Mastodawn

Researchers have mapped the precise structural pathways of Photosystem II in plants, revealing exactly how water molecules navigate to the active site for the critical water-splitting reaction that initiates #photosynthesis
#StructuralBiology #PlantPhysiology #Biochemistry #Botany #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/04/phgy04182601.html

Scientists reveal water pathways in photosynthesis

Researchers have revealed a detailed structure of this system in plants, uncovering what they describe as a “water valve”

Climate Migrant 3d ago

Full bloom in Lund.

#Lund #Sweden #Spring #newlifenewhope #newbeginnings #April #joy #photosynthesis

N-gated Hacker News 6d ago

🐌✨ Look out, world! We've got #slugs playing dress-up as solar panels, apparently having mastered the art of #photosynthesis just by being near plants. 🌿🌞 Meanwhile, the article's more concerned with user agents and robot policies than the actual science. 🤖📜
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costasiella_kuroshimae #solarpanels #useragents #robotics #HackerNews #ngated

Costasiella kuroshimae - Wikipedia

in silico Plants Apr 13

💻 🍃 Virtual world coupling with #photosynthesis evaluation for synthetic data production
by Dirk N. Baker, Mona Giraud, Jens Henrik Gobbert, Hanno Scharr, Morris Riedel, Ebba Pora Hvannberg, Andrea Schnepf
https://buff.ly/ncZrjvV #PlantScience #CPlantBox

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Annals of Botany Apr 9

As branches age, stems thicken, needles spread out, less self-shading.
This dynamic may further support long-term survival in low light. (10/10)

👉 https://botany.fyi/864hmk

#AoBpapers #PlantScience #Photosynthesis #ForestEcology #PlantAdaptation #Botany

Densely packed needles along the shoots of evergreen conifers exhibit shade-acclimated photosynthetic characteristics even under full sunlight

AbstractBackground and Aims. Evergreen conifer shoots that develop under full sunlight eventually move to the shade within the canopy as the tree grows. We

OUP Academic

Annals of Botany Apr 9

🌲Just published in @AnnBot : “Densely packed needles along the shoots of evergreen conifers exhibit shade-acclimated photosynthetic characteristics even under full sunlight” by Mitsutoshi Kitao and co-authors. 🧵 (1/10)

👉 https://botany.fyi/864hmk

#AoBpapers #PlantScience #Photosynthesis #ForestEcology #PlantAdaptation #Botany

Stuff I found Apr 8

...and our rooftops. But let plants get sunlight, they need it for photosynthesis

#photosynthesis #plants #nature #solar #solarpower #sun #infrastructure #UrbanPlanning #urban #UrbanLife #CityPlanning #activism #environment #climate #ClimateChange #ClimateChangeIsReal #electricity

Scientific Frontline Apr 6

Semiartificial #photosynthesis is an innovative hybrid system that combines biological catalysts with synthetic light-absorbing materials to convert solar energy and carbon dioxide into fuels and valuable chemical substances.
#Chemistry #MaterialScience #Environmental #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/04/chm04062601.html

Review summarizes photocatalyst and biocatalyst for artificial photosynthesis

Semiartificial photosynthesis is expected to lead to technologies that achieve higher energy conversion

Keiran Rowell Apr 1

Before the 'Oxygen Apocalypse', Earth was purple, the oceans ferrous, and H₂O's oxygen safely locked away 🟣

Then, bacteria developed a quantum lockpick 🗝️⚡

The seas rusted and the ancients died out. Complex organisms burn the fuel of this cataclysm still, but pay the price by ageing 🦠

This is the story of how symmetry saves us from the flames ⚛️

Full post: https://keiran-rowell.github.io/oxygen/2026-04-02-the-oxygen-apocalypse/

#oxygen #science #scicomm #GreatOxidationEvent #photosynthesis #eukaryogenesis #quantumbiology #geology

The Oxygen Apocalypse: how symmetry saves us from the flames

📖 20 min read • Cyanobacteria captured light to break a quantum law, unpicking the electron pair, and extinguished ancient life in the process

Keiran Rowell

Scientific Frontline Mar 25

Rapaza viridis, a single-celled predator, performs #photosynthesis by stealing and temporarily retaining chloroplasts from its algal prey, a process known as kleptoplasty. It actively maintains these stolen organelles by transporting its own host-encoded proteins into them.
#EvolutionaryBiology #CellBiology #MolecularBiology #AgriculturalScience #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/03/ebio03252601.html

Stolen chloroplasts maintained by host-made proteins offer clues to plant cell origins

The single-celled predator Rapaza viridis temporarily retains chloroplasts from prey algae and imports its own proteins into them