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Nicholas Bellono
@nbellono.bsky.social
190 followers 12 following 13 posts
www.bellonolab.com | ‪Harvard MCB
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Nicholas Bellono @nbellono.bsky.social · Dec 11
Wendy Valencia-Montoya and team uncover thermal infrared as one of the most ancient pollination signals uniting plants and animals. From the field to single proteins.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
nbellono.bsky.social
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
Infrared radiation is an invitation to pollinating insects
A new study shows that infrared radiation is a pollination signal, one far older than the vivid colors that later became dominant among flowering plants.
news.harvard.edu
December 13, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
npr.org
While many modern plants use colorful flowers to attract pollinators, ancient palm-like plants called cycads lure them by heating up and glowing in the infrared. n.pr/3MuJr08
Forget flowers: These ancient plants attract pollinators by getting hot
While many modern plants use colorful flowers to attract pollinators, ancient palm-like plants called cycads lure them by heating up and glowing in the infrared.
n.pr
December 11, 2025 at 8:58 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
Great story about Wendy turning a childhood curiosity about beetles and seemingly inconspicuous plants in the Amazon into a fundamental discovery about pollination that spans fieldwork, fossils, and molecules.
December 12, 2025 at 3:35 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/s...
A Hot Plant’s Mysterious Signal Makes Beetles Pollinate It
www.nytimes.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:10 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
Wendy Valencia-Montoya and team uncover thermal infrared as one of the most ancient pollination signals uniting plants and animals. From the field to single proteins.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
December 11, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
science.org
Long before flowers dazzled pollinators with brilliant colors and sweet scents, ancient plants used another feature to signal insects: heat. The findings in Science offer insights into what shaped the earliest eras of plant-animal coevolution.

Read more in this week's issue: https://scim.ag/4rVtArQ
Cycad plants use thermogenesis to warm their reproductive cones. A beetle dusted with pollen and fluorescent dyes lands on the warm cone of a cycad. High concentrations of dye have been deposited on the cone’s hottest regions during previous visits by other labeled beetles. Beetle pollinators use these thermal infrared patterns as a guide to locate host pollen and ovulate cones.
December 11, 2025 at 7:05 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
Artwork by Lily Soucy
www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...
These plants can heat themselves up—scientists finally know why
Since the time of the dinosaurs, cycad plants may have attracted insects using infrared light. It may be the world's oldest form of pollination.
www.nationalgeographic.com
December 11, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
sciam.bsky.social
New research of strange “cycad” plants offers a glimpse into the prehistoric origins of pollination
Before Flowers Existed, Ancient Cycad Plants Lured Insects With Heat
New research of strange “cycad” plants offers a glimpse into the prehistoric origins of pollination
www.scientificamerican.com
December 11, 2025 at 7:05 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
Pablo Villar and team uncover molecules and receptors underlying octopus mating.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
November 26, 2025 at 11:38 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
www.vox.com/ad/467529/se...
Meet the sensory biologist studying an “invisible” language
Dr. Rebecka Sepela’s research is uncovering the role of microbes in creating a chemical language that connects all organisms
www.vox.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
harvardmcb.bsky.social
Rebecka Sepela Receives L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social
Rebecka Sepela Receives L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology
MCB postdoctoral fellow Rebecka Sepela has been selected as one of the 2025 L’Oréal USA For Women in Science (FWIS) Fellows, a prestigious honor recognizing early-career scientists whose […]
www.mcb.harvard.edu
November 14, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
harvardmcb.bsky.social
Anastasiia Sukalskaia Awarded Swiss National Science Foundation Fellowship 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @snsf.ch
Anastasiia Sukalskaia Awarded Swiss National Science Foundation Fellowship - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology
Postdoctoral fellow Anastasiia Sukalskaia has received a prestigious Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Postdoc.Mobility Fellowship, which will support her research in the lab of MCB’s Nicholas ...
www.mcb.harvard.edu
October 20, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
harvardmcb.bsky.social
Bellono Lab Research Featured on Two September Cell Covers 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @zombiflied.bsky.social @microbiometcell.bsky.social @jeeyunc.bsky.social
Bellono Lab Research Featured on Two September Cell Covers - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology
Two recent studies from the MCB lab of Nick Bellono will be featured on the cover of Cell this month, highlighting the lab’s ongoing exploration of unconventional model […]
www.mcb.harvard.edu
September 18, 2025 at 3:49 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
Sea slugs steal foreign chloroplasts for photosynthesis and starvation resistance. Photo by Anik Grearson. #evolution #symbiosis. #cellbiology. @cellpress.bsky.social
September 18, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
scifri.bsky.social
🎉It’s #CephalopodWeek! Our annual celebration of all things octopus, squid, and cuttlefish 🐙🦑 To kick things off: A new study looks into how octopuses use the suckers on their arms to “taste” harmful microbes on surfaces they touch.

buff.ly/PhTxTnr
A yellow octopus with tentacles and suckers akimbo
September 8, 2025 at 1:21 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
Octopuses sense environmental microbiomes to drive predatory and parental behaviors. Artwork by Lily Soucy. #evolution #sensation #microbiome @cellpress.bsky.social
September 4, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
harvardmcb.bsky.social
Wendy Valencia Montoya – Bridging Natural History and Molecular Biology 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @nbellono.bsky.social @zombiflied.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @rivaselenarivas.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @harvardoeb.bsky.social
Wendy Valencia Montoya – Bridging Natural History and Molecular Biology - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology
By the time Wendy  Valencia Montoya arrived at Harvard, she had already lived in tents deep in the Amazon, crisscrossed Europe to study evolutionary biology, and uncovered genetic […]
www.mcb.harvard.edu
August 14, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
harvardmcb.bsky.social
Ryan Nett Named Pew Scholar for Innovative Research on Plant-Derived Molecules 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @zombiflied.bsky.social @harvardmagazine.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social
Ryan Nett Named Pew Scholar for Innovative Research on Plant-Derived Molecules - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology
MCB faculty member Ryan Nett has been named a 2025 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences, one of 22 early-career scientists selected nationwide for their promising and innovative […]
www.mcb.harvard.edu
August 12, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
harvardmcb.bsky.social
Carolyn Elya Receives Prestigious Klingenstein Fellowship in Neuroscience 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@zombiflied.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social
Carolyn Elya Receives Prestigious Klingenstein Fellowship in Neuroscience - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology
MCB congratulates Carolyn Elya, Assistant Professor of MCB and affiliate of the Center for Brain Science, on receiving a Klingenstein Fellowship Award in Neuroscience. This competitive early-career aw...
www.mcb.harvard.edu
July 1, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
harvardmcb.bsky.social
Solar-Powered Thieves: New Study Uncovers Animal Organelle That Sustains Photosynthesis from Stolen Chloroplasts 🧠🧪 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social
Solar-Powered Thieves: New Study Uncovers Animal Organelle That Sustains Photosynthesis from Stolen Chloroplasts - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology
They look like crawling leaves, but these sea slugs are anything but ordinary. MCB Professor Nick Bellono calls them “the weirdest animal we’ve ever studied”—a bold claim from […]
www.mcb.harvard.edu
June 25, 2025 at 3:22 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
Corey Allard and Amy Lee discuss curious "solar-powered" animals that steal and maintain foreign chloroplasts for photosynthesis and starvation resistance. @harvardcellbio.bsky.social, @danafarbernews.bsky.social.
news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
June 25, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
nature.com
‘Solar-powered’ sea slugs have specialized depots in their cells that store photosynthetic equipment looted from algae

https://go.nature.com/3TMCgR7
‘Wildest thing’: solar-powered slug steals chloroplasts and stores them for emergencies
Marine creatures house contraband structures in special organelles, which the animal raids for food in times of need.
go.nature.com
June 25, 2025 at 3:59 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
Corey Allard et al asks how “solar-powered” slugs maintain stolen chloroplasts from their diet for photosynthesis and starvation resistance. @cellpress.bsky.social, @harvardmcb.bsky.social, @harvardmed.bsky.social
www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
June 25, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Bellono
science.org
Specific molecules produced by bacteria in rotting food can activate these sucker sensors, causing octopuses to discard food or eggs that would make them or their offspring sick.

Learn more: scim.ag/3G8Kv6Z
June 20, 2025 at 4:21 PM
nbellono.bsky.social
Octopuses’ 8 Arms Snoop on the Microbial World @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/s...
Eight Arms to Taste Your Microbiome
www.nytimes.com
June 17, 2025 at 8:37 PM