James Leigh

Contact

• workRoom B13 SVMS
  Sutton Bonington Campus
  Sutton Bonington
  Leicestershire
  LE12 5RD
  UK
• work0115 951 6631
• james.leigh@nottingham.ac.uk

Biography

Professor Leigh has been investigating streptococci of significance to diseases of livestock species since 1987. This work, originally conducted at IAH-Compton was relocated to University of Oxford in 2005 before finally arriving at the newly formed School of Veterinary Medicine & Science at the University of Nottingham in 2007. Professor Leigh's research interests range from investigation of bacterial epidemiology and the development / translation of molecular techniques for bacterial typing to investigation of host pathogen interactions involved in bacterial pathogenesis and studies on protein structure in relation to function. Professor Leigh's research has been strategically focused at the control of disease and has attracted considerable commercial collaboration.

Expertise Summary

Professor Leigh is responsible for the initiation, management and exploitation of research on the molecular basis of infectious disease and host pathogen interaction and pathogen persistence.

Research Summary

Professor Leigh's current research activity is focused on functional genomics of bacteria in relation to infectious disease. This is particularly aimed at diseases caused by Streptococci. With… read more

Recent Publications

• CHARBONNEAU ARL, FORMAN OP, CAIN AK, NEWLAND G, ROBINSON C, BOURSNELL M, PARKHILL J, LEIGH JA, MASKELL DJ and WALLER AS, 2017. Defining the ABC of gene essentiality in streptococci. BMC genomics. 18(1), 426
• GÜNTHER, CZABANSKA A, BAUER I, LEIGH J A and HOLST O, 2016. Streptococcus uberis strains isolated from the bovine mammary gland evade immune recognition by mammary epithelial cells, but not of macrophages. BMC Veterinary Research. 47,
• DAVIES PL, LEIGH JA, BRADLEY AJ, ARCHER SC and EMES RD, 2016. Molecular Epidemiology of Streptococcus uberis clinical Mastitis in Dairy Herds: Strain Heterogeneity and Transmission J Clin Micro. 54, 68-74
• RAUCH C, CHERKAOUI M, EGAN S and LEIGH J, 2016. The bio-physics of condensation of divalent cations into the bacterial wall has implications for growth of Gram-positive bacteria. Biochimica et biophysica acta. 1859(2), 282-288

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Current Research

Professor Leigh's current research activity is focused on functional genomics of bacteria in relation to infectious disease. This is particularly aimed at diseases caused by Streptococci. With strategic aims of identification of coding and non-coding sequences associated with disease, their functional role in vivo and the consequence of sequence variation in the bacterial population. To aid with the initial stages (gene identification) his research group have developed a simple and rapid genome wide mutation mapping system (PIMMS) that produces similar outputs to Tradis and Tnseq. The output is of value to the pharmaceutical industry in the identification of sub-units for vaccines, targets for new therapies, gene targets for rational attenuation. For academia, it identifies networks of genes (products) for further definition of their role and mechanistic analysis in vitro. He currently holds patents on the exploitation of gene products as vaccines against streptococcal infection and is actively pursuing the development of such products in association with the pharmaceutical industry.

Professor Leigh has an active interest in the epidemiology of bacterial infection and in particular the role of asymptomatic carriage in maintenance and dynamic genetic variation of pathogen populations.

• CHARBONNEAU ARL, FORMAN OP, CAIN AK, NEWLAND G, ROBINSON C, BOURSNELL M, PARKHILL J, LEIGH JA, MASKELL DJ and WALLER AS, 2017. Defining the ABC of gene essentiality in streptococci. BMC genomics. 18(1), 426
• GÜNTHER, CZABANSKA A, BAUER I, LEIGH J A and HOLST O, 2016. Streptococcus uberis strains isolated from the bovine mammary gland evade immune recognition by mammary epithelial cells, but not of macrophages. BMC Veterinary Research. 47,
• DAVIES PL, LEIGH JA, BRADLEY AJ, ARCHER SC and EMES RD, 2016. Molecular Epidemiology of Streptococcus uberis clinical Mastitis in Dairy Herds: Strain Heterogeneity and Transmission J Clin Micro. 54, 68-74
• RAUCH C, CHERKAOUI M, EGAN S and LEIGH J, 2016. The bio-physics of condensation of divalent cations into the bacterial wall has implications for growth of Gram-positive bacteria. Biochimica et biophysica acta. 1859(2), 282-288
• BLANCHARD AM, EGAN SA, EMES RD, WARRY A and LEIGH JA, 2016. PIMMS (Pragmatic Insertional Mutation Mapping System) Laboratory Methodology a Readily Accessible Tool for Identification of Essential Genes in Streptococcus. Frontiers in microbiology. 7, 1645
• RAUCH C and LEIGH J, 2015. Theoretical evaluation of wall teichoic acids in the cavitation-mediated pores formation in Gram-positive bacteria subjected to an electric field. Biochimica et biophysica acta. 1850, 595-601
• BLANCHARD AM, LEIGH JA, EGAN SA and EMES RD, 2015. Transposon insertion mapping with PIMMS - Pragmatic Insertional Mutation Mapping System. Frontiers in genetics. 6, 139
• HOSSAIN M, EGAN SA, COFFEY T, WARD PN, WILSON R, LEIGH JA and EMES RD, 2015. Virulence related sequences; insights provided by comparative genomics of Streptococcus uberis of differing virulence. BMC genomics. 16, 334
• PECKHAM RK, BRILL R, FOSTER DS, BOWEN AL, LEIGH JA, COFFEY TJ and FLYNN RJ, 2014. Two distinct populations of bovine IL-17⁺ T-cells can be induced and WC1⁺IL-17⁺γδ T-cells are effective killers of protozoan parasites. Scientific reports. 4, 5431
• RUSSELL, C.D., WIDDISON, S., LEIGH, J.A. and COFFEY, T.J., 2012. Identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the bovine Toll-like receptor 1 gene and association with health traits in cattle Veterinary Research. 43(1), 17
• EGAN, S.A., WARD, P.N., WATSON, M., FIELD, T.R. and LEIGH, J.A., 2012. Vru (Sub0144) controls expression of proven and putative virulence determinants and alters the ability of Streptococcus uberis to cause disease in dairy cattle Microbiology. 158(6), 1581-1592
• VERNER-JEFFREYS DW, BAKER-AUSTIN C, POND MJ, RIMMER GSE, KERR R, STONE D, GRIFFIN R, WHITE P, STINTON N, DENHAM K, LEIGH J, JONES N, LONGSHAW M and FEIST SW, 2012. Zoonotic disease pathogens in fish used for pedicure. Emerging infectious diseases. 18(6), 1006-8
• CZABAŃSKA A, NEIWERT O, LINDNER B, LEIGH J, HOLST O and DUDA KA, 2012. Structural analysis of the lipoteichoic acids isolated from bovine mastitis Streptococcus uberis 233, Streptococcus dysgalactiae 2023 and Streptococcus agalactiae 0250. Carbohydrate research. 361, 200-5
• SCHUKKEN, YNTE H, GÜNTHER, J, FITZPATRICK, J, FONTAINE, M C, GOETZE, L, HOLST, O, LEIGH, J, PETZL, W, SCHUBERTH, H-J, SIPKA, A, SMITH, D G E, QUESNELL, R, WATTS, J, YANCEY, R, ZERBE, H and GURJAR, A, 2011. Host-response patterns of intramammary infections in dairy cows. Veterinary immunology and immunopathology.
• CROWLEY, R C, LEIGH, J A, WARD, P N, LAPPIN-SCOTT, H M and BOWLER, L D, 2010. Differential protein expression between planktonic and biofilm growth of Streptococcus uberis. Applied and environmental microbiology.
• LEIGH JA, EGAN SA, WARD PN, FIELD TR and COFFEY TJ, 2010. Sortase anchored proteins of Streptococcus uberis play major roles in the pathogenesis of bovine mastitis in dairy cattle. Veterinary research. 41(5), 63
• EGAN, S.A., KURIAN, D., WARD, P.N., HUNT, L. and LEIGH, J.A., 2010. Identification of sortase A (SrtA) substrates in Streptococcus uberis: evidence for an additional hexapeptide (LPXXXD) sorting motif Journal of Proteome Research. 9(2), 1088-1095
• HOLDEN, M.T.G., HAUSER, H., SANDERS, M., NGO, T.H., CHEREVACH, I., CRONIN, A., GOODHEAD, I., MUNGALL, K., QUAIL, M.A., PRICE, C., RABBINOWITSCH, E., SHARP, S., CROUCHER, N.J. and CHIEU, T.B., 2009. Rapid evolution of virulence and drug resistance in the emerging zoonotic pathogen Streptococcus suis PLoS ONE. 4(7), e6072
• DENHAM, E L, WARD, P N and LEIGH, J A, 2009. In the absence of Lgt, lipoproteins are shed from Streptococcus uberis independently of Lsp. Microbiology. 155(Pt 1), 134-41
• WARD, P.N., HOLDEN, M.T.G., LEIGH, J.A., LENNARD, N, BIGNELL, A., BARRON, A., CLARK, L., QUAIL, M.A., WOODWARD, J., BARRELL, B.G., EGAN, S.A., FIELD, T.R., MASKELL, D., KEHOE, M., DOWSON, C.G., CHANTER, N., WHATMORE, A.M., BENTLEY, S.D. and PARKHILL, J., 2009. Evidence for niche adaptation in the genome of the bovine pathogen Streptococcus uberis. BMC Genomics. 10(1), 54
• TOMITA, TAKEHIRO, MEEHAN, BRIAN, WONGKATTIYA, NALIN, MALMO, JAKOB, PULLINGER, GILLIAN, LEIGH, JAMES and DEIGHTON, MARGARET, 2008. Identification of Streptococcus uberis multilocus sequence types highly associated with mastitis. Applied and environmental microbiology. 74(1), 114-24
• WARD, P.N., ABU-MEDIAN, A.-B.A.K. and LEIGH, J.A., 2008. Structural consideration of the formation of the activation complex between the staphylokinase-like streptococcal plasminogen activator PadA and bovine plasminogen Journal Molecular Biology. 381(3), 734-747
• DENHAM, E.L., WARD, P.N. and LEIGH, J.A., 2008. Lipoprotein signal peptides are processed by Lsp and Eep of Streptococcus uberis. Journal of Bacteriology. 190(13), 4641-7
• PULLINGER, GILLIAN D, COFFEY, TRACEY J, MAIDEN, MARTIN C and LEIGH, JAMES A, 2007. Multilocus-sequence typing analysis reveals similar populations of Streptococcus uberis are responsible for bovine intramammary infections of short and long duration. Veterinary Microbiology. 119(2-4), 194-204
• WILSON, STEPHEN, NORTON, PAM, LEIGH, JAMES and BAILEY, MICHAEL, 2007. Early, microbially driven follicular reactions in the neonatal piglet do not contribute to expansion of the immunoglobulin heavy chain V-D-J repertoire. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology. 118(1-2), 105-12
• WILSON, STEPHEN M, NORTON, PAM, HAVERSON, KARIN, LEIGH, JAMES and BAILEY, MICHAEL, 2007. Interactions between Streptococcus suis serotype 2 and cells of the myeloid lineage in the palatine tonsil of the pig. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology. 117(1-2), 116-23
• LOPEZ-BENAVIDES, M G, WILLIAMSON, J H, PULLINGER, G D, LACY-HULBERT, S J, CURSONS, R T and LEIGH, J A, 2007. Field observations on the variation of Streptococcus uberis populations in a pasture-based dairy farm. Journal of dairy science. 90(12), 5558-66
• PULLINGER, GILLIAN D, LÓPEZ-BENAVIDES, MARIO, COFFEY, TRACEY J, WILLIAMSON, JOHN H, CURSONS, RAY T, SUMMERS, EMMA, LACY-HULBERT, JANE, MAIDEN, MARTIN C and LEIGH, JAMES A, 2006. Application of Streptococcus uberis multilocus sequence typing: analysis of the population structure detected among environmental and bovine isolates from New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 72(2), 1429-36
• COFFEY, TRACEY J, PULLINGER, GILLIAN D, URWIN, RACHEL, JOLLEY, KEITH A, WILSON, STEPHEN M, MAIDEN, MARTIN C and LEIGH, JAMES A, 2006. First insights into the evolution of Streptococcus uberis: a multilocus sequence typing scheme that enables investigation of its population biology. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 72(2), 1420-8
• MCVEY, D SCOTT, SHI, JISHU, LEIGH, JAMES A, ROSEY, EVERETT L, WARD, PHILIP N, FIELD, TERENCE R and YANCEY, ROBERT J, 2005. Identification of multiple linear epitopes of the plasminogen activator A (PauA) of Streptococcus uberis with murine monoclonal antibodies. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology. 104(3-4), 155-62
• WILSON, STEPHEN, NORTON, PAM, HAVERSON, KARIN, LEIGH, JAMES and BAILEY, MICHAEL, 2005. Development of the palatine tonsil in conventional and germ-free piglets. Developmental and Comparative Immunology. 29(11), 977-87
• WARD, P.N., FIELD, T.R, ROSEY, E.L., ABU-MEDIAN, A-B., LINCOLN, R.A. and LEIGH, J.A., 2004. Complex interactions between bovine plasminogen and streptococcal plasminogen activator PauA Journal of Molecular Biology. 342(4), 1101-1114
• HILLERTON, J E, LEIGH, J A, WARD, P N and COFFEY, T J, 2004. Streptococcus agalactiae infection in dairy cows. Veterinary Record. 154(21), 671-2
• JONES, C L, MONAGHAN, P, FIELD, T R, SMITH, A J, WARD, P N and LEIGH, J A, 2004. Localization of MtuA, an LraI homologue in Streptococcus uberis. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 97(1), 149-57
• WARD, PHILIP N and LEIGH, JAMES A, 2004. Genetic analysis of Streptococcus uberis plasminogen activators. The Indian journal of medical research. 119 Suppl, 136-40
• LEIGH, JAMES A, WARD, PHILIP N and FIELD, TERRENCE R, 2004. The exploitation of the genome in the search for determinants of virulence in Streptococcus uberis. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology. 100(3-4), 145-9
• BISHARAT, NAIEL, CROOK, DERRICK W, LEIGH, JAMES, HARDING, ROSALIND M, WARD, PHIL N, COFFEY, TRACEY J, MAIDEN, MARTIN C, PETO, TIM and JONES, NICOLA, 2004. Hyperinvasive neonatal group B streptococcus has arisen from a bovine ancestor. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 42(5), 2161-7
• SMITH, A.J., WARD, P.N., FIELD, T.R., JONES, C.L., LINCOLN, R.A. and LEIGH, J.A., 2003. MtuA, a lipoprotein receptor antigen from Streptococcus uberis, is responsible for acquisition of manganese during growth in milk and is essential for infection of the lactating bovine mammary gland Infection and Immunity. 71(9), 4842-4849
• FIELD, T.R., WARD, P.N., PEDERSEN, L.H. and LEIGH, J.A., 2003. The hyaluronic acid capsule of Streptococcus uberis is not required for the development of infection and clinical mastitis Infection and Immunity. 71(1), 132-139
• WARD, PHILIP N, FIELD, TERENCE R, RAPIER, CHRISTOPHER D and LEIGH, JAMES A, 2003. The activation of bovine plasminogen by PauA is not required for virulence of Streptococcus uberis. Infection and Immunity. 71(12), 7193-6
• TAYLOR, D L, WARD, P N, RAPIER, C D, LEIGH, J A and BOWLER, L D, 2003. Identification of a differentially expressed oligopeptide binding protein (OppA2) in Streptococcus uberis by representational difference analysis of cDNA. Journal of Bacteriology. 185(17), 5210-9
• KING, SAMANTHA J, LEIGH, JAMES A, HEATH, PETER J, LUQUE, INMACULADA, TARRADAS, CARMEN, DOWSON, CHRISTOPHER G and WHATMORE, ADRIAN M, 2002. Development of a multilocus sequence typing scheme for the pig pathogen Streptococcus suis: identification of virulent clones and potential capsular serotype exchange. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 40(10), 3671-80
• WARD, PHILIP N and LEIGH, JAMES A, 2002. Characterization of PauB, a novel broad-spectrum plasminogen activator from Streptococcus uberis. Journal of Bacteriology. 184(1), 119-25
• SMITH, A J, KITT, A J, WARD, P N and LEIGH, J A, 2002. Isolation and characterization of a mutant strain of Streptococcus uberis, which fails to utilize a plasmin derived beta-casein peptide for the acquisition of methionine. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 93(4), 631-9
• LEIGH, J A, 2002. Immunisation of dairy cattle with recombinant Streptococcus uberis GapC or a chimeric CAMP antigen confers protection against heterologous bacterial challenge. M.C. Fontaine et al. [Vaccine 20 (2002) 2278-2286]. Vaccine. 20(25-26), 3047-8
• WARD, P.N., FIELD, T.R., DITCHAM, W.G., MAGUIN, E. and LEIGH, J.A., 2001. Identification and disruption of two discrete loci encoding hyaluronic acid capsule biosynthesis genes hasA, hasB, and hasC in Streptococcus uberis Infection and Immunity. 69(1), 392-399
• ALLEN, A G, BOLITHO, S, LINDSAY, H, KHAN, S, BRYANT, C, NORTON, P, WARD, P, LEIGH, J, MORGAN, J, RICHES, H, EASTTY, S and MASKELL, D, 2001. Generation and characterization of a defined mutant of Streptococcus suis lacking suilysin. Infection and Immunity. 69(4), 2732-5
• LEIGH, J A, 2000. Vaccines against bovine mastitis due to Streptococcus uberis current status and future prospects. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 480, 307-11
• ROSEY,, LINCOLN,, WARD,, YANCEY, and LEIGH,, 1999. Corrigendum to: "PauA: a novel plasminogen activator from streptococcus uberis". FEMS Microbiology Letters. 180(2), 353
• LEIGH, J A, 1999. Streptococcus uberis: a permanent barrier to the control of bovine mastitis? The Veterinary Journal. 157(3), 225-38
• NORTON, P M, ROLPH, C, WARD, P N, BENTLEY, R W and LEIGH, J A, 1999. Epithelial invasion and cell lysis by virulent strains of Streptococcus suis is enhanced by the presence of suilysin. FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. 26(1), 25-35
• LEIGH, J A, FINCH, J M, FIELD, T R, REAL, N C, WINTER, A, WALTON, A W and HODGKINSON, S M, 1999. Vaccination with the plasminogen activator from Streptococcus uberis induces an inhibitory response and protects against experimental infection in the dairy cow. Vaccine. 17(7-8), 851-7
• ROSEY, E L, LINCOLN, R A, WARD, P N, YANCEY, R J and LEIGH, J A, 1999. PauA: a novel plasminogen activator from Streptococcus uberis. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 178(1), 27-33
• LEIGH, J A, HODGKINSON, S M and LINCOLN, R A, 1998. The interaction of Streptococcus dysgalactiae with plasmin and plasminogen. Veterinary Microbiology. 61(1-2), 121-35
• LINCOLN, R A and LEIGH, J A, 1998. Characterization of the interaction of bovine plasmin with Streptococcus uberis. Journal of Applied Microbiology. 84(6), 1104-10
• FIELD, T R, NORTON, P M, BLAND, A P and LEIGH, J A, 1997. Changes in bovine neutrophils induced by the capsule of Streptococcus uberis. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 418, 957-60
• LINCOLN, R A and LEIGH, J A, 1997. Characterization of a novel plasminogen activator from Streptococcus uberis. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 418, 643-5
• LEIGH, J A and LINCOLN, R A, 1997. Streptococcus uberis acquires plasmin activity following growth in the presence of bovine plasminogen through the action of its specific plasminogen activator. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 154(1), 123-9
• NORTON, P M and LEIGH, J A, 1997. Virulence mechanisms of Streptococcus suis. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 418, 823-5
• FINCH, J M, WINTER, A, WALTON, A W and LEIGH, J A, 1997. Further studies on the efficacy of a live vaccine against mastitis caused by Streptococcus uberis. Vaccine. 15(10), 1138-43
• KITT, A J and LEIGH, J A, 1997. The auxotrophic nature of Streptococcus uberis. The acquisition of essential acids from plasmin derived casein peptides. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 418, 647-50
• DITCHAM, W G, LEIGH, J A, BLAND, A P and HILL, A W, 1996. Adhesion of Streptococcus uberis to monolayers of cultured epithelial cells derived from the bovine mammary gland. FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. 14(2-3), 145-50
• BENTLEY, R W and LEIGH, J A, 1995. Determination of 16S ribosomal RNA gene copy number in Streptococcus uberis, S. agalactiae, S. dysgalactiae and S. parauberis. FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. 12(1), 1-7
• BENTLEY, R W and LEIGH, J A, 1995. Development of PCR-based hybridization protocol for identification of streptococcal species. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 33(5), 1296-301
• LEIGH, J A and FIELD, T R, 1994. Streptococcus uberis resists the bactericidal action of bovine neutrophils despite the presence of bound immunoglobulin. Infection and Immunity. 62(5), 1854-9
• LEIGH, J A, 1994. Purification of a plasminogen activator from Streptococcus uberis. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 118(1-2), 153-8
• FINCH, J M, HILL, A W, FIELD, T R and LEIGH, J A, 1994. Local vaccination with killed Streptococcus uberis protects the bovine mammary gland against experimental intramammary challenge with the homologous strain. Infection and Immunity. 62(9), 3599-603
• HILL, A W, FINCH, J M, FIELD, T R and LEIGH, J A, 1994. Immune modification of the pathogenesis of Streptococcus uberis mastitis in the dairy cow. FEMS Immunology and Medical Microbiology. 8(2), 109-17
• LEIGH, J A, 1993. Activation of bovine plasminogen by Streptococcus uberis. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 114(1), 67-71
• HARLAND, N M, LEIGH, J A and COLLINS, M D, 1993. Development of gene probes for the specific identification of Streptococcus uberis and Streptococcus parauberis based upon large subunit rRNA gene sequences. Journal of Applied Bacteriology. 74(5), 526-31
• BENTLEY, R W, LEIGH, J A and COLLINS, M D, 1993. Development and use of species-specific oligonucleotide probes for differentiation of Streptococcus uberis and Streptococcus parauberis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 31(1), 57-60
• BENTLEY, R W, LEIGH, J A and COLLINS, M D, 1991. Intrageneric structure of Streptococcus based on comparative analysis of small-subunit rRNA sequences. International journal of systematic bacteriology. 41(4), 487-94
• LEIGH, J A and FIELD, T R, 1991. Killing of Streptococcus uberis by bovine neutrophils following growth in chemically defined media. Veterinary research communications. 15(1), 1-6
• LEIGH, J A, FIELD, T R and WILLIAMS, M R, 1990. Two strains of Streptococcus uberis, of differing ability to cause clinical mastitis, differ in their ability to resist some host defence factors. Research in Veterinary Science. 49(1), 85-7
• HILL, A W and LEIGH, J A, 1989. DNA fingerprinting of Streptococcus uberis: a useful tool for epidemiology of bovine mastitis. Epidemiology and Infection. 103(1), 165-71