Oliver Mueller-Cajar

We genetically disconnected starch from the matrix in the algal pyrenoid!

A saga1;saga2 double mutant lacks a starch sheath!

Our model: SAGA1 & SAGA2 locally initiate starch on the pyrenoid surface by enriching starch precursors.

🌞🦠🔬🔌👀

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

How does molecular valency shape condensate assembly and function? We used the CO2-fixing organelle in algae—the pyrenoid—to find out… 🧵

Preprint here!:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

@cellarchlab.com @phaips.vd.st @biologyatyork.bsky.social
#Rubisco #PhaseSeparation #Condensates #Pyrenoid

SBS 2025

Sign up for the inaugural Singapore Biosciences Symposium at SBS, NTU. We have an outstanding lineup of speakers at the intersection of plant biology and biomolecular condensates!

www.ntu.edu.sg/sbs/symposiu...

What limits rubisco function? Is it the chemical mechanism? Evolution? In this paper, @prywes.bsky.social et. al explore this question by assaying >99% of single amino acid mutants in Form II rubisco (1/7) doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Noam presents the most state of the art Rubisco search engine.. great to see this out!

Chloroplast genome editing of Rubisco boosts photosynthesis and plant growth Photosynthetic inefficiencies limit the productivity and sustainability of crop production and the resilience of agriculture to future societal and environmental challenges. Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate ...

Wow, chloroplast base editing leads to faster Rubisco and more biomass in Arabidopsis! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A great way to end the week - catching up with @omc111.bsky.social and Shawn Lum to discuss links between ANU and NTU, and ideas for how to extend thermal tolerance of photosynthesis. @ouranu.bsky.social

Beautiful study by Martin, Alistair, and crew on the membrane tubules that traverse the Chlamydomonas pyrenoid and help deliver a high concentration of #CO2 to Rubisco 🧪🌾

New Letter: "Rubisco supplies pyruvate for the 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate pathway" rdcu.be/dVZMj

Rubisco fixes CO2. Its lesser-known side job is supplying pyruvate in the chloroplast, an observation that solves a long-standing paradox of central metabolism. #PlantScience

go.bsky.app/ErhhGGU

Doing good science is 90% finding a science buddy to constantly talk to about the project.

BONUS! If IDPs are your jam, check out an ever-expanding starter pack!
go.bsky.app/J23B51L

Biomolecular condensate starter pack!

Trying to compile & to bring together biomolecular condensate enthusiasts & critics!

Please join this non-exhaustive (sorry!) collection & just ping me for addition.

#condensates, #phaseseparation, #granules, #IDPs

go.bsky.app/NFqmffa

A screenshot of first 5 videos of a molecular biology YouTube Playlist: 1) PCR, 2) Gel, 3) Restriction Enzymes, 4) Plasmid, 5) Gibson assembly.

I have a YouTube playlist (10 videos) for #MolecularBiology for my undergrad interns in the lab.

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

I usually have my interns watch these videos to get introduced to the basic concepts before I go show them how to in the lab.

Nice, would be interesting to see whether RbcL is identical between clones or has diffused in sequence space given massive changes in CO2 concentration since the seed germinated..

Here’s some cool stuff you can do with Bluesky It’s not just an Alf pics repository.

I learned some stuff about Bluesky I did not know by reading this.

Maybe worth passing it on to others so we can all start getting the full benefit of the 🦋.

Yup, the Plant Science Starter Pack has been doing an amazing job. 👌

go.bsky.app/8Zfmwf7

Here is a starter to a starter pack for the Aus plant science community. Let’s rebuild. #plantscience

Let me know if you want to be added. Help me find more.
go.bsky.app/AiLTKHH

⚠️THREAD OF ALL SCIENCE-RELATED STARTER PACKS! ⚠️

🔄Share to help people finding its topic/field

- STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY

Structural Biology 1: bsky.app/starter-pack...
Structural Biology 2: bsky.app/starter-pack...
Crystallography: bsky.app/starter-pack...
Synchrotron&CryoEM: bsky.app/starter-pack...

A linker protein from a red-type pyrenoid phase separates with Rubisco via oligomerizing sticker motifs | PNAS The slow kinetics and poor substrate specificity of the key photosynthetic CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco have prompted the repeated evolution of Rubisc...

I have a PhD scholarship available for a student to join my group at NTU Singapore in the January 2025 intake. The student will work on a project related to the cellular biochemistry of the diatom pyrenoid. Here is our first paper on the topic: www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1...

I love the periodic articles about chilly weather in Singapore. Some days we will have to deal with 23 degrees Celsius..