Staff Profile

Biography

Jon Marles-Wright obtained his PhD in structural biology from the University of Oxford, where he focused on understanding how human immune receptors interact with their targets. For his post-doctoral training he moved to the University of Newcastle, where his research focus moved to bacterial cell biology. Following a two-year career development fellowship at the University of Newcastle, where he developed his interest in the structural basis of metabolic compartmentalization within bacteria, Jon was appointed to a Chancellor’s Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh in 2012. Jon was appointed to his current position of Senior Lecturer in Microbial Biotechnology in June 2016.

Jon is an active member of the synthetic biology community and was awarded a SynBio LEAP fellowship in 2015. He has acted as an instructor for the University of Edinburgh iGEM team since 2014 and was co-lead of the team since 2015. The Edinburgh iGEM team have consistently won gold medals and last year won the award for best approach to Policy and Practices in the Undergraduate track. He has acted as Co-lead for the Newcastle University iGEM team since 2017.

Qualifications

MA (Biochemistry), University of Cambridge (2001)

D.Phil (Structural Biology), University of Oxford (2005)

PgCert (Academic Practice), University of Edinburgh (2015)

External Roles

Treasurer, Bioengineering and Bioprocessing Section of the European Federation of Biotechnology

Editor: Subcellular Biochemistry: Macromolecular Protein Complexes (Springer)

Grant Peer Review: Australian Research Council, ERC, BBSRC, Joint Genome Institute Synthetic Biology Program, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), INSTRUCT.

External Examiner: University of Glasgow, Biotechnology MSc; University of Edinburgh, Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology MSc.

Journal Peer Review: Microbiology, MBio, Molecular Microbiology, Nature Communications, PNAS, Trends in Biochemical Sciences, FEMS journals, FEBS Journals, ACS Journals, RSC Journals, Biochemistry.

Google Scholar Profile

Background

Dr Marles-Wright's research uses structural biology, biochemistry and cell biology techniques underpinned by synthetic biology technologies to answer questions relating to the function of bacterial compartmentalization systems and their rational design as platforms for biotechnology and synthetic biology.  My group are interested in determining the structural and functional basis for the recruitment and encapsulation of proteins within metabolic compartments, and the biochemistry that occurs within these semi-permeable structures. Through an understanding of the basic biology and design principles of various compartments, we hope to use these as synthetic biology platforms for the production of valuable natural products, and as scaffolds for industrial biotechnology and nano-technology.

Impact

The major potential impacts of our research are related to the development of modular systems based on bacterial compartments for use in industrial biotechnology including: 1. platforms designed for the production of toxic proteins within compartments; 2. encapsulation of biosynthetic pathways for valuable natural products to minimize loss of intermediates and maximize metabolic efficiency; 3. use of compartments in bio-mining and bio-remediation for the sequestration and crystallization of toxic metal ions into nano-particles.

Google Scholar Profile

Jon is the Degree Programme Director for the Biotechnology and Biodesign MRes programme.

He teaches on courses at all undergraduate and post-graduate stages, with an emphasis on microbial biotechnology, biochemistry, and structural biology.

Jon's lab hosts undergraduate and master's level projects and internships aligned with their research interests, with a focus on the biochemistry and structural biology of metal storage systems in bacteria and applications of protein biotechnology in biocatalysis. Please get in touch if you are interested in projects in these areas.

We are currently recruiting PhD studentships for projects related to our research interests. Informal enquiries are welcome at any time.

• Articles

  • Ashley B, Mathew S, Sajjad M, Zhu Y, Novikovs N, Basle A, Marles-Wright J, Campopiano DJ. Rational engineering of a thermostable α-oxoamine synthase biocatalyst expands the substrate scope and synthetic applicability. Communications Chemistry 2025, 8(1), 78.
  • Coles NP, Elsheikh S, Quesnel A, Butler L, Jennings C, Tarzi C, Achadu OJ, Islam M, Kalesh K, Occhipinti A, Angione C, Marles-Wright J, Koss DJ, Thomas AJ, Outeiro TF, Filippou PS, Khundakar AA. Molecular Insights into α-Synuclein Fibrillation: A Raman Spectroscopy and Machine Learning Approach. ACS Chemical Neuroscience 2025, 16(4), 687-698.
  • Beck IN, Arrowsmith TJ, Grobbelaar MJ, Bromley EHC, Marles-Wright J, Blower TR. Toxin release by conditional remodelling of ParDE1 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis leads to gyrase inhibition. Nucleic Acids Research 2024, 52(4), 1909-1929.
  • Wang P, Li J, Li T, Li K, Ng PC, Wang S, Chriscoli V, Basle A, Marles-Wright J, Zhang Y-Z, Liu L-N. Molecular principles of the assembly and construction of a carboxysome shell. Science Advances 2024, 10(48), eadr4227.
  • Ashley B, Basle A, Sajjad M, el Ashram A, Kelis P, Marles-Wright J, Campopiano DJ. Versatile Chemo-Biocatalytic Cascade Driven by a Thermophilic and Irreversible C-C Bond-Forming α-Oxoamine Synthase. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering 2023, 11(21), 7997–8002.
  • Paloyan A, Sargsyan A, Karapetyan MD, Hambardzumyan A, Kocharov S, Panosyan H, Dyukova K, Kinosyan M, Krueger A, Piergentili C, Stanley WA, Djoko KY, Basle A, Marles-Wright J, Antranikian G. Structural and biochemical characterisation of the N-carbamoyl-β-alanine amidohydrolase from Rhizobium radiobacter MDC 8606. FEBS Journal 2023, 290(23), 5566-5580.
  • Heinz V, Jackel W, Kaltwasser S, Cutugno L, Bedrunka P, Graf A, Reder A, Michalik S, Dhople VM, Madej MG, Conway M, Lechner M, Riedel K, Bange G, Boyd A, Volker U, Lewis RJ, Marles-Wright J, Ziegler C, Pane-Farre J. The Vibrio vulnificus stressosome is an oxygen-sensor involved in regulating iron metabolism. Communications Biology 2022, 5(1), 622.
  • Ross J, McIver Z, Lambert T, Piergentili C, Bird JE, Gallagher KJ, Cruickshank FL, James P, Zarazúa-Arvizu E, Horsfall LE, Waldron KJ, Wilson MD, Mackay CL, Baslé A, Clarke DJ, Marles-Wright J. Pore dynamics and asymmetric cargo loading in an encapsulin nanocompartment. Science Advances 2022, 8(4), eabj4461.
  • Miksys A, Fu L, Made MG, Guerreiro DN, Kaltwasser S, Conway M, Ejder S, Bruckmann A, Marles-Wright J, Lewis RJ, O'Byrne C, Pané-Farré J, Ziegler C. Molecular insights into intra-complex signal transmission during stressosome activation. Communications Biology 2022, 5, 621.
  • Heaver SL, Le HH, Tang P, Baslé A, Mirretta Barone C, Vu DL, Waters JL, Marles-Wright J, Johnson EL, Campopiano DJ, Ley RE. Characterization of inositol lipid metabolism in gut-associated Bacteroidetes. Nature Microbiology 2022, 7, 986-1000.
  • Bird JE, Marles-Wright J, Giachino A. A User's Guide to Golden Gate Cloning Methods and Standards. ACS Synthetic Biology 2022, 11(11), 3551–3563.
  • Giachino A, Focarelli F, Marles-Wright J, Waldron KJ. Synthetic biology approaches to copper remediation: bioleaching, accumulation and recycling. FEMS microbiology ecology 2021, 97(2).
  • Ross J, Lambert T, Piergentili C, He D, Waldron KJ, Mackay CL, Marles-Wright J, Clarke DJ. Mass spectrometry reveals the assembly pathway of encapsulated ferritins and highlights a dynamic ferroxidase interface. Chemical Communications 2020, 56(23), 3417-3420.
  • Serpico A, De Cesare S, Marles-Wright J, Akhtar MK, Loake GJ, Campopiano DJ. D-Phenylglycine aminotransferase (d-PhgAT)-substrate scope and structural insights of a stereo-inverting biocatalyst used in the preparation of aromatic amino acids. Catalysis Science and Technology 2020, 10(19), 6533-6543.
  • Piergentili C, Ross J, He D, Gallagher KJ, Stanley WA, Adam L, Mackay CL, Baslé A, Waldron KJ, Clarke DJ, Marles-Wright J. Dissecting the structural and functional roles of a putative metal entry site in encapsulated ferritins. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2020, 295, 15511-15526.
  • Harris JR, Marles-Wright J. Introduction: Protein Oligomerization and the Formation of Macromolecular Assemblies. Sub-cellular biochemistry 2019, 93, 1-22.
  • He D, Piergentili C, Ross J, Tarrant E, Tuck LR, Mackay CL, McIver Z, Waldron KJ, Clarke DJ, Marles-Wright J. Conservation of the structural and functional architecture of encapsulated ferritins in bacteria and archaea. Biochemical Journal 2019, 476(6), 975-989.
  • Wichmann L, Dulai JS, Marles-Wright J, Maxeiner S, Szczesniak PP, Manzini I, Althaus M. An extracellular acidic cleft confers profound H⁺-sensitivity to epithelial sodium channels containing the δ-subunit in Xenopus laevis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2019, 294(33), 12507-12520.
  • Liu W, Luo Z, Wang Y, Pham NT, Tuck L, Pérez-Pi I, Liu L, Shen Y, French C, Auer M, Marles-Wright J, Dai J, Cai Y. Rapid pathway prototyping and engineering using in vitro and in vivo synthetic genome SCRaMbLE-in methods. Nature Communications 2018, 9, 1936.
  • Ekström AG, Kelly V, Marles-Wright J, Cockroft SL, Campopiano DJ. Structural evidence for the covalent modification of FabH by 4,5-dichloro-1,2-dithiol-3-one (HR45). Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry 2017, 15(30), 6310-6313.
  • McLean CJ, Marles-Wright J, Custodio R, Lowther J, Kennedy AJ, Pollock J, Clarke DJ, Brown AR, Campopiano DJ. Characterization of homologous sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase isoforms in the bacterial pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei. Journal of Lipid Research 2017, 58, 137-150.
  • He D, Hughes S, Vanden-Hehir S, Georgiev A, Altenbach K, Tarrant E, Mackay CL, Waldron KJ, Clarke DJ, Marles-Wright J. Structural characterization of encapsulated ferritin provides insight into iron storage in bacterial nanocompartments. eLife 2016, 5, e18972.
  • Tuck LR, Altenbach K, Ang TF, Crawshaw AD, Campopiano DJ, Clarke DJ, Marles-Wright J. Insight into Coenzyme A cofactor binding and the mechanism of acyl-transfer in an acylating aldehyde dehydrogenase from Clostridium phytofermentans. Scientific Reports 2016, 22, 22108.
  • Jensen MBV, Horsfall LE, Wardrope C, Togneri PD, Marles-Wright J, Rosser SJ. Characterisation of a New Family of Carboxyl Esterases with an OsmC Domain. PLoS One 2016, 11(11), e0166128.
  • Wallock-Richards DJ, Marles-Wright J, Clarke DJ, Maitra A, Dodds M, Hanley B, Campopiano DJ. Molecular basis of Streptococcus mutans sortase A inhibition by the flavonoid natural product trans-chalcone. Chemical Communications 2015, 51(52), 10483-10485.
  • Muller M, Reiss S, Schluter R, Mader U, Beyer A, Reiss W, Marles-Wright J, Lewis RJ, Pfortner H, Volker U, Riedel K, Hecker M, Engelmann S, Pane-Farre J. Deletion of membrane-associated Asp23 leads to upregulation of cell wall stress genes in Staphylococcus aureus. Molecular Microbiology 2014, 93(6), 1259-1268.
  • Liebal UW, Millat T, Marles-Wright J, Lewis RJ, Wolkenhauer O. Simulations of stressosome activation emphasize allosteric interactions between RsbR and RsbT. BMC Systems Biology 2013, 7(1), 3.
  • Quin MB, Berrisford JM, Newman JA, Baslé A, Lewis RJ, Marles-Wright J. The Bacterial Stressosome: A Modular System that Has Been Adapted to Control Secondary Messenger Signaling. Structure 2012, 20(2), 350-363.
  • Pitts AC, Tuck LR, Faulds-Pain A, Lewis RJ, Marles-Wright J. Structural insight into the Clostridium difficile ethanolamine utilisation microcompartment. PLoS ONE 2012, 7(10), e48360.
  • Pagett HE, Abrahams JL, Bones J, O'Donoghue N, Marles-Wright J, Lewis RJ, Harris JR, Caldwell GS, Rudd PM, Clare AS. Structural characterisation of the N-glycan moiety of the barnacle settlement-inducing protein complex (SIPC). Journal of Experimental Biology 2012, 215(7), 1192-1198.
  • Mckee LS, Pena MJ, Rogowski A, Jackson A, Lewis RJ, York WS, Krogh KBRM, Vikso-Nielsen A, Skjot M, Gilbert HJ, Marles-Wright J. Introducing endo-xylanase activity into an exo-acting arabinofuranosidase that targets side chains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2012, 109(17), 6537-6542.
  • Marles-Wright J, Lewis RJ. The structure of a D-lyxose isomerase from the sigma(B) regulon of Bacillus subtilis. Proteins 2011, 79(6), 2015-2019.
  • Cartmell A, McKee LS, Pena MJ, Larsbrink J, Brumer H, Kaneko S, Ichinose H, Lewis RJ, Vikso-Nielsen A, Gilbert HJ, Marles-Wright J. The Structure and Function of an Arabinan-specific α-1,2-Arabinofuranosidase Identified from Screening the Activities of Bacterial GH43 Glycoside Hydrolases. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2011, 286(17), 15483-15495.
  • Kawai Y, Marles-Wright J, Cleverley RM, Emmins R, Ishikawa S, Kuwano M, Heinz N, Bui NK, Hoyland CN, Ogasawara N, Lewis RJ, Vollmer W, Daniel RA, Errington J. A widespread family of bacterial cell wall assembly proteins. EMBO Journal 2011, 30(24), 4931-4941.
  • Marles-Wright J, Lewis RJ. The stressosome: molecular architecture of a signalling hub. Biochemical Society Transactions 2010, 38, 928-933.
  • Yang X, Molimau S, Doherty GP, Johnston EB, Marles-Wright J, Rothnagel R, Hankamer B, Lewis RJ, Lewis PJ. The structure of bacterial RNA polymerase in complex with the essential transcription elongation factor NusA. EMBO Reports 2009, 10(9), 997-1002.
  • Baur S, Marles-Wright J, Buckenmaier S, Lewis RJ, Vollmer W. Synthesis of CDP-activated ribitol for teichoic acid precursors in Streptococcus pneumoniae. Journal of Bacteriology 2009, 191(4), 1200-1210.
  • Schirner K, Marles-Wright J, Lewis RJ, Errington J. Distinct and essential morphogenic functions for wall- and lipo-teichoic acids in Bacillus subtilis. EMBO Journal 2009, 28(7), 830-842.
  • Marles-Wright J, Lewis RJ. The Bacillus subtilis stressosome: A signal integration and transduction hub. Communicative & Integrative Biology 2008, 1(2), 182-184.
  • Marles-Wright J, Grant T, Delumeau O, van Duinen G, Firbank S, Lewis P, Murray J, Newman J, Quin M, Race P, Rohou A, Tichelaar W, van Heel M, Lewis RJ. Molecular architecture of the "stressosome," a signal integration and transduction hub. Science 2008, 322(5898), 92-96.
  • Quin M, Newman J, Firbank S, Lewis RJ, Marles-Wright J. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of RsbS from Moorella thermoacetica at 2.5 Å resolution. Acta Crystallographica. Section F: Structural Biology and Crystallization Communications 2008, 64(3), 196-199.
  • Hardwick SW, Pané-Farré J, Delumeau O, Marles-Wright J, Hecker M, Lewis RJ. Structural and Functional Characterization of Partner Switching Regulating the Environmental Stress Response in Bacillus subtilis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2007, 282(15), 11562-11572.
  • Marles-Wright J, Lewis RJ. Stress responses of bacteria. Current Opinion in Structural Biology 2007, 17(6), 755-760.

• Book Chapters

  • Harris JR, Marles-Wright J. Preface. In: Macromolecular Protein Complexes IV: Structure and Function. Cham: Springer Science and Business Media B.V, 2022, pp.v-vi.
  • Liu W, Tuck L, Marles-Wright J, Cai Y. Using Purified Tyrosine Site-Specific Recombinases In Vitro to Rapidly Construct and Diversify Metabolic Pathways. In: Eroshenko N, ed. Methods in Molecular Biology: Site Specific Recombinases. New York: Humana Press, 2017, pp.285-302.
  • Pane-Farre J, Quin MB, Lewis RJ, Marles-Wright J. Structure and Function of the Stressosome Signalling Hub. In: Macromolecular Protein Complexes. Springer New York, 2017, pp.1-41.

• Editorials

  • Harris JR, Marles-Wright J. Preface. Macromolecular Protein Complexes V : Structure and Function 2024, 104, v-vi.
  • Harris JR, Marles-Wright J. Preface. Macromolecular Protein Complexes III: Structure and Function 2021, 96, v-vi.

• Reviews

  • He D, Marles-Wright J. Ferritin family proteins and their use in bionanotechnology. New Biotechnology 2015, 32(6), 651–657.
  • Schneider S, Marles-Wright J, Sharp KH, Paoli M. Diversity and conservation of interactions for binding heme in b-type heme proteins. Natural Product Reports 2007, 24(3), 621-630.