Michał Kalita

Michał Kalita is a Senior Researcher and Assistant Professor ("adiunkt") at the Department of Genetics and Microbiology within the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin, Poland. His research focuses on molecular phylogenetics and taxonomy of rhizobia, with particular emphasis on symbiotic bacteria colonizing legume root nodules.

• Current projects include "Composition and function of root nodule microbiomes in Trifolium rubens and Trifolium africanum" (PL-RPA2/07/TRIFOMIKRO/2019, NCBiR funded) and "Horizontal gene transfer in Bradyrhizobium and Rhizobium" (Miniatura1 grant, NCN 2017-2018).
• Past research examined symbiotic gene evolution in Robinia pseudoacacia rhizobia (MNiSW-funded) and taxonomic reassessment of Genista tinctoria microsymbionts (KBN-funded).

His work integrates comparative sequence analysis of housekeeping and symbiosis-related genes (e.g., nodC, nifH) with genomic fingerprinting techniques (ERIC-PCR, AFLP) to resolve bacterial phylogeny and symbiotic functionality. Dr. Kalita also investigates microbial communities in unconventional environments like urban currency and extreme geological zones.

He has published 54 peer-reviewed works (as of 2025) and maintains active collaborations with researchers in Poland, South Africa, and Japan. His h-index ranges from 1 (Google Scholar) to 11 (Web of Science) with over 6,200 reads.