Dr Ben Long

Ben is a synthetic biologist with a PhD in Plant Biology from La Trobe University. His doctoral work focussed on environmental factors which lead to toxin production in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), and he has significant postdoctoral experience in areas relating to secondary metabolite production in streptomycetes (University of Surrey), cyanobacterial CO₂ concentrating mechanisms (CCMs), and plant cell respiration (Australian National University). His current research focus involves synthetic biology approaches to building a CO₂ concentrating mechanism in plant chloroplasts to enhance photosynthesis.

A major focus of Ben's work has been the analysis of carboxysomes, cyanobacterial microcompartments housing the CO₂-fixing enzyme Rubisco. These microcompartments are like bacterial organelles, capable of isolating specific biochemical processes from other parts of the cell and enabling Rubisco to operate at its maximal rate under low CO₂ and high O₂ which prevail under normal atmospheric conditions. Ben's research group has been focused on building carboxysomes in the chloroplasts of crop plants in an effort to improve photosynthesis and yield. At ANU, Ben was part of the international Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) consortium, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, developing methodologies to use CCM components to improve crop yield.

Key components of cyanobacterial CCMs are membrane transport proteins that pump bicarbonate ions into cyanobacterial cells to provide the feedstock for carboxysome function. The synthetic reconstruction of plant-based CCMs requires these transporters to placed in the inner envelope membrane of plant cell chloroplasts. Ben's research is looking into novel ways to generate functional transporters that can be delivered to this location in the cell.