Dr Mike Jones

Summary

Photoreaction centres are nature’s solar batteries. These complexes of protein, chlorophyll, quinone and other cofactors use the energy of sunlight to create an electrical potential difference across a charge-impermeable membrane. The potential difference generated by photoreaction centres is used to power a wide range of energy-requiring reactions in biology, and these proteins can be exploited for a variety of applications in photovoltaics, photosensing, chemical sensing, photocatalysis and biocomputing. 

Reaction centres are found in plants, algae and bacteria, and the best understood of these multicomponent integral membrane proteins is the relatively simple variant found in the purple photosynthetic bacteria. As electron transfer in the reaction centre is triggered by light, the kinetics of this process can be monitored by laser spectroscopy, on time scales as short as picoseconds or femtoseconds. As a result the purple bacterial reaction centre has made a unique contribution to our understanding of biological electron transfer. This tractable and robust protein is also used to study generic features of complex integral membrane proteins, such as the relationship between structure and stability, and the interplay between protein dynamics and catalysis.

Studies in my laboratory are focused on understanding: 

• how the protein controls the rate and efficiency of electron transfer during light energy transduction
• interactions of the reaction centre with the proteins and lipids that form the membrane environment
• the relationship between structure and the thermal stability of the protein, including the use of mutagenesis to engineer reaction centres with en hanced thermal stability
• adaptation and enhancement of the native photovoltaic properties of the reaction centre for exploitation in novel protein solar cells, biosensors and as energy-generating modules for synthetic biology and photocatalysis.

We tackle these issues through the application of protein engineering, membrane protein biochemistry, X-ray crystallography, kinetic spectroscopy, fluorescence and vibrational spectroscopy and measurements of photovoltaic capacity. In all of these areas mutant complexes are generated and analysed in Bristol, with further analysis using specialised spectroscopic techniques accessed through a network of collaborations with research groups in the UK, Netherlands, France, Italy, Poland, Singapore and the USA.

Teaching

Biological Chemistry

Macromolecular Structure, Dynamics and Function

Biomedical Research, Employability and Enterprise Skills

The Dynamic Proteome

Advanced Options in Biochemistry

Research and Communication Skills

Biophysics and Molecular Life Sciences ii

Keywords

• Bacterial Photosynthesis
• Membrane Proteins
• Biohybrid Devices
• Synthetic Biology

Expertise

Studies in my laboratory are focused on understanding the following: -how the protein controls the rate and efficiency of electron transfer during light energy transduction. -how the protein controls the route of electron transfer through the protein and across the membrane. -interactions of this protein with the proteins and lipids that form the membrane environment. -the relationship between structure and the thermal stability of the protein, including the use of mutagenesis to engineer reaction centres with enhanced thermal stability.

Memberships

Organisations

School of Biochemistry

Other sites

• Biochemistry

Recent publications

• Białek, R, Friebe, V, Ruff, A, Jones, MR, Frese, R & Gibasiewicz, K, 2020, ‘In Situ Spectroelectrochemical Investigation of a Biophotoelectrode Based on Photoreaction Centers Embedded in a Redox Hydroge’. Electrochimica Acta, vol 330.
• Liu, J, Mantell, J, Di Bartolo, N & Jones, M, 2019, ‘Mechanisms of Self-Assembly and Energy Harvesting in Tuneable Conjugates of Quantum Dots and Engineered Photovoltaic Proteins’. Small, vol 15.
• Ravi, SK, Rawding, P, Elshahawy, AM, Huang, K, Sun, W, Zhao, F, Wang, J, Jones, MR & Tan, SC, 2019, ‘Photosynthetic apparatus of Rhodobacter sphaeroides exhibits prolonged charge storage’. Nature Communications, vol 10.
• Ma, F, Romero, E, Jones, MR, Novoderezhkin, VI & van Grondelle, R, 2019, ‘Both electronic and vibrational coherences are involved in primary electron transfer in bacterial reaction center’. Nature Communications, vol 10.
• Suresh, L, Vaghasiya, J, Nandakumar, DK, Wu, T, Jones, M & Tan, SC, 2019, ‘High-Performance UV Enhancer Molecules Coupled with Photosynthetic Proteins for Ultra-Low-Intensity UV Detection’. Chem, vol 5., pp. 1847-1860
• Ravi, SK, Zhang, Y, Wang, Y, Nandakumar, DK, Sun, W, Jones, M & Tan, SC, 2019, ‘Optical Shading Induces an In‐Plane Potential Gradient in a Semiartificial Photosynthetic System Bringing Photoelectric Synergy’. Advanced Energy Materials.
• Liu, J, Friebe, VM, Frese, RN & Jones, M, 2019, ‘Polychromatic solar energy conversion in pigment-protein chimeras that unite the two kingdoms of (bacterio)chlorophyll-based photosynthesis’. Nature Communications.
• Suresh, L, Vaghasiya, J, Jones, M & Tan, SC, 2019, ‘Biodegradable Protein-Based Photoelectrochemical Cells with Biopolymer Composite Electrodes That Enable Recovery of Valuable Metals’. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, vol 7., pp. 8834-8841
• Singh, VK, Ravi, SK, Ho, JW, Wong, JKC, Jones, MR & Tan, SC, 2018, ‘Biohybrid Photoprotein‐Semiconductor Cells with Deep‐Lying Redox Shuttles Achieve a 0.7 V Photovoltage’. Advanced Functional Materials, vol 28.
• Ravi, SK, Wu, T, Udayagiri, VS, Vu, XM, Wang, Y, Jones, MR & Tan, SC, 2018, ‘Photosynthetic Bioelectronic Sensors for Touch Perception, UV-Detection, and Nanopower Generation: Toward Self-Powered E-Skins’. Advanced Materials, vol 30.

View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system