A crustose lichen! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malmide...

VERY proud of this one. Possibly our most significant contribution to #Laboulbeniales systematics thus far (but 2 other important works are underway). Integrative data show clearly that #Stigmatomyces should be split in six genera—all we need to do this are sequences for the type species!

Really reading the literature has always given scientists in training a huge advantage. But these days, it seems like a superpower. So many people skim/AI summarize papers, but then you miss out on so much! It's like reading a description of a Van Gogh painting vs. staring at it for 2h.

I would like to share a tool for extracting and structuring information from multiple specimen labels using ChatGPT. You can access the tool here: chatgpt.com/g/g-69f2aedc... An overview, including features and sample inputs/outputs, is available at: www.u.tsukuba.ac.jp/~omura.yoshi... #lichen

Carlotta Kück from @mpimarinemicrobio.bsky.social showed host species-specific symbiont gene expression: One Caribbean beach, one symbiont, multiple host species, this symbiont may function differently depending on the host it associates with! In ISMEJ @isme-microbes.bsky.social tinyurl.com/p7abc25f

A paper by Daminova et al. in #FungalBiology shows that changes in the outer layer of the Smoker's Lung lichen (Lobaria retigera) caused by melanin, along with the properties of the melanin itself, help the lichen tolerate strong light & heavy metals. doi.org/10.1016/j.fu...

If it looks like the area approved for strychnine took zero consideration for the environment that's because its true. The red area is where strychnine is approved for use for the next two years. The blue area is the last remaining range of swift foxes in Canada.

Lichen, Arctoparmelia centrifuga. #Newfoundland, Canada. Lichen is about 50cm in diameter. #lichen #fungi #fungifriends. Photo for scale is in comments.

That ratio tells a better story than any plagiarism machine could ever write 👀

I wrote about why every lab should have AI use guidelines, and how to do it. open.substack.com/pub/blekhman...

@nwlichenologists.bsky.social Anaptychia crinalis, saxicolous, at mod elev in dry IDF near Merritt, Southern Interior BC Canada Oct.1/26 * had mistaken for Physcia tenella, even though it was esorediate

Local shopkeeper asked if I was celebrating Easter and I said yes but not like that,

Still cannot fully believe it, but today is officially my first day as a PI at @scilifelab.se and Stockholm University! The lab is open, time to fill it with science.. #newPI

This is another one of those jump scare graphs, showing the number of 60°F days in Fort Collins, Colorado this winter compared to any prior season since the 1800s. More here: source.colostate.edu/colorado-rec... and via the @climate.colostate.edu.

We should increase public funding for taxonomy, because otherwise we get bitcoin flies. (Meanwhile, the agency that supports most taxonomy in the US, NSF, has all but stopped giving out any funds under the Trump regime. So we can expect more bitcoin flies)

Check up my new brand site about my research in lichen photobionts! onutbrannstrom.net

Helotiales fungi as potential nutritional partners for non-mycorrhizal plants: a machine learning and experimental approach https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.03.23.710836v1

Some reflections on #Fungal26 This was a great meeting as always but set against some turbulent times of course, which meant many regular attendees were not present. This thread is mainly for them. However, the proportion of first-time attendees was very high and very international. #Fungal26 1/15

something i’d never seen before: lichens growing straight on the (hard, sandy) ground! (a bit outside of agadir, in the foothills of the atlas)

Lichen fungal effectors are potentially targeted to algal chloroplasts ⁦‪@puginiercamille.bsky.social ‬⁩ #Fungal26

Even in a world of extremes, some events still stand out to me. This is one. All-time monthly records are being shattered. The size of this ridge across the western U.S. is truly striking for March, and we see a very clear climate change connection. Explore: csi.climatecentral.org/climate-shif...

Distinct diversity trajectories of boreal wood‐inhabiting fungi following fire versus clear‐cutting - Buness - 2026 - Journal of Ecology - Wiley Online Library besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Every year or so, the position of AM fungi in the Fungal Tree of Life seems to shift. It happened again in 2025-2026: AM fungi were reported as sister to Mucoromycotina, then as sister to Dikarya + Entorrhizomycota. One consistent takeaway, though, is the timing...

Sunlight travels 93 million miles to reach the earth None of them through the Strait of Hormuz billmckibben.substack.com/p/sunlight-t...

Thanks @sarahkcox.bsky.social for highlighting this spectacular inland rainforest and its rare lichens

Today was my first spotting of Buttercups for the season. Passing along to hopefully brighten your day.

Thanks @sarahkcox.bsky.social for highlighting this spectacular inland rainforest and its rare lichens

A symbiotic origin of the ribosome? academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

Be part of OMGN! Open to all researchers with an interest in oomycetes, from molecular genetics & genomics to biology, population biology, and ecology, at either an experimental or a computational level. Investigators new to the field are always welcome oomycetes.com

Tree Lungwort (Lobaria pulmonaria) #Winter #lichens

You need to hear the goal call in Inuktitut.

Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick

Christmas in February! My friend Seabrooke Leckie has come out with another fabulous moth book—and this one covers 1900 species of the tremendously diverse moth fauna of the West. Congratulations Seabrooke!

Our new paper in @natcomms.nature.com is now online-early! We describe independent evolution of bacterial genomes of only ~50–52 kb — the smallest known outside cellular organelles — revealing striking convergence toward minimal gene sets. 🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Our new paper is out! We document the diversity of foliicolous lichens, including a lichenicolous fungus, based on extensive field surveys on Okinawa Island, southern Japan. taiwania.ntu.edu.tw/abstract/2157 Taiwania #lichens #foliicolouslichens #biodiversity #EastAsia

#Lichens #InariFox #Shinto #Japan

#otd 175 years ago Lina Hähnle, pioneer in bird conservation, was born in Sulz am Neckar, Germany. She would lead the NGO later known as @nabu.de for almost 40 years en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_H%...

Die Rezensionen kommen allmählich philelph.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/f...

Die Rezensionen kommen allmählich philelph.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/f...

Rereading these two papers: Holes in the hologenome: why host-microbe symbioses are not holobionts. journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... The Hologenome Concept: Helpful or Hollow? journals.plos.org/plosbiology/... And I still find myself in general agreement with most of the points in them

Educational short read on 2 billion years of fungal evolution from ancestral marine flagellates to mushrooms. www.mycostories.com/post/two-bil... #fungi #evolution #symbiosis #mycorrhiza 🍄

I am thrilled to congratulate David Díaz Escandón @ddiazescandon.bsky.social on successfully defending his Ph.D. on lichen fungal comparative genomics at @ualberta.bsky.social — the culmination of a journey!

Normandina pulchella (NO muslinglav) on a beech tree in Stavanger, SW Norway. In Danish it is called smuk konfettilav

Our #Bookofthemonth for January: Lichens of Britain and Ireland: An Introductory Guide by Frances Stoakley and Dr Rebecca Yahr. Filling a desired niche, it's a really useable and accessible guide for beginners and a faithful field guide for all! www.summerfieldbooks.com/product/lich...

I am thrilled to congratulate David Díaz Escandón @ddiazescandon.bsky.social on successfully defending his Ph.D. on lichen fungal comparative genomics at @ualberta.bsky.social — the culmination of a journey!

Recently I've been getting into learning to identify the "freckled" Peltigera lichen species. It looks like we mainly have Peltigera aphthosa (Freckled Pelt) and Peltigera leucophlebia (Ruffled Freckled Pelt) are the regulars. But I'm watching out for P. chionophila and brittanica. 🌿1/

brass solidarity band performing “stand by me” in the streets of whittier next to alex pretti’s memorial. the crowd started chanting “the people united will never be defeated” so they incorporated it into the song. i love minneapolis

"Recent events have brought Trump’s governing style into sharper focus," Jonathan Rauch argues. "'Fascist' best describes it, and reluctance to use the term has now become perverse." theatln.tc/wVq7MFaa

Nobody wants “what the US has got”, pls keep your failed state ass out of our business.