, structure of communities and populations, diversity level, influence of edaphic and microclimatic conditions on mycobiota in spatiotemporal dynamics.
Teaching activity: course for bachelor and master students – Diversity, ecology, and economic importance of soil fungi.
Research Projects:
Contrasting environments:
The "Evolution Canyon" project - structure of communities [3, 7, 10, 24] and populations [8, 9, 14, 15, 21]
Contrasting soil types [11] and microclimates [16]
Extreme environments:
Hypersaline areas [1, 2, 4, 5]
Deserts [6, 7, 12, 13, 18-20, 22, 23, 26-28]
Transport of microfungi to Israel with Saharan and east desert dust storms (in the collaboration with Faculty of Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering, Technion) [17]
Interior of saxicolous lichens as a habitat for microfungal communities [25]
Selected Publications
1. Kis-Papo T., Grishkan I., Oren A., Wasser S.P., Nevo E. 2001. Spatiotemporal diversity of filamentous fungi in the hypersaline Dead Sea. Mycological Research 105: 749-756. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953756201004129
2. Grishkan I., Korol A., Nevo E., Wasser S.P. 2003. Ecological stress and sex evolution in soil microfungi. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 270: 13-18.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2194
3. Grishkan I., Nevo E., Wasser S.P., Beharav A. 2003. Adaptive spatiotemporal distribution of soil microfungi in "Evolution Canyon" II, Lower Nahal Keziv, Western Upper Galilee, Israel. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 78: 527-539.
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0024-4066.2002.00164.x
4. Grishkan I., Nevo E., Wasser S.P. 2003. Micromycete diversity in the hypersaline Dead Sea coastal area (Israel). Mycological Progress 2(1): 19-28.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11557-006-0040-9
5. Grishkan I., Nevo E., Wasser S.P. 2004. Micromycetes from the saline Arubotaim Cave (Mount Sedom, The Dead Sea Southwestern Shore, Israel). Journal of Arid Environments 57: 431-443. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-1963(03)00119-8
6. Grishkan I., Zaady E., Nevo E. 2006. Soil crust microfungi along a southward rainfall aridity gradient in the Negev desert, Israel. European Journal of Soil Biology 42: 33-42. https://doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.ejsobi.2005.09.014
7. Grishkan I., Beharav A., Kirzhner V., Nevo E. 2007. Adaptive spatiotemporal distribution of soil microfungi in "Evolution Canyon" III, Nahal Shaharut, extreme Southern Negev desert, Israel. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 90: 263-277.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00722.x
8. Singaravelan N., Grishkan I., Beharav A., Wakamatsu K., Ito Sh., Nevo E. 2008. Adaptive melanin response of the soil fungus Aspergillus niger to UV radiation stress at ‘‘Evolution Canyon'', Mount Carmel, Israel. PLoS One 3/8: 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0002993
9. Hosid E., Grishkan I., Frenkel Z., Wasser S.P., Nevo E., Korol A. 2008. Diversity of microsatellites in natural populations of ascomycetous fungus, Emericella nidulans, in Israel on regional and local scales. Mycological Progress 7: 99-109.
https://10.1007/s11557-008-0557-1
10. Grishkan I., Nevo E. 2008. Soil microfungi of Israeli "Evolution Canyons" - extreme differences on a regional scale. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 93: 157-163. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00918.x
11. Grishkan I., Tsatskin A., Nevo E. 2009. Comparative mycobiotic and edaphic analyses of two neighboring soil profiles on different lithologies in Upper Galilee, Israel. European Journal of Soil Biology 45: 341-350. https://10.1016/j.ejsobi.2009.05.004
12. Grishkan I. 2010. Chapter 10.2. Ecological stress: Melanization as a response in fungi to radiation. In: Extremophiles Handbook. Horikoshi K., Antranikian G, Bull A., Robb F., Stetter K. (Eds.). Springer DE, pp. 1136-1148. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-4-431-53898-1_54
13. Grishkan I., Nevo E. 2010. Spatiotemporal distribution of soil microfungi in the Makhtesh Ramon area, central Negev desert, Israel. Fungal Ecology 3: 326-337.
https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.funeco.2010.01.003
14. Hosid E., Yusim E., Grishkan I., Frenkel Z., Wasser SP., Nevo E., Korol A. 2010. Microsatellite diversity in natural populations of ascomycetous fungus, Emericella nidulans, from different climatic-edaphic conditions in Israel. Israel Journal of Ecology and Evolution 56: 119-134. https://doi.org/10.1560/IJEE.56.2.119
15. Hosid E., Yusim E., Grishkan I., Frenkel Z., Wasser SP., Nevo E., Korol A. 2010. Mode of reproduction in natural populations of ascomycetous fungus, Emericella nidulans, from Israel. Genetics Research, 92: 83-90. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0016672310000066
16. Grishkan I. Nevo E. 2012. Spatiotemporal dynamics of culturable microfungi in soil of Mount Hermon, Israel. Plant Biosystems 146: 150-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/11263504.2012.687405
17. Grishkan I., Schlesinger P., Mamane Y. 2012. Influence of dust storms on concentration and content of fungi in the atmosphere of Haifa, Israel. Aerobiologia 28: 557-564. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-012-9256-0
18. Grishkan, I., J. Rong-Liang, G.J. Kidron and L. Xin-Rong. 2015. Cultivable microfungal communities inhabiting biological soil crusts in the Tengger Desert, China. Pedosphere 25(3): 351-363. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(15)30003-5
19. Grishkan I., Kidron G.J. 2016. Vertical divergence of microfungal communities through the depth in different soil formations at Nahal Nizzana, western Negev desert, Israel. Geomicrobiology Journal. 33: 564-577. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2015.1062063
20. Grishkan I., Kidron G.J. 2017. Vertical divergence of cultured microfungal communities at the Hallamish dune field, Western Negev Desert, Israel. Geomicrobiology Journal 34: 706–721. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490451.2016.1243597
21. Grishkan I., Wakamatsu K., Perl T., Li K., Nevo E. 2018. Adaptive response of a soil fungus, Aspergillus niger, to changed environmental conditions in a soil transplant experiment at "Evolution Canyon" I, Mount Carmel, Israel. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 125: 821-826. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/bly138/5151196
22. Grishkan I. 2018. Spatiotemporal variations in soil cultivable mycobiota at the Arava desert (Israel) along latitudinal and elevational gradients. AIMS Microbiology 4(3): 502–521. https://doi.org/10.3934/microbiol.2018.3.502
23. Grishkan I. 2018. Thermotolerant mycobiota of Israeli soils. Journal of Basic Microbiology 58: 30-40. https://doi.org/10.1002/jobm.201700517
24. Grishkan I. 2019. Soil translocation at "Evolution Canyon" I (Mount Carmel, Israel) reveals the importance of microclimatic variation for structuring soil microfungal communities. Pedobiologia - Journal of Soil Ecology 75: 8–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2019.04.002
25. Grishkan I., Temina M. 2019. Interior of saxicolous lichens on different types of rocks as a habitat for microfungal communities in Upper Galilee, Israel. Acta Mycologica, 54(1):1123. https://doi.org/10.5586/am.1123
26. Grishkan I. 2019. Soil Microfungi of Israeli Deserts: Adaptations to Environmental Stress. In: Fungi in Extreme Environments: Ecological Role and Biotechnological Significance. S.M. Tiquia-Arashiro and M. Grube, Eds. Springer, pp. 97-117. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-030-19030-9_6.pdf
27. Grishkan I., Lazaro R., Kidron G.J. 2019. Cultured microfungal communities in biological soil crusts and bare soils at the Tabernas Desert, Spain. Soil Systems 3, 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/soilsystems3020036
28. Grishkan I., Lázaro R., Kidron G.J. 2020. Vertical divergence of cultivable microfungal communities through biocrusted and bare soil profiles at the Tabernas Desert, Spain. Geomicrobiology Journal 37: 534-549. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-030-19030-9_6.pdf