Maria Faticov
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mariafaticov.bsky.social
Maria Faticov
@mariafaticov.bsky.social

Ecologist, #microbial enthusiast 🧫🍄 Postdoc at
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

#standwithukraine 🇺🇦

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FdZxWSEAAAAJ&hl=en

Environmental science 55%
Agriculture 19%
Pinned
🎉I am very happy to share that I've been awarded the FORMAS Early Career Grant, a 4-year research project starting in 2026! formas.se/en/start-pag...

This was my 2nd attempt for FORMAS, and I’m so grateful to everyone who supported, encouraged, and mentored me along the way 🙏
Career Grant for Early-career Researchers, career age 4–7 years
This call welcomes researchers who have recently received a doctorate or who are at an early stage of their career. You can apply for funding to conduct your own research project, where you formulate ...
formas.se

Reposted by Maria Faticov

“I was in the shelters for so long. And now I’m hiding in the bathroom.”

A Nigerian-Ukrainian blogger describes the exhausting nature of living under constant shelling and documents the aftermath of yet another russian war crime.
🎄 Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Christmas carollers are taking to the streets.
In English we know it as “Carol of the Bells,” but the melody arises from a Ukrainian folk tradition of songs welcoming the new year and summoning the forces of nature to meet human labor and bring prosperity.
Do listen.
I wrote about the history here: snyder.substack.com/p/o-generous...
Another beautiful Shchedryk performance amidst ruins.

It was set in what used to be a DTEK thermal power plant — now destroyed by russia.

The contrast between russia’s destructive nature and the Ukrainian will to create beauty even in the darkest times is palpable.
#TansleyInsight | On the role of mutualisms in plant biogeography: consequences for ecology, evolution, and invasion

@camilledelavaux.bsky.social 👇

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#LatestIssue #PlantScience #TansleyMedal
We’ve posted a new preprint providing evidence that endophytic fungi facilitate resource transfer through common mycelial networks. A neat aspect of our study is that we measured fungal functional changes when connected to more than one plant, not just the plants!
doi.org/10.21203/rs....
Evidence for resource transfer via common endophyte networks
Fungal symbionts play essential roles in ecosystems influencing plant development and biodiversity. Mycorrhizal fungi can form common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) where a fungus connects the roots of a...
doi.org

Putin shows no intention of stopping the war!

Russia is militarising its society, even indoctrinating children for a future conflict with Europe.

The key question is whether the EU will confront this reality, or to fight in the future war. Today’s vote on reparations may be a telling signal.
Some of the longest-lived organisms on Earth aren’t whales, trees or corals, but microbes buried deep in the earth. This eye-opening essay examines the slowest lives on Earth, asking what such lives mean for how we define life itself @karenlloyd.bsky.social
The discovery of aeonophiles expands our definition of life | Aeon Essays
The discovery of organisms that have been alive for many thousands of years requires a revolution in how we understand life
buff.ly

Reposted by Maria Faticov

‼️ "Either money today or blood tomorrow", Polish PM tells EU leaders on Ukraine financing
"Either money today or blood tomorrow", Polish PM tells EU leaders on Ukraine financing
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned EU leaders that failure to agree on funding for Ukraine now could lead to bloodshed in Ukraine and across Europe.
www.pravda.com.ua

Reposted by Maria Faticov

Ru is like a mobster benefiting from habeas corpus and vigorously defending himself in court, while at the same time trying to bribe the prosecutors or whack the judge.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...
Belgian politicians and finance bosses targeted by Russian intelligence over seized assets
Exclusive: Key figures at frozen assets depository among targets of intimidation campaign, say European intelligence agencies
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Maria Faticov

Great new article out by Solomon Maerowitz-McMahan on fungal production, composition, and fire response. Solomon presented this work at our mycorrhizal session last year the @egu.eu meeting (you can still submit to present your work at our 2026 session).

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Decoupled responses of mycorrhizal fungal communities and function to recurrent wildfire
Understanding the effects of fire on ecosystem function is critical for both above- and belowground processes. Mycorrhizal fungi play essential roles …
www.sciencedirect.com

Reposted by Maria Faticov

For the third day in a row, russia has been relentlessly attacking the energy infrastructure of the Odesa region.

Large parts of the city are still w/o electricity, water, or heating. While power is slowly being restored in some areas, thousands of people are trying to survive w/o basic services.

Reposted by Maria Faticov

For more than three years, Ukraine has endured Russia’s relentless campaign against its energy infrastructure. While Europe has supported Ukraine with equipment and financing, Kyiv is now returning the favor by advising European states on how to protect their grids.
From target to teacher, Ukraine’s energy sector is preparing Europe for drones
As Russian drones test Europe's skies, European governments are turning to the one nation that knows this battle best. Ukraine’s state power company, Ukrenergo — which as the chief transporter of the...
kyivindependent.com

Reposted by Maria Faticov

Dormancy and reactivation of the seed and its microbiome: a holobiont perspective

#mSystems review by Davide Gerna, @thomas-chadelaud.bsky.social, @fly-florian.bsky.social, @lmatthieul.bsky.social, Armelle Darrasse and @microbialmarie.bsky.social

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Published!📖

These findings highlight the overlooked but important role of foliar microbial communities in shaping plant responses to global change and suggest that microbial regulation may become increasingly influential in future ecosystems🦠🧪 🌱

Read more:
🌱 Delve deeper into the ecology of soil with "The Ecology of Soil: From communities to ecosystems", a fascinating new book release from our Executive Editor Richard Bardgett!

🪱 Read more: buff.ly/6A4abeW

Reposted by Maria Faticov

⏰ We’re hiring a Mycorrhizal Carbon Science Lead (Global / Remote) to guide and manage our climate and carbon research group. This role will set the direction for integrating fungal carbon science into broader conservation, climate, and restoration strategies.

➡️ Apply here: buff.ly/m5C7ni6

Reposted by Maria Faticov

🧬🦠🚨 Another new paper alert, this time led by @maureenbug.bsky.social ! In collaboration with the Emerson lab and
@titus.idyll.org lab (@taylorreiter.bsky.social), both at UC Davis. Asking the question: what are we missing in short-read metagenome assembly, and why ?

doi.org/10.1093/narg...
Comparison of short-read and long-read metagenome assemblies in a natural soil community highlights systematic bias in recovery of high-diversity populations
Abstract. Comparisons of long-read and short-read (meta)genome assemblies typically show that short-read sequence assemblies are less error-prone, but stru
doi.org

Reposted by Maria Faticov

Consecutive droughts leave lasting impacts on protist plant parasites in the Jena Experiment

Solbach et al. @jena-experiment.bsky.social

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Reposted by Maria Faticov

Microbial movement into soils occurs at a surprisingly local scale. By measuring dispersal rates and spatial patterns, this study challenges the assumption that microbes freely mix across environments.
isme-microbes.org/close-to-hom...
#microbes #fungi #bacteria #dispersal #ecology

Reposted by Maria Faticov

In this podcast episode, we will discuss the work of the Povernys Zhyvym foundation and explore ways you can support Ukraine.
🔗 ukraineworld.org/en/podcasts/...

▪️Guest: Kateryna Leshchyshyn, head of the international partnerships at the Come Back Alive foundation.
And Ukrainian journalists, civil society, and legal institutions still work.

Reposted by Maria Faticov

How do scientific ideas evolve and which paradigms in Earth system science deserve a fresh look? We welcome submissions to address these questions in our #EGU26 session “Re-examining Seminal Ideas in Earth System Science” www.egu26.eu/session/57516
Session ITS5.2/BG10.2
www.egu26.eu
Who runs the forest? Microbes. Our new paper shows soil microbiomes outweigh the effects of elevated CO2 on Scots pine growth, and differences in soil microbiomes influence how plants grow and respond to elevated CO2.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Soil microbial community differences drive variation in Pinus sylvestris physiology, productivity, and responses to elevated CO2 - Environmental Microbiome
Background Soil microbial communities can affect plant nutrient uptake, productivity, and may even confer resistance to global change. Elevated atmospheric CO2 is widely expected to stimulate plant pr...
link.springer.com
While "peace" negotiations continue, remember that Russia could simply stop the war at any time.
The Ukrainian front is not about to collapse. But the Russians want you to think that
understandingwar.org/research/rus...
Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 28, 2025
The frontline in Ukraine is not facing imminent collapse despite recent Russian gains and Kremlin assertions.
understandingwar.org

While the world is watching a fake negotiation process, Russia happily continues the terror and gearing up for longer war/s

Kyiv has been under attack for nearly 10 hours with hundreds of drones. The attack is ongoing

Reposted by Maria Faticov

Induced endosymbiosis between a fungus and bacterium reveals a shift from antagonism to commensalism

@natcomms.nature.com by Thomas Gassler et al from Julia Vorholt

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Ralstonia pickettii in the fungus Rhizopus microsporus

#Endofungal
Induced endosymbiosis between a fungus and bacterium reveals a shift from antagonism to commensalism - Nature Communications
Gassler et al. implant a free-living bacterium into fungal cells to study early steps in the establishment of an endosymbiosis. They observe vertical transmission of the bacteria despite initial host ...
www.nature.com

Reposted by Maria Faticov

Ukraïner International’s Anastasiia Marushevska speaks with Afghan journalist Shafi Karimi about life in Afghanistan under de facto Taliban rule.

Karimi outlines what the the regime's return means for people, its impact on women, and men's responsibilities.

Reposted by Maria Faticov

"How many Russian drones did it take to shut down European skies? About 5.
How many drones are over Ukraine? About 500. Every night."

Great speech by @reiniervanlanschot.volteuropa.org. More decisive action is needed to protect Ukraine, and Europe, from terror.
u24.gov.ua/nafo-dark-ni...