Chris in the John Innes greenhouse, June 2009.
Chris hiking in the English Lake District in the spring of 1999.
Chris with Rick Dixon on a Noble Foundation farm in the mid-1990s.

OBITUARIES

Chris Lamb

Chris Lamb, director of the John Innes Centre and one of the preeminent plant scientists of his generation, passed away unexpectedly at his home near Norwich, UK, on August 21.

Chris took a first class honors degree in natural sciences and biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, UK, followed by a PhD in plant biochemistry in Philip Rubery’s lab at Cambridge, where he studied mechanisms underlying the wound induction of phenylpropanoid metabolism in potato. In 1975 he joined the Botany School at the University of Oxford as a postdoctoral fellow in Vernon Butt’s laboratory. Chris was on a mission to take plant biochemistry into new directions by employing the emerging tools of molecular biology, and he teamed up with Rick Dixon to utilize elicitor-treated bean cell suspension culture to address the question of whether induced responses of plant cells to pathogen signals resulted from the activation of specific sets of genes. At that time there were no molecular probes available, and complex and painstaking methods such as density labeling had to be used to identify and separate the newly formed proteins in the cell from those existing prior to induction of the defense response. Chris and Rick’s first paper together was published in 1978 (1), to be followed over the next 25 years by over 100 collaborative publications, many in top international journals.

After Rick moved to the University of London in 1978, there were constant visits between Oxford (where Chris was now a departmental demonstrator with his own laboratory) and London. They followed a similar pattern—long lunches in a local pub, where strategy was decided over several beers; hours chain-smoking through the design of the next set of experiments; the departure of Chris and his students back to Oxford with radiolabeled plant cell culture samples in large boxes of dry ice; and dinners in Queens College Oxford, where Chris was always a convivial host.

During this period, Chris and his student, Mike Lawton, visited Klaus Hahlbrock’s lab at the University of Freiburg, learning techniques for in vitro translation of RNA and applying it to the bean cell culture system. Klaus was an adviser (nonresident fellow) for the internationally renowned Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. Although primarily a biomedical research institute, it was contemplating the establishment of a new plant biology laboratory, and Klaus recognized Chris’s leadership potential and recommended him for the founding director position. This was remarkable considering that Chris had not yet held a permanent faculty position, but history was to prove Klaus’s hunch as correct.

Chris moved his family to Southern California in 1983. During his tenure as director of the Plant Biology Laboratory at Salk, his lab published a series of highly cited papers in the area of plant–pathogen interactions (the top five papers being cited 1,409; 1,128; 884; 639; and 424 times—remarkable by the standards of any field, but off-scale in a small field such as plant pathology), thereby establishing him as a leader in the application of modern molecular and cellular biology to the study of plants.

After demonstrating how regulatory regions in a number of plant defense genes are responsible for coordinated gene activation during induced chemical defenses to pathogen attack, Chris and his colleagues went on to show that an ultra-fast hardening of plant cell walls, via the cross-linking of cell wall proteins, creates a barrier that is the first line of defense against a fungal pathogen. Seeking a trigger for this cross-linking, Chris’s team found that hydrogen peroxide was involved. They showed that hydrogen peroxide was not simply a cross-linking or potentially antimicrobial agent; rather, it also acted as a signal, not only for local disease resistance in the infected area, but also at a distance from the infection site in the non-infected leaves of the plant (2). So-called micro oxidative bursts of hydrogen peroxide production were observed near the veins in uninfected leaves if a lower leaf of the plant had first been infected with a pathogen, and these were necessary for establishing immunity to disease throughout the plant. Commonalities between induced resistance in plants and animals were illuminated by subsequent seminal discoveries of the involvement of nitric oxide and long-distance lipid signals in plant defense (3, 4).

Taken together, this work provides the basis for a very simple and provocative model for plant disease resistance that integrates an oxidative burst at the cell surface with transcription-dependent defense gene activation and host cell death. This elegant series of studies well illustrates Chris’s approach as a scientist, and, in particular, his keen sense for the importance of the unexpected, initially puzzling result; his skill in designing experiments to illuminate their significance and mode of action; and his talent (and delight) in incorporating new data into a larger, coherent intellectual framework. His discoveries have had a major impact on our thinking of how plants respond to microbial attack, and resulted in Chris’s recognition by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the most highly cited researchers in the plant and animal sciences.

One of the great pleasures of working alongside Chris was that he really enjoyed working out ideas and discussing hypotheses. This created an immensely enjoyable yet scientifically rigorous environment centered around open and vigorous discussion of the latest data. These discussions were not only in the lab or his office. In California, the Oxford pubs were replaced by Friday evening “lab meetings” at a Mexican bar/restaurant. Chris also had discovered a hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant that served one of the hottest lamb vindaloos on the planet, and visits there were both memorable and painful. A burning palate often accompanied the most stimulating scientific discussions with Chris.

Chris was a tireless traveler during his tenure at the Salk Institute and never seemed to suffer from jet lag. He must have been one of United Airlines' most frequent flyers, with a dizzying schedule of trips to Asia, Europe, and South America. He loved recalling his adventures on these trips, from being stranded for days in far-off places, to the time, on his first trip to Venezuela, when he thought he had been kidnapped by armed bandits (the security guards for the wealthy person he was visiting on behalf of Salk’s fundraising efforts).

Chris’s legacy in La Jolla is not just his own science, but also the scientists he identified and mentored who have made La Jolla one of the top places for plant science in the United States. La Jolla now boasts 16 principal investigators across three institutions (Salk, UCSD, and Scripps), seven of whom have been elected by their peers to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. La Jolla plant scientists have a deep footprint in scientific literature, having published more than 1,500 primary publications, which have been cited in the literature close to 100,000 times. 

In addition to founding and nurturing the Plant Biology Laboratory at Salk, Chris was also instrumental in facilitating the early development of another program soon destined to join Salk among the premiere places for plant science research in the United States. The president of the Salk Institute was a friend of a member of the board of the Ardmore, Oklahoma-based Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, and the foundation had provided a significant five-year start-up grant for the new plant biology program at Salk. Chris saw the potential for also building a world-class program at Noble, fed by significant interactions between the two organizations, and was instrumental in making that happen. After the establishment of Noble’s Plant Biology Division in 1988, Chris was a constant visitor to Ardmore. The Noble Foundation renewed its five-year support for Chris’s program, which now featured a joint postdoctoral fellowship program, whereby selected fellows would spend 18 months in Ardmore and 18 months in San Diego. This was critical for nurturing the Noble plant biology program through its formative years. Between 1989 and 1999, 15 postdoctoral fellows worked on this program, during a period that saw over 80 joint publications from the two institutes. The interactions were facilitated by yearly retreats, alternatively in California and Oklahoma/Texas, featuring Salk and Noble faculty, postdocs and students, and an array of high-profile guest speakers. Many of these Noble/Salk postdoctoral fellows now hold senior positions at prestigious universities and research institutes throughout the world.

Chris loved the American lifestyle. He often spoke of its endless optimism, which was very much a part of his character. However, he remained quintessentially British at heart, and finally made the move back across the Atlantic in 1998, briefly holding the Regius Chair in Plant Science at the University of Edinburgh. A greater challenge soon became available, and Chris moved to the John Innes Centre as director in 1999. He was determined to make a mark on UK plant science and slowly but surely reorganized the science at the John Innes Centre, focusing on “excellence and relevance.” He led by consensus and had an impressive ability to bring disparate parties together. As well as strengthening John Innes Centre science, he put a great deal of effort into developing an integrated vision for Norwich’s several different research institutions—the John Innes Centre, the Institute of Food Research, the University of East Anglia, and the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. By inspiring others to share his vision, rather than by forcing an agenda, Chris left the John Innes Centre as a strengthened force in plant and microbial sciences.

Chris was also determined to open the eyes of policy makers, and the population at large, to the potential of scientific exploration. Recognizing the impact that plant science could have on society as a whole—food security issues, delivering sustainable agriculture, and developing bioenergy—Chris actively took John Innes science to the local community in Norwich, to regional and national media, and to Westminster. There were regular House of Commons dinners between John Innes scientists and politicians, made more memorable by the chaos caused by the security guards who insisted Chris put his bicycle (his favorite mode of transport) through the X-ray machine.

Chris created an enjoyable yet scientifically rigorous environment at the John Innes Centre in which research scientists could project their science more broadly and students and postdocs could sharpen their critical-thinking skills and develop as independent scientists. He continued to demonstrate his passion for science and his skill for talent spotting and was constantly finding ways to stretch and reward those around him. He delighted in recruiting young individuals, providing them with plenty of resources and watching how their work flourished, and he enjoyed ending his Friday evenings by dropping into the John Innes bar to catch up on exciting research news, tune in to the issues of the moment, and discuss local football (soccer) politics.

As director of the John Innes Centre, Chris spent much of his time on administration, at which he was superb, but never lost his interest in probing the mechanisms of plant disease resistance and maintained a small laboratory that was still producing cutting-edge research right up until his untimely death. His last paper, which appeared in Plant Physiology earlier this year, provided genetic evidence for the involvement of abscisic acid in non-host resistance in Arabidopsis (5).

Throughout his career, Chris was a tireless campaigner in support of plant science. He was remarkably generous to those who worked in his lab as students, postdoctoral fellows, or visiting scientists. It is notable that many of these people took the projects they had initiated under Chris’s supervision to their new jobs, and one of his major legacies will be the number of careers he nurtured that are now flourishing at major universities and research institutes throughout the world. All three of us have been touched by Chris’s wisdom, friendship, and generosity, and he will be greatly missed.

Chris’s passion for science was matched by his passion for his family. He was an adopted child, and this heightened his appreciation of a stronge family environment. He is survived by his wife, Jane, whom he met during Fresher’s week at Cambridge in 1969 and married the following year; his daughter, Catherine; his son, William; and his adopted son, Donald.

Joanne Chory
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Caroline Dean
John Innes Centre
Rick Dixon
Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation

References

1. Lamb, C.J. and Dixon, R.A. (1978). Stimulation of de novo synthesis of L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase during induction of phytoalexin biosynthesis in cell suspension cultures of Phaseolus vulgaris. FEBS Letters 94: 277–280.
2. Levine, A., Tenhaken, R., Dixon, R.A., and Lamb, C.J. (1994). H₂O₂ from the oxidative burst orchestrates the plant hypersensitive disease resistance response. Cell 79: 583–593.
3. Delledonne, M., Xia, Y., Dixon, R.A., and Lamb, C. (1998). Nitric oxide functions as a signal in plant disease resistance. Nature 394: 585–588.
4. Maldonado, A.M., Dixon, R.A., Lamb, C., Doerner, P., and Cameron, R.K. (2002). A putative lipid transfer protein is involved in systemic signaling to establish acquired resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana. Nature 419: 399–403.
5. Fan, J., Hill, L., Crooks, C., Doerner, P., and Lamb, C. (2009) Abscisic acid has a key role in modulating diverse plant-pathogen interactions. Plant Physiology 150: 1750–1761.