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Lichen Conservation and Metabolomics
Dr Krystle Angelique Santiago krystle. santiago1 @ monash. edu
Lecturer
Expertise
Expertise Lichenology
Plant Public and health fungal metabolomics Bio-conservation
Education Financial statistics
I am deeply interested in advancing lichen conservation through the lens of metabolomics, with a focus on common foliose and fruticose lichens found in Peninsular Malaysia. Lichens are symbiotic organisms between fungi and a photosynthetic partner, such as cyanobacteria or green algae. This unique partnership shows remarkable species diversity and a widespread distribution.
My research aims to uncover the diversity of secondary metabolites produced by these lichens and to characterize their ecological significance, particularly in response to environmental stress.
By applying metabolomic technologies, I seek to identify unique chemical compounds that can serve as bioindicators of habitat health and ecosystem change. In doing so, this work contributes to both the understanding of tropical lichen biochemistry and the broader goal of conserving lichen
biodiversity in Malaysia ' s montane forests, an area still largely
underexplored.
My research focuses on the metabolomic profiling of tropical lichens to uncover their ecological roles and potential as bioindicators for conservation
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