@metalichen

Assistant Professor at Stockholm University / SciLifeLab Fellow @deepsthlmuni @scilifelab lichen symbiosis | metagenomics | evolution @metalichen.bsky.social

 Stockholm, Sweden
metalichenlab.github.io/
Joined July 2018
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Thrilled to share that I recently got a position of an Assistant Professor/SciLifeLab Fellow at Stockholm University, where I will continue my work on #lichen symbiosis. The lab opens in April 2026, and if you are interested in joining please get in touch! #newPI
Black background with white letters 'metalichen lab'. Right and lower part of the image taken by a macro photo of a bright yellow lichen. The lichen surface has numerous cup-shaped fruiting bodies with orange inner surface

ALT Black background with white letters 'metalichen lab'. Right and lower part of the image taken by a macro photo of a bright yellow lichen. The lichen surface has numerous cup-shaped fruiting bodies with orange inner surface

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Our study on giant transposons Starship 🚀🧬 in the genome of the lichen fungus Xanthoria is now out in @PNASNews! What did we find out about Starships in #lichen fungi? 👇Updated thread below
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Now, many Starship transposons are 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’ works. 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.”

ALT 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.”

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Huge thanks to all coauthors: @talbotlabtsl, @ahbucknell, @ellenscameron, Mark Blaxter, @robdfinn, and @McdonaldMeganc, with extra special thanks to @mycomile and Noah Brown!
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It's a big honour to be recognized by my community! Huge thanks to IAL and thanks Toby for nominating me!
ial-lichenology@IAL_LichenologyAug 3
Replying to @IAL_Lichenology
2/2) Aino Henssen Award: Gulnara Tagirdzhanova Dharani Awasthi Award : Vishal Kumar (award received by Pradeep K. Divakar) Sylvia Sharnoff Education Award: Silvana Munzi Congrtulations! (Photos by Robert Lücking) #ial10 #IAL2026 #ial10trieste #ialichenology
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Can't wait for this meeting!
Silvia Ramundo@ramundo_silviaJan 27
Here we go again! Join us in Vienna, May 21–22, for two days of plant science—talks, discussions, and celebration of what makes plants both beautiful and essential 💚Full program + registration here: oeaw.ac.at/gmi/news-events/e… Come be part of it — each of you counts!
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One week left to apply for the PhD position in my group in Stockholm!
Gulnara Tagirdzhanova@metalichenJan 12
⚡️Fully funded #PhD position in my lab at Stockholm University / SciLifeLab! If you’re interested in #lichens, #symbiosis, fungal biology, or meta-omics, please apply. Deadline Feb 1. Read more here: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/job…
Black field with a macro image of a bright orange lichen Xanthoria in one of the corner. Little diagrams showing a structure of a lichen thallus with different layers in grey and green, a phylogenetic tree, and an alphafold generated structure of a protein. White text says "PhD position in Stockholm University / SciLifeLab. Lichen Biology, Symbiosis, Microbial Ecology & Evolution,Meta-omics Fully funded for 4 years. Start Apr-Sep 2026. Deadline for application: Feb 1st."

ALT Black field with a macro image of a bright orange lichen Xanthoria in one of the corner. Little diagrams showing a structure of a lichen thallus with different layers in grey and green, a phylogenetic tree, and an alphafold generated structure of a protein. White text says "PhD position in Stockholm University / SciLifeLab. Lichen Biology, Symbiosis, Microbial Ecology & Evolution,Meta-omics Fully funded for 4 years. Start Apr-Sep 2026. Deadline for application: Feb 1st."

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⚡️Fully funded #PhD position in my lab at Stockholm University / SciLifeLab! If you’re interested in #lichens, #symbiosis, fungal biology, or meta-omics, please apply. Deadline Feb 1. Read more here: su.varbi.com/en/what:job/job…
Black field with a macro image of a bright orange lichen Xanthoria in one of the corner. Little diagrams showing a structure of a lichen thallus with different layers in grey and green, a phylogenetic tree, and an alphafold generated structure of a protein. White text says "PhD position in Stockholm University / SciLifeLab. Lichen Biology, Symbiosis, Microbial Ecology & Evolution,Meta-omics Fully funded for 4 years. Start Apr-Sep 2026. Deadline for application: Feb 1st."

ALT Black field with a macro image of a bright orange lichen Xanthoria in one of the corner. Little diagrams showing a structure of a lichen thallus with different layers in grey and green, a phylogenetic tree, and an alphafold generated structure of a protein. White text says "PhD position in Stockholm University / SciLifeLab. Lichen Biology, Symbiosis, Microbial Ecology & Evolution,Meta-omics Fully funded for 4 years. Start Apr-Sep 2026. Deadline for application: Feb 1st."

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The lab opens in April 2026, and now the new lab website is live, check it out! metalichenlab.github.io/
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Gulnara Tagirdzhanova retweeted
Nick Talbot@talbotlabTSL28 Nov 2025
New preprint from our group led by @metalichen on the discovery of a Starship giant transposable element in the genome of a lichen-forming fungus.
Gulnara Tagirdzhanova@metalichen28 Nov 2025
New preprint: 🚀🧬 Starship in the genome of the lichen fungus Xanthoria. Discovery of giant transposons Starships challenged what we thought we knew about fungal genomes. But what about Starships in #lichen fungi? Let us present Tangerine doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.25.6…
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New preprint: 🚀🧬 Starship in the genome of the lichen fungus Xanthoria. Discovery of giant transposons Starships challenged what we thought we knew about fungal genomes. But what about Starships in #lichen fungi? Let us present Tangerine doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.25.6…
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Now, all Starship transposons are named after fictional 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
text. 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.”

ALT text. 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.”

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Huge thanks to all coauthors: @talbotlabtsl, @ahbucknell, @ellenscameron, Mark Blaxter, @robdfinn, and @McdonaldMeganc!
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Gulnara Tagirdzhanova retweeted
Garima Singh@GarimaSingh_GS12 Nov 2025
#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/ppp3.70119 Thank you @VaianaAnna for putting this together! Thank you @fmartin1954, Toby & Rasmus! #lichens #mushrooms
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Gulnara Tagirdzhanova retweeted
Nick Talbot@talbotlabTSL12 Nov 2025
New paper led by @metalichen 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 doi.org/10.1111/nph.70728
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