Ben Engel
@cellarchlab.com
cellarchlab.com Univ. of Basel Biozentrum🇨🇭. Exploring molecular architecture inside cells with #CryoEM #TeamTomo. Plants and algae in a changing climate. ❄🔬 OF 🌿 4THE 🌍!
The artist formerly known as #thatmitoriboguy has now become #thatchlororiboguy Check out some cool tomo from @florentwaltz.bsky.social @phaips.vd.st
Florent Waltz@florentwaltz.bsky.social · last wk.This story is now published in @natplants.nature.com ! 🎉🎩 Check out the final article here: nature.com/articles/s41477-026-02361-1 Very similar to the original bioRxiv preprint, with the addition of some cool polysome analysis (in the supplementals)! Thanks and congrats to everyone involved! 🙏
The final version of @florentwaltz.bsky.social's Chlamy chlororibosome "hat" is now online at @natplants.nature.com 🌾 📜 nature.com/articles/s41477-026-02361-1 🧪🔬 #TeamTomo The charge complementarity in the arm domain is striking. Blue & red proteins wrapped around each other, like a barber pole💈
Florent Waltz@florentwaltz.bsky.social · 6mo agoLong in the making, but happy to present the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome! Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins. bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected! 1/n 🧵
This story is now published in @natplants.nature.com ! 🎉🎩 Check out the final article here: nature.com/articles/s41477-026-02361-1 Very similar to the original bioRxiv preprint, with the addition of some cool polysome analysis (in the supplementals)! Thanks and congrats to everyone involved! 🙏
Chloroplast-encoded small subunit extensions reshape the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome - Nature Plants
Using in situ cryo-electron tomography, researchers found a unique ‘arm’ domain on the small subunit of Chlamydomonas chlororibosomes. This discovery suggests that chlororibosome structure is more evo...
nature.com
Florent Waltz@florentwaltz.bsky.social · 6mo agoLong in the making, but happy to present the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome! Cryo-ET🔬reveals a large new domain on the small subunit, built from multiple extensions in conserved ribosomal proteins. bioRxiv 📖: shorturl.at/q44tG This suggests greater chlororibosome diversity than expected! 1/n 🧵
Check it out! Deeper insights into the pyrenoid of Chlorella. More evidence Rubisco has convergently evolved as an organising hub, cool membrane architectures and evidence that most of the rest of the CCM is conserved with other green pyrenoids! 💚 Preprint here 🔗: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🔗
Mihris Naduthodi@mihrisn.bsky.social · 2w ago(1/16) Nearly two-thirds of ocean carbon fixation flows through a diverse organelle: the pyrenoid. Our new paper maps its 3D architecture in the alga Chlorella and identifies new proteins — expanding the toolkit to engineer this CO2-concentrating machine into crops🧵 #Pyrenoid #CCM #Photosynthesis
It’s a pyrenoid party! 🪩🌍 Awesome collab🤝 of @phaips.vd.st & @manondemulder.bsky.social with Mihris and the @mackinderlab.bsky.social crew to reveal the molecular architecture🏗️ of the Chorella pyrenoid. Algae have so many convergently evolved compartments to supercharge #CO2 capture. #TeamTomo 🔬🌾🌊🧪
Mihris Naduthodi@mihrisn.bsky.social · 2w ago(1/16) Nearly two-thirds of ocean carbon fixation flows through a diverse organelle: the pyrenoid. Our new paper maps its 3D architecture in the alga Chlorella and identifies new proteins — expanding the toolkit to engineer this CO2-concentrating machine into crops🧵 #Pyrenoid #CCM #Photosynthesis
I don't think people fully appreciate how apocalyptic things are for US science. I haven't had any new funding since 2024, but I'm still ok since typical grants are for three years. This means next year I will be completely out of funding and will have to fire everyone in the lab. It's not great.
Jeremy Berg@jeremymberg.bsky.social · 5mo agoNSF Update through March 13, 2026 1/2
This was a super fun Ghent-York collaboration with the amazing @jonasblomme.bsky.social, who has tagged an insane amount of genes in Ulva! Together we found another new linker protein (SUPA1!), and a bunch of interesting similarities and differences with other pyrenoid ccms. Come and check it out!
Jonas Blomme@jonasblomme.bsky.social · 3w agoExcited to share our latest preprint on #PhycologyFriday. We map out the carbon fixation pathway for the first time in a multicellular alga, the green seaweed Ulva, and reveal a unique Rubisco-Linker interaction in the pyrenoid, a chloroplast condensate. Below I summarize some key points. #seaweeds
Fantastic new study charting the molecular atlas of #CO2 fixing compartments in seaweed! Yet another convergently evolved pyrenoid, with its own distinct Rubisco linker and binding site. There really is a "molecular kaleidoscope of pyrenoid diversity (™️Oliver M-C)" 🙌 @james-r-barrett.bsky.social 🌊🌾🧪
Jonas Blomme@jonasblomme.bsky.social · 3w agoExcited to share our latest preprint on #PhycologyFriday. We map out the carbon fixation pathway for the first time in a multicellular alga, the green seaweed Ulva, and reveal a unique Rubisco-Linker interaction in the pyrenoid, a chloroplast condensate. Below I summarize some key points. #seaweeds
A portal 🚪⬛⬛⬛🚪 between cyanobacteria cells. Open sesame! Great integrative #TeamTomo story from Iris Maldener & @weiss-lab.bsky.social 🧪
Gregor Weiss@weiss-lab.bsky.social · 4w agoSome bacteria do not live as individuals. They build multicellular filaments and connect neighboring cells through tiny cell-cell junctions. Cyanobacteria are among the most beautiful examples 😍 In our new paper, we reveal first molecuar insights on the cyanobacterial septal junction architecture 🧵
I like the anaeronauts - Thanks for the credit and praise. That paper is published but not much more - so here is a latest summary of our journey - in preprints. Without preprints I find it hard to get results out lately. So we do this to an extreme level now. bsky.app/profile/schu...
Okay the lab is now really living preprints to accelerate Science. It takes so long to publish a story in journals. So the only option to talk openly about our work are preprints. We currently have 6 preprints - check them out! More coming, one currently uploading and another one ready soon.
Jan and the anaeronauts keep zooming warp speed through the universe of globally-relevant anaerobic metabolism. Hang on! It’s a wild ride! 🌍🚀🦠🧪
Proud to present the lab's latest work. The full structure of the sodium translocating methyltransferase (Mtr) bound to a small oxygen-responsive small protein MtrI. Work by Tristan and together with @schmitzstreitslab.bsky.social . www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.02.657420v1
RBMP2 shapes specialized membranes for CO₂ delivery in the pyrenoid condensate @mjonikas.bsky.social & @cellarchlab.com labs www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
RBMP2 shapes specialized membranes for CO₂ delivery in the pyrenoid condensate
Approximately one-third of global CO₂ fixation occurs in the algal pyrenoid, a condensate of the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco traversed by membranes that supply it with CO₂. In the model alga Chlamydomon...
biorxiv.org
Come join us at the @biozentrum.unibas.ch as Professor in Climate Biophysics. Blue-sky research, inspiring colleagues, and generous support.
Ben Engel@cellarchlab.com · last mo.Super excited to launch this search for a new endowed professor at the @biozentrum.unibas.ch! Join us to build a research cluster in Climate Biophysics! 🌍🌊🌾🔬🧪 This is a unique opportunity to create a community in Basel🇨🇭working together on this timely topic! ⏳🌡️ Questions? Please reach out! 👩🔬👨🔬
Happy to help out a bit on this cool study about a membrane-remodeling protein that enables CO2 delivery to Rubisco at the center of the Chlamy pyrenoid, powering efficient carbon fixation 🌍. Great #CryoET work by Hao and Martin — Welcome to #TeamTomo!! ❄️🔬 🧪
Martin Jonikas@mjonikas.bsky.social · last mo.The algal pyrenoid turbocharges global CO2 fixation. Central to its function are specialized membranes that deliver CO2. We discovered that the protein RBMP2 makes these membranes—and found that the mysterious minitubules appear to enhance CO₂ delivery! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
The algal pyrenoid fixes ~1/3 of global carbon, relying on a unique membrane-within-condensate architecture. How is this architecture built? We discovered that the protein MITH1 draws membranes into the pyrenoid condensate by promoting wetting! 🌿💧 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
🚨 New in @natmicrobiol.nature.com! We reveal how the antibiotic target PBP1b fortifies the E.coli division site against osmotic rupture. Proud this was completed in our independent labs @dmf-unil.bsky.social, with @avettiger.bsky.social. Congratulations to all authors! 🦠❄️🔬 #teamtomo bit.ly/3SCbOg1 👇
The penicillin-binding protein PBP1b fortifies the Escherichia coli division site against osmotic rupture - Nature Microbiology
A specific isoform of PBP1b functions independently of the activator protein, LpoB, to drive generation of a wedge-like peptidoglycan structure that strengthens the division site in Escherichia coli.
doi.org
Super excited to launch this search for a new endowed professor at the @biozentrum.unibas.ch! Join us to build a research cluster in Climate Biophysics! 🌍🌊🌾🔬🧪 This is a unique opportunity to create a community in Basel🇨🇭working together on this timely topic! ⏳🌡️ Questions? Please reach out! 👩🔬👨🔬
Biozentrum, University of Basel@biozentrum.unibas.ch · last mo.New Assistant (tenure-track) or Associate Professor position in Climate #Biophysics! Join our international research community to explore fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying climate-relevant biological processes. Apply by 7 Sept 2026! www.biozentrum.unibas.ch/de/open-posi...
Really hyped to share our pre-print on mtDNA replication-fission ! @nanigrotjahn.bsky.social (doi: doi.org/10.64898/202...) 🧵with details below ⤵️
ATAD3A structurally links mtDNA replication and mitochondrial fission
Mitochondrial function depends on the maintenance of its genome, and disruptions in copy number and distribution are hallmarks of mitochondrial disorders. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) replication is spat...
doi.org
The Chlamy chloroplast RNA polymerase paper is here!🤩 It's a beautiful and interesting structure, which raises some interesting questions about evolution. Congrats to @sramundo.bsky.social, @schullerjm.bsky.social, and all your rad peeps for getting this done 💪 #plantscience #cryoEM 🌾🔬🧪
Silvia Ramundo@sramundo.bsky.social · last mo.1/7 New preprint: we found that Chlamydomonas carries a giant and unexpectedly elaborate chloroplast RNA polymerase with 12 previously unknown subunits, overturning the idea that the complexity of this organellar enzyme emerged during plant terrestrialization! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Beautiful chromatin confetti 🧬🎊 from gently lysed archaea cells. Definitive proof for the in vivo relevance of hypernucleosomes, with more compacted chromatin during stationary phase. This is big for chromatin evolution! Go Sveta & gang! You are trailblazers!! #TeamTomo #ArchaeaSky 👩🔬🧪
Svetlana Dodonova@dodonova-sveta.bsky.social · 2mo agoExcited to share our new preprint! 🧬❄️ by brilliant @mdreimann.bsky.social and great collaborators! Using cryo-ET&EM, we reveal archaeal chromatin in a near-native state: variable-beads-on-a-string fibers shaped by growth phase and histone composition #ArchaeaSky www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
We’re delighted to welcome @computingcaitie.bsky.social to the FMI next year! Her work will bring an interdisciplinary perspective spanning structural biology, quantitative imaging and computational analysis to our institute, opening exciting new ways to study ciliary structure and dynamics.
Caitie McCafferty@computingcaitie.bsky.social · last mo.Happy to finally share that I will be starting my independent group at the @fmiscience.bsky.social in Feb 2027 in a vibrant new environment. We will use integrative in situ structural cell biology methods to investigate ciliary structure and dynamics in several model (and non-model 👀) systems!!
I will be hiring at all levels so if you are interested and want to learn more, please get in touch! 📻 ❄️ 🔬 🦠 🧬 #cilia #cryoet #proteomics #exm #protistsonsky
YAY CAITIE!! So many feels right now🥲🤗🥳. I feel so lucky you joined us, so grateful for your generous collaboration and mentorship, so proud of your accomplishments, and so excited to gain an awesome new #TeamTomo colleague here in Basel. Honestly just so in awe— you rock! Here’s to the future! 🧪👩🔬 🚀
Caitie McCafferty@computingcaitie.bsky.social · last mo.Happy to finally share that I will be starting my independent group at the @fmiscience.bsky.social in Feb 2027 in a vibrant new environment. We will use integrative in situ structural cell biology methods to investigate ciliary structure and dynamics in several model (and non-model 👀) systems!!
Cryo-ET gives unparalleled views of cellular structures, but targeted sample preparation by cryo-FIB milling has been a constraint. No longer! A new workflow yields close to 100% targeting success for centrioles & other small structures. Read the preprint ⤵️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Cryo-ET is often framed as a tool for in situ protein structure. But what if the real revolution is contextualization? I explore how #teamtomo is redefining what "local" means in organelle biology, revealing membrane states rather than just protein structures. tinyurl.com/localmembrane
Think globally, act locally: Redefining organellar membrane environments through cryo-electron tomography
Early enthusiasm for the “cellular revolution” in cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) was largely driven by the promise of resolving protein structures…
sciencedirect.com
Beautiful expansion microscopy of the Chlamy pyrenoid by our friends in the Jonikas lab. Check out that ultrastructural detail on the tubule membranes! 🔬🧪
Martin Jonikas@mjonikas.bsky.social · 2mo agoPyrenoid tubules are essential for supercharging CO₂ fixation, but they're hard to resolve by microscopy. So, we physically expanded cells to see where different proteins go (3 examples below). The central tubule region appears specialized for CO₂ delivery! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Jon Chen @jonchenjk.bsky.social and Claris Chong's review of recent in situ cryo-ET chromatin studies and our opinion on an important future genomic direction is now published in Current Opinions in Structural Biology. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Gold Medal🏅 for the dynamic duo of cellular evolution!! Congrats @gautamdey.bsky.social & @dudinlab.bsky.social —you are explorers! It's been such a pleasure interacting with you these years on high-res imaging, environmental sampling @embltrec.bsky.social, and climate. Here's to more adventures! 🧪🌍
EMBO@embo.org · 2mo agoCongratulations to Gautam Dey (EMBL) and Omaya Dudin (University of Geneva) for being awarded the EMBO Gold Medal 2026 in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the #LifeSciences in Europe! 🧪 https://www.embo.org/press-releases/embo-gold-medal-2026-awarded-to-gautam-dey-and-omaya-dudin/
Vitrification ❄️🧊 is still a real bottleneck for #TeamTomo. Nice to see this initiative, and I hope some clever new developments are enabled by it 🧪
Biohub@biohub.org · 2mo agoBetter vitrification = better cryo-ET. We've opened an RFA for two-year grants to advance vitrification techniques for biological samples—welcoming applications from researchers in heat transfer, cryogenics, and materials science. Apply here: bit.ly/4uip6eJ
“the best way to work with cryoET data is to engage with it directly, […] build familiarity with what is actually there. As tempting as it sometimes is to lean in to automation entirely, we cannot do visual proteomics by relying blindly on automation.” mgflast.github.io/easymode/use...
