Mikael Brandström Durling

I have a PhD in evolutionary genetics from Uppsala University, working on  molecular evolution in avian and primate genomes. The main topic was evolution of non-coding sequences, including microsatellite evolution.

After moving to SLU I have been working on evolutionary comparative genomics in fungi. The work is focused on questions of the evolution of pathogenicity in fungi, primarily on forest trees. This includes sequencing, de-novo assembly and annotation of fungal genomes and population re-sequencing. Genomic data is then analysed through comparative methods in a phylogenetic context.

Current high throughput sequencing methods combined with the small genome sizes of fungi provides a sweet spot where the complete genomes of large numbers of individuals and related species can be compared in order to address questions of how and why the DNA sequences change over time. I am currently using species from the Heterobasidion species complex as model organisms for this work.

 SCATA - Analysis framework for the analysis of sequenced tagged amplicons, typically derived from high throughput sequencing of microbial communities.

Please find more information on my hompage at durling.io