Dr Diarmuid O'Maoileidigh
Biography
Dr. Ó'Maoiléidigh is a plant developmental biologist with a PhD from the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland. Dr. Ó'Maoiléidigh also has a Bachelor's degree in Human Genetics from TCD. During his undergraduate he developed an interest in plant genetics and has since been interested in dissecting the molecular mechanisms underlying developmental processes.
Following his PhD research, Dr. Ó'Maoiléidigh worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the same group in TCD before moving in 2015 to the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research (MPIPZ) in Cologne, Germany to take up another postdoctoral research position. While at the MPIPZ, he was awarded a Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship and subsequently moved to The University of Liverpool (UoL) in 2019 as a Tenure Track Fellow where he established the Comparative Developmental Genetics Lab.
In 2020, Dr. Ó'Maoiléidigh was awarded a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship and in 2022 he was tenured as a permanent member of staff at UoL. Later in 2022, Dr. Ó'Maoiléidigh moved back to Ireland to take up a role as a permanent Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology, Maynooth University.
Research Interests
The Comparative Developmental Genetics (CDG) group is interested in how cis regulatory elements and transcription factor function coordinate development in different plant species. We are particularly interested in the transcription factors that control flower and fruit development. Floral organs are derived from leaves and these transcription factors are necessary and sufficient for floral organ identity. The modes by which these transcription factors interact with the underlying leaf developmental programme are poorly described, although our research has made progress on this in recent years. We are particularly interested in how floral organs become photosynthetically active and we are investigating variation in floral organ photosynthetic activity using comparative developmental, functional genomic, and physiological approaches.
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Ailbhe J. Brazel; Niranjana Manoj; Franziska Turck; DIarmuid S. O'Maoileidigh (2025) 'Measuring CO2 assimilation of Arabidopsis thaliana whole plants and seedlings'. Plant Science, 350 (112295). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2024.112295 | |
| 2023 | Brazel, A.J.; Fattorini, R.; McCarthy, J.; Franzen, R.; Rümpler, F.; Coupland, G.; Maoiléidigh, D.S.O. (2023) 'AGAMOUS mediates timing of guard cell formation during gynoecium development'. PLoS Genetics, 19 . [Link] [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2022 | Fattorini R.; Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S. (2022) 'Cis-regulatory variation expands the colour palette of the Brassicaceae'. Journal of Experimental Botany, 73 (19):6511-6515. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erac366 | |
| 2022 | Sang Q.; Vayssières A.; Ó'Maoiléidigh D.S.; Yang X.; Vincent C.; de Olalla E.B.G.; Cerise M.; Franzen R.; Coupland G. (2022) 'MicroRNA172 controls inflorescence meristem size through regulation of APETALA2 in Arabidopsis'. New Phytologist, (235):356-371. [DOI] | |
| 2021 | Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S.; van Driel A.; Singh A.; Sang Q.; Le Bec N.; Vincent C.; de Olalla E.B.G; Vayssières A.; Romera-Branchat M.; Severing E.; Coupland G. (2021) 'Systematic analyses of the MIR172 family members of Arabidopsis define their distinct roles in regulation of APETALA2 during floral transition'. PLoS Biology, 19 (2). [DOI] | |
| 2021 | Kwaśniewska K.; Breathnach C.; Fitzsimons C.; Goslin K.; Thomson B.; Beegan J.; Finocchio A.; Prunet N.; Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S.; Wellmer F. (2021) 'Expression of KNUCKLES in the Stem Cell Domain Is Required for Its Function in the Control of Floral Meristem Activity in Arabidopsis'. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12 . [DOI] | |
| 2019 | Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S. (2019) 'A Growing Reputation for FRUITFULL Genes'. Plant Cell, 31 (6):1220-1221. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00194 | |
| 2019 | Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S. (2019) 'The White Stripes Featuring ALBOSTRIANS, a Chloroplast-Localized CCT Domain Protein'. Plant Cell, 31 (7):1418-1419. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00289 | |
| 2019 | Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S. (2019) 'The Same But Different: CoMoVa, an Algorithm to Identify Functional Variation in Cis Regulatory Elements'. Plant Cell, 31 (11):2546-2547. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00676 | |
| 2019 | Ailbhe J Brazel; Diarmuid S Ó’Maoiléidigh (2019) 'Photosynthetic activity of reproductive organs'. Journal of Experimental Botany, . [DOI] | |
| 2018 | Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S.; Stewart D.; Zheng B.; Coupland G.; Wellmer F. (2018) 'Floral homeotic proteins modulate the genetic program for leaf development to suppress trichome formation in flowers'. Development - Company of Biologists, 145 (3). [DOI] | |
| 2018 | Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S. (2018) 'A Conserved Mechanism to Terminate Floral Meristems'. Plant Cell, 30 (2). https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.18.00054 | |
| 2017 | Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S. (2017) 'Intrafamily Protein Interactions Contribute to DNA Localization'. Plant Cell, 29 (9):2076-2077. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.17.00735 | |
| 2016 | Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S.; Graciet E.; Wellmer F. (2016) 'Strategies for Performing Dynamic Gene Perturbation Experiments in Flowers'. Bio-Protocol, 6 (7). https://www.doi.org/10.21769/BioProtoc.1774 | |
| 2016 | Drost H.G.; Bellstädt J.; Ó'Maoiléidigh D.S.; Silva A.T.; Gabel A.; Weinholdt C.; Ryan P.T.; Dekkers B.J.W.; Bentsink L.; Hilhorst H.W.M.; Ligterink W.; Wellmer F.; Grosse I.; Quint M. (2016) 'Post-embryonic hourglass patterns mark ontogenetic transitions in plant development'. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 33 (5):1158-1163. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw039 | |
| 2015 | Stewart D.; Wellmer F.; Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S. (2015) 'My favourite flowering image: floral organs with trichomes'. Journal of Experimental Botany, 66 (23):9-10. https://www.doi.org/1093/jxb/erv072 | |
| 2015 | O'Maoileidigh, DS; Thomson, B; Raganelli, A; Wuest, SE; Ryan, PT; Kwasniewska, K; Carles, CC; Graciet, E; Wellmer, F (2015) 'Gene network analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana flower development through dynamic gene perturbations'. Plant Journal, 83 :344-358. [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2015 | Ryan, PT; O'Maoileidigh, DS; Drost, HG; Kwasniewska, K; Gabel, A; Grosse, I; Graciet, E; Quint, M; Wellmer, F (2015) 'Patterns of gene expression during Arabidopsis flower development from the time of initiation to maturation'. BMC Genomics, 16 . [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2014 | Graciet, E., Ó'Maoiléidigh, D.S., Wellmer, F. (2014) 'Next-generation sequencing applied to flower development: ChIP-Seq'. 1110 :413-429. [Link] [DOI] [Full-Text] | |
| 2014 | Ó'Maoiléidigh, D.S., Graciet, E., Wellmer, F. (2014) 'Gene networks controlling Arabidopsis thaliana flower development'. 201 (1):16-30. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2014 | Pajoro A.; Madrigal P.; Muiño J.M.; Matus J.T.; Jin J.; Mecchia M.A.; Debernardi J.M.; Palatnik J.F.; Balazadeh S.; Arif M.; Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S.; Wellmer F.; Krajewski P.; Riechmann J.L.; Angenent G.C.; Kaufmann K. (2014) 'Dynamics of chromatin accessibility and gene regulation by MADS-domain transcription factors in flower development'. Genome Biology, R41 . https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2014-15-3-r41 | |
| 2013 | Ó’Maoiléidigh D.S.; Wuest S.E.; Rae L.; Raganelli A.; Ryan P.T.; Kwaśniewska K.; Das P.; Lohan A.J.; Loftus B.; Graciet E.; Wellmer F. (2013) 'Control of Reproductive Floral Organ Identity Specification in Arabidopsis by the C Function Regulator AGAMOUS'. Plant Cell, 25 (7):2482-2503. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.113.113209 | |
| 2012 | Wuest, S.E., O'Maoileidigh, D.S., Rae, L., Kwasniewska, K., Raganelli, A., Hanczaryk, K., Lohan, A.J., Loftus, B., Graciet, E., Wellmer, F. (2012) 'Molecular basis for the specification of floral organs by APETALA3 and PISTILLATA'. 109 (33):13452-13457. [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2009 | Graciet, E., Walter, F., Maoiléidigh, D.Ó., Pollmann, S., Meyerowitz, E.M., Varshavsky, A., Wellmer, F. (2009) 'The N-end rule pathway controls multiple functions during Arabidopsis shoot and leaf development'. 106 (32):13618-13623. [Link] [DOI] |
Book Chapter
Outreach Activities
| Organisation | Type | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science Night 2023 | Civic Society | Genetics and Epigenetics: The Music of Life [Link] | |
| Pint of Science Ireland | Civic Society | Speaker at Pint of Science Ireland 2023 [Link] | |
| Judge for SciFest | Civic Society | Judge for secondary school science projects for SciFest 2023 [Link] |