Still mourning #fungal26? Want to celebrate the release of the April 2026 edition of G3? Why not give this a gander? We found impact of low level contamination on population analyses in both Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus fumigatus! #mycosky #academicsky

What an incredible few weeks it’s been!
I had many great discussions during my poster presentation at #Fungal26 in beautiful Pacific Grove. Right after, I attended @vaam-microbes.bsky.social 2026 in Berlin, where I had the honor of giving a talk on my absolute favorite topic (lichens, of course!)

#Fungal26 has come to a close! Celebrate the meeting and the science with official #Fungal26 merch. From mugs and notebooks to shirts and totes featuring this year's fabulous design, it’s a great way to show your fungal pride. 🛍️Shop the collection: buff.ly/GM7PHjB

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Traveled to the stunningly beautiful Monterey Bay to speak at #Fungal26 about how ✨serendipity and effort✨ have shaped my path as a scientist.

The thing is, though, that everything about this trip felt serendipitous. And well, the best things seem to happen like that 🌱 excited about the future!

As the 33rd Fungal Genetics Conference wraps up, we thank our sponsors, US Biological and Novonesis, for their support. Their partnership helped bring the fungal genetics community together to share research, exchange ideas, and highlight advances across the field. #Fungal26

Thank you for having me on this exciting project! It was great to see everyone and present on C. auris hypermutation at #fungal26. Hope to catch up soon!

Welcome to bsky @dfirer.bsky.social! And thank you for your involvement in this work. Hope you enjoyed #fungal26 and hope to catch up later in the year

Cool science moment - our research studying post-Hurricane Helene mold growth captured Dr Joan Bennett’s attention- the pioneering scientist investigating post-flood mold growth and health impacts! #Fungal26 Great work Gabby Walker and Julian Liber 👏🏽

Scientists at ecological conferences wear the best fabrics.
#EcologicalFashion #FungalFashion #Fungal26 #Fungi #Mycology #Ecology

So excited to see @epiplantpath.bsky.social being invited to speak! I work with her at @btiscience.bsky.social, she's a top-notch scientist and science communictor, and an incredible mentor.

#Fungal26

2026 Fungal Genetics Conference was a great opportunity to learn about a very broad range of fascinating fungi, and to catch up with friends and collaborators. Thanks to the Genetics Society of America for hosting the conference and arranging for so many “blue sky” days (😀).
#Fungal26

And of course there was a lot more! I’ve only revealed a few themes. Thanks to Antonis Rokas and Meritxell Riquelme for the program. The sun shone and the band played again! And I met several new John Taylors #Fungal26 15/15

The rise of the non-models also seemed to me a theme- from Basidiobolus & Bd on amphibians, to lichens (my favourite obviously), but also pyrophilous fungi and the remarkable Pezizales- some of which may harbour diazotrophic bacteria, or even N-fixers in associations like in legumes. #Fungal26 14/15

Understanding effector biology continues to throw up surprises of the range of cellular functions they regulate- like how viruses taught us so much cell biology-effectors reveal much about plant immunity, but also their deployment against microbial competitors is a big emerging theme #Fungal26 13/15

The complexity of rust life cycles where we often don’t know the gametothallus host, means there is a bright future (and decades of things to learn) for anyone who wants to determine the molecular basis of obligate biotrophy! #Fungal26 12/15

Among the plant pathogens, there are just so many rusts! 85% of plant diseases caused by fungi are rusts, 200 genera, 18 families, 7000-8000 species astounding stats from Cathie Aime. #Fungal26 11/15

Citizen science featured prominently in both talks- encouraging that the public really rise to the challenge, facilitating nationwide sampling of AMR #Fungal26 10/15

The rise of resistance to anti-fungals was highlighted in new Fungal Spore Lecture, given with great style by Matt Fisher. Use of the same fungicide MoA's in agriculture and medicine is causing massive clinical problems with complexity highlighted Eveline Snelders. #Fungal26 9/15

RNA transport, highlighted by Michael Feldbrugge is an emerging theme. Spatial control of translation & mRNA decay is critical to gene regulation & polarised lifestyle. Many examples in posters & concurrent sessions of mRNA transport, RNA-binding proteins and translational control #Fungal26 8/15

Cell biology of non-model fungi is advancing rapidly, in Chytrids for instance. The chytrid cellularization process is amazing, where nuclei are dispersed throughout the cytoplasm then synchronously compartmentalized into daughter cells. Astonishing and so much to learn. #Fungal26 7/15

There was a lot of cell biology at the meeting, which was exciting. Eisosomes are intriguing plasma membrane reservoirs, but their absolute function is still not completely clear to me, but I think it might be intrinsic to the fungal osmotrophic lifestyle. #Fungal26 6/15

What is the role of the NLRs and Het genes in Starships? Are they critical for take-up & domestication? How is it that RIP is so successful in some species (like Neurospora), but other sexually reproducing fungi contain relatively RIP-free Starships? #Fungal26 5/15

But lots of questions emerge. How do the tyrosine recombinase Captains in Starships work? What's the intermediate transposition stage, how does target-site selection work? Is hyphal anastomosis required for transfer? #Fungal26 4/15

There were also big themes. Starships continue to fascinate. Unseen before long-read sequencing, these giant elements are in diverse groups of fungi, with strong evidence they've helped shape genome evolution & been the vectors for horizontal gene transfers- both recent and ancient. #Fungal26 3/15

There were eloquent expressions about the importance of international collaborations & exchange of ideas. Heartfelt, principled statements from Armin Djamei, Emile Gluck-Thaler and Nancy Keller, for example. Truly inspirational words & I greatly admire them for speaking out #Fungal26. 2/15

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

#Fungal26 need something to read on the flight home? Now obsessed with tRNAs? New Preprints!

Genes near tRNAs are enriched in translational machinery:
tinyurl.com/zshnf835

Hidden Diversity in Yeast tRNAs: Comparative Genomics and Modification Mapping in a Eukaryotic Subphylum
tinyurl.com/3j6f3up2

Of course none can compare to the dress worn by Nancy Keller in her #fungal26 keynote bsky.app/profile/labl...

Graduate and post-doc poster winners #fungal26 Louisa Wirtz, Aidan McVey, and @camilla-moli.bsky.social representing Magnaporthe 🏆🌾

🥁 🥁 🥁

The Schwartzy award at #fungal26 goes to @cesaree-mg.bsky.social for her outstanding talk on environmental conditions favoring wheat stem rust fungus! 🏆🎉🙌