NAISS
SUPR
NAISS Projects
SUPR
Genome evolution in fungi
Dnr:

NAISS 2026/3-294

Type:

NAISS Medium

Principal Investigator:

Hanna Johannesson

Affiliation:

Stockholms universitet

Start Date:

2026-05-01

End Date:

2027-05-01

Primary Classification:

10615: Evolutionary Biology

Secondary Classification:

10606: Microbiology (Medical aspects at 30109 and agricultural at 40302)

Tertiary Classification:

10610: Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (Methods development to be 10203)

Allocation

Abstract

The fungal kingdom encompasses a vast diversity of organisms with significant economic and biological importance. Fungi are among the most efficient decomposers of organic matter on Earth and serve as fundamental model systems in genetics and broader biological research. Consequently, fungal research is essential for addressing key questions in evolutionary biology. In our group, we conduct research at the interface between mycology and evolutionary biology. Our current projects include studies on the genetic variation, genomics and evolution of Marasmius oreades and members of the fungal order Sordariales, investigations of oleaginous fungi with respect to their efficiency and capacity to degrade petroleum products, and the screening of fungal diversity in heavily polluted industrial environments. Our work relies heavily on bioinformatics approaches, which are essential for tasks such as metatranscriptomic analyses, sequence analysis, and phylogenetic tree reconstruction.