Institute of Aquaculture

Research Interests

Ecotoxicology. Understanding the mechanisms of susceptibility and resistance to environmental pollution in fish, with the aim of assessing pollutant effects on contaminated ecosystems, and developing biomarkers for environmental monitoring.

Fish Nutrition. Regulation of energy and lipid homeostasis in farmed fish, particularly with regard to the formulation of aquaculture diets using alternative feedstuffs.

Genome structure and evolution. The distribution and function of mobile genetic elements in fish genomes and their involvement in fish genome evolution and evolutionary adaptation.

Teaching

Module co-ordinator for Aquatic Ecotoxicology (AQUPTX), MSc Aquaculture/Aquatic Pathobiology/Aquatic Veterinary Studies.

Water Quality in Aquaculture (AQUPF2), MSc Aquaculture/Aquatic Pathobiology/Aquatic Veterinary Studies.

Molecular Systematics and Taxonomy (AQU7ST), BSc Marine biology.

Selected Recent Publications

Boukouvala, E., Antonopoulou, E., Favre-Krey, L., Diez , A., Bautista, J. M., Leaver, M.J., Tocher, D.R., and Krey, G  (2005) Molecular characterization of three peroxisome proliferator -activated receptors from the marine fish sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), Lipids 39, 1085-1092 (IF2008, 1.888)

Leaver, M. J., Boukouvala, E., Antonopoulou, E., Diez, A., Favre-Krey, L., Ezaz, M.T., Bautista, J.M., Tocher, D.R.,  and Krey, G (2005) Three peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) isotypes from each of two species of marine fish. Endocrinology 146, 3150-3162 (IF2008, 4.945)

Kennedy SR, Leaver MJ, Campbell PJ, Zheng XZ, Dick JR, Tocher DR. (2006) Influence of dietary oil content and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on lipid metabolism enzyme activities and gene expression in tissues of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Lipids 41, 423-436. (IF2008, 1.888)

Leaver, M. J., Tocher, D.R., Obach, A., Jensen, L., Henderson, R.J., Porter, A.R.,  and Krey, G. (2006) Effect of dietary conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on lipid composition, metabolism and gene expression in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) tissues. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 145, 258-267 (IF2008, 1.709)

Diez, A., Menoyo, D., Pérez-Benavente, S., Calduch-Giner, J.A., Vega-Rubin de Celis, S.,  Obach, A., Favre-Krey, L., Boukouvala, E., Leaver, M..J., Tocher, D.R., Pérez-Sanchez, J., Krey, G., Bautista, J.M. (2007) Conjugated linoleic acid affects lipid composition, metabolism and gene expression in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L). Journal of Nutrition 137, 1363-1369 (IF2008, 3.647)

Leaver, M.J., Tariq Ezaz, M., Fontagne, S., Tocher, D.R., Boukouvala, E., Krey, G. (2007) Multiple peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β subtypes from Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Journal of Molecular Endocrinology 38, 391-400 (IF2008, 3.225)

Leaver, M.J., Wright, J. Hodgson, P., Boukouvala, E., Geprge S. G. (2008) Piscine UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1B. Aquatic Toxicology 84, 356-365 (IF2008, 3.517)

Minghetti, M., Leaver, M.J., Carpene, E,., George, S. G. (2008) Copper transporter 1, metallothionein and glutathione reductase genes are differentially expressed in tissues of sea bream (Sparus aurata) after exposure to dietary or waterborne copper. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology C 147, 450-459 (IF2008, 2.530)

Leaver MJ, Villeneuve LA, Obach A, Jensen L, Bron JE, Tocher DR, Taggart JB. (2008) Functional genomics reveals increases in cholesterol biosynthetic genes and highly unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis after dietary substitution of fish oil with vegetable oils in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). BMC Genomics 9, 299 (IF2008, 3.926)

Leaver, M. J., Bautista, J. M., Bjornsson, B. T., Jonsson, E., Krey, G., Tocher, D. R., Torstensen, B. E. (2008) Towards fish lipid nutrigenomics: Current state and prospects for finfish aquaculture. Reviews in Fisheries Science 16, 71-92 (IF2008, 2.375)

Clark KJ, Carlson DF, Leaver MJ, Foster LK, Fahrenkrug SC. (2009) Passport, a native Tc1 transposon from flatfish, is functionally active in vertebrate cells. Nucleic Acids Research 37, 1239-1247. (IF2008, 6.878)

Morais, S., Monroig, O., Zheng, X., Leaver, M.J., Tocher, D.R. (2009) Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acid Synthesis in Atlantic Salmon: Characterisation of ELOVL5- and ELOVL2-like Elongases. Marine Biotechnology 11, 627-639. (IF2008, 2.544)

Zheng, X, Leaver, M.J., Tocher D.R. (2009) Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid synthesis in fish: Comparative analysis of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) Δ6 fatty acyl desaturase gene promoters. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B, in press. (IF2008, 1.468)

Recent Research Grants

As Principal Invesitgator

‘Effects of chemical pollutants on energy homeostasis in fish: Interaction with peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors and glucocorticoid receptors’. £52,202 from NERC, Oct 2007- Oct 2010. 

‘Salmonpharm’ Ecotoxicogenomic study of the effect of human pharmaceuticals on salmon parr. £103,344. EU th Framework, . Jan 2007-Dec 2008

Genomic studies of salmon lipid metabolism. £4,042. OECD, April 2007-July 2007.

As Co-Investigator

‘Transcriptional control of polyunsaturated fatty acid synthesis in fish’ £280,241. BBSRC, June 2005- June 2008

‘Identifying and defining the bases of individual and population susceptibility and adaptation to environmental pollutants in fish: An integrated ‘omic’ approach’ £388,066. NERC, Jan 2005- Dec 2008.