Polyphosphate acts as an architectural regulator of carbon fixation and nucleoid structure in cyanobacteria www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Overview of key research directions using Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 as a model cyanobacterium. Summary of the main structural, physiological, genetic, and behavioral characteristics that have established Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 as a leading model organism for cyanobacterial research. Core cellular functions include oxygenic photosynthesis, carbon, and nitrogen metabolism. Emerging research directions focus on primary metabolism and regulatory and adaptive processes, such as stress responses, circadian clock, behavior, and biotechnological applications.

Cyanobacteria are an ancient clade of phototrophic prokaryotes. But out of all the cyanobacteria available, why did Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 become the default laboratory model? This #JBacteriology review offers insights: asm.social/2TD

The RIPE team laser-focused on improving photosynthetic efficiency and new research sheds light on the complex regulation of Rubisco activity. In many plant species, Rubisco activity is inhibited… |... The RIPE team laser-focused on improving photosynthetic efficiency and new research sheds light on the complex regulation of Rubisco activity. In many plant species, Rubisco activity is inhibited by...

Well done to PhD student Connor Nehls, @ecarmosilva.bsky.social and @doug-orr.bsky.social on new work out in @jxbotany.bsky.social on Rubisco dark inhibition. See the release here by @ripeproject.bsky.social www.linkedin.com/posts/ripepr...

Polyphosphate acts as an architectural regulator of carbon fixation and nucleoid structure in cyanobacteria

From the @cellforganized.bsky.social and @savagecatsonly.bsky.social labs

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

Water channels connecting the Mn-cluster to the protein exterior.

The structure of intact and active Photosystem II from Arabidopsis thaliana at 2.44 Å resolution

Forsman et al.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/9CDHKF...

Deadline is April 20th! Let’s get those viruses

Update: carbonic anhydrases in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria Abstract. This update discusses the physiological roles of carbonic anhydrase (CA) in plants and algae. It examines some new observations about the functio

Update: carbonic anhydrases in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria academic.oup.com/plphys/artic... @plantphys.bsky.social

Using Cryogenic Electron Tomography (cryoET) to Determine Rubisco Polymerization Constants in α-Carboxysomes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Molecular mechanism of redox regulation of the alpha-carboxysomal carbonic anhydrase CsoSCA www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.02.716132v1 #cryoEM

Molecular mechanism of redox regulation of the alpha-carboxysomal carbonic anhydrase CsoSCA www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04...

Our new preprint on detailing the molecular mechanisms of how the carbonic anhydrase activates it's activity upon encapsulation into alpha-carboxysomes is now live. Congrats to Nikole and @guillawme.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy !

Molecular mechanism of redox regulation of the alpha-carboxysomal carbonic anhydrase CsoSCA www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04...

Molecular mechanism of redox regulation of the alpha-carboxysomal carbonic anhydrase CsoSCA

From the incredible team of @cblikstad.bsky.social

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

Update: carbonic anhydrases in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria Abstract. This update discusses the physiological roles of carbonic anhydrase (CA) in plants and algae. It examines some new observations about the functio

Update: carbonic anhydrases in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria

Jim Moroney LSU.

academic.oup.com/plphys/advan...

Excited to see the major chapter of my PhD in print!

We present a massively-parallel approach for screening CRISPR edits in plants to speed up agricultural test cycles + benchmark genomic LMs.

Thanks to my fantastic co-authors and advisors. Link below!

Engineered TnpB genome editors for plants and human cells identified by ribonucleoprotein mutational scanning - Nature Biotechnology TnpB endonucleases are engineered for improved genome editing.

Engineered TnpB genome editors for plants and human cells identified by ribonucleoprotein mutational scanning - @savagecatsonly.bsky.social go.nature.com/4loaOGn

Can CRISPR edits enable precise tuning of plant gene expression? We think: yes.

In our newest manuscript, we measured the effects of >30,000 CRISPR-like promoter mutations in sorghum protoplasts.

Mapping cis-regulatory mutations at scale in sorghum enables modulation of gene expression - @savagecatsonly.bsky.social go.nature.com/3O7mDEN

Out today in Nature Biotechnology — a team of IGI scientists including Brian Staskwicz, Kris Nyogi, Dave Savage (Savage Lab), Peggy Lemaux, & first author Evan Groover premier a cell-based method for understanding how #photosynthesis genes can be turned "up" or "down" https://ow.ly/KHWg50YyWbR

Using Cryogenic Electron Tomography (cryoET) to Determine Rubisco Polymerization Constants in α-Carboxysomes

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

CyanOperon: an operon building expansion for the CyanoGate MoClo toolkit

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

Partitioning of Rubisco activase into the pyrenoidal Rubisco condensate is mediated by a functional protein-protein interaction

@omc111.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Partitioning of Rubisco activase into the pyrenoidal Rubisco condensate is mediated by a functional protein-protein interaction www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natcomms.nature.com

The kinetics and mobility of a ParA ATPase drive carboxysome distribution in Halothiobacillus neapolitanus www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A black-and-white historical photograph of Dr. Maud Leonora Menten (1879–1960), the Canadian physician and biochemist who co-developed the Michaelis–Menten equation for enzyme kinetics. Taken in her laboratory (likely at the University of Pittsburgh in the 1910s–1920s), she stands with a serious, focused expression—lips closed, eyes direct and thoughtful—against a backdrop of wooden shelves filled with glass bottles, jars, scientific equipment, and a wire-mesh enclosure. She wears a dark dress with a lace collar, a string of beads, and her hair styled in a neat bun. Superimposed on the image is the Michaelis–Menten equation in white text:v=Vmax⁡[S]Km+[S]v = \frac{V_{\max} [S]}{K_m + [S]}v = \frac{V_{\max} [S]}{K_m + [S]} This iconic portrait captures Menten during her groundbreaking research in biochemistry and histochemistry, where she helped establish the foundational mathematical model of enzyme-substrate reactions still used today, while overcoming significant gender barriers as one of the first women in Canada to earn both an M.D. and a Ph.D.

Chemist/physician Dr. Maud Menten co-authored the seminal paper 𝘋𝘪𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘸𝘪𝘳𝘬𝘶𝘯𝘨, 1931. This intro'd the Michaelis–Menten equation (image). It remains a cornerstone of #biochemistry, used in drug design, metabolic studies & enzyme engineering. She was born #OTD in 1879.

#WomenInSTEM

The international conference on photosynthesis research will be happening in Liverpool at the end of July. It promises to be a broad and interesting conference about all things photosynthesis! ☀️🌱🥼

Abstract deadlines:
31st March - presentations
15th May - posters

Hope to see you there!

Kinase KEY1 controls pyrenoid condensate size throughout the cell cycle by disrupting phase separation interactions - Nature Cell Biology He et al. identify a central regulator of condensate size and dynamics in the Chlamydomonas CO2-fixing condensate, the pyrenoid. KEY1 phosphorylates EPYC1, a linker protein for Rubisco, to maintain py...

Kinase KEY1 controls pyrenoid condensate size throughout the cell cycle by disrupting phase separation interactions

Phosphorylation control of Rubisco condensation in pyrenoids!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Pyrenoid Structure, Function, Evolution, and Characterization Across Diverse Lineages Pyrenoids are eukaryotic CO2-fixing organelles that are evolutionarily diverse, globally abundant, and critical to global carbon cycling. Despite being described over 200 years ago, the vast majority ...

Pyrenoid Structure, Function, Evolution, and Characterization Across Diverse Lineages - www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Kinase KEY1 controls pyrenoid condensate size throughout the cell cycle by disrupting phase separation interactions - Nature Cell Biology He et al. identify a central regulator of condensate size and dynamics in the Chlamydomonas CO2-fixing condensate, the pyrenoid. KEY1 phosphorylates EPYC1, a linker protein for Rubisco, to maintain py...

Kinase KEY1 controls pyrenoid condensate size throughout the cell cycle by disrupting phase separation interactions www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natcellbio.nature.com

KEY1 unlocks the pyrenoid “The regulation of condensate assembly and disassembly is a major outstanding question in the field, and this paper is a beautiful elucidation of how that works for the pyrenoid,” says Clifford Brangw...

Today in Nature Cell Biology, a collaborative effort across labs (Jonikas, Wingreen, Brangwynne) at Princeton discovers the key to regulating a biomolecular condensate. Congrats to first authors Shan He and Linnea Lemma! molbio.princeton.edu/news/2026/ke...