Background:

SDA., B.Sc., Ph.D., F.L.S., F.I.Biol.

Research Interests:

Transgenically growth enhanced tilapia (right) with controls (left), reared in parallel culture conditions.

My research group brings together interests in two distinct biological areas.

1. Transgenic fish. We work mainly with tilapia and use transgenesis as a means of studying gene regulation, as a way of improving tilapia for aquaculture use, especially in the developing world, and as a method of producing human pharmaceutical proteins (clotting factor VII, for example) in fish.

   The introduction of novel genes into fish has been ongoing in my research group for about 15 years, originally with salmonids, but now mainly with tilapia. We are currently producing lines of growth enhanced tilapia which are transgenic solely with respect to DNA sequences of tilapia origin, so we have rearranged the genome of Oreochromis niloticus rather than introduced something completely novel to it.

   The production of human factor VII in tilapia fish is the basis of a collaboration with a U.S. company Aquagene, based in Florida, and is an attempt to produce purified factor VII protein more cheaply for future clinical use.

2. Molecular ecology. This aspect of our interests involves chiefly the use of DNA microsatellite sequences and mitochondrial DNA sequences to address questions in population ecology. Present work concentrates on Atlantic salmon, Scimitar horned oryx, and marine crustaceans. I also have an interest in rapid speciation in African fish species.

   Much of our work is collaborative through involvement in joint grants and joint projects with colleagues with expertise in ecology and evolution.

   I am also a past trustee of Marwell Zoological Park, and have a continuing strong interest in biodiversity conservation, and conservation genetics.

   Some recent relevant publications:

   Maclean, N., Rahman, M.A., Sohm, F., Hwang, G-L., Iyengar, A., Smith, A., Ayad, H. and Farahmand, H. (2002). Transgenic tilapia and the tilapia genome. Gene. 295, 265-277.

   Brooks, S., Clark, G.T., Wright, S.M., Truman, R.J., Postle, A.D., Cossins, A.R. and Maclean, N. (2002) Spectrometric analysis of lipid restructuring in carp during cold acclimation. J. Exp. Biology. 205, 3989-3997.

   Farahmand, H., Rahman, M.A., Sohm, F., Hwang, G-L. and Maclean, N. (2003) Isolation and expression of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Serine 8 type GnRH coding and regulatory sequences. Gene. 304, 97-106.

   Hwang, G-L., Rahman, M.A., Razak, S.A., Sohm, F., Farahmand, H., Smith, A., Brooks, C. and Maclean, N., (2003). Isolation and characterisation of tilapia -actin promoter and comparison of its activity with carp -actin promoter. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1625, 11-18.

   Maclean, N. (2003). Genetically modified fish and their effects on food quality and human health nutrition. In: Trends in Food Science & Technology, 14, 242-252.

   Maggioni, R., Rogers, A. and Maclean, N. (2003) Population Genetics of Litopenaeus Schmitti (Decapoda: Penalidae) from the Brazilian coast as revealed by six polymorphic microsatellite loci. Molecular Ecology, 12, 3213-7.

   Allender, C.J. Seehausen. O., Knight, M.E., Turner, G.T. and Maclean, N. (2003). Divergent selection during speciation of Lake Malawi cichlid fishes inferred from parallel radiations in nuptial coloration. Proceedings of Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 100, 14074-14079.
    
   Harper, G.L., Maclean, N., and Goulson, D. (2003) Microsatellite variation among and within UK populations of the Adonis blue butterfly (Polyommatus bellargus). Molecular Ecology, 12, 3349-57.
    
   G. Lushai, D.A.S. Smith, I.J. Gordon, D. Goulson, J. A. Allen and N. Maclean. (2003) Incomplete sexual isolation in sympatry between subspecies of the butterfly Danaus chrysippus (L.) and the creation of a hybrid zone. Heredity 90: 236-246
    
   Dinia, F.M., Maclean, N., Paterson, I.G., Bentzen, P. (2004). Polymorphic tetranucleotide microsatellite markers in the Caribbean spiny libster, Panulirus argus. Molecular Ecology Notes, 4, 327-329.

   Hwang, G., Muller, F., Rahman, M.A., Williams, D.W., Murdock, P.J., Pasi, K.J., Goldspink, G., Farahmand, H., Maclean, N. (2004). Fish as bioreactors: transgene expression of human coagulation factor VII in fish embryos. Marine Biotechnology, 6, 485-492.

   Davolos, D., Maclean, N. (2005). Mitochondrial COI-NC-COII sequences in talitrid amphipods (Crustacea). Heredity, 94, 81-86.

   Caelers, A., Maclean, N., Hwang, G., Eppler, E., Reinecke, M. (2005). Expression of endogenous and exogenous growth hormone (GH) messenger (m) RNA in a GH-transgenic tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Transgenic Research, 14, 95-104.

   Iyengar, A., Babu, V.N., Hedges, S., Venkataraman, A.B., Maclean, N., Morin, P.A. (2005). Phylogeographjy, genetic structure, and diversity in the dhole (Cuon alpinus). Molecular Ecology, 14, 2281-97.

   Diniz, F.M., Maclean, N., Ogawa, M., Cintra, I.H.A., Bentzen, P. (2005). The hypervariable domain of the mitochondrial control region in Atlantic spiny lobsters and its potential as a marker for investigating phylogeographical structuring. Marine Biotechnology, (in press).

   Diniz, F.M., Maclean, N., Ogawa, M., Paterson, I.G., Bentzwn, P. (2005). Microsatellites in the overexploited spiny lobster, Panulirus argus: isolation, characterization of loci and potential for intraspectific variability studies. Conservation Genetics, (in press).

   Pannacciulli, F.G., Piyapattanakorn, S., Bishop, J.D.D., Hawkins, S.J., Maclean, N. (2005). Isolation of highly polymorphic microsatellite markers from the intertidal barnacle Chthamalus montagui Southward. Molecular Ecology Notes, (in press)

   Updated August 2005