Huge congratulations to all three Nobel Laureates, and especially Peter Hegemann! 👏
His seminal work on the green alga Chlamydomonas 🦠 laid the foundation for optogenetics. Thank you for putting Chlamy in the spotlight! ✨
Proof that groundbreaking discoveries don't always come from animal models! 🔬
His seminal work on the green alga Chlamydomonas 🦠 laid the foundation for optogenetics. Thank you for putting Chlamy in the spotlight! ✨
Proof that groundbreaking discoveries don't always come from animal models! 🔬
October 5, 2026 at 10:00 AM
Huge congratulations to all three Nobel Laureates, and especially Peter Hegemann! 👏
His seminal work on the green alga Chlamydomonas 🦠 laid the foundation for optogenetics. Thank you for putting Chlamy in the spotlight! ✨
Proof that groundbreaking discoveries don't always come from animal models! 🔬
His seminal work on the green alga Chlamydomonas 🦠 laid the foundation for optogenetics. Thank you for putting Chlamy in the spotlight! ✨
Proof that groundbreaking discoveries don't always come from animal models! 🔬
Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel – awarded the 2026 medicine prize – discovered a remarkable protein, channelrhodopsin, in a single-celled alga.
Hegemann wondered how Chlamydomonas, a single-celled alga, is able to swim towards a light source.
Hegemann wondered how Chlamydomonas, a single-celled alga, is able to swim towards a light source.
October 5, 2026 at 9:44 AM
Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel – awarded the 2026 medicine prize – discovered a remarkable protein, channelrhodopsin, in a single-celled alga.
Hegemann wondered how Chlamydomonas, a single-celled alga, is able to swim towards a light source.
Hegemann wondered how Chlamydomonas, a single-celled alga, is able to swim towards a light source.
A glorious day for our mighty Chlamydomonas 💚 and, of course, an unforgettable one for the Nobel laureates. So richly deserved!
BREAKING NEWS
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
October 5, 2026 at 9:46 AM
A glorious day for our mighty Chlamydomonas 💚 and, of course, an unforgettable one for the Nobel laureates. So richly deserved!
yes so happy for him!!! this is exactly why we do curiosity-driven science... #chlamydomonas #protistsonsky
Funders and universities are you watching...???
Funders and universities are you watching...???
Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel – awarded the 2026 medicine prize – discovered a remarkable protein, channelrhodopsin, in a single-celled alga.
Hegemann wondered how Chlamydomonas, a single-celled alga, is able to swim towards a light source.
Hegemann wondered how Chlamydomonas, a single-celled alga, is able to swim towards a light source.
October 5, 2026 at 11:02 AM
yes so happy for him!!! this is exactly why we do curiosity-driven science... #chlamydomonas #protistsonsky
Funders and universities are you watching...???
Funders and universities are you watching...???
What a day for Chlamydomonas research!
BREAKING NEWS
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel “for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”
October 5, 2026 at 10:52 AM
What a day for Chlamydomonas research!
Hoping for Chlamydomonas derived physics
October 6, 2026 at 9:22 AM
Hoping for Chlamydomonas derived physics
have you ever seen 𝘊𝘩𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘺𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘴 doing a perfect breast stroke? here you go...
#ProtistsOnSky
#ProtistsOnSky
February 20, 2026 at 5:26 PM
have you ever seen 𝘊𝘩𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘺𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘴 doing a perfect breast stroke? here you go...
#ProtistsOnSky
#ProtistsOnSky
Happy #FluorescenceFriday all! 🔬
First Chlamydomonas experiment/U-ExM image from my lab. Haven't worked on these beautiful little cells since grad school 😍 #memories #cilia
First Chlamydomonas experiment/U-ExM image from my lab. Haven't worked on these beautiful little cells since grad school 😍 #memories #cilia
May 1, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Happy #FluorescenceFriday all! 🔬
First Chlamydomonas experiment/U-ExM image from my lab. Haven't worked on these beautiful little cells since grad school 😍 #memories #cilia
First Chlamydomonas experiment/U-ExM image from my lab. Haven't worked on these beautiful little cells since grad school 😍 #memories #cilia
Towards community-driven visual proteomics! Excited to finally share this large-scale curated & annotated dataset of 1829 high-quality #cryoET tomograms of the little green alga that just keeps giving— Chlamydomonas! 🧪🧶🧬🌾🌊🌍
Preprint📜: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A short thread🧵👇
Preprint📜: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A short thread🧵👇
January 6, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Towards community-driven visual proteomics! Excited to finally share this large-scale curated & annotated dataset of 1829 high-quality #cryoET tomograms of the little green alga that just keeps giving— Chlamydomonas! 🧪🧶🧬🌾🌊🌍
Preprint📜: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A short thread🧵👇
Preprint📜: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A short thread🧵👇
Congratulations to Chlamydomonas for winning the 2026 Nobel Prize!!
Apparently, there were also some human scientists (Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel) involved and congratulations to them as well;)
Yay Protistology!
Apparently, there were also some human scientists (Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel) involved and congratulations to them as well;)
Yay Protistology!
October 5, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Congratulations to Chlamydomonas for winning the 2026 Nobel Prize!!
Apparently, there were also some human scientists (Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel) involved and congratulations to them as well;)
Yay Protistology!
Apparently, there were also some human scientists (Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann, and Georg Nagel) involved and congratulations to them as well;)
Yay Protistology!
Very excited to finally share my PhD paper, about advancing #chloroplast #synbio through high-throughput plastome engineering of #Chlamydomonas.
Huge thanks to the whole team!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Huge thanks to the whole team!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
November 3, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Very excited to finally share my PhD paper, about advancing #chloroplast #synbio through high-throughput plastome engineering of #Chlamydomonas.
Huge thanks to the whole team!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Huge thanks to the whole team!
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New OA Article: "Chloroplast-encoded small subunit extensions reshape the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome" rdcu.be/fwoSj
In situ cryo-electron tomography reveals a unique ‘arm’ domain on the small subunit of Chlamydomonas chlororibosomes. #PlantScience
In situ cryo-electron tomography reveals a unique ‘arm’ domain on the small subunit of Chlamydomonas chlororibosomes. #PlantScience
July 28, 2026 at 7:22 AM
New OA Article: "Chloroplast-encoded small subunit extensions reshape the Chlamydomonas chlororibosome" rdcu.be/fwoSj
In situ cryo-electron tomography reveals a unique ‘arm’ domain on the small subunit of Chlamydomonas chlororibosomes. #PlantScience
In situ cryo-electron tomography reveals a unique ‘arm’ domain on the small subunit of Chlamydomonas chlororibosomes. #PlantScience
Still celebrating today's Nobel-winning role for Chlamydomonas research, I highlight new, exciting Chlamy discovery from the Lechtreck Lab @universityofga.bsky.social. There are different (maybe 9?) Polycystin complexes in flagellar subdomains involved in fast swimming!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
PKD2-like proteins target Chlamydomonas PKD2 to distinct subciliary regions | PNAS
Many motile and sensory functions of cilia and flagella depend on the precise localization
of transmembrane proteins within the ciliary membrane. R...
www.pnas.org
October 5, 2026 at 4:19 PM
Still celebrating today's Nobel-winning role for Chlamydomonas research, I highlight new, exciting Chlamy discovery from the Lechtreck Lab @universityofga.bsky.social. There are different (maybe 9?) Polycystin complexes in flagellar subdomains involved in fast swimming!
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Fantastic to see the Nobel Prize awarded for the discovery of channelrhodopsin which arose from Peter Hegemann's studies of algal motility. Here is a Chlamydomonas cell celebrating with some flagella calcium signals!
October 5, 2026 at 6:06 PM
Fantastic to see the Nobel Prize awarded for the discovery of channelrhodopsin which arose from Peter Hegemann's studies of algal motility. Here is a Chlamydomonas cell celebrating with some flagella calcium signals!
Long 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 🧵
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 🧵
February 10, 2026 at 8:35 AM
Long 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 🧵
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 🧵
Now published @PNASNews!
SAGA1 and SAGA2 localize the starch sheath to the pyrenoid in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
SAGA1 and SAGA2 localize the starch sheath to the pyrenoid in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
May 7, 2026 at 1:00 AM
Now published @PNASNews!
SAGA1 and SAGA2 localize the starch sheath to the pyrenoid in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
SAGA1 and SAGA2 localize the starch sheath to the pyrenoid in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Another one I liked was Wah Chiu, when talking about tomography: “Chlamydomonas, the apoferritin of cells”
January 12, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Another one I liked was Wah Chiu, when talking about tomography: “Chlamydomonas, the apoferritin of cells”
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! 🙏
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! 🙏
July 27, 2026 at 11:31 AM
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! 🙏
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! 🙏
This one was quite the journey! The paper describing the #ChlamyDataset is finally out and on the cover of Mol Cell!
This beautiful rendering made by co-author @jessheebner.bsky.social and Holly Peterson shows an instance of mitochondrial fission found in the dataset 😍
[Maybe long thread ahead]
This beautiful rendering made by co-author @jessheebner.bsky.social and Holly Peterson shows an instance of mitochondrial fission found in the dataset 😍
[Maybe long thread ahead]
January 9, 2026 at 7:15 PM
This one was quite the journey! The paper describing the #ChlamyDataset is finally out and on the cover of Mol Cell!
This beautiful rendering made by co-author @jessheebner.bsky.social and Holly Peterson shows an instance of mitochondrial fission found in the dataset 😍
[Maybe long thread ahead]
This beautiful rendering made by co-author @jessheebner.bsky.social and Holly Peterson shows an instance of mitochondrial fission found in the dataset 😍
[Maybe long thread ahead]
Online Now: Toward community-driven visual proteomics with large-scale cryo-electron tomography of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Online now:
Toward community-driven visual proteomics with large-scale cryo-electron tomography of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Using the latest advances in instrumentation and computational workflows, Kelley et al. present a large-scale annotated cryo-electron tomography dataset of the model green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. This unprecedented community resource is rich in high-resolution biological information and empowers the development of new methods for visual proteomics.
dlvr.it
December 24, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Online Now: Toward community-driven visual proteomics with large-scale cryo-electron tomography of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Online now:
Excited to share our new paper in @natcomms.nature.com !
Here, we present the cryo-EM structure of the Cytc₆:PSI complex from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here, we present the cryo-EM structure of the Cytc₆:PSI complex from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
March 29, 2026 at 10:50 AM
Excited to share our new paper in @natcomms.nature.com !
Here, we present the cryo-EM structure of the Cytc₆:PSI complex from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Here, we present the cryo-EM structure of the Cytc₆:PSI complex from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii👇
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Final version is out! Our large-scale cryo-ET dataset 🔬 of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 🦠 is now published in @cp-molcell.bsky.social
Huge collaborative effort! So glad to see the community already using it to develop new resources & tools.
Check it out here: shorturl.at/z4i4c
#CryoEM #CryoET
Huge collaborative effort! So glad to see the community already using it to develop new resources & tools.
Check it out here: shorturl.at/z4i4c
#CryoEM #CryoET
December 19, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Final version is out! Our large-scale cryo-ET dataset 🔬 of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii 🦠 is now published in @cp-molcell.bsky.social
Huge collaborative effort! So glad to see the community already using it to develop new resources & tools.
Check it out here: shorturl.at/z4i4c
#CryoEM #CryoET
Huge collaborative effort! So glad to see the community already using it to develop new resources & tools.
Check it out here: shorturl.at/z4i4c
#CryoEM #CryoET
The KEY🔑 to regulating Rubisco phase separation in the Chlamydomonas algal pyrenoid. Beautiful work by Shan He, @mjonikas.bsky.social, and friends. #PhaseSeparation #CO2 #PlantScience 🧪 🧶🧬 🌾 🌍
Algal pyrenoids—condensates that mediate ~1/3 of Earth’s CO2 fixation—change size and number as cells divide. Our data suggest a simple control mechanism: a kinase that continuously ejects material from the condensate! ☀️🌍🔬💧 #Biophysics #Photosynthesis
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
October 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
The KEY🔑 to regulating Rubisco phase separation in the Chlamydomonas algal pyrenoid. Beautiful work by Shan He, @mjonikas.bsky.social, and friends. #PhaseSeparation #CO2 #PlantScience 🧪 🧶🧬 🌾 🌍
New OA Article: "A modular high-throughput approach for advancing synthetic biology in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas" rdcu.be/eOdZP
Modular-cloning-based platform for high-throughput chloroplast engineering in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Modular-cloning-based platform for high-throughput chloroplast engineering in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
November 4, 2025 at 1:05 PM
New OA Article: "A modular high-throughput approach for advancing synthetic biology in the chloroplast of Chlamydomonas" rdcu.be/eOdZP
Modular-cloning-based platform for high-throughput chloroplast engineering in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Modular-cloning-based platform for high-throughput chloroplast engineering in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
Great to see our paper on light-intensity dependent swimming patterns in #Chlamydomonas out now in Phys Rev Lett. as an Editors' suggestion! With a nice commentary by @philipcball.bsky.social.
Chlamy actively modulate the beat planes of their #cilia!
journals.aps.org/prl/abstract... #protistsonsky
Chlamy actively modulate the beat planes of their #cilia!
journals.aps.org/prl/abstract... #protistsonsky
February 20, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Great to see our paper on light-intensity dependent swimming patterns in #Chlamydomonas out now in Phys Rev Lett. as an Editors' suggestion! With a nice commentary by @philipcball.bsky.social.
Chlamy actively modulate the beat planes of their #cilia!
journals.aps.org/prl/abstract... #protistsonsky
Chlamy actively modulate the beat planes of their #cilia!
journals.aps.org/prl/abstract... #protistsonsky