"Lichens are living archives. Changes in their presence, absence or health reflect local climate history, air quality and even cataclysmic events, both natural and human-caused. In their quiet testimony, lichens tell us things we need to hear..." www.seattletimes.com/pacific-nw-m...

1/8 What if the genomic features we associate with fungal pathogens were also used by mutualists? We assembled 41 scale lichen genomes across 11 Peltigera species with 30 chromosome scale and 5 T2T revealing an unexpected genomic toolkit behind lichen symbiosis. doi.org/10.64898/202... #lichen

It’s mosquitofuckinggeddon in Edmonton, wish you were here.

The house that the IDF attacked was run as a bed and breakfast by Mona and her partner Habiba Fayed since 2000 to fund their research and conservation project Happy Pride. You deserved better, Mona.

Global distribution and biogeography of ericoid mycorrhizal fungi Odriozola et al. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Please Use AI

Please share with any budding young mycologists/microbiologists/molecular biologists who might be interested in coming to do an MSc or PhD! We are looking to recruit a student to follow up on some of our observations about ROS resistance and sensitivity in yeasts: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Canada is utterly useless at protecting wildlife: “the federal government has issued emergency orders only twice since the [species at risk] act was passed in 2002”. Industry always, always wins.

@ilichenmoss2.bsky.social George Greiff in the BBC News headlines on Sunday morning. A fantastic discovery, and hopefully a way to moderate invasive (INNS) Campylopus introflexus (Heath Star Moss). Well deserved recognition for some very interesting bryological work. 🎉🙌 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Phylogenomics beyond the ‘bag-of-genes’ model #evolution #phylogenomics #MicroSky @cp-trendsgenetics.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

If you've waited to buy books from The Lives of the Natural World series, this is your moment! Use code SPRING50 at checkout, and you'll get 50% off these and most of our other Princeton Nature titles through June 9. Don't miss out on this great deal! press.princeton.edu/series/the-l...

stop writing articles about extreme heat using fun summer imagery challenge: impossible (apparently) apnews.com/article/euro...

These plants also harvest dew, which condenses out of moist air. Edges and hairs make especially good foci for condensation as they radiate heat & cool faster. This species is from Namaqualand, in southern Africa. 📷: Dipcadi crispum Karel du Toit CCBYNC4 #Asparagaceae #fog #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

New fungi book: Corticioid fungi of Europe 2 Hastodontia - Quasiphlebia. Maybe this year I'll really get into Corticioid fungi? #MycoBookClub #FungiFriends

Came across witch’s cauldron fungus (Sarcosoma globosum) this weekend during fieldwork in interior British Columbia and it is among the weirdest fungi I’ve ever seen, filled with a good 50 ml of viscous liquid Video thanks to Romina Silva Espejo

I am seeking postdoc opportunities in insect–microbiome interactions, ecology & evolutionary biology. Research: aphid–plant–microbiome dynamics, 16S rDNA sequencing & ecological genomics. Open to international relocation. PIs/collaborators, let’s connect. #Postdoc #aphid #Microbiome

Lichen Acarospora glaucocarpa. Northwest Territories, Canada. #lichen #fungI #fungifriends

Someone has journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

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.