Professor Christopher Secombes
Established Chair of Zoology
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+44 (0)1224 272857
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+44 (0)1224 272872
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c.secombes@abdn.ac.uk
Established Chair of Zoology
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Personal Details
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Biography
1977, BSc Zoology, University of Leeds
1981, PhD Fish Immunology, University of Hull
1997, DSc, University of Aberdeen
1998, Elected Fellow of the Institute of Biology
2001-2002, Head of Department of Zoology at Aberdeen
2002-2011, Head of School of Biological Sciences at Aberdeen
2004, Appointed to Established Chair of Zoology at Aberdeen
2007, Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE)
2007, Awarded the RSE Alexander Ninian Bruce Prize for "his outstanding contribution to our understanding of the immune system of fish, particularly salmonids"
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Research Interests
I am a comparative immunologist with a research focus on the immune system of fish. From an evolutionary perspective fish are fascinating to study as a very diverse group of vertebrates, that inhibit many varied environments, and that possess a complex immune system composed of innate and adaptive (specific) responses. The fish immune system is also of practical importance. Fish farming has expanded enormously over the last few decades, paralleled by many disease problems. For successful control of disease in aquaculture a multifaceted approach is needed, whereby good husbandry, use of genetically selected fish stock, and use of chemotherapeutics, vaccines and immunostimulants combine to improve overall fish health.
Current research is centred on: 1) understanding how the immune system of fish is regulated, by elucidating the cytokine network and determining the biological activity of the molecules present. 2) characterisation of the key antimicrobial pathways present, with emphasis on recently discovered fish antibacterial peptide families (defensins and cathelicidins), 3) vaccine development using novel approaches such as expression library immunisation (ELI), and 4) the use of functional-genomics methods (eg gene chips) to give a more holistic approach to study novel immune gene function and how novel vaccines or immune stimulants can induce disease resistance in fish.
Below, staff and students of the The Scottish Fish Immunology Research Centre in June 2009. Left to right: Ayham Alnabulsi, Chris Secombes, Tiehui Wang, Maria Costa, Luca Tacchi, Patricia Diaz-Rosales, Elisa Casadei, Jolene Galbreath, Nor Omaima Harun, Milena Monte, MingXian Chang,
Mansourah Husain, Yolanda Corripio-Miyar, Jun Chen, Jason Holland, Jun Zou, Suman Mitra, Sam Martin and Steve Bird.
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Research Grants
Current "live" research grants in my group include:
2009-2012, NC3R, Development of leucocyte cell lines for immunological research in teleost fish (with Dr Jun Zou, University of Aberdeen).
2009-2012, BBSRC, A systems biology based approach to functionally annotate and analyse the genome of the fish pathogenic oomycete Saprolegnia parasitica (with Dr Pieter van West).
2009-2012, DEFRA, Pathogens in wild fish: understanding the effects of co-infections between native and notifiable pathogens in populations.
2009-2013, EC, Building a biological knowledge-base on fish lifecycles for competitive, sustainable European aquaculture (LIFECYCLE) (with Dr Sam Martin, University of Aberdeen).
2009-2013, EC, Marie Curie training network - Sustainable approaches to reduce oomycete (saprolegnia) infections in aquaculture (SAPRO) (with Dr Pieter van West, University of Aberdeen).
2010-2013, NC3R, Development of in vitro assays to determine vaccine efficacy in fish (with Dr Jun Zou, University of Aberdeen).
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External Responsibilities
Currently I am:
Head of the Scottish Fish Immunology Research Centre (http://www.abdn.ac.uk/sfirc)
Editor of "Fish & Shellfish Immunology"
On the editorial boards of "Molecular Immunology" and "Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology".
Chair of the "Genomics of Marine Organisms" Joint Research Theme within the Scotland wide Marine Pooling initiative (MASTS).
A committee member of the International Society of Aquatic Genomics.
An advisory board member of the US Veterinary Immune Reagents Network.
Previously I was:
Panel chair, Aquaculture grant round, Norwegian Research Council (2009 and 2010).
President of the "International Society of Developmental and Comparative Immunology" (2003-2006).
On the editorial board of "Developmental and Comparative Immunology" (1994-2008).
Member, Marine Sciences Peer Review Committee, NERC (2001-2003).
International review panel member for "Biology and related areas of Biochemistry" for Norway, January 2000.
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Selected Publications
Selected papers from the last few years include:
Ferraresso, F., Kuhl, H., Milan, M., Ritchie, D.W., Secombes, C.J., Reinhardt, R. & Bargelloni, L. (in press). Identification and characterization of a novel immune-type receptor (NITR) gene cluster in the European sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, reveals recurrent gene expansion and diversification by positive selection. Immunogenetics.
Wang, T., Diaz-Rosales, P., Martin, S.A.M & Secombes, C.J. (2010).Cloning of a novel interleukin (IL)-20 like gene in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss gives an insight into the evolution of the IL-10 family. Dev. Comp. Immunol. 34: 158-167.
Casadei, E., Wang, T., Zou, J., González Vecino, J.L., Wadsworth, S. & Secombes, C.J. (2009). Characterization of three novel b-defensin antimicrobial peptides in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Molecular Immunology 46: 3358-3366.
Østergaard, A.E., Martin, S.A.M., Wang, T., Stet, R.J.M. & Secombes, C.J. (2009). Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) possess multiple novel immunoglobulin-like transcripts containing either an ITAM or ITIMs. Dev. Comp. Immunol. 33: 525-532.
Chang, X., Nie, P., Collet, B., Secombes, C.J. & Zou, J. (2009). Identification of an additional two-cysteine containing type I interferon in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss provides evidence of a major gene duplication event within this gene family in teleosts. Immunogenetics 61: 315-325.
Zou, J., Mingxian Chang, Pin Nie & Secombes, C.J. (2009). Origin and evolution of the RIG-I like RNA helicase gene family. BMC Evolutionary Biology 9: 85.
Lorenzen, E., Einer-Jensen, K., Rasmussen, J.S., Kjaer, T.E., Collet, B., Secombes, C.J. & Lorenzen, N. (2009). The protective mechanisms induced by a fish rhabdovirus DNA vaccine depend on temperature. Vaccine 27: 3870-3880.
Wang, T. & Secombes, C.J. (2009). Identification and expression analysis of two fish-specific IL-6 cytokine family members, the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF)-like and M17 genes, in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Molec Immunol. 46: 2290-2298.
Wang, T., Bird, S., Koussounadis, A., Holland, J.W., Carrington, A., Zou, J. & Secombes, C.J. (2009). Identification of a novel IL-1 cytokine family member in teleost fish. J. Immunol. 183: 962-974.
Kono, T., Bird, S., Sonoda, K., Savan, R., Secombes, C.J. & Sakai, M. (2008). Characterization and expression analysis of an interleukin-7 homologue in the Japanese pufferfish, Takifugu rubripes. FEBS J. 275: 1213-1226.
Castro, R., Martin, S.A.M., Bird, S., Lamas, J. & Secombes, C.J. (2008). Characterisation of gamma-interferon responsive promoters in fish. Molecular Immunol. 45: 3454-3462.
Wang, T., Hanington, P.C., Belosevic, M.& Secombes, C.J. (2008). Two macrophage colony-stimulating factor genes exist in fish that differ in gene organisation and are differentially expressed. J. Immunol. 181: 3310-3322.
Secombes, C.J. (2008). Will advances in fish immunology change vaccination strategies? Fish & Shellfish Immunol. 25: 409-416.
Martin, S.A.M., Taggart, J.B., Seear, P., Bron, J.E., Talbot, R., Teale, A.J., Sweeney, G.E, Hoyheim, B., Houlihan, D.F., Tocher, D.R., Zou, J. & Secombes, C.J. (2007). Interferon type I and type II responses in an Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) SHK-1 cell line by the salmon TRAITS/SGP microarray. Physiological Genomics 32: 33-44.
Zou, J., Tafalla, C., Truckle, J. & Secombes, C.J. (2007). Identification of a second group of type I IFNs in fish sheds light on IFN evolution in vertebrates. J. Immunol. 179: 3859-3871.
Wang, T., Holland, J., Bols, N. & Secombes, C.J. (2007). Molecular and functional characterisation of interleukin-15 in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss: A potent inducer of interferon-gamma expression in spleen leucocytes. J. Immunol. 179: 1475-1488.
Hanington, P.C., Wang, T., Secombes, C.J. & Belosevic, M. (2007). Growth factors of lower vertebrates: Characterization of goldfish (Carassius auratus L.) macrophage colony-stimulating factor-1. J. Biol. Chem. 282: 31865-31872.
Martin, S.A.M., Zou, J., Houlihan, D.F. & Secombes, C.J. (2007). Directional responses following recombinant cytokine stimulation of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) RTS-11 macrophage cells as revealed by transcriptome profiling. BMC Genomics 8: 150.
Zou, J., Mercier, C., Koussounadis, A. & Secombes, C. (2007). Discovery of multiple beta-defensin like homologues in teleost fish. Molec. Immunol. 44: 638-647.
Shao, C.-Y., Secombes, C.J. & Porter, A.J. (2007). Rapid isolation of IgNAR variable single-domain antibody fragments from a shark synthetic library. Molecular Immunol. 44: 656-665.
Reddick, J.I., Goostrey, A. & Secombes, C.J. (2006). Cloning of iNOS in the small spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula). Dev. Comp. Immunol. 30: 1009-1022.
Laing, K.J., Zou, J.J., Purcell, M.K., Phillips, R., Secombes, C.J. & Hansen, J.D. (2006). Evolution of the CD4 family: teleost fish possess two divergent forms of CD4 in addition to lymphocyte activation gene-3. J. Immunol. 177: 3939-3951.
Bird, S., Zou, J & Secombes, C. (2006). Advances in fish cytokine biology give clues to the evolution of a complex network. Current Pharmaceutical Design 12: 3051-3069.
Martin, S.A.M., Blaney, S.C., Houlihan, D.F. & Secombes, C.J. (2006). Transcriptome response following administration of a live bacterial vaccine in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Molecular Immunology 43: 1900-1911.
McBeath, A.J.A., Collet, B., Paley, R., Duraffour, S., Aspehaug, V., Biering, E., Secombes, C.J. & Snow, M. (2006). Identification of an interferon antagonist protein encoded by segment 7 of infectious salmon anaemia virus. Virus Res. 115: 176-184.
Chang, C.-I., Zhang, Y.-A., Zou, J., Nie, P. & Secombes, C.J. (2006). Fish cathelicidins: two cathelicidin genes are present in both rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and Atlantic salmon Salmo salar. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 50: 185-195.
Zou, J., Carrington, A., Collet, B., Dijkstra, J.M., Bols, N. & Secombes, C.J. (2005). Identification and bioactivities of interferon gamma in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss: the first Th1 type cytokine characterised functionally in fish. J. Immunol. 175: 2484-2494.
Chang, C.-I., Pleguezuelos, O., Zhang, Y.-A., Zou, J. & Secombes, C.J. (2005). Identification of a novel cathelicidin gene in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. Infect. Immunol. 73: 5053-5064.
Bird, S., Zou, J., Kono, T., Sakai, M., Dijkstra, H. & Secombes, C.J. (2005). Characterisation and expression analysis of an interleukin 2 (IL-2) and IL-21 homologue in the Japanese pufferfish, Fugu rubripes discovered by synteny. Immunogenetics 56: 909-923.
Wang, T., Holland, J., Bols, N. & Secombes, C.J. (2005). Cloning and expression of the first nonmammalian interleukin-11 gene in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. FEBS Journal 272: 1136-1147.
Koussounadis, A.I., Ritchie, D.W., Kemp, G.J.L. & Secombes, C.J. (2004). Analysis of fish IL-1β and derived peptide sequences indicates conserved structures with species-specific IL-1 receptor binding: Implications for pharmacological design. Current Pharmaceutical Design 10: 3857-3871.
Ohta, Y., Landis, E., Boulay, T., Phillips, R.B., Collet, B., Secombes, C.J., Flajnik, M.F. & Hansen, J.D. (2004). Homologs of CD83 from elasmobranch and teleost fish. J. Immunol. 173: 4553-4560.
Zou, J., Bird, S., Truckle, J., Bols, N., Horne, M. & Secombes, C.J. (2004). Identification and expression analysis of an IL-18 homologue and its alternatively spliced form in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss. Eur. J. Biochem. 271: 1913-1923.
Laing, K.J. & Secombes, C.J. (2004). Trout CC chemokines: comparison of their sequences and expression patterns. Molec. Immunol. 41: 793-808.
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