User:Matthew A. Jones
Contact Info
Harmer Lab,
1002 Life Sciences Addition,
UC Davis,
One Shields Avenue,
Davis, CA 95616
Research interests
The circadian clock acts to optimise the cellular behaviour of an organism so that it corresponds with the predictable environmental variation induced by the diurnal cycle. Whilst extensive genetic analyses have identified multiple genes involved in the plant circadian clock the precise mechanism by which these factors interact remains unclear. My current work involves characterisation of additional components of the plant circadian clock which will provide further insight into the workings of the central oscillator.
 Some of the feedback loops that form the Arabidopsis circadian clock. See [1] for more detail |
Education
- 2004-2007, PhD, University of Glasgow, UK. Supervisor- Dr. John Christie
My graduate studies focused upon the plant blue light photoreceptor phototropin. Phototropin light sensitivity is derived from the action of two highly conserved regions known as LOV domains which upon light absorption induce activity of an integral serine/threonine kinase. My project examined the mechanism by which the LOV domains regulate kinase activity. I was able to show that the introduction of a point mutation within the second LOV domain was sufficient to mitigate light-mediated phototropin kinase activation.
- 2001-2004, B.A. Biological Sciences, The Queen's College, University of Oxford, UK
Awards and Scholarships
- 2004-2007 Sainsbury Plant Science PhD Studentship Gatsby Charitable Foundation
- 2003-2004 Michel Exhibition The Queen's College
Publications
- Kaiserli E, Sullivan S, Jones MA, Feeney KA, and Christie JM. Domain swapping to assess the mechanistic basis of Arabidopsis phototropin 1 receptor kinase activation and endocytosis by blue light. Plant Cell. 2009 Oct;21(10):3226-44. DOI:10.1105/tpc.109.067876 |
- Rawat R, Schwartz J, Jones MA, Sairanen I, Cheng Y, Andersson CR, Zhao Y, Ljung K, and Harmer SL. REVEILLE1, a Myb-like transcription factor, integrates the circadian clock and auxin pathways. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009 Sep 29;106(39):16883-8. DOI:10.1073/pnas.0813035106 |
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Jones MA. Entrainment of the Arabidopsis Circadian Clock. J Plant Biol 2009 52(3): 202-209 [1]
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Sullivan S, Thomson CE, Lamont DJ, Jones MA and Christie JM. In Vivo Phosphorylation Site Mapping and Functional Characterization of Arabidopsis Phototropin 1. Mol Plant 2008 1: 178-194 [1]
- Jones MA and Christie JM. Phototropin receptor kinase activation by blue light. Plant Signal Behav. 2008 Jan;3(1):44-6. DOI:10.4161/psb.3.1.4848 |
- Jones MA, Feeney KA, Kelly SM, and Christie JM. Mutational analysis of phototropin 1 provides insights into the mechanism underlying LOV2 signal transmission. J Biol Chem. 2007 Mar 2;282(9):6405-14. DOI:10.1074/jbc.M605969200 |
