Ben Long
@botbml.bsky.social
Cyclist. Scientist. Synthetic biology in plants. Carboxysomes and chloroplasts. Ally 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
He/him
Group leader: Biological CO₂ Capture Lab
Awabakal and Worimi country ⬛🟡🟥
University of Newcastle, Australia.
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/ben-long
He/him
Group leader: Biological CO₂ Capture Lab
Awabakal and Worimi country ⬛🟡🟥
University of Newcastle, Australia.
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/ben-long
Reposted by Ben Long
roses are red
violets are blue
both make sugars
from atmospheric CO2
🌹🌹🌹
violets are blue
both make sugars
from atmospheric CO2
🌹🌹🌹
February 14, 2026 at 9:42 PM
roses are red
violets are blue
both make sugars
from atmospheric CO2
🌹🌹🌹
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-...
Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky
Synopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For
academic.oup.com
February 14, 2026 at 8:37 AM
Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky url: academic.oup.com/icb/article-...
Reposted by Ben Long
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."
"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."
Scientists no Longer Find Twitter Professionally Useful, and have Switched to Bluesky
Synopsis. Social media has become widely used by the scientific community for a variety of professional uses, including networking and public outreach. For
academic.oup.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:08 PM
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."
"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."
Reposted by Ben Long
🌱🧬 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 🧪
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 🧪
February 14, 2026 at 8:00 AM
🌱🧬 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 🧪
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
February 14, 2026 at 6:30 AM
Bike ride interrupted
Reposted by Ben Long
🚨 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
📅 💧 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
UPCOMING SPECIAL ISSUE
💧 Interdrought VIII: Pathways from understanding drought responses of plants to on-farm impact
🌎 Guest edited by Mark Cooper, Carlos Messina, Karine Chenu & Amelia Henry
📅 Deadline 28 Feb 2026
📣 Got a manuscript? Contact us: bit.ly/JXBissues
#PlantScience 🧪
💧 Interdrought VIII: Pathways from understanding drought responses of plants to on-farm impact
🌎 Guest edited by Mark Cooper, Carlos Messina, Karine Chenu & Amelia Henry
📅 Deadline 28 Feb 2026
📣 Got a manuscript? Contact us: bit.ly/JXBissues
#PlantScience 🧪
February 12, 2026 at 11:57 AM
🚨 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
📅 💧 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
Reposted by Ben Long
📜 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...
#PlantScience 🧪
📇 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...
#PlantScience 🧪
February 12, 2026 at 12:54 PM
📜 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...
#PlantScience 🧪
📇 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...
#PlantScience 🧪
Reposted by Ben Long
Can't wait to teach environmental science in the fall 🫠
Trump: "We are officially terminating the so-called 'endangerment finding'"
February 12, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Can't wait to teach environmental science in the fall 🫠
Reposted by Ben Long
📢 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 🧪
🔬 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 🧪
February 12, 2026 at 2:10 PM
📢 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 🧪
🔬 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 🧪
Reposted by Ben Long
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
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.
phys.org
February 12, 2026 at 6:33 PM
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
Reposted by Ben Long
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 ...
www.nature.com
February 11, 2026 at 8:57 AM
Stages of biomolecular condensate formation in pro-β-carboxysome assembly www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Ben Long
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
❕ Publication: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
#Rubisco #carboxysome #cyanobacteria
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 ...
www.nature.com
February 11, 2026 at 4:42 PM
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
❕ 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.
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.
Carboxysomes are cyanobacterial CO2-concentrating compartments with a proteinaceous shell. Here: elucidation of the role of the shell adaptor protein ApN.
February 12, 2026 at 12:51 AM
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.
Reposted by Ben Long
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...
phys.org/news/2026-01...
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...
phys.org
February 11, 2026 at 7:43 AM
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...
phys.org/news/2026-01...
A little protein with a big role in building Earth’s carbon fixing machinery
www.scimex.org/newsfeed/a-l...
www.scimex.org/newsfeed/a-l...
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
www.scimex.org
February 10, 2026 at 11:45 PM
A little protein with a big role in building Earth’s carbon fixing machinery
www.scimex.org/newsfeed/a-l...
www.scimex.org/newsfeed/a-l...
Reposted by Ben Long
🚨 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
🔬 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
🧬 UPCOMING SPECIAL ISSUE 🧬
🔬 Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics in Plants 🔬
📝 Edited by Shahid Mukhtar
📅 Deadline: 28 February 2026
📣 Got a suitable manuscript? Contact us: bit.ly/JXBissues
@smukhtarlab.bsky.social @sebiology.bsky.social
#JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪
(1/2)
🔬 Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics in Plants 🔬
📝 Edited by Shahid Mukhtar
📅 Deadline: 28 February 2026
📣 Got a suitable manuscript? Contact us: bit.ly/JXBissues
@smukhtarlab.bsky.social @sebiology.bsky.social
#JXBspecialissues #PlantScience 🧪
(1/2)
February 10, 2026 at 5:26 PM
🚨 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
🔬 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
Reposted by Ben Long
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
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
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
open.substack.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:26 PM
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
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
Reposted by Ben Long
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. 🌳🪴
Eucalypt Australia | A grant-making Charitable Trust that focuses on eucalypts
www.eucalyptaustralia.org.au
February 9, 2026 at 11:24 PM
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. 🌳🪴
Reposted by Ben Long
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....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
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...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 10, 2026 at 3:15 AM
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....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Ben Long
Heat with no end: climate model sets out an unbearable future for parts of Africa
theconversation.com/heat-with-no...
theconversation.com/heat-with-no...
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.
theconversation.com
February 8, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Heat with no end: climate model sets out an unbearable future for parts of Africa
theconversation.com/heat-with-no...
theconversation.com/heat-with-no...
Reposted by Ben Long
Study plants. Much nicer. And useful too. 🪴🌱
Please share! We are looking for a PhD student (4 years) starting from 01/05/2026 at @ipbhalle.bsky.social!
If you are interested in plant immunity, receptor biochemistry and evolution, consider applying! Deadline 09/03/2026.
Application portal: ipb-halle.mhm.jobs/10-phd-posit...
If you are interested in plant immunity, receptor biochemistry and evolution, consider applying! Deadline 09/03/2026.
Application portal: ipb-halle.mhm.jobs/10-phd-posit...
PhD position in biology (m/f/d) (1/2026)
Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (Halle) offers a PhD position in Biology
ipb-halle.mhm.jobs
February 7, 2026 at 11:20 PM
Study plants. Much nicer. And useful too. 🪴🌱
From @kunzlab.bsky.social !
The chloroplast ionome shines light on the dynamics of organellar iron homeostasis academic.oup.com/plcell/artic... @theplantcell.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.
academic.oup.com
February 7, 2026 at 9:49 AM
From @kunzlab.bsky.social !
Reposted by Ben Long
The chloroplast ionome shines light on the dynamics of organellar iron homeostasis academic.oup.com/plcell/artic... @theplantcell.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.
academic.oup.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:30 PM
The chloroplast ionome shines light on the dynamics of organellar iron homeostasis academic.oup.com/plcell/artic... @theplantcell.bsky.social