They did what?? I am so sorry to hear that

We hope that this genome will aid future research on origins and evolution of lichenization in alga. Big thanks to all the authors: @talbotlabtsl.bsky.social, Klara Scharnagl, and Xia Yan, and everyone else who helped with the paper!

We produced a near-chromosome level assembly of the C. viridis genome, which is the first sequenced genome of a non-photobiont lichen-associated alga. The genome is similar to its lichenized and non-lichen relatives, and has features associated with the lichen lifestyle

Lichens often contain additional algae in small amounts, and by screening metagenomic data, we discovered that C. viridis is present in 12% of lichen samples. To check whether it occurs on the surface of the lichen or inside it, we screened washed and unwashed thalli

Our initial goal was to culture Trebouxia, the photobiont of Xanthoria. However, upon closer look, our culture turned out to be a completely different alga - C. viridis. How did it happen? It is often assumed that 1 fungus + 1 alga = 1 lichen. But the reality is more complicated

Our preprint is out👇 We report that Coccomyxa viridis is frequent in lichens as a low-abundance alga present in addition to the main photobiont. The high-quality genome of C. viridis that we produced shows some signatures of lichen lifestyle. But it all began with an accident 🧵

lol, this is how I learn that there aren't hashtags here?

(Here we go, I guess) Hello world! I am a postdoc at The Sainsbury Laboratory I study #lichen #symbiosis using meta-omics. My ultimate goal is to figure out how different symbionts - fungi, algae, bacteria - self-assemble into #lichens, which are big, complex, and three-dimensional