Guranda Gvaladze

Guranda E. Gvaladze (გურანდა ღვალაძე in Georgian; born June 23, 1932) is a distinguished Georgian botanist, one of the founders of the Georgian scientific school of Plant Embryology, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor.

She was born in Tbilisi, in the family of a famous Georgian jurist and public benefactor Evgen Gvaladze (1900-1937).

In 1956 she graduated from the Faculty of Biology of the Tbilisi State University (TSU).

In 1956-1959 Gvaladze was a Post-Graduate Student of the N.Ketskhoveli Institute of Botany of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS), in 1959-2003 Research Fellow (1959-1966), Senior Research Fellow (1966-1982), Head of the Department of Cultural Plants (1982-1990), Founder and Head of the Department of Plant Embryology (now Laboratory of Plant Reproduction) (1990-2003) of this Institute. Since 2003 she is a Chief Research Fellow of the Department of Plant Reproduction. In 1962 she received a PhD degree in Biology, in 1973 a degree of the Doctor of Biological Sciences, in 1991 scientific title of Professor.

In 1998 Guranda Gvaladze was elected as Academician of the Abkhazian Regional Academy of Sciences (based in Tbilisi).

In 1990 she received the International S. Navashin Medal "For outstanding contribution in Plant Embryology". She is listed in the Encyclopedic work "Embryology of Flowering Plants: Terminology and Concepts" (in 3 volumes, St.Petersburg, 1994-2000) as a Classic of Plant Embryology. Gvaladze is a member of: the International Association of Sexual Plant Reproduction Research/IASPRR (The Netherlands), the International Organization of Plant Information/IOPI (USA), the European Association on promotion of Science and Technologies/EUROSCIENCE (France), the Council of the Georgian National Section of EUROSCIENCE (Tbilisi), the Governing Board of the Georgian Botanical Society (Tbilisi), etc.

Main fields of scientific activity of Guranda Gvaladze are: Double Fertilization of Angiosperms and other important questions of Plant Embryology, Plant Cytology and Apomixis, etc. She is author of the well-known Hypothesis about the role of the Chalazal Polar Nucleus in the Double Fertilization and Consideration about the biological nature of polarization of the Embryo Sac (1976). She is author of 180 scientific-research works (among them 3 monographs and 1 textbook).

Some of main scientific works of Guranda Gvaladze

• "Forms of Apomixis in the genus Allium L."- In: S.S. Khokhlov (Ed.), "Apomixis and Breeding", Amerind Pub., New Delhi-Bombay-Calcutta-New York, 1976, pp. 160-165
• "The Chalazal Polar Nucleus of the Central Cell of Angiosperm Embryo Sac" (a monograph), Publishing House "Metsniereba", Tbilisi, 1976, 138 pp. (in Russian, English summary)
• "Asynchronous Division in Embryo and Endosperm in Liliaceae".- Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy, Delhi, B45, No 6, 1979, pp. 596-604
• "Gamets, Fertilization and Reproduction of Plants", Publishing House "Znanie", Moscow, 1981, 65 pp. (in Russian)
• "Ultrastructural study of Embryo Sac of Galanthus Nivalis L."- "Fertilization and Embryogenesis in Ovalated Plants", VEDA, Bratislava, 1983, pp. 203-205
• "Is the Poligonum-type Embryo Sac primitive?" - J. Phytomorphology, Delhi (India), 40 (3&4), 1990, pp. 331-337 (Co-author: M.Sh. Akhalkatsi)
• "Double Fertilization in Peperomia Pellucida".- J. Phytomorphology, 48 (4), 1998, pp. 405-409 (Co-author: M.Sh. Akhalkatsi)
• "Chromatin Diminution during Endosperm Development in Allium atroviolaceum Boiss. (Alliaceae)".- Bulletin of the Georgian Academy of Sciences, 166, No 3, 2002, pp. 537-540 (Co-authors: N. Nadirashvili and M. Akhalkatsi. In English)
• "Embryology of Gentiana angulosa and G.Pontica (Gentianaceae)".- Proc. Georgian Acad. Sci., Biol. Ser. B, vol. 2, No 1-2, 2004, pp. 29-34 (Co-authors: M. Akhalkatsi, M. Gachechiladze and N. Taralashvili. In English).

See also

• List of Georgians
• List of botanists

External links

• Professor Guranda Gvaladze's Home Page (http://www.webhostcorp.com/members/ggvaladze)
• N.Ketskhoveli Institute of Botany of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (http://www.acnet.ge/botany.htm)