Dr. Viktor Stéger - MATE Research
Overview
He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology, Department of Genetics and Genomics, Applied Wild and Farm Animal Genomics Group. Dr. Viktor Stéger’s research focuses on the genetic and genomic analysis of wild and domestic animal populations, integrating population genetics, conservation genomics, and functional genomics. His work addresses population structure, genetic diversity, dispersal, admixture, and hybridization processes in wildlife, with particular emphasis on large mammals, carnivores, and game species. He applies whole-genome sequencing, mitochondrial DNA analysis, microsatellite and SNP-based approaches, and functional genomic methods—including allele-specific expression and eQTL mapping—to investigate adaptive and evolutionary processes. His research further extends to applied molecular genetics supporting wildlife management, bioindicator studies, and One Health–oriented investigations of environmental stressors in animal populations.
Research keywords:
Publications
Fehér, P., Molnár, Z., Pálfi, M. P., Pálfiné Lábadi, A., Plank, P., Lakatos, I., Stéger V ... & Szőke, Z. (2025). The Initial Detection of Mycotoxins Released and Accumulated in the Golden Jackal (Canis aureus): Investigating the Potential of Carnivores as Environmental Bioindicators. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 26(8), 3755. DOI: 10.3390/ijms26083755
Mc Cartney, A. M., Formenti, G., Mouton, A., De Panis, D., Marins, L. S., Leitão, H. G., Steger, V ... & Pellicer, J. (2024). The European Reference Genome Atlas: piloting a decentralised approach to equitable biodiversity genomics. npj Biodiversity, 3(1), 28.
Ninausz, N., Fehér, P., Csányi, E., Heltai, M., Szabó, L., Barta, E., ... & Stéger, V. (2023). White and other fur colourations and hybridization in golden jackals (Canis aureus) in the Carpathian basin. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 21969. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49265-0
Frank K, Bana N, Bleier N, Sugár L, Nagy J, Wilhelm J, Kálmán Z, Barta E, Orosz L, Horn P, Stéger V (2020). Mining the red deer genome (CerEla1.0) to develop X-and Y-chromosome-linked STR markers. PLoS One. 15(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0242506
Á Bana, N., Nyiri, A., Nagy, J., Frank, K., Nagy, T., Stéger, V., … Orosz, L. (2018). The red deer Cervus elaphus genome CerEla1.0: sequencing, annotating, genes, and chromosomes. MOLECULAR GENETICS AND GENOMICS, 293(3), 665–684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-017-1412-3
Projects
NKFIA 2017-1.3.1-VKE-2017-00026, 2018-2021. Increasing the productivity of domestic rabbit breeding by genomic methods
PMI/203-5/2023, 2024. Establishment of a Hungarian model farm and knowledge transfer hub in the Republic of Chad (Phase I).
SZRI/45-4/2024, 2025. Establishment of a Hungarian model farm and knowledge transfer hub in the Republic of Chad (Phase II).
2020-1.1.2-PIACI-KFI-2021-00305, 2023.06.01. – 2025.10.31. The development of technologies supporting the production of industrial milk, which is widely accepted from the point of view of nutritional physiology, with molecular biological tools
