Dr Mark Jackson
Senior Research Officer, Citrus Disease Management
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
+61 7 344 32455
Researcher biography
Dr Mark Jackson is a senior researcher at the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), where his research focuses on developing innovative approaches to sustainable crop protection. His early postdoctoral studies at the Institute for Molecular Biosciences (IMB-UQ) were split between the development of plant produced peptides as ecofriendly insecticides, and utilising plants as biofactories for recombinant products of value. At QAFFI Dr Jackson works closely with the sugar, citrus and vegetable industries on projects that aim to develop biological solutions to pest and diseases. A rewarding aspect of his career has been in training of research higher degree students.
Publications
Book Chapters
Handley, Thomas N. G., Jackson, Mark A. and Craik, David J. (2022). Scalable and efficient In planta biosynthesis of sunflower trypsin inhibitor-1 (SFTI) peptide therapeutics. Peptide macrocycles: methods and protocols. (pp. 117-142) edited by Matthew B. Coppock and Alexander J. Winton. New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1689-5_7
Jackson, Mark A. and Gilding, Edward K. (2015). Cyclotides in a biotechnological context: opportunities and challenges. Plant cyclotides. (pp. 305-333) edited by David J. Craik. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Academic Press. doi: 10.1016/bs.abr.2015.09.010
Journal Articles
Harding, Maxim D., Jackson, Mark A., Gilding, Edward K., Yap, Kuok, Craik, David J., Sainsbury, Frank and Lawrence, Nicole (2025). Exploring use of a protein cage system for producing bioactive peptides in Escherichia coli. Microbial Biotechnology, 18 (6) e70158, e70158. doi: 10.1111/1751-7915.70158
Thomas, John E., Jackson, Mark, Campbell, Paul R., Tran, Nga T. and Geering, Andrew D.W. (2025). The complete genome sequence of a novel legume closterovirus from Norfolk Island. Australasian Plant Pathology, 54 (2), 131-135. doi: 10.1007/s13313-025-01023-8
Gilding, Edward K., Jackson, Mark A., Nguyen, Linh T. T., Hamilton, Brett R., Farquharson, Katherine A., Ho, Wing L., Yap, Kuok, Hogg, Carolyn J., Belov, Katherine and Craik, David J. (2024). Hijacking of N-fixing legume albumin-1 genes enables the cyclization and stabilization of defense peptides. Nature Communications, 15 (1) 6565, 6565. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-50742-x
Lee, Meng-Han, Jackson, Mark A., Rehm, Fabian B. H., Barkauskas, Deborah S., Ho, Wing L., Yap, Kuok, Craik, David J. and Gilding, Edward K. (2024). Proximity labelling confirms the involvement of papain-like cysteine proteases and chaperones in cyclotide biosynthesis. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter, 42 (3), 611-623. doi: 10.1007/s11105-024-01462-5
Bajpai, Abhishek, Jackson, Mark A., Huang, Yen-Hua, Yap, Kuok, Du, Qingdan, Chau, Tevin Chui-Ying, Craik, David J. and Gilding, Edward K. (2023). Nematicidal activity of cyclotides: toxicity against Caenorhabditis elegans. Journal of Natural Products, 86 (5), 1222-1229. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.2c01124
Jackson, Mark A., Xie, Jing, Nguyen, Linh T. T., Wang, Xiaohan, Yap, Kuok, Harvey, Peta J., Gilding, Edward K. and Craik, David J. (2023). Plant-based production of an orally active cyclotide for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. Transgenic Research, 32 (1-2), 121-133. doi: 10.1007/s11248-023-00341-1
Jackson, Mark A., Chan, Lai Yue , Harding, Maxim D., Craik, David J. and Gilding, Edward K. (2022). Rational domestication of a plant-based recombinant expression system expands its biosynthetic range. Journal of Experimental Botany, 73 (18), 6103-6114. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erac273
Doffek, Benjamin, Huang, Yvonne, Huang, Yen-Hua, Chan, Lai Yue, Gilding, Edward K., Jackson, Mark A. and Craik, David J. (2022). Comparative analysis of cyclotide-producing plant cell suspensions presents opportunities for cyclotide plant molecular farming. Phytochemistry, 195 113053, 1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2021.113053
Jackson, Mark A., Nguyen, Linh T. T., Gilding, Edward K., Durek, Thomas and Craik, David J. (2020). Make it or break it: plant AEPs on stage in biotechnology. Biotechnology Advances, 45 107651, 107651. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2020.107651
Qu, Haiou, Jackson, Mark A., Yap, Kuok, Harvey, Peta J., Gilding, Edward K. and Craik, David J. (2020). Production of a structurally validated cyclotide in rice suspension cells is enabled by a supporting biosynthetic enzyme. Planta, 252 (6) 97, 97. doi: 10.1007/s00425-020-03505-z
Oguis, Georgianna K., Gilding, Edward K., Huang, Yen-Hua, Poth, Aaron G., Jackson, Mark A. and Craik, David J. (2020). Insecticidal diversity of butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea) accessions. Industrial Crops and Products, 147 112214, 112214. doi: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2020.112214
Smithies, Bronwyn J., Huang, Yen-Hua, Jackson, Mark A., Yap, Kuok, Gilding, Edward K., Harris, Karen S., Anderson, Marilyn A. and Craik, David J. (2020). Circular permutation of the native enzyme-mediated cyclization position in cyclotides. ACS Chemical Biology, 15 (4) acschembio.9b00996, 962-969. doi: 10.1021/acschembio.9b00996
Harris, Karen S., Guarino, Rosemary F., Dissanayake, Ravindu S., Quimbar, Pedro, McCorkelle, Owen C., Poon, Simon, Kaas, Quentin, Durek, Thomas, Gilding, Edward K., Jackson, Mark A., Craik, David J., van der Weerden, Nicole L., Anders, Robin F. and Anderson, Marilyn A. (2019). A suite of kinetically superior AEP ligases can cyclise an intrinsically disordered protein. Scientific Reports, 9 (1) 10820, 10820. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-47273-7
Oguis, Georgianna K., Gilding, Edward K., Jackson, Mark A. and Craik, David J. (2019). Butterfly pea (Clitoria ternatea), a cyclotide-bearing plant with applications in agriculture and medicine. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10 645, 645. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00645
Jackson, Mark A., Yap, Kuok, Poth, Aaron G., Gilding, Edward K., Swedberg, Joakim E., Poon, Simon, Qu, Haiou, Durek, Thomas, Harris, Karen, Anderson, Marilyn A. and Craik, David J. (2019). Rapid and scalable plant-based production of a potent plasmin inhibitor peptide. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10 602, 602. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2019.00602
Rehm, Fabian B. H., Jackson, Mark A., De Geyter, Ewout, Yap, Kuok, Gilding, Edward K., Durek, Thomas and Craik, David J. (2019). Papain-like cysteine proteases prepare plant cyclic peptide precursors for cyclization. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (16), 7831-7836. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1901807116
Jackson, M. A., Gilding, E. K., Shafee, T., Harris, K. S., Kaas, Q., Poon, S., Yap, K., Jia, H., Guarino, R., Chan, L. Y., Durek, T., Anderson, M. A. and Craik, D. J. (2018). Molecular basis for the production of cyclic peptides by plant asparaginyl endopeptidases. Nature Communications, 9 (1) 2411, 2411. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04669-9
Poon, Simon, Harris, Karen S, Jackson, Mark A, McCorkelle, Owen C, Gilding, Edward K, Durek, Thomas, van der Weerden, Nicole L, Craik, David J and Anderson, Marilyn A (2017). Co-expression of a cyclizing asparaginyl endopeptidase enables efficient production of cyclic peptides in planta. Journal of experimental botany, 69 (3), 633-641. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erx422
Gilding, Edward K., Jackson, Mark A., Poth, Aaron G., Henriques, Sonia Troeira, Prentis, Peter J., Mahatmanto, Tunjung and Craik, David J. (2015). Gene coevolution and regulation lock cyclic plant defence peptides to their targets. New Phytologist, 210 (2), 717-730. doi: 10.1111/nph.13789
Jackson M.A., Sternes, Peter R., Mudge, Stephen R., Graham, Michael W. and Birch, Robert G. (2014). Design rules for efficient transgene expression in plants. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 12 (7), 925-933. doi: 10.1111/pbi.12197
Jackson, Mark A., Anderson, David J. and Birch, Robert G. (2013). Comparison of Agrobacterium and particle bombardment using whole plasmid or minimal cassette for production of high-expressing, low-copy transgenic plants. Transgenic Research, 22 (1), 143-151. doi: 10.1007/s11248-012-9639-6
Rae, Anne L., Casu, Rosanne E., Perroux, Jai M., Jackson, Mark A. and Grof, Christopher P. L. (2011). A soluble acid invertase is directed to the vacuole by a signal anchor mechanism. Journal of Plant Physiology, 168 (9), 983-989. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2010.11.003
Jackson, Mark A., Nutt, Kerry A., Hassall, Rachael and Rae, Anne L. (2010). Comparative efficiency of subcellular targeting signals for expression of a toxic protein in sugarcane. Functional Plant Biology, 37 (8), 785-793. doi: 10.1071/FP09243
Rae, Anne, L., Jackson, Mark A., Nguyen, Chau H. and Bonnett, Graham D. (2009). Functional specialization of vacuoles in sugarcane leaf and stem. Tropical Plant Biology, 2 (1), 13-22. doi: 10.1007/s12042-008-9019-9
Jackson, M. A., Rae, A. L., Casu, R. E., Grof, C. P. L., Bonnett, G. D. and Maclean, D. J. (2007). A bioinformatic approach to the identification of a conserved domain in a sugarcane legumain that directs GFP to the lytic vacuole. Functional Plant Biology, 34 (7), 633-644. doi: 10.1071/FP07024
McIntyre, C. L., Jackson, M., Cordeiro, G. M., Amouyal, O., Hermann, S., Aitken, K. S., Eliott, F., Henry, R. J., Casu, R. E. and Bonnett, G. D. (2006). The identification and characterisation of alleles of sucrose phosphate synthase gene family III in sugarcane. Molecular Breeding, 18 (1), 39-50. doi: 10.1007/s11032-006-9012-7
Conference Paper
Craik, D., Oguis, G. K., Smithies, B., Qu, H., Gilding, E. K. and Jackson, M. A. (2016). Design and plant-based production of therapeutic cyclic peptides. 34th European Peptide Symposium, Leipzig, Germany, 4‐9 September 2016. Oxford, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons.
Data Collection
Jackson, Mark (2024). MS-MS data from Clitoria ternatea roots. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/0f8519a
Thesis
Jackson, Mark (2009). Identification and Functional Testing of Peptide Targeting Sequences for Vacuolar Compartmentation in Sugarcane. PhD Thesis, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland.