Markus HiltunenGuest researcher
About me
I graduated as a PhD in 2021 at Uppsala university with Hanna Johannesson as main advisor. After a year as a postdoc with Fabien Burki at the same department, I am back in Hanna’s group since January 2023. My position is as a researcher at The Royal Academy of Sciences, with a placement at DEEP. My research area is mycological genetics, with a heavy emphasis on evolution, and to answer my scientific questions I employ bioinformatical genome analysis. I have a broad interest in evolution, in particular of fungi, but also of the great diversity of wondrous organisms and their genomes.
Research
My primary research area is about the how genetic variation is generated, inherited, and spread in populations of fungi. As a model system I use the Scotch bonnet (Marasmius oreades), which forms fairy rings as it grows. The species is very common in Swedish lawns and parks, and is useful for investigating de novo mutations because it is easy to distinguish individuals of the fungus, in the form of fairy rings. In Hanna’s group I also have a technical role, where I am in charge of the computing server, web page, etc, as well as supervision of group members during bioinformatical analyses.