iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

It's 2026 and diversity is still an issue in mycology, and probably beyond. 17 invited plenary & keynote speakers for IMC13, only 2 are women (<12%). There are 0 Latin-American speakers, & 2 from Africa (I'm including @kamounlab.bsky.social in this count). www.imc13.kr/html/?pmode=...

imc13.kr

Keynote&Plenary Speakers > IMC13

IMC13

492

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Ursula Oggenfuss @oggenfussursula.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Are you interested in learning how genomes of weird fungi and protists evolve and are you looking for an exciting PhD opportunity? Jolien van Hooff and I are looking for an enthusiasic PhD candidate at Wageningen University: www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p... #TEworldwide #Fungi #Protists #Genome

wur.nl

PhD position in genome evolution and architecture in unicellular eukaryotes

Are you fascinated by how eukaryotic genomes evolve? Do you want to look beyond model organisms and point mutations to uncover the complexity of genome evolution?

13037

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

worm @rfksbrainworm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

If you ever wondered why visible light is those particular wavelengths, it's because life evolved to see in the narrow range where water is transparent

Diagram of absorption of emf by water. There's a gap right that dips in the 500 nm range

10260881707

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Big thanks to my co-author Ellen Cameron and everyone who gave us feedback on our drafts!

030

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

We also discussed lichen metagenomics in more depth, including overview of methods applied to lichen metagenomic data, common pitfalls, and things to consider while designing a metagenomics project

The flowchart begins with a lichen sample at the top left.

1. Culture-based approach (orange panel):

Arrows lead from the lichen to Culturing, then Genomic D N A extraction, Sequencing, Q C data (FastQC, cutadapt, trimmomatic), Genomic assembly (metaSPAdes, MEGAHIT, Hifiasm, Flye), Decontamination (F C S, BLAST, BlobTools), and finally a Genome.

2. Metagenomic approach (green and yellow panels):

Starting from the lichen, the path goes to Metagenomic D N A extraction, Sequencing, Q C data, and Metagenomic assembly (metaSPAdes, MEGAHIT, Hifiasm, Flye). From here, the process splits into two binning strategies:

- Taxonomy-dependent binning (center green panel):

Path A: Search reads against D B (DIAMOND) using a Sequencing Database, Group reads by taxonomy (MEGAN, Kraken), Genomic assembly, and Q C M A G s (BUSCO, CheckM, EukCC).

Path B: Search contigs against D B (DIAMOND, BLAST), Group contigs by taxonomy (BlobTools, CAT), and Q C M A G s.

- Taxonomy-independent binning (right yellow panel):

Bin based on contig characteristic (CONCOCT, MetaBAT), Identify and Q C M A G s (BUSCO, CheckM, EukCC), and Assign taxonomy (GTDB-Tk, BUSCO, BAT, Phylogenomics).

Both metagenomic paths terminate at M A G s with taxonomic assignments.

131

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Our review on #lichen research in the #omics era is out in @lichenologist.bsky.social! We discuss omics-driven progress and outline several areas and methods that we think especially promising for lichen biology, such as single-cell omics and epigenomics 🖥️ 🧪 🦠 🧫 #SymbioSky doi.org/10.1017/S002...

The infographic is divided into three columns.

Column 1: Sample Types.

At the top is a photo of a yellow Lichen Thallus. An arrow points down to a cross-section diagram showing green algal cells embedded in white fungal hyphae. Below this is Isolate Cultures, showing a petri dish and a test tube containing green liquid.

Column 2: Omics.

- Genomics: Assembly of D N A sequences into complete genomes, illustrated by blue horizontal bars and a double helix icon.

- Transcriptomics: Quantifying expression of genes, shown as small green segments aligning to a dark blue reference genome.

- Metabolomics: Analysis of metabolites, represented by a chemical molecular structure.

- Proteomics: Characterization of proteins, shown as a blue 3 D protein folding model.

- Epigenomics: Exploration of genome modifications, illustrated by blue circles representing histones wrapped in D N A with hexagonal tags.

Column 3: Advances and Opportunities.

- Evolution of lichenization: A phylogenetic tree paired with a horizontal bar chart.

- Gene regulation: A line graph showing chromatin accessibility and a heatmap for motif enrichment analysis. Below is a D N A sequence motif: C G C G A A A A A A.

- Symbiont interaction: A diagram comparing a bulk sample to isolated nuclei using single-cell transcriptomics, visualized with a stacked bar chart showing different cell population proportions.

13310

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Chris Lintott @chrislintott.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

On similar lines, if we’re not careful: A. Scientific journals will only accept submissions from established researchers working within institutions. B. Data we’ve spent ages making open will be hidden to avoid the expense of continued download by bots.

1018039

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Christian Christensen @chrchristensen.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Sweden's Social Democrats on target to get 99 seats in parliament (out of 349). That's their worst result since 1928. In March, Denmark's Social Democrats had their worst election result since 1903. What to they have in common? Mimicking "hard line" right-wing policies. It's a recipe for disaster.

326894

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The wealthy countries seem to have a core of 15-30% of their voting populations who *just fucking hate foreigners*. This section of the electorate are for various reasons disproportionately well represented among the ultra-wealthy and thus are able to secure some favourable media coverage.

371890440

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Ciaran Kelly @ciarankelly.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Our new preprint is out! 🍄 Decoupled evolution of antimicrobial repertoires in lichen-forming fungi We compared many lichen-forming fungal genomes to ask how different photobiont associations relate to their antimicrobial repertoires.

13719

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛ @rmcelreath.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Last year, I publicly complained multiple times (see e.g. elevanth.org/blog/2025/07...) that the open access movement had been captured by publishers, and we are now worse off than before open access. Well people got mad at me for saying it. But I think things are still getting worse.

616466

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Svante Thunberg @svantethunberg.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Huge climate demonstration i Stockholm today. Media report at least 50 000 while organisers say between 50000-100000 people. This is ahead of elactions in september in which most parties have totally ignored the climate issue in favour of law and order and racist immigration policies…

4408138

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Alice Laigle @alicelaigle.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

📝 NEW PREPRINT It’s with an immense joy that our preprint is finally out and it’s my first first co-author paper!!! 🧬🍄 What is the diversity of 3D genome architectures in fungi? We reconstructed the 3D genome architecture of public Hi-C data from 55 fungal. Preprint: lnkd.in/enxTh2Cm

26021

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

great news! congrats and welcome to Stockholm!

010

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Toby Baril @tobybarilbio.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Thrilled to share that I'll be starting my lab at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm as a DDLS Fellow in November! 🧑‍🔬🧬🎉 Of course, we will be delving into all things mobile DNA & evolution, as well as developing AI approaches for biodiversity genomics #newPI #TEsky #TEworldwide

125516

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Nick Talbot @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

See thread by @metalichen.bsky.social on Tangerine - A Starship in the genomes of lichen-forming fungi - the peer-reviewed version is now online. Thanks to all co-authors. It's been a fun collaboration and there's lots more to discover!👇

0166

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Now, Starship transposons are often named after spacecrafts, so naturally we followed suit. After being up till 2 one night, I settled on Tangerine star buggy, which made a brief appearance in D. Adams’ The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Given the color of Xanthoria, it was perfect. 5/6

It says: “Ford and Zaphod looked and passed on.
“And this baby,” said Ford, “the tangerine star buggy with the black sunbusters…”
Again, the star buggy was a small ship-a totally misnamed one in fact, because the one thing it couldn’t manage was interstellar distances. Basically it was a sporty planet hopper dolled up to something it wasn’t. Nice lines though. They passed on.”

1132

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Coolest part: Tangerine might have mediated HGT between fungi present within a lichen, as genes from Tangerine seem to be horizontally transferred from Chaetothyriales, a group of black fungi often found in lichens, including Xanthoria. We found other potential HGT events linked to Starships too 4/6

phylogenetic tree. Lowest clade is highlighted in orange and has a pointer labelled ‘Methyltransferase from Tangerine in Xanthoria (Lecanoromycetes). This clade is nested within a different clade highlighted in green and labelled “Chaetothyriales (Eurotiomycetes). It, in turn, is nested within a purple clade labelled as “Sordariomycetes”. A sister branch to this big clade contains multiple leaves highlighted in yellow and labelled “other Lecanoromycetes”.

191

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Tangerine’s captain didn’t fit into any existing family, but in the tree it grouped together with several genes from other lichen fungi. After expanding our analyses to many more genomes, we were able to describe the clade as the new family, also named Tangerine, unique to Lecanoromycetes. 3/6

left: a big round phylogenetic tree with one clade labelled with a pointer that reads “Tangerine-clade”. Right: two protein 3D models superimposed, one labelled as Tangerine, the other as HphA.

161

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Here we present the Tangerine element from X. parietina, common sunburst lichen. It has all hallmark features of a Starship: 100 kb in length, the captain gene responsible for transposition, as well as accessory genes and ‘cargo’. 2/6

Zoomed-in Tangerine. A genome fragment is shown in line with blocks in different colors showing genes. A portion of the fragment is highlighted in orange and labeled as ‘Tangerine’. Below, the legend shows starship genes, in three groups. The first contains only the captain. The second is labelled as ‘accessory genes’ and contains DUF3723, PLP, and NLR. The third group is labelled “Cargo genes” and contains the methyltransferase

181

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Our study on giant transposons Starship 🚀🧬 in the genome of the lichen fungus Xanthoria is now out in @pnas.org! What did we find out about Starships in #lichen fungi? 👇Updated thread below 🖥️ 🧪 🦠 🧫 #SymbioSky 1/6 www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

17145

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

S. Lorena Ament @loreament.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

It's out!! Using population and comparative genomics of Podospora fungi, we show that a class of genes called #NLRs display evolutionary signatures that are consistent with an immune function, much like in plants and animals! 1/n 🍄 #popgen #balancingselection #introgression doi.org/10.1093/gbe/...

doi.org

NOD-Like Receptor Genes Undergo Diversity-Enhancing Evolution in a Fungal Species Complex

Abstract. Fungi harbor diverse arrays of genes encoding NOD-like receptors (NLRs), key intracellular immune proteins found in plants, animals, and bacteria

1175

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

It was great to present my postdoc work at #IAL10, the International Association for Lichenology congress in Trieste! Thanks to the organizers for the invitation!

photo of me standing in front of the screen with my title slide, "Xanthoria parietina and lichen symbiosis viewed through the omics lens"

0163

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Ciaran Kelly @ciarankelly.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Thanks to everyone who organized the great event and selected me for a Margalith Galun Award! Congratulations to the other winners. Already looking forward to following up on all the new connections and ideas #IAL10

4235

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

It's a big honour to be recognized by my community! Huge thanks to IAL and thanks Toby for nominating me!

070

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Excited to see @puginiercamille.bsky.social presenting on secreted proteins in Xanthoria. I'm blown away by the work on algal cultures and protein-protein interaction modeling! #IAL10

2215

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I don't know much myself, but if I'm not mistaken, Daniel Stanton worked on pyrenoids and carbon concentrating mechanisms in lichen photobiont!

010

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

A teaser from @spribille.bsky.social on lichen fungi G protein-coupled receptors in the context of the symbiosis evolution. A lot of independent data points to them being a key to the symbiosis #IAL10

2144

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Very clever study design by @ddiazescandon.bsky.social, who grouped lichen fungi based on which sugar they receive from their symbiotic partner and discovered patterns in their genomes that reflect how this fungi evolve to rely on their partners. Coming soon to the bioRxiv near you! #IAL10

1132

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Absolutely ground breaking stuff presented by @veera-t-nogerius.bsky.social. Structurally chimeric lichen made by intertwined hyphae of an ascomycete and a basidiomycete present in nearly 1:1 ratio! #IAL10

1132

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I'm hyped for Theo Llewellyn's keynote on secondary metabolism evolution in my favorite order of Lecanoromycetes, Teloschistales. Cool and deep insight into the mechanisms of action of a toxic metabolite #IAL10

061

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Camille Puginier @puginiercamille.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Very happy to attend the 10th International Association for Lichenology symposium in Trieste ! #IAL10 And very honoured to be presenting tomorrow our work on lichenization in Xanthoria parietina

0277

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Amazing talk by @skaloud.bsky.social on parallels between coral and lichen symbioses, with lots of exciting data on photobiont switching #IAL10

060

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

The workshop features @ddiazescandon.bsky.social talking about machine learning. Some serious galaxy brain stuff, using ML magic to whole lichen genomes and making accurate predictions about the biology of the fungus #IAL10

Parosn standing in front of a scro. The slide shows some complicated heatmaps and text saying lichens don't have anything in common

181

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Excited to present during the workshop on overcoming hurdles in lichen omics. Thanks to @philippresl.bsky.social and Julia Gerasimova for the invitation! #IAL10

person in front of a slide with a workshop program with 5 talks

193

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Presenting remotely @belosokh.bsky.social talks about vitamins as a potential currency of the lichen symbiosis and how mycobiont have lost ability to produce their own vitamins in evolution. Cool project and beautifully designed presentation! #IAL10

061

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Peter Crittenden on the movement of fixed carbon through Cladonia thalli, from the light-exposed top to bottom of podetia #IAL10

141

Reposted by Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Ciaran Kelly @ciarankelly.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

It was very nice to present some of our work on antimicrobial proteins in lichens at the IAL10! Stop by at my poster number 4 today or tomorrow afternoon for further discussion #IAL10

0255

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Super exciting work on thallus ultrastructure by Andreas Beck, very inspirational! #IAL10

131

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Now @ciarankelly.bsky.social on antimicrobial proteins produced by lichen fungi and the link between their diversity and the photobiont type #IAL10

121

Gulnara Tagirdzhanova @metalichen.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Now @ioanabrannstrom.bsky.social on the repeated emergence of sterility in Ichmadophilaceae. Unexpectedly, the sterile species tend to be homothallic (so are able to self-fertilize. why don't they do it then??) #IAL10

120