David A. Russo

An unconventional Rubisco small subunit underpins the CO2-concentrating organelle in land plants In many algae, photosynthesis is boosted by biophysical CO2-concentrating mechanisms, which pack the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco into liquid-like organelles called pyrenoids. Engineering C3 crops with a...

Our work on #hornwort #pyrenoids is finally out in @science.org! 🎉 We uncovered how hornworts pack their Rubisco into pyrenoids and successfully recreated them in Arabidopsis. A key step toward engineering more efficient photosynthesis in crops @btiscience.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

David has been interested in “green” microbes since his early university years. academic.oup.com/plphys/artic...

#WeAreASPB

Characterising complex metabolic responses in an engineered, cross-feeding microbial co-culture using quantitative proteomics Microbial communities play a key role in biogeochemical transformations in a wide range of ecosystems, but they also hold significant potential to enh…

Engineering synthetic co-cultures to be "needy" leads to unexpected consequences. We barely scratch the surface here, but get some interesting insights #biotech
🧪 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Mechanism and reconstitution of circadian transcription in cyanobacteria - Nature Structural & Molecular Biology Fang et al. reveal how a bacterial circadian clock turns genes on and off at the right times of day and use the purified proteins to drive circadian gene transcription in a test tube for days.

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

Researchers led by Jun.-Prof. Dr. Julie Zedler at #UniJena have developed a sustainable alternative to synthetic food colourings: they have modified cyanobacteria so that they produce yellow natural colourings from light and carbon dioxide alone.

➡️ www.uni-jena.de/en/386595/gel…

Looking forward the travel to Jena (first time there since 20 years!) - to meet the microbiology & membrane transport folks! ❤️‍🔥

Looking forward to @kedrov-lab.bsky.social visiting us here in Jena. He will also give a talk on January 27th (see details below). Everybody is welcome to join us for some great science and a chat with Alexej!

Happy to share the most recent collaboration with @synbiojazz.bsky.social to produce plant pigments in cyanobacteria. This time our cyanos were quite talented at transforming aromatic amino acids into colorful beetroot compounds! 🫜🦠

Twitching motility suppressors reveal a role for FimX in type IV pilus extension dynamics Author summary Type IV pili enable Pseudomonas aeruginosa to attach to surfaces, move (twitch), and form biofilms. Pilus extension is powered by the motor protein PilB, which is regulated by other fac...

New paper alert! We used our fav technique, genetic suppression, to understand how FimX controls function of the T4P PilB motor ATPase in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Great collab with the Ellison lab at U Georgia who helped with some fancy microscopy to capture pilus dynamics! doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Control of flagellar gene expression by a chemotaxis receptor-like regulator in pathogenic Escherichia coli | The EMBO Journal imageimageChemotaxis receptors typically mediate biased movement of motile bacteria in environmental gradients by controlling rotation of the flagellar motor. This study identifies a chemotaxis recept...

Happy to share as my first Bluesky post: Our newest paper describing a beautiful example of surprizing evolutionary innovation: Control of flagellar gene expression by a chemotaxis receptor-like regulator in pathogenic Escherichia coli | The EMBO Journal www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

Transformation of plasmid DNA into Prochlorococcus via electroporation Prochlorococcus is the most numerically abundant photosynthetic organism in the oceans and plays a role in global carbon cycling. Despite its ecological significance and the availability of over a tho...

Transformation of plasmid DNA into Prochlorococcus via electroporation www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Thank you @plantphys.bsky.social!

RAPDOR: Using Jensen-Shannon Distance for the computational analysis of complex proteomics datasets Nature Communications - RNA-binding proteins play key roles in post-transcriptional gene regulation. Here, Hemm et al. developed RAPDOR, a widely applicable tool based on Jensen-Shannon Distance...

„RAPDOR: Using Jensen-Shannon Distance for the computational analysis of complex proteomics dataset“ rdcu.be/eImcr : 11 authors from 3 labs. Many thanks to all for making this possible!

Library-free data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry enables comprehensive coverage of the cyanobacterial proteome Single-pot solid phase-enhanced sample preparation (SP3) and trifluoroacetic acid workflows open the door to high-throughput quantitative proteomics in cya

Very proud to share the latest development on our (w/ @synbiojazz.bsky.social) mission to bring fast and accessible methods to cyanobacterial proteomics.

Major highlight: 85% Synechococcus proteome coverage in a single shotgun experiment.

Out now in Plant Physiology!

doi.org/10.1093/plph...

Mutations in the circadian cycle drive adaptive plasticity in cyanobacteria | PNAS Circadian clocks allow organisms to anticipate daily fluctuations in light and temperature, but how this anticipatory role promotes adaptation to d...

So happy to see this publication finally out! Congratulations and
thank you to all the authors!

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Genomes of nitrogen-fixing eukaryotes reveal an alternate path for organellogenesis www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1... #jcampubs 🌊

Our new paper on the aroma of #Spirulina is out now in IJMS! A #sensomics approach to find out what makes it smell so unique. Congrats to Katerina Paraskevopoulou, M. Steinhaus, and V. Mall! A great collab between LSB at TUM and NCSR Demokritos. @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social
doi.org/10.3390/ijms...

#metabolomics #CompMetabolomics #Visualization #data #organization #annotation #prioritization

Testing eukaryotic routes for heterologous production of ketocarotenoids in cyanobacteria Abstract. Pigments and dyes are widely used in multiple industries. Ketocarotenoids are a highly sought-after group of pigments with a dark-red hue and str

Things have been pretty busy in Jena. One of our recent stories to see the light of day was the production of Astaxanthin (and other ketocarotenoids) in cyanobacteria.

Great collab with @synbiojazz.bsky.social!

#teamgreen #cyanobacteria

academic.oup.com/sumbio/artic...

The cyanobacterial circadian clock - npj Biological Timing and Sleep npj Biological Timing and Sleep - The cyanobacterial circadian clock

The cyanobacterial circadian clock www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Beyond movement: the dynamic roles of Type IV pili in cyanobacterial life | Journal of Bacteriology The advent of oxygenic photosynthesis by ancient cyanobacteria approximately 2.4 billion years ago profoundly transformed Earth’s landscape. Today, cyanobacteria inhabit a vast array of aquatic habita...

Beyond movement: the dynamic roles of Type IV pili in cyanobacterial life | Journal of Bacteriology journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

RNA-binding proteins and photosynthesis: The RRM domain–containing protein Rbp3 interacts with ribosomes and the 3’ ends of mRNAs encoding photosynthesis proteins | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Towards the control of biofilm formation in Anabaena (Nostoc) sp. PCC7120: novel insights into the genes involved and their regulation Cyanobacteria are major components of biofilms in light-exposed environments, contributing to nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation and global biogeochemical processes. Although nitrogen-fixing cyanob.....

Happy to announce that our work on #biofilm formation by the #cyanobacterium Anabaena is available in New Phytologist.
Towards the control of biofilm formation in Anabaena (Nostoc) sp. PCC7120: novel insights into the genes involved and their regulation. nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The 11th International Symposium on Inorganic Carbon Utilization by Aquatic Photosynthetic Organisms (CCM11) Wed 20 Aug - Fri 22 [EDT]: 11th International Symposium on Inorganic Carbon Utilization by Aquatic Photosynthetic Organisms (CCM11) will take place at the University of York on August 20-22 later…

📅New #PlantSciEvents Event Added: The 11th International Symposium on Inorganic Carbon Utilization by Aquatic Photosynthetic Organisms (CCM11)

👉 buff.ly/jWqcD6B \

#PlantScience

I'm excited to start my independent research group on Bioelectricity in Plant Sciences at the University of Turku, Finland, with an Emerging Investigator grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. I will open funded positions in Autumn 2025 to join from Spring 2026. Please email if you see a match.

That's a fancy video. I was certainly surprised to see the Very Important Protein in Plants discovered in a tropical jungle🌴😅. It's pure marketing ofc (The Krios: Now in Black), but I do like the messaging about discovering the molecular world all around us-- including plants and cyanobacteria🧪🧶🧬🔬🌾🌊

Gram-scale production of 4-vinyl guaiacol in the fast-growing phototrophic cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 11901 Whole-cell catalysis in cyanobacteria allows the transformation of light energy into chemical energy by co-factor recycling and in situ production of oxygen by photosynthesis, requiring only light, CO...

My first post on BlueSky and I am happy it's this dx.doi.org/10.1039/D5GC... our paper on Whole-cell catalysis in the Cyanobacteria Synechococcus sp. PC 11901

Substrate-induced assembly and functional mechanism of the bacterial membrane protein insertase SecYEG-YidC The universally conserved Sec translocon and the YidC/Oxa1-type insertases mediate biogenesis of alpha-helical membrane proteins, but the molecular basis of their cooperation has remained disputed over decades. A recent discovery of a multi-subunit insertase in eukaryotes has raised the question about the architecture of the putative bacterial ortholog SecYEG-YidC and its functional mechanism. Here, we combine cryogenic electron microscopy with cell-free protein synthesis in nanodiscs to visualize biogenesis of the polytopic membrane protein NuoK, the subunit K of NADH-quinone oxidoreductase, that requires both SecYEG and YidC for insertion. We demonstrate that YidC is recruited to the back of the translocon at the late stage of the substrate insertion, in resemblance to the eukaryotic system, and in vivo experiments indicate that the complex assembly is vital for the cells. The nascent chain does not utilize the lateral gate of SecYEG, but enters the lipid membrane at the SecYE-YidC interface, with YidC being the primary insertase. SecYEG-YidC complex promotes folding of the nascent helices at the interface prior their insertion, so the examined cellular pathway follows the fundamental thermodynamic principles of membrane protein folding. Our data provide the first detailed insight on the elusive insertase machinery in the physiologically relevant environment, highlight the importance of the nascent chain for its assembly, and prove the evolutionary conservation of the gate-independent insertion route. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, https://ror.org/018mejw64, Ke1879/3, 267205415 (CRC 1208) European Research Council, https://ror.org/0472cxd90, CRYOTRANSLATION

Very special feelings to announce this one... A project that started like 10 years ago is reaching the finish line, ready to shine. In a dream-team with @beckmannlab.bsky.social we solved the long-chased structure of the active membrane protein insertase SecYEG-YidC
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

High-performance proteomics at any chromatographic flow rate Current applications of mass spectrometry-based proteomics range from single cell to body fluid analysis that come with very different demands regarding sensitivity or sample throughput. Additionally, the vast molecular complexity of proteomes and the massive dynamic range of protein concentrations in these biological systems require very high-performance chromatographic separations in tandem with the high speed and sensitivity afforded by mass spectrometer. In this study, we focussed on the chromatographic angle and, more specifically, systematically evaluated proteome analysis performance across a wide range of chromatographic flow rates (0.3 – 50 μL/min) and associated column diameters using a Vanquish Neo UHPLC coupled online to a Q Exactive HF-X mass spectrometer. Serial dilutions of HeLa cell line digests were used for benchmarking and total analysis time from injection-to-injection was intentionally fixed at 60 minutes (24 samples per day). The three key messages of the study are that i) all chromatographic flow rates are suitable for high-quality proteome analysis, ii) capLC (1.5 μL/min) is a very robust, sensitive and quantitative alternative to nanoLC for many applications and iii) showcased proteome, phosphoproteome and drug proteome data provide sound empirical guidance for laboratories in selecting appropriate chromatographic flow rates and column diameters for their specific application. ### Competing Interest Statement R.Z. and C.P. are employees of Thermo Fisher Scientific. BK is a non-operational co-founder and shareholder of MSAID. The other authors declare no competing interests. * ABBREVIATIONS : ACN : Acetonitrile CAA : Chloroacetamide capLC : Capillary Liquid Chromatography CSF : Cerebrospinal Fluid CV : Coefficient of Variation DDA : Data-dependent Acquisition DIA : Data-Independent Acquisition DMSO : Dimethyl Sulfoxide DTT : Dithiothreitol EC50 : Effective Concentration to Reduce 50% of Protein Binding to Kinobeads FBS : Fetal Bovine Serum fmol : Femtomole FDR : False Discovery Rate FWHM : Full Width at Half Maximum HeLa : Human Cervical Carcinoma Cell Line HLB : Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance HPLC : High-Performance Liquid Chromatography i.d. : Internal Diameter Kdapp : Apparent Dissociation Constant LC : Liquid Chromatography LC-MS/MS : Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry µg : Microgram min : Minute µL : Microliter µLC : Microflow Liquid Chromatography mm : Milimeter mM : Milimolar MS : Mass Spectrometry ng : Nanogram nL : Nanoliter nLC : Nanoflow Liquid Chromatography nM : Nanomolar PSM : Peptide-spectrum Match RT : Retention Time SPD : Samples per Day SWATH-MS : Sequential Window Acquisition of All Theoretical Mass Spectra TFA : Trifluoroacetic Acid Å : Angstrom

Which flow rate is most suitable for MS-based #proteomics and #chemoproteomics?

We have been thinking about this for a long time (nanoLC, capLC, µLC). According to a new @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social by the @kusterlab.bsky.social, it seems like all options work very well. www.biorxiv.org/cont...

Open positions Postdoctoral scholar in biochemistry of cyanobacterial CO 2 fixation The Blikstad research group is searching for a postdoc to study fundamental principles of CO 2 fixation in cyanobacteria. Our...

Come join us as a postdoc! We have an open position in biochemistry of cyanobacterial CO2 fixation focusing on regulation of carboxysome function! Please help me spread the word and welcome to apply! www.blikstadlab.org/open-positio...