Maddy Seale
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maddyseale.bsky.social
Maddy Seale
@maddyseale.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.1K following 140 posts
Associate Editor at Science covering plant science.
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maddyseale.bsky.social
Out First Release in @science.org
Exploring how MKK3 variation affects the balance between dormancy and preharvest sprouting in barley:

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#plantscience
Postdomestication selection of MKK3 shaped seed dormancy and end-use traits in barley
Anthropogenic selection of grain traits such as dormancy has shaped the developmental trajectories of crops. In cereals, shortening dormancy provides rapid and even post-harvest germination, but incre...
www.science.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:59 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
My pick for In Other Journals this week: A MYB transcription factor regulates lignin deposition on thorn tips:

My summary here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Paper here:
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...
In Other Journals
Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature
www.science.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:58 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
New #plantscience Review article out in this week's @science.org looking at how technological advances are informing brassinosteroid research:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Thanks to authors
@jennyrussinova.bsky.social @trevormnolan.bsky.social @nvukas.bsky.social
Unlocking the potential of brassinosteroids: A path to precision plant engineering
Brassinosteroids are essential plant hormones that play a central role in regulating growth, development, and stress responses. Their impact on plant architecture and productivity makes them attractiv...
www.science.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:56 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
If you're less than 10 years post PhD and have translated your research commercially, you have until Nov 1st to apply for the Science and BII essay prize for bioinnovation. $10-25k prizes and your essay published in @science.org
www.science.org/content/page...
🧪
BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize for Innovation
The BioInnovation Institute & Science Prize for Innovation seeks to recognize bold researchers who are asking fundamental questions at the intersection of the life sciences and entrepreneurship. We se...
www.science.org
October 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
maddyseale.bsky.social
My pick for In Other Journals:
Engineering agricultural nitrogen fixation. Nishida et al bred soybean lines and modified rhizobial bacteria to enhance infection and reduce nitrous oxide emissions.
My summary here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Paper here:
doi.org/10.1038/s414...

#PlantScience
In Other Journals
Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature
www.science.org
October 10, 2025 at 9:15 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Out in @science.org this week:

A new FRET sensor for salicylic acid gives insight into spatial dynamics of pathogen infection www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

(1/2)

#PlantScience
SALICYLIC ACID SENSOR1 reveals the propagation of an SA hormone surge during plant pathogen advance
Salicylic acid (SA) is a key phytohormone that orchestrates immune responses against pathogens, including Pseudomonas syringae bacteria. The timing and extent of SA accumulation are tightly controlled...
www.science.org
October 10, 2025 at 9:12 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Out First Release in @science.org this week:
The development of a directed evolution strategy with proof of concept in plant immune protein engineering.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Engineered geminivirus replicons enable rapid in planta directed evolution
Directed evolution can rapidly generate genetic variants with new and enhanced properties, yet efficient platforms for performing such evolution directly in plant cells have been lacking. We developed...
www.science.org
October 7, 2025 at 9:54 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Wonderful to see this beautiful image on the cover of Science this week highlighting a paper that uses high resolution imaging to show the spatial patterns of bacterial attraction to glutamine from roots.
Paper here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Perspective here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
October 7, 2025 at 9:52 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Out First Release in @science.org this week:

A large scale analysis of the epigenetics of transposable elements in Arabidopsis shows transgenerational stability

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

#PlantScience
Transposable elements are vectors of recurrent transgenerational epigenetic inheritance
DNA methylation loss at transposable elements (TEs) can affect neighboring genes and be epigenetically inherited in plants, yet the determinants and significance of this additional system of inheritan...
www.science.org
September 22, 2025 at 4:09 PM
maddyseale.bsky.social
My pick for In Other Journals this week-
Tracking mutations to understand radial flower development
My summary here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Paper here:
doi.org/10.1371/jour...

#plantscience
In Other Journals
Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature
www.science.org
September 16, 2025 at 10:38 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Introducing a new metabolic cycle - the McG cycle - into Arabidopsis to convert 3PG to acetyl coA. This then feeds into endogenous lipid synthesis increasing plant lipids, seed yield and biomass. Out this week in @science.org!

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#PlantScience
Dual-cycle CO2 fixation enhances growth and lipid synthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana
Carbon fixation through the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle accounts for the majority of carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake from the atmosphere. The CBB cycle generates C3 carbohydrates but is inefficient ...
www.science.org
September 12, 2025 at 8:54 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Delighted that this enormous photosystem I complex from the coccolithophore E. huxleyi made it onto the cover of @science.org this week
#PlantScience
science.org Science Magazine @science.org · Sep 11
The photosystem I and light-harvesting proteins of marine coccolithophores assemble into a huge molecular machine that efficiently captures, transfers, and converts light energy, demonstrating the evolutionary diversity of photosynthesis.

Learn more this week in Science: https://scim.ag/4mZBkpy
The photosynthetic proteins of marine coccolithophores capture green light underwater and appear orange-red. Their photosystem I and light-harvesting proteins assemble into a huge molecular machine that efficiently captures, transfers, and converts light energy, demonstrating the evolutionary diversity of photosynthesis and the ultimate pursuit of light.
September 12, 2025 at 8:49 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Science @science.org is recruiting an editor with postdoctoral expertise in infectious diseases or microbiomes. Come and work with us in the UK or USA! bit.ly/3UHOiMf
🧪
bit.ly
August 26, 2025 at 12:55 PM
maddyseale.bsky.social
My pick for In Other Journals this week:
MSH1 suppresses organelle mutation - an investigation of how many plants maintain very low mitochondrial mutation rates

My summary here:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Paper here: doi.org/10.1371/jour...
@sloanevolab.bsky.social
#PlantScience
In Other Journals
Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature
www.science.org
August 22, 2025 at 8:40 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Out in @science.org The crazy sequence of events from planting maize in dense fields. Density-dependent linalool release triggers release of compounds into the soil affecting microbes and plants.
Article: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Perspective: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#PlantScience
Linalool-triggered plant-soil feedback drives defense adaptation in dense maize plantings
High planting density boosts crop yields but also heightens pest and pathogen risks. How plants adapt their defenses under these conditions remains unclear. In this study, we reveal that maize enhance...
www.science.org
August 15, 2025 at 11:05 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
My pick for In Other Journals this week: Sequencing senescence in plants. Single nucleus RNA seq maps out the timing of nutrient allocation during senescence.
My summary here:
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Paper here: doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
In Other Journals
Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature
www.science.org
July 21, 2025 at 8:10 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
I am looking forward to my first @aspbofficial.bsky.social #PlantBio2025 meeting next week in Milwaukee. If anyone there wants to chat about publishing in @science.org then do get in touch. My colleague @sarahlempriere.bsky.social who handles commentary articles will be there too!
#PlantScience
July 17, 2025 at 10:27 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
I'll be at this meeting in Edinburgh in September. Happy to chat to anyone going about publishing in Science!
#PlantScience
thesainsburylab.bsky.social The Sainsbury Laboratory @thesainsburylab.bsky.social · Jul 10
You still have a full day to submit your abstract and register for the 13th edition of the Plant Peptide Receptor Meeting! 🌿
More info and registration:
pprm2025.events.kdmeventsportal.co.uk

Also take a moment to appreciate this beautiful logo made by our skilled @hsuanpai.bsky.social 🎨

#PPRM
July 11, 2025 at 7:53 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Two plant-related papers in @science.org this week handled by my colleagues:

Genetic adaptation within ash tree populations offering possible avenues to explore to combat ash dieback.
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

(1/2)

#PlantScience
Rapid polygenic adaptation in a wild population of ash trees under a novel fungal epidemic
Rapid evolution through small shifts in allele frequencies at thousands of loci is a long-standing neo-Darwinian prediction but is hard to characterize in the wild. European ash tree (Fraxinus excelsi...
www.science.org
June 27, 2025 at 9:44 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
My pick for In Other Journals this week
Zooming in on light stress
Water droplets focus light on the surface of a leaf leading to an increase in chloroplast Ca2+, probably coming from a store in the ER. @simonstael.bsky.social
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
doi.org/10.1016/j.cu...
#PlantScience
In Other Journals
Editors’ selections from the current scientific literature
www.science.org
June 25, 2025 at 10:47 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Out First Release in @science.org today, nice work finding that redox regulates multimerisation of Aux/IAA proteins during root xerobranching:

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Redox-regulated Aux/IAA multimerization modulates auxin responses
Reactive oxygen species function as key signals in plant adaptation to environmental stresses like drought. Roots respond to transient water unavailability by temporarily ceasing branching through the...
www.science.org
June 13, 2025 at 9:20 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
I'm delighted to present this Science special issue on Plants and Heat! Through a series of Reviews and Perspective articles, covering topics from cell signalling to ecology there is something for everyone here. (1/8)
science.org Science Magazine @science.org · Jun 12
As the world warms, plants in natural ecosystems and agricultural settings find ways to respond to the heat.

In a new special issue of Science, researchers examine how heat affects plants at multiple scales, from the molecular level to the biosphere. scim.ag/44cSw3Z
Infrared imaging shows heat levels in sun-exposed leaves of Alstonia scholaris from the Australian Wet Tropics. As climate change increases temperatures and the severity of heat waves, both natural ecosystems and agricultural plants are increasingly affected by heat. Examining heat responses at cellular, genetic, physiological, and ecosystem scales, this special issue explores how plants sense and respond to high temperatures.
June 13, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Reposted by Maddy Seale
paszkowskilab.bsky.social
A whole special issue dedicated to FUNGI!!! Well worth a look 😍
currentbiology.bsky.social Current Biology @currentbiology.bsky.social · Jun 9
Our newest special issue is now live! Check it out to discover more about diverse and beautiful Fungi🍄🍄‍🟫🍄 On the cover: the fly agaric, Amanita muscaria, releasing its spores in the early morning light. www.cell.com/current-biol...
June 10, 2025 at 11:02 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
The domestication of adzuki beans. #PlantScience in this week's @science.org magazine.

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
A single domestication origin of adzuki bean in Japan and the evolution of domestication genes
Adzuki is a central legume in East Asian culinary culture, yet its domestication origin remains debated. Using ~700 accessions across Asia, we show that the initial domestication happened three to fiv...
www.science.org
May 30, 2025 at 7:39 AM
maddyseale.bsky.social
Food for thought. Field trials are undoubtedly valuable for assessing the real-world performance of crop lines and give confidence that findings are useful? In biomedical science, a paper would rarely have full clinical trials for new mechanistic drug discoveries.

rdcu.be/enXn4

#plantscience
Rethinking field trials
Nature Plants - Field trials are indispensable for the application of agronomic genes. However, whether a scientific publication needs to include data on field trials is a very complicated issue.
rdcu.be
May 27, 2025 at 12:44 PM