Jonathan M. Conway

About

Jonathan M. Conway is an Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University in 2017, along with a Master's degree from the same institution in 2013, and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2011. His research focuses on defining and engineering plant-microbe and microbe-microbe interactions at plant-microbe interfaces, which influence plant growth, health, and productivity, as well as the decomposition of plant biomass. Conway's lab employs genetic engineering of non-model bacteria and biomolecular engineering of their products to understand these complex ecosystems and develop new technologies for bio-agriculture, bio-energy, and bio-chemical industries. He has received numerous awards for his mentorship, research, and innovation, including the Excellence in Mentoring Award from Princeton Engineering and the James K. Ferrell Outstanding Ph.D. Graduate Award from NC State.

Research topics

• Biology
• Computer Science
• Genetics
• Computational biology
• Evolutionary biology
• Ecology
• Library science
• Botany
• Neuroscience
• Data science

Selected publications

• Diverse MarR bacterial regulators of auxin catabolism in the plant microbiome

  Nature Microbiology · 2022-10-20 · 45 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Chemical signalling in the plant microbiome can have drastic effects on microbial community structure, and on host growth and development. Previously, we demonstrated that the auxin metabolic signal interference performed by the bacterial genus Variovorax via an auxin degradation locus was essential for maintaining stereotypic root development in an ecologically relevant bacterial synthetic community. Here, we dissect the Variovorax auxin degradation locus to define the genes iadDE as necessary…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Roots of synthetic ecology: microbes that foster plant resilience in the changing climate

  Current Opinion in Biotechnology · 2024-07-17 · 19 citations

  reviewOpen accessCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A type II secreted subtilase from commensal rhizobacteria cleaves immune elicitor peptides and suppresses flg22-induced immune activation

  Cell Reports · 2024-12-01 · 8 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Plant roots grow in association with a community of microorganisms collectively known as the rhizosphere microbiome. Immune activation in response to elicitors like the flagellin-derived epitope flg22 restricts bacteria on plant roots but also inhibits plant growth. Some commensal root-associated bacteria are capable of suppressing the plant immune response to elicitors. In this study, we investigated the ability of 165 root-associated bacteria to suppress flg22-induced immune activation and gro…

  PublisherDOI

• Sugar transport in thermophiles: Bridging lignocellulose deconstruction and bioconversion

  Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology · 2024-01-01 · 8 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  Biomass degrading thermophiles play an indispensable role in building lignocellulose-based supply chains. They operate at high temperatures to improve process efficiencies and minimize mesophilic contamination, can overcome lignocellulose recalcitrance through their native carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZyme) inventory, and can utilize a wide range of sugar substrates. However, sugar transport in thermophiles is poorly understood and investigated, as compared to enzymatic lignocellulose deconstru…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Maltodextrin transport in the extremely thermophilic, lignocellulose degrading bacterium <i>Anaerocellum bescii</i> (f. <i>Caldicellulosiruptor bescii</i> )

  Journal of Bacteriology · 2025-05-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  ABSTRACT Sugar transport into microbial cells is a critical, yet understudied step in the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to metabolic products. Anaerocellum bescii (formerly Caldicellulosiruptor bescii ) is an extremely thermophilic, anaerobic bacterium that readily degrades the cellulose and hemicellulose components of lignocellulosic biomass into a diversity of oligosaccharide substrates. Despite significant understanding of how this microorganism degrades lignocellulose, the mechanisms…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Jeffery L. Dangl

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  30 shared

• Robert M. Kelly

  North Carolina State University

  25 shared

• Sara E. Blumer‐Schuette

  Oakland University

  17 shared

• Michael W. W. Adams

  University of Georgia

  15 shared

• Jeffrey V. Zurawski

  North Carolina State University

  14 shared

• Laura L. Lee

  North Carolina State University

  14 shared

• Theresa F. Law

  12 shared

• Omri M. Finkel

  Hebrew University of Jerusalem

  10 shared

Awards & honors

• Excellence in Mentoring Award, Princeton Engineering, 2026
• 250th Anniversary Fund for Innovation in Undergraduate Educa…
• New Investigator, Joint Genome Institute CSP, 2024
• E. Lawrence Keyes, Jr./Emerson Electric Co. Faculty Advancem…
• James K. Ferrell Outstanding Ph.D. Graduate Award, NC State…

Similar researchers at Princeton University

• Celeste M. Nelsonh-76
• David B. Gravesh-74
• Clifford P. Brangwynneh-66