Gulnara Tagirdzhanova

Bio

I am a postdoctoral scientist at the group of Prof. Nick Talbot. I study the evolution of fungal-algal symbioses, known as lichens. Lichens, the archetypal symbiosis, present a major exception to our understanding of how multicellularity works. Lichens are made of multiple unrelated lineages of microbes: different fungi, unicellular algae, and bacteria. Together — and only together — they can form elaborate three-dimensional bodies, which look nothing like individual symbionts. In my project, I use meta-omics, microscopy, and cell biology tools, to study how lichen symbionts contribute to the morphogenesis of symbiotic architectures.

I completed my PhD at the University of Alberta (Canada) in 2022. In my PhD project, I focused on metagenomics applied to lichen symbiosis.

Job history

2022 -

Postdoctoral Scientist

The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, UK

2017 - 2022

PhD (Biological Sciences)

University of Alberta, Canada

2015 - 2017

MSc (Biology)

St. Petersburg University, Russia

2011 - 2015

BSc (Biology)