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Sean Montgomery

@seanamontgomery

Postdoc in the Sebé-Pedrós lab at the CRG studying heterochromatin diversity and function across eukaryotes. Can be found chasing frisbees when not in the lab.

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26.09.2023
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Latest posts by Sean Montgomery @seanamontgomery

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Native chromatome profiling reveals hundreds of metabolic enzymes in the nucleus across tissues - Nature Communications Here proteomic chromatome analysis shows metabolic enzymes widely localize to chromatin in cancer in a tissue-specific manner. Nuclear enzymes affect DNA damage/repair and transcription, revealing non...

New paper out in Nature Communications:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
We found >250 metabolic enzymes on chromatin.
Only ~20 had been reported before.
This means hundreds of metabolic enzymes may have unexplored nuclear roles.

06.03.2026 15:11 👍 48 🔁 15 💬 2 📌 2

We are very excited to share a new resource from our team: spatial subcellular proteome maps in plants! We developed an MS-based method that registers localizations of about 8000 proteins in Arabidopsis roots in a single experiment.

(1/9)
www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

03.03.2026 06:53 👍 111 🔁 68 💬 2 📌 1

Final version @nature.com of our paper describing unconventional multicellular development in a choanoflagellate inhabiting an extreme environment. A ton of new data since the first @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social preprint (which we've kept updating).

A brief 🧵 (carried over from the old place)

28.02.2026 08:12 👍 361 🔁 146 💬 16 📌 16

Excited to share our new paper led by a wonderful Jing Liu on designing de novo IDRs🧪🖥️

17.02.2026 11:21 👍 6 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

How does the piRNA pathway solve the self vs. non-self problem? 🧬

Since piRNAs come from single-stranded RNA, how does the cell choose the right ones? For years, "piRNA clusters" were seen as THE privileged source. But are they really special and earmarked for biogenesis? (1/19)

13.02.2026 15:11 👍 90 🔁 51 💬 2 📌 4
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We are hiring a Tenure-track Assistant Professor and Curator in Bryology at the National Natural History Museum Denmark, in central Copenhagen. Duties are collection-based research, curation of a… ... We are hiring a Tenure-track Assistant Professor and Curator in Bryology at the National Natural History Museum Denmark, in central Copenhagen. Duties are collection-based research, curation of a h...

My good friend and director of the natural history museum of Denmark is looking for a curator for #bryophytes. Thus, if you like these small #plants, you should really apply. Great place to work, great city and amazing plants.

#sciencejobs #plantscijobs

www.linkedin.com/posts/nina-r...

11.02.2026 08:59 👍 8 🔁 9 💬 0 📌 0

Congrats Pierre, very impressive in such a competitive field!

11.02.2026 13:23 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Unique territorial and compartmental organization of chromosomes in the holocentric silkworm - The EMBO Journal Hallmarks of multicellular eukaryotic genome organization are chromosome territories, compartments, and loop-extrusion-mediated structures, including TADs. However, these have mainly been observed in ...

How do compartmentalization & loop extrusion organize eukaryotic genomes beyond classical model organisms?
Hi-C analysis of silkworm chromosomes by Drinnenberg, Muller, Mirny et al reveals new combination of these mechanisms, and a new, secluded “S” compartment
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

03.02.2026 10:37 👍 38 🔁 25 💬 0 📌 2
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Comparative Genomics of Unicellular Eukaryotes (San Feliu, Spain):
Abstract submission is open, with a short deadline! comparativegenomics2026.com

Join us as we explore the most diverse, surprising, and still largely uncharted branches of the eukaryotic tree.

02.02.2026 18:49 👍 20 🔁 12 💬 0 📌 1
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Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus | PNAS ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins are a highly conserved family of RNA-binding proteins that play central roles in gene regulation and developmental process...

One protein. One pathway. A whole germline fate.

New paper from my postdoc @mpi-bio-fml.bsky.social out in PNAS:
Germline fate determination by a single ARGONAUTE protein in Ectocarpus www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

30.01.2026 09:14 👍 50 🔁 26 💬 1 📌 0
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What were the first animals? The fierce sponge–jelly battle that just won’t end For almost two decades, scientists have debated whether sponges or comb jellies are the first animal lineage. Now some are calling for a more harmonious approach.

Nice feature summarising the decades-long debate about the first-branching animal lineages — sponges or ctenophores?

Key quote:

“I’m not going to say this is the answer because I’ve been around long enough”

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

27.01.2026 15:15 👍 5 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
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I’m happy to share the main result of my PhD, which you can find on bioRxiv www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6.... If you are interested in learning about a new way to perform DNA-PAINT multiplexing, which we call Combi-PAINT, or if you are interested in the study of mRNA conformation, keep reading! 1/10

26.01.2026 11:31 👍 74 🔁 26 💬 3 📌 5
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Chromatin state architecture governs transcription factor accessibility across plant genomes Author summary In eukaryotes, DNA is tightly associated with histone proteins. Histone covalent modifications and histones isoforms, also called histone variants provide most of the complexity of chro...

This is a very special paper for me. I had the idea of combining transcription factor binding with chromatin in 2016/8. It took some time, but thanks to Fred and Vikas, we can finally share the story in @plos.org Genetics looking at chromatin states in Arabidopsis and Marchantia. #PlantScience

23.01.2026 15:17 👍 74 🔁 38 💬 3 📌 0
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Our eLetter github.com/caseywdunn/s... responding to a recent Science paper was just posted. The paper found more genes with consistent support for sponge-sister than ctenophore-sister. We found several technical issues that, when corrected, reverse the conclusions and recover ctenophore-sister.

09.01.2026 11:44 👍 131 🔁 57 💬 5 📌 9
Senior Bioinformatician - Biodiversity Cell Atlas Do you want to help us improve human health and understand life on Earth? Make your mark by shaping the future to enable or deliver life-changing science to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenge...

Open Senior Bioinformatician position at
@sangerinstitute.bsky.social
Tree of Life, to work on the Biodiversity Cell Atlas initiative with @marakat.bsky.social and me.

📅 Apply by January 18
🔗 sanger.wd103.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Wellco...

Please share with anyone who might be interested!

02.01.2026 13:12 👍 20 🔁 30 💬 0 📌 1
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Decoding cnidarian cell type gene regulation - Nature Ecology & Evolution This study reconstructs the gene regulatory networks that define cell types in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, providing a valuable resource for comparative regulatory genomics and the evoluti...

Lovely Xmas gift 🎄—our paper is out today in @natecoevo.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...! Huge thanks to everyone who made it possible, especially @aelek.bsky.social and @arnausebe.bsky.social

22.12.2025 11:10 👍 28 🔁 12 💬 3 📌 1
UBC

Bryophyte-friendly tenure-track position in the UBC Botany department! Deadline on the 19th botany.ubc.ca/job-postings...

15.12.2025 00:38 👍 5 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0
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Have you ever wondered how new DNA methylation patterns are established?

Paradigm shift ahead! We discovered a new mode of DNA methylation targeting in plants that relies on transcription factors and sequence motifs rather than chromatin modifications to regulate the methylome. rdcu.be/eQ6L5
1/8

11.12.2025 21:56 👍 47 🔁 23 💬 2 📌 0

Took us a bit, but proud of this published version. We now examine the genetic interaction of phosphorylation with oligomerization and where bulk and phospho-Swi6 localize. Wonder if chromatin affinity tuning to enable Suv39 H3K9me3 spreading is a conserved mechanism ?

doi.org/10.1093/nar/...

12.12.2025 23:37 👍 23 🔁 15 💬 0 📌 0
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Dynamic evolution of EZHIP, an inhibitor of the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 in mammals The Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) is an ancient, conserved chromatin-interacting complex that controls gene expression, facilitating differentiation and cellular identity during development. It...

@pravrutharaman.bsky.social got super intrigued about EZHIP/CATACOMB, previously identified as a histone H3K27M mimic of PRC2. You can read about her efforts here: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We hope these analyses will help spur more analyses in this very cool gene! 1/

13.12.2025 22:08 👍 82 🔁 37 💬 3 📌 1

So happy to announce our new preprint, “A geothermal amoeba sets a new upper temperature limit for eukaryotes.” We cultured a novel amoeba from Lassen Volcanic NP (CA, USA) that divides at 63°C (145°F) 🔥 - a new record for euk growth!
#protistsonsky 🧵

25.11.2025 20:41 👍 495 🔁 165 💬 16 📌 32
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Recurrent evolution of selfishness from an essential tRNA synthetase in Caenorhabditis tropicalis - Nature Ecology & Evolution In Caenorhabditis tropicalis, three toxin–antidote elements arose via gene duplication from the essential tRNA-synthetase subunit FARS-3. The ancestral antidote probably acquired affinity for FARS-3, ...

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

24.11.2025 13:03 👍 17 🔁 4 💬 1 📌 0
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How do cells adapt morphology to function? In a 🔥 preprint by @zjmaggiexu.bsky.social , with @dudinlab.bsky.social and @amyweeks.bsky.social , we identify a self-organizing single-cell morphology circuit that optimizes the feeding trap structure of the suctorian P. collini. 🧵 tinyurl.com/4k8nv926

18.11.2025 16:15 👍 131 🔁 55 💬 4 📌 11
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Adenine DNA methylation associated with transcriptionally permissive chromatin is widespread across eukaryotes - Nature Genetics Long-read sequencing in 18 unicellular eukaryotes reveals that 6mA is widespread across eukaryotes and is enriched at transcriptionally permissive regions, which are also marked by H3K4me3.

Out today, our take on 6-methyladenine #6mA evolution in Eukaryotes @natgenet.nature.com. We asked a simple question, is really DNA 6mA common across the eukaryotes? The answer is "yes" if you're a unicellular eukaryote 🦠, not so if you're multicellular 🐝🌱🍄. www.nature.com/articles/s41... 1/9

18.11.2025 12:00 👍 164 🔁 85 💬 7 📌 6
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🌍Open call: Junior Group Leader positions!

Join a world-class biomedical research institute at the heart of the Vienna BioCenter, where curiosity drives discovery.

Lead your own lab, pursue bold ideas, and shape the future of science at the IMP: www.imp.ac.at/career/open-...

10.11.2025 13:26 👍 95 🔁 84 💬 1 📌 7
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Mapping chromatin structure at base-pair resolution unveils a unified model of cis-regulatory element interactions Li et al. apply base-pair resolution Micro Capture-C ultra to map chromatin contacts between individual motifs within cis-regulatory elements and reveal a unified model of biophysically mediated enhan...

this looks very interesting with numerous implications for nuclear biology and gene expression.

Mapping chromatin structure at base-pair resolution unveils a unified model of cis-regulatory element interactions: Cell www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

09.11.2025 17:07 👍 27 🔁 11 💬 0 📌 0

How is epigenetic information inherited? We found that CDCA7 proteins are critical players in the inheritance of DNA methylation at CG sites in plants, and this is true both in the lab and in the wild. How does this work? 🧵👇

07.11.2025 17:01 👍 45 🔁 15 💬 2 📌 1
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The tiny germline chromosomes of Paramecium aurelia have an exceptionally high recombination rate and are capped by a new class of Helitrons Background. Paramecia belong to the ciliate phylum of unicellular eukaryotes characterized by nuclear dimorphism. A diploid germline micronucleus (MIC) transmits genetic information across sexual gene...

Excited to share our new preprint on BioRxiv!
A collaborative effort spanning many years and several labs to uncover what the germline chromosomes of Paramecium really look like. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
1/5

10.11.2025 09:21 👍 44 🔁 19 💬 1 📌 1
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🚨Our collaboration with @centriolelab.bsky.social & @gautamdey.bsky.social is out today in @cp-cell.bsky.social
We show that #Expansion #Microscopy is a broad-spectrum modality for Euks, enabling 3D phenotypic maps rooted to phylogeny.
#ProtistsOnSky #SciComm #SciSky

www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...

31.10.2025 14:41 👍 215 🔁 98 💬 15 📌 11
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Sexual life cycle establishes the unicellular red algae Cyanidiophyceae as a genetically tractable model lineage for eukaryotic evolution The thermo-acidophilic unicellular algal class Cyanidiophyceae is the earliest-branching lineage in red algae, which diverged from Viridiplantae lineage (green algae and land plants) soon after chloro...

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #protistsonsky

30.10.2025 10:17 👍 9 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0