Emma Johnston (1973–2025) | Nature Ecology & Evolution share.google/8C3YzLRFM9QC...

Simultaneous Overexpression of Three Enzymes of Chloroplast Metabolism Fails to Improve CO2 Assimilation or Biomass academic.oup.com/jxb/article/... @jxbotany.bsky.social

In an effort to reduce staffing costs, meet the new peofessor of grass ecology.

This is Mycena rosoflava. A species of agaric mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. It is a wood-inhabiting mushroom native to New Zealand. Original post

Plastid-encoded Ycf10 maintains chloroplast proton homeostasis essential for photosynthesis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii doi.org/10.1038/s443...

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

Do you like it when weird organisms do silly things?? Then you're going to love this!

Electron Transport Reactions of Cyanobacterial Photosynthesis and state-of-the-art in vivo measurement techniques. doi.org/10.1093/plph...

Trade-offs between photosynthetic capacity, mesophyll conductance stability and leaf anatomy shape heat and water deficit resilience in Gossypium. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A jumbo cyanophage encodes the most complete ribosomal protein set in the known virosphere www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Just let this sink in: "His prosecution marks the third time that a US parent has been held criminally responsible for a mass shooting carried out by their child..."

How do you write a thing about photosynthetic pathways and not mention CAM. How.

PENGUINS

We need taxonomists and real botanists 🪴🌱

New Editorial: "Celebrating photosynthesis" rdcu.be/e6oTm Photosynthesis is both an elegantly simple and dazzlingly complex process. The year 2026 marks anniversaries of the discoveries of both of these layers.

Frog and Toad were sad for a while.

When you wear out your cycling socks... from just cycling a lot.

Can small reductions in Rubisco content improve nitrogen use in wheat without negatively impacting biomass or grain yield? Saqer S. Alotaibi, Jack S. A. Matthews, Steven M. Driever, Caroline A. Sparks, Martin A.J. Parry, Tracy Lawson, Christine A. Raines bioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Some insights into what's going on at NSF

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

We are a rich enough country to be funding 37% of all basic research proposals, not just considering "the best" 37% and then maybe only funding 12% in the end.

“It actually doesn't take much to be considered a difficult woman. That's why there are so many of us.” Jane Goodall #AusPol

More info from ARC about 2027 DP EOI shortlisting ▶️ www.arc.gov.au/sites/defaul... 🔹37.0% success – 1733 of 4679 EOIs (more shortlisted; was 1127/4063=27.7% in 2026) 🔹”A total of EOIs were shortlisted in [the] ‘disparate scores’ process” – ARC stuff-up; didn’t give number. Breakdown across panels👇

The ARC have said (on LinkedIn) they will release outcomes for Discovery Projects Expressions of Interest (2027) tomorrow👇

🌊🧪 EDITOR'S CHOICE 🧪🌊 Experimental manipulation of carbonate chemistry allowed for separation of the carbon-concentrating mechanism (CCM) in T. pseudonana from other processes that rely on the same proteins, revealing a hybrid CCM – Himes & Kustka 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪

🧬🌽 RESEARCH 🧬🌽 Maize with a mutation in carbonic anhydrase 1 (cah1) had higher carbonic anhydrase activity with a concurrent reduction in δ13C, the opposite of expectation based on C4 carbon isotope fractionation theory – Twohey et al. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪

[CO2] Alters Cyanobacterial Carboxysome Encapsulation and Redox State www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-4...

Come join us in Liverpool this summer!

Cyanobacteria photosynthesise deep inside caves - use chlorophyll d and f to harvest IR light (surely the photosystem must still have chlorophyll a at its heart?) 🪴🌾🌱 #PlantScience www.bbc.com/future/artic...

That was an uncomfortable ride.

New Letter: "High-efficiency, transgene-free plant genome editing by viral delivery of an engineered TnpB" rdcu.be/e4XHZ Viral vectors to deliver engineered smaller RNA-guided endonucleases eTnpBc, achieving high levels of somatic and heritable editing in plants.

I HATE Editorial Manager.

It really sucks to watch awesome early career folk get denied opportunities. I know this has always happened, but it feels so much more precarious now. and extra sucky because the time when I finally have folks in the lab looking for jobs comes at the same time as science falls off a cliff. 🙁

New OA Article: "Stages of biomolecular condensate formation in pro-β-carboxysome assembly" rdcu.be/e3yri Carboxysomes are cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating compartments with a proteinaceous shell. Here: elucidation of the role of the shell adaptor protein ApN.

Mathematical modeling of 1,2-propanediol utilization bacterial microcompartments in vivo activity arxiv.org/abs/2602.11338

Hi plant people, A new Plant & Zo weekly roundup is ready. In this week’s edition I discus new plant phenotyping systems, good smelling tomatoes, and this week’s scientific articles and plant science in the media. open.substack.com/pub/plantenz... #PlantScience

My predictions are that grant delays have a much more severe impact on Australia's productivity than any real foreign interference enabled by any ARC grants.... maybe the delay was always the intended interference.

February 28 – Six Planet Alignment After Sunset www.facebook.com/share/p/1ahA...

roses are red violets are blue both make sugars from atmospheric CO2 🌹🌹🌹

Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky url: academic.oup.com/icb/article-...

Bluesky is the new science Twitter, new study by @whysharksmatter.bsky.social and Julia Wester concludes! "Results show that for every reported professional benefit that scientists once gained from Twitter, scientists can now gain that benefit more effectively on Bluesky than on Twitter."

🌱🧬 VIEWPOINT 🧬🌱 Ghantasala & Choudhury summarise recent findings pertaining to the functionality of legume Nod Factor Receptors (NFRs) that have helped in receptor engineering of LysM-Receptor-Like Kinases (LysM-RLKs) in non-nodulating crop plants. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/jxb/... #PlantScience 🧪

Bike ride interrupted

🚨 SPECIAL ISSUE - FINAL CALL 🚨 📅 🪾💧 The Interdrought VIII special issue closes on 28 February 💧🪾📅 🌎 Guest edited by Mark Cooper, Carlos Messina, Karine Chenu & Amelia Henry 🌎 📇 Got a manuscript? Contact us: bit.ly/JXBissues #PlantScience 🧪 #JXBspecialissues

📜 On this #DarwinDay, explore our Darwin Reviews 📜 📇 Darwin Reviews are our most prestigious review series, featuring carefully selected topics from leading plant scientists 📇 🌳 In 2025, we celebrated 75 years of JXB with a special Darwin collection: academic.oup.com/jxb...#DarwinDay, #PlantScience 🧪

Can't wait to teach environmental science in the fall 🫠

📢 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 🧪

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

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