Ben Long

I haven't done one of these since second year biochem. Love it.

The cover of Vol 77 | Issue 4 | 2026 of the Journal of Experimental Botany. Rust coloured banners border the top and bottom of the page and in the centre is an image of green grapevine cells under a microscope, and the stomata guard cells are visible. Photo legend: "Microscopic observation of stomatal immunity and hypersensitive response during Plasmopara viticola infection in a leaf of the resistant grapevine Vitis riparia cv. Qingdahean (photo credit: Wei Zheng). See Ji et al., pp. 1324–1337."

📢 NEW ISSUE ALERT 📢
🔬 Issue 4 is out now 🔬

📔 On the cover: Microscopic observation of stomatal immunity and hypersensitive response during Plasmopara viticola infection in a leaf of resistant grapevine (photo credit: Wei Zheng).

🔗 Read the full issue: academic.oup.com/jxb...
#PlantScience 🧪

Cheers Anthony.

A little protein with a big role in building Earth's carbon fixing machinery An international team of scientists has discovered that a small, low-abundance protein plays a surprisingly big role in assembling carboxysomes—specialized bacterial microcompartments that enable efficient carbon fixation and underpin much of life on Earth.

A small, low-abundance protein has been identified as essential for assembling carboxysomes, key bacterial structures that enhance carbon fixation and underpin global photosynthetic efficiency. doi.org/hbn967

Thanks Cissi.

Stages of biomolecular condensate formation in pro-β-carboxysome assembly - Nature Plants Carboxysomes are cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating compartments with a proteinaceous shell. The elucidation of the role of the shell adaptor protein ApN in stepwise β-carboxysome assembly will aid the ...

Stages of biomolecular condensate formation in pro-β-carboxysome assembly www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Stages of biomolecular condensate formation in pro-β-carboxysome assembly - Nature Plants Carboxysomes are cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating compartments with a proteinaceous shell. The elucidation of the role of the shell adaptor protein ApN in stepwise β-carboxysome assembly will aid the ...

The new publication "Stages of biomolecular condensate formation in pro-β-carboxysome assembly" from the Manajit Hayer-Hartl team is out at Nature Plants!

❕ Publication: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#Rubisco #carboxysome #cyanobacteria

Great fun working with Manajit Hayer-Hartl and her amazing team at @mpibiochem.bsky.social bringing this work on the beta-carboxyome protein ApN (CcmN) together.

😂

South African San rock art reveals trance dances and initiation ceremonies In a study published in Telestes, Dr. Joshua Kumbani and Dr. Margarita Díaz-Andreu categorized the various dance scenes depicted in South African rock art, drawing on ethnographic sources, published s...

The San hunter-gatherers... have a rich corpus of rock art, which is among the primary sources for understanding the organization of their dances, cultural practices, beliefs, and traditions. One of the most common motifs depicted is various forms of dance...

phys.org/news/2026-01...

A little protein with a big role in building Earth’s carbon fixing mac A little protein with a big role in building Earth’s carbon fixing machinery In a step towards higher-yield and more sustainable crops, scientists have discovered that a previously overloo

A little protein with a big role in building Earth’s carbon fixing machinery

www.scimex.org/newsfeed/a-l...

🚨 SPECIAL ISSUE - CLOSING SOON 🚨

🔬 Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics in Plants 🔬

📝 Edited by @smukhtarlab.bsky.social

📅 Closing date: 28 February 2026

📇 Got a suitable manuscript? Contact the JXB office: bit.ly/JXBissues

#JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪 @sebiology.bsky.social

Plant & Zo weekly roundup #6-2026 In which I discus the chatter of plants, what makes strawberries run, and this week’s scientific articles and plant science in the media

Hi all,
Another week has gone, so time for a new Plant & Zo weekly roundup. Number 6 of this year discusses the chatter of plants, what makes strawberries run, and this week’s scientific articles and plant science in the media.
Read it here: open.substack.com/pub/plantenz...

#PlantScience

Stages of biomolecular condensate formation in pro-β-carboxysome assembly - Nature Plants Carboxysomes are cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating compartments with a proteinaceous shell. The elucidation of the role of the shell adaptor protein ApN in stepwise β-carboxysome assembly will aid the ...

Stages of biomolecular condensate formation in pro-β-carboxysome assembly

doi.org/10.1038/s414...

Voting for Australia’s Eucalypt of the Year opens today. This year the theme is "Our Eucalypt Home" Vote here: www.eucalyptaustralia.org.au @eucalyptaus.bsky.social #EucalyptoftheYear2026. 🌳🪴

Regulation of cyanogenic glucosides in wild and domesticated Eusorghum taxa This study presents evidence that the ability to maintain high leaf cyanogenic glucoside concentrations into maturity might have arisen in sorghum's crop wild relatives, rather than during domesticat...

This paper of ours is not getting read as much as expected - it tests whether people domesticated #sorghum that was already high #cyanide or selected for cyanide during #domestication (it’s the former) - Classic case of a misleading title 😞 🪴🌾🌱
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

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/...