Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
@metalichen.bsky.social
Postdoc at @deepsthlmuni.bsky.social (Stockholm University)
lichen symbiosis | metagenomics | evolution |
Previously at @thesainsburylab.bsky.social. PhD from @ualberta.bsky.social
Personal website: metalichen.github.io
#StandWithUkraine
she/her
lichen symbiosis | metagenomics | evolution |
Previously at @thesainsburylab.bsky.social. PhD from @ualberta.bsky.social
Personal website: metalichen.github.io
#StandWithUkraine
she/her
Pinned
Our study on #lichen #symbiosis is out in @currentbiology.bsky.social! How can multiple microbes create a large, 3D, and structurally complex organism? To answer this question, we used #metagenomics, #metatranscriptomics, and a bit of protein structure modeling 🧵1/7
🧬 🖥️ 🧪 🦠 🧫 #SymbioSky
🧬 🖥️ 🧪 🦠 🧫 #SymbioSky
Maybe not my wokest opinion (I do have lots of woke opinions, hard to pick), but probably most pressing one: the freedom to choose where and how to live is a fundamental right. Immigration is good. I hate seeing how sealing off countries is now the common sense position across the political spectrum
"my least woke opinion is---"
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
That's enough. We've had enough people indulging in the "thrill of a little conservatism", as a treat. Of considering reactionary thought to be a salacious and taboo in a world descending into reactionary mania.
Give me your MOST woke opinions. We're bringing it back.
November 18, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Maybe not my wokest opinion (I do have lots of woke opinions, hard to pick), but probably most pressing one: the freedom to choose where and how to live is a fundamental right. Immigration is good. I hate seeing how sealing off countries is now the common sense position across the political spectrum
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
I would posit that if the international treaties against torture are what is holding your country back then your country doesn't deserve to get ahead and holding it back is a moral obligation for everyone else
If you currently rely on the European Court of Human Rights for your minority group to *not* be targeted, you're in trouble...
November 16, 2025 at 12:09 PM
I would posit that if the international treaties against torture are what is holding your country back then your country doesn't deserve to get ahead and holding it back is a moral obligation for everyone else
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
#Fungi at all levels matter! From tiniest to largest, they are an essential part of our world. Here we map familiar fungi on #fungal tree of life: doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.7…
@VaianaAnna @fmartin54.bsky.social, @spribille.bsky.social @rasmus kjolle#lichensn#mushroomo#yeasts#supermarioi#moldl#medicineses
@VaianaAnna @fmartin54.bsky.social, @spribille.bsky.social @rasmus kjolle#lichensn#mushroomo#yeasts#supermarioi#moldl#medicineses
November 12, 2025 at 8:29 PM
#Fungi at all levels matter! From tiniest to largest, they are an essential part of our world. Here we map familiar fungi on #fungal tree of life: doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.7…
@VaianaAnna @fmartin54.bsky.social, @spribille.bsky.social @rasmus kjolle#lichensn#mushroomo#yeasts#supermarioi#moldl#medicineses
@VaianaAnna @fmartin54.bsky.social, @spribille.bsky.social @rasmus kjolle#lichensn#mushroomo#yeasts#supermarioi#moldl#medicineses
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
New paper led by @metalichen.bsky.social from our group presenting a chromosome-level assembly of the Trebouxia photobiont alga from the lichen Xanthoria parietina - a resource we hope will enable significant new insight into the symbiosis @newphyt.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/nph....
November 12, 2025 at 4:29 PM
New paper led by @metalichen.bsky.social from our group presenting a chromosome-level assembly of the Trebouxia photobiont alga from the lichen Xanthoria parietina - a resource we hope will enable significant new insight into the symbiosis @newphyt.bsky.social doi.org/10.1111/nph....
Our paper on the #genome of the Trebouxia #photobiont from Xanthoria is now out in @newphyt.bsky.social! Check below for a near-chromosome level assembly, secretome analysis, evidence of ancient HGT, and transcriptomic comparison of the alga in symbiosis and in pure culture
doi.org/10.1111/nph.70728
doi.org/10.1111/nph.70728
November 12, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Our paper on the #genome of the Trebouxia #photobiont from Xanthoria is now out in @newphyt.bsky.social! Check below for a near-chromosome level assembly, secretome analysis, evidence of ancient HGT, and transcriptomic comparison of the alga in symbiosis and in pure culture
doi.org/10.1111/nph.70728
doi.org/10.1111/nph.70728
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
We are looking for a PhD student to work on an exciting plastid endosymbiosis in microbial eukaryotes. This position involves sampling, exciting microscopy such as CARDFISH, ExM and FIBSEM, single-cell transcriptomics and more. #protistsonsky 1/2
November 12, 2025 at 9:50 AM
We are looking for a PhD student to work on an exciting plastid endosymbiosis in microbial eukaryotes. This position involves sampling, exciting microscopy such as CARDFISH, ExM and FIBSEM, single-cell transcriptomics and more. #protistsonsky 1/2
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
Chromosome‐level #genome assembly of the #photobiont microalga Trebouxia sp. ‘A48’ from the #lichen Xanthoria parietina
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Tagirdzhanova et al.
@metalichen.bsky.social @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social @WileyPlantSci
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Tagirdzhanova et al.
@metalichen.bsky.social @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social @WileyPlantSci
November 11, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Chromosome‐level #genome assembly of the #photobiont microalga Trebouxia sp. ‘A48’ from the #lichen Xanthoria parietina
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Tagirdzhanova et al.
@metalichen.bsky.social @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social @WileyPlantSci
📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
by Tagirdzhanova et al.
@metalichen.bsky.social @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social @WileyPlantSci
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
#Lichens form their complex thalli through a partnership involving at least a fungus and an alga. But can these living structures be rebuilt in vitro? For more than a century, people have tried. With @spribille.bsky.social we revisited 150 years of #lichen #resynthesis to ask: has anyone succeeded?
November 7, 2025 at 2:07 AM
#Lichens form their complex thalli through a partnership involving at least a fungus and an alga. But can these living structures be rebuilt in vitro? For more than a century, people have tried. With @spribille.bsky.social we revisited 150 years of #lichen #resynthesis to ask: has anyone succeeded?
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
I had such fun thinking, reading and writing this Tansley Review on #arbuscular #mycorrhizal #fungal mycelia. We need a more fungal-centric view to better understand not only the AM fungi, but also their many ecological roles.
@newphyt.bsky.social
🔗 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/DHGB3S....
@newphyt.bsky.social
🔗 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/DHGB3S....
October 30, 2025 at 4:56 PM
I had such fun thinking, reading and writing this Tansley Review on #arbuscular #mycorrhizal #fungal mycelia. We need a more fungal-centric view to better understand not only the AM fungi, but also their many ecological roles.
@newphyt.bsky.social
🔗 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/DHGB3S....
@newphyt.bsky.social
🔗 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/DHGB3S....
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
1/ Ever needed to annotate TEs in a fungal genome, but didn't know where to start?
We have released #MycoMobilome, a community-focused non-redundant database of transposable element consensus sequences for the fungal kingdom, constructed from >4,000 fungal genomes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We have released #MycoMobilome, a community-focused non-redundant database of transposable element consensus sequences for the fungal kingdom, constructed from >4,000 fungal genomes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 29, 2025 at 9:02 AM
1/ Ever needed to annotate TEs in a fungal genome, but didn't know where to start?
We have released #MycoMobilome, a community-focused non-redundant database of transposable element consensus sequences for the fungal kingdom, constructed from >4,000 fungal genomes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
We have released #MycoMobilome, a community-focused non-redundant database of transposable element consensus sequences for the fungal kingdom, constructed from >4,000 fungal genomes!
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
In this paper, we show that photobiont diversity increases as lichens age. Interestingly, as the thallus grows, autosporine algae become more prevalent at the expense of zoosporine algae, likely because the latter play a key role in lichen establishment. 1url.cz/@Proto
October 21, 2025 at 8:04 AM
In this paper, we show that photobiont diversity increases as lichens age. Interestingly, as the thallus grows, autosporine algae become more prevalent at the expense of zoosporine algae, likely because the latter play a key role in lichen establishment. 1url.cz/@Proto
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
Wooo!
NOD-like receptor genes evolve under diversity-enhancing mechanisms in a fungal species complex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.09.29.679196v1
October 1, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Wooo!
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
VACANCY: Trainee Lichenologist @n-t-s.bsky.social
Not seen one of these advertised before!
www.asva.co.uk/jobs/trainee...
Not seen one of these advertised before!
www.asva.co.uk/jobs/trainee...
Trainee Lichenologist
www.asva.co.uk
September 10, 2025 at 5:36 PM
VACANCY: Trainee Lichenologist @n-t-s.bsky.social
Not seen one of these advertised before!
www.asva.co.uk/jobs/trainee...
Not seen one of these advertised before!
www.asva.co.uk/jobs/trainee...
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
🚨 Save the date! Thrilled to be co-organizing the next iteration of the @embl.org Symposium on the Cellular Mechanics of Symbiosis (📅 March 17-20), w/ @floravincent.bsky.social, @hassansalem.bsky.social & Tom Richards.
www.embl.org/about/info/c...
#EESSymbiosis #Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky 🦠
www.embl.org/about/info/c...
#EESSymbiosis #Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky 🦠
The cellular mechanics of symbiosis: sensing friend from foe
www.embl.org
September 8, 2025 at 10:24 AM
🚨 Save the date! Thrilled to be co-organizing the next iteration of the @embl.org Symposium on the Cellular Mechanics of Symbiosis (📅 March 17-20), w/ @floravincent.bsky.social, @hassansalem.bsky.social & Tom Richards.
www.embl.org/about/info/c...
#EESSymbiosis #Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky 🦠
www.embl.org/about/info/c...
#EESSymbiosis #Symbiosis #SymbioSky #MicroSky 🦠
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
We have several open positions in my group, funded from the ERC Grant on the Early Sequestered Germline of Fungi. We search broadly for applicants at both PhD and master-level, with a dedicated interest in fungal evolutionary biology. Please forward and RT!
Find the positions here: su.varbi.com
Find the positions here: su.varbi.com
Lediga jobb vid Stockholms universitet
Jobb
su.varbi.com
September 7, 2025 at 1:13 PM
We have several open positions in my group, funded from the ERC Grant on the Early Sequestered Germline of Fungi. We search broadly for applicants at both PhD and master-level, with a dedicated interest in fungal evolutionary biology. Please forward and RT!
Find the positions here: su.varbi.com
Find the positions here: su.varbi.com
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
Delighted that our work on the Sanctuary Starship #transposon is now published! A big thanks to all co-authors, especially to the ever-amazing @mcdonaldmeganc.bsky.social for her mentorship!
doi.org/10.1128/mbio...
doi.org/10.1128/mbio...
Sanctuary: a Starship transposon facilitating the movement of the virulence factor ToxA in fungal wheat pathogens | mBio
The work presented here expands our understanding of a novel group of mobile genetic
elements called Starships that facilitate the horizontal exchange of numerous genes between fungal pathogens.
Our a...
doi.org
September 6, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Delighted that our work on the Sanctuary Starship #transposon is now published! A big thanks to all co-authors, especially to the ever-amazing @mcdonaldmeganc.bsky.social for her mentorship!
doi.org/10.1128/mbio...
doi.org/10.1128/mbio...
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
The grave risks for science as the whole of leaving fundamental scientific infrastructure in the hands of for-profit capitalist company. Essential scholarly services should be internationally curated by value-based societies/orders/colleges.
🧪
🧪
Since search is dead, how soon do you think Google Scholar is headed for the Google Graveyard? I'm betting it's soon, and academia is NOT prepared
Google Scholar Is Doomed
Academia built entire careers on a free Google service with zero guarantees. What could go wrong?
hannahshelley.neocities.org
August 13, 2025 at 8:34 AM
The grave risks for science as the whole of leaving fundamental scientific infrastructure in the hands of for-profit capitalist company. Essential scholarly services should be internationally curated by value-based societies/orders/colleges.
🧪
🧪
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
📣 NEW PREPRINT 📝
We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
cc @teamthomma.bsky.social
We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
cc @teamthomma.bsky.social
Plant-associated fungi co-opt ancient antimicrobials for host manipulation
Evolutionary histories of effector proteins secreted by fungal pathogens to mediate plant colonization remain largely elusive. While most functionally characterized effectors modulate plant immunity, ...
www.biorxiv.org
August 15, 2025 at 7:47 AM
📣 NEW PREPRINT 📝
We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
cc @teamthomma.bsky.social
We identified evolutionary origins of many fungal effectors!
We show that fungi secrete lots of antimicrobial proteins, and that some of them were repurposed by plant pathogens for host immune suppression.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
cc @teamthomma.bsky.social
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
It started as a master thesis project by Markus Hiltunen, and ended up in this publication in Science. What a fun project to work on! Thanks Markus - and all other coauthors, too, for a great team work! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Early germline sequestration in a basidiomycete fungus
In sexual organisms, inheritance of new mutations is highly dependent on the timing of germline definition. Here, we used the fairy ring–forming fungus Marasmius oreades to challenge the general assum...
www.science.org
August 14, 2025 at 7:55 PM
It started as a master thesis project by Markus Hiltunen, and ended up in this publication in Science. What a fun project to work on! Thanks Markus - and all other coauthors, too, for a great team work! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Reminder about our special issue on lichen symbiosis in Lichenologist 👇 the deadline for submission is in September
🌟Call for Papers on #Lichen #symbiosis🌟 Thrilled to be a guest editor for The Lichenologist, together with @veera-t-nogerius.bsky.social, @ioanabrannstrom.bsky.social, and Ellen Cameron. Send us papers on the inner workings of lichens, submission is open till September 2025!
tinyurl.com/2w7wwubm
tinyurl.com/2w7wwubm
August 14, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reminder about our special issue on lichen symbiosis in Lichenologist 👇 the deadline for submission is in September
Happy to share that I’ve now joined @hannajohannesson.bsky.social's group in Stockholm University! Thanks to support from Wenner-Gren Foundation, I will be working on self/non-self recognition in lichen symbionts
August 14, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Happy to share that I’ve now joined @hannajohannesson.bsky.social's group in Stockholm University! Thanks to support from Wenner-Gren Foundation, I will be working on self/non-self recognition in lichen symbionts
Which both were great and both made me cry my eyes out. I have resigned myself to the world being horrible and getting worse, I can function pretty well despite it, but
I also loved how as I was clearing out the said apartment, I got to see Norwich pride from my window, and then arrived to Sweden precisely in time for Stockholm pride
August 7, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Which both were great and both made me cry my eyes out. I have resigned myself to the world being horrible and getting worse, I can function pretty well despite it, but
Some belated personal news: at the end of July it was my time to say bye to @thesainsburylab.bsky.social and Norwich. Already missing my dear friends and the lab! Big thanks to @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social and everyone else with whom I crossed paths in these 3 years!
August 6, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Some belated personal news: at the end of July it was my time to say bye to @thesainsburylab.bsky.social and Norwich. Already missing my dear friends and the lab! Big thanks to @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social and everyone else with whom I crossed paths in these 3 years!
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
It looks like Hiroshima and the current Gaza death toll is basically the same (>60k)
August 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM
It looks like Hiroshima and the current Gaza death toll is basically the same (>60k)
Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova
📣 Happy to see the journal publication 📄 of our work on Starships 🚀 in Verticillium fungi: terrific work led by @yukiyosato.bsky.social
rdcu.be/exBSp
rdcu.be/exBSp
Starship giant transposons dominate plastic genomic regions in a fungal plant pathogen and drive virulence evolution
Nature Communications - Giant transposons, known as ‘Starships’, mediate horizontal gene transfer between fungal genomes. Here, Sato et al. show that Starships occupy genome regions...
rdcu.be
July 24, 2025 at 10:40 AM
📣 Happy to see the journal publication 📄 of our work on Starships 🚀 in Verticillium fungi: terrific work led by @yukiyosato.bsky.social
rdcu.be/exBSp
rdcu.be/exBSp