Ben Long

Heat with no end: climate model sets out an unbearable future for parts of Africa By the end of this century, parts of Africa could face heatwaves for 250-300 days a year, which will make it difficult for people to survive.

Heat with no end: climate model sets out an unbearable future for parts of Africa

theconversation.com/heat-with-no...

Study plants. Much nicer. And useful too. 🪴🌱

Thanks Khaled.

From @kunzlab.bsky.social !

The chloroplast ionome shines light on the dynamics of organellar iron homeostasis Loss of chloroplast iron (Fe) ferritin storage leads to Fe re-shuttling into the vacuole and reduced leaf tissue Fe content.

The chloroplast ionome shines light on the dynamics of organellar iron homeostasis academic.oup.com/plcell/artic... @theplantcell.bsky.social

A nuclear CobW/WW-domain factor represses the CO2-concentrating mechanism in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii | PNAS Microalgae induce a CO2-concentrating mechanism (CCM) to maintain photosynthesis when CO2 is limited. Because this system consumes a substantial po...

A nuclear CobW/WW-domain factor represses the CO2-concentrating mechanism in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... @pnas.org

Functional characterisation of bicarbonate transporters from the cyanobacterial SbtA2 family and subsequent expression in tobacco Abstract. Cyanobacteria rely on bicarbonate (HCO3-) as the primary inorganic carbon (Ci) source for photosynthesis in aquatic environments. To use this Ci

Functional characterisation of bicarbonate transporters from the cyanobacterial SbtA2 family and subsequent expression in tobacco academic.oup.com/jxb/article/... @jxbotany.bsky.social

Plastid carbonic anhydrases are essential for growth of Arabidopsis on ambient air but not for photosynthesis In C3 plants, plastid carbonic anhydrases are essential for growth on ambient air but are not required for efficient CO2 assimilation.

Plastid carbonic anhydrases are essential for growth of Arabidopsis on ambient air but not for photosynthesis url: academic.oup.com/plphys/artic...

He was an amazing supporter of so many of us...and always the last off the dance floor!

Stephen P. Long: Visionary, teacher, and doer | PNAS Stephen Long pioneered a multidisciplinary approach to advance our knowledge of photosynthesis, by integrating research at the molecular, cellular,...

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Sturt's desert pea Meaning: Have courage, take heart Swainsona formosa | Inland Australia Malukuru (Pit.) are famous for distinctive blood-red, leaf-like flowers, each with a bulbous black centre, similar to a kangaroo's eye. A striking sight in the wild: a blazing sea of red. Bird-pollinated and thrives in arid areas, but very sensitive to any root disturbance, which makes it difficult to propagate. Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.

#AlphabetChallenge
#WeekEforEponymous
Sturt's desert pea

Meaning: Have courage, take heart
Swainsona formosa | Inland Australia
Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

This would likely be achieved through a universal health care system.

Genetically modified purple tomatoes get green light to be sold in Australia Purple Bliss tomatoes, which get colour from the genes of snapdragon flowers, could become the first fresh GM food available in Australian stores

Great to see Cathie Martin’s team’s work come to fruition, so to speak 🙌
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Record heat – the future is here

agrifood.anu.edu.au/news-events/...

After the fire, there are still viable protea 🌻

Teenager makes 'superhuman' swim to save family swept out to sea A 13-year-old boy has been hailed a hero after swimming four hours through rough seas to get help for his mother and two siblings, who were swept out to sea on an inflatable paddleboard in WA's South West.

A 13-year-old boy has been hailed a hero after swimming four hours through rough seas to get help for his mother and two siblings, who were swept out to sea on an inflatable paddleboard in WA's South West.

Announcement for photosynthesis 2026 Keynotes and Plenaries featuring black and white pictures of 12 scientists

🍃🎤🍃 Speaker announcement 🍃🎤🍃

Join our incredible line-up of Keynotes & Plenary Speakers at Photosynthesis 2026 in Liverpool this July!

✍️ Register & submit an abstract now
👉 photosynthesis2026.com

#plantscience 🧪 #ICPR26 #photosynthesis

Synthetic Biology of Plants and Microbes for Agriculture, Environment, and Future Applications Agriculture is under pressure to provide food for a growing population and the feedstock required to drive the bioeconomy. Methods to breed and genetically modify plants are inadequate to keep pace. W...

Synthetic Biology of Plants and Microbes for Agriculture, Environment, and Future Applications

www.linkedin.com/redir/redire...

Back-to-back 50°C days in South Australia! Andamooka reached 50.0°C on Thursday and Port Augusta reached 50.0°C today (Friday). These are among the top nine temperatures on record in Australia.

Relief on the horizon for south-east Australia after record heatwave delivers 50C For the eighth consecutive day, Australia's southeast inland will bake in temperatures well above 40 degress Celsius.

PERFECTLY NORMAL

Fig. 4.PD and PD-associated proteins involved in cell-to-cell trafficking. (A) PD have a diverse proteome, which include PD-localized proteins and EPCS proteins, shown in magenta. PD-localized proteins and EPCS proteins can facilitate viral MP movement from cell to cell. Some PD-localized proteins are located at the PM, shown in yellow, while some are located in the ER, shown in blue. (B) MPTMV movement through PD is facilitated by SYTA. SYTA interacts directly with MPTTMV and, during TMV infection, more SYTA is recruited around EPCS and PD to further cell-to cell spread. Additionally, MPTMV interacts with RTNLBs. (C) GFLV is a tubule-forming virus and passes from cell to cell as a virion. These tubules cause ER displacement from PD and widen the aperture. These tubules are formed from MPGFLV which interacts with PDLPs. PDLPs do not initiate tubule formation but stabilize the tubule in the pore. Created in BioRender. Azim, M. (2025) https://BioRender.com/vu73y8v.

🔬 REVIEW 🔬

🦠➡️🌱 In this review, Alazem et al. discuss how plant viruses recruit and use host proteins to accomplish cell-to-cell movement via plasmodesmata during infection 🦠➡️🌱

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...

#PlantScience 🧪 @danforthcenter.bsky.social

Gino Bartali | Holocaust Encyclopedia In 2013, Yad Vashem recognized Italian cyclist Gino Bartali as Righteous Among the Nations for his rescue activities. Learn more

Cycling has a strong history of anti fascism

encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/a...

SAGA1 and SAGA2 localize the starch sheath to the pyrenoid in Chlamydomonas reinhardti

@mjonikas.bsky.social

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

A picture of the Australian heat map showing temperatures up to 50 degrees C in some locations on 30 Jan 2026

Some hot weather in SA, and western NSW today!

Sticker number modulates pyrenoid condensate assembly to support algal fitness https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.27.701992v1

Polio and Vaccination: A Memoir of What We’ve Forgotten | The Tyee What I learned from getting polio 70 years ago? Amnesia is a traitor that lets old enemies through the gates.

"...the more vaccinations, the smaller the chance of infecting those most vulnerable to it, like the elderly and the immunocompromised."

thetyee.ca/Opinion/2018/11/01/Polio-Vaccination-Lessons

Fluorescent proteins (mTurquoise2, mEGFP, mCitrine, mScarlet-I) move between cells via plasmodesmata in the epidermis of Nicotiana benthamiana. (Image credit: Rory Greenhalgh, Jacob O. Brunkard.)

🌱 SPECIAL ISSUE EDITORIAL 🌱

🔬 Plasmodesmata (PD) are membrane-lined channels in cell walls 🔬
In this editorial, Brunkard & Burch-Smith shift focus from "which molecules move through PD?" to "which molecules are *prevented* from moving through PD?" 🔎

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
#PlantScience 🧪

dual phototrophy in cyanobacteria and the use of carotenoids anthenna for both oxygenic photosynthesis and rhodopsin phototrophy? Light-harvesting by antenna-containing xanthorhodopsin from an Antarctic Pseudanabaenaceae cyanobacterium www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Seems like a good video for his trial