William Walker Christie
M.B.E., B.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc., F.R.S.E., F.R.S.C., C. Chem.

Bill Christie was formerly Head of the Chemistry Department / Phytochemistry Unit at SCRI and on 'retirement' became a consultant and non-executive chairman to the Lipid Analysis Unit.

His main research interests involve structural analysis of lipids, especially

• Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of fatty acids
• Chromatographic analysis of lipids (gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography)
• Stereospecific analysis of lipids
• Class separation of complex lipids
• Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)

He was awarded an MBE in the 2000 New Year's Honours list and has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Further information

Dr Christie is a graduate of the Chemistry Department of the University of St Andrews in Scotland, where he also obtained his Ph.D., under the supervision of Professor F.D. Gunstone, who is also a consultant to the Lipid Analysis Unit.

Dr Christie is probably best known for his work on developing novel analytical methodology for lipids and his books are the standard texts on the subject. For example:

• He has used picolinyl esters and dimethyloxazoline derivatives extensively for the structural analysis of fatty acids, and has mass spectra of more than 400 fatty acids on file.
• A special expertise has been developed for analysis of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).
• Silver ion chromatography was first adapted to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in his laboratory, and it was applied to analysis of fatty acids (including trans isomers) and molecular species of triacylglycerols.
• He was among the first to use evaporative-light scattering detectors for lipid analysis, and have developed methodology for separations of all the simple and complex lipids in a single chromatographic run. This detector is also used in many other applications including reversed-phase HPLC of fatty acid derivatives, triacylglycerols, and diacylglycerols (derivatized) prepared from glyco- and phospholipids.
• Novel methodology involving chiral chromatography was developed for stereospecific analysis of triacyl-sn-glycerols.

His second research interest is to apply this novel methodology to problems of lipid chemistry, biochemistry and physiology in plants and plant products. For example:

• He has characterized a large number of novel fatty acids in seed oils of plant species, that may have nutritional or industrial value, and which certainly pose important biosynthetic questions. For example, arachidonic acid was recently found for the first time in a seed oil.
• The structures of the cyclic fatty acids formed in heated frying oils have been fully elucidated.

In addition, Dr Christie has received awards for presentation of ‘outstanding’ papers at meetings of the American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS), and in 1995 received the Herbert J. Dutton Award of the AOCS ‘in recognition of his contribution to analytical methodology in relation to oils, fats and lipids’. He is to receive the Alton E. Bailey Award of the AOCS in 2004 'for exceptional service in the field of lipids and associated products'. He is a member of the editorial advisory boards of Chemistry and Physics of Lipids, Lipids, Lipid Technology, European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology and Gracas y Aceitas, and was the founder of the Oily Press Ltd.

Selected Publications

A full publication list contains details of nearly 400 items. The first major item is a book, "Lipid Analysis" (Pergamon Press), published first in 1973, before it was extensively rewritten and a second edition published in 1982. More than 6000 copies have been sold and it is the standard work in its field. The third edition is now available. A further book on "High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Lipids" was published in 1987 and a companion volume on "Gas Chromatography and Lipids" appeared in 1989 (from The Oily Press). In addition, 35 major review articles, 175 refereed papers and many other articles have been published or are in press. The list of publications shown here has been selected to show the range of Dr Christie’s research interests, as far as possible including more recent papers.

A number of his original articles are now available online in the Lipid Library

Books

Lipid Analysis - third edition. Christie, W.W. The Oily Press, Bridgwater (2003).

Trans Fatty Acids in Human Nutrition. Sébédio, J.L. and Christie, W.W. (editors), The Oily Press, Dundee, 320 pages (1998).

Advances in Lipid Methodology — One to Four. Christie, W.W. (editor) The Oily Press, Ayr/Dundee. (1992 to 1997).

Gas Chromatography and Lipids: a Practical Guide. Christie, W.W. The Oily Press, Ayr., 307 pages, 1014 references (1989).

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Lipids: a Practical Guide. Christie, W.W. Pergamon Books, Oxford. 272 pages, 916 references (1987).

Lipid Analysis. Christie, W.W. Pergamon Press, Oxford. 325 pages, 612 references (1973). (Second revised edition) 207 pages, 874 references (1982).

Refereed Papers

Christie, W.W. Analysis of conjugated linoleic acid - an overview. In: Advances in Conjugated Linoleic Acid Research, Volume 2., pp. 1-12 (2003) (edited by J.L. Sebedio, W.W. Christie & R.O. Adlof, AOCS Press, Champaign, IL.).

Nikolova-Damyanova,B., Dobson,G., Momchilova,S. and Christie,W.W. Cyclohexanediol fatty acid diesters as model compounds for mechanistic studies in silver ion high-performance liquid chromatography. J. Liquid. Chromatogr. Rel. Technol., 26, 1905-1912 (2003).

Tsevegsuren,N., Fujimoto,K., Christie,W.W. and Endo,Y. Occurrence of a novel cis, cis, cis-octadeca-3,9,12-trienoic (Z,Z,Z-octadeca-3,9,12-trienoic) acid in Chrysanthemum (Tanacetum) zawadskii Herb. (Compositae) seed oil. Lipids, 38, 573-578 (2003).

Nechev,J., Christie,W.W., Robaina,R., de Diego,F.M., Ivanova,A., Popov,S. and Stefanov,K. Chemical composition of the sponge Chondrosia reniformis from the Canary Islands. Hydrobiologia, 489, 91-98 (2002).

Christie, W.W. Solid-phase extraction columns in the analysis of lipids. Lipid Technology, 15, 16-19 (2003).

Damyanova,B., Momtchilova,S., Bakalova,S., Zuilhof,H., Christie,W.W. and Kaneti,J. Computational probes into the conceptual basis of silver ion chromatography: I. Silver(I) ion complexes of unsaturated fatty acids and esters. J. Mol. Structure - THEOCHEM., 589-590, 239-249 (2002).

Horrobin, D.F., Jenkins, K., Bennett, C.N. and Christie, W.W. Eicosapentaenoic acid and arachidonic acid: collaboration and not antagonism is the key to biological understanding. Prostaglandins Leukotrienes Essential Fatty Acids, 66, 83-90 (2002).

Wolff,R.L. and Christie,W.W. Structures, practical sources (gymnosperm seeds), gas-liquid chromatographic data (equivalent chain lengths), and mass spectrometric characteristics of all-cis 5-olefinic acids. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol., 104, 234-244 (2002).

Christie,W.W. Unusual gas chromatographic properties of fatty acid pyrrolidides. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol., 104, 69-70 (2002).

Dobson,G. and Christie,W.W. Mass spectrometry of fatty acid derivatives. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol., 104, 36-43 (2002).

Wolff, R.L., Christie, W.W., Aitzetmüller, K., Pasquier, E., Pédrono, F., Destaillats, F. and Marpeau, A.M. Arachidonic and eicosapentaenoic acids in Araucariaceae, a unique feature among seed plants. Oléagineaux, Corps gras Lipides, 7, 113-117 (2000).

Nikolova-Damyanova, B., Momchilova, S. and Christie,W.W. Silver ion high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of conjugated linoleic acid isomers, and other fatty acids, after conversion to p-methoxyphenacyl derivatives. J. High Resol. Chromatogr., 23, 348-352 (2000).

Christie, W.W., Robertson, G.W., McRoberts, W.C. and Hamilton, J.T.G. Mass spectrometry of the 4,4-dimethyloxazoline derivatives of isomeric octadecenoates (monoenes). Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol., 102, 23-29 (2000).

Hamilton, J.T.G. and Christie, W.W. Mechanisms for ion formation during the electron impact-mass spectrometry of picolinyl ester and 4,4-dimethyloxazoline derivatives of fatty acids. Chem. Phys. Lipids, 105, 93-104 (2000).

Sebedio, J.L., Vermunt, S.H.F., Chardigny, J.M., Beaufrere, B., Mensink, R.P., Armstrong, R.A., Christie, W.W., Niemela, J., Henon, G. and Riemersma, R.A. The effect of dietary trans alpha-linolenic acid on plasma lipids and platelet fatty acid composition: the TransLinE study. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr., 54, 104-113 (2000).

Wolff,R.L., Christie, W.W., Pédrono, F. and Marpeau, A.M. Arachidonic, eicosapentaenoic and biosynthetically related fatty acids in the seed lipids from a primitive Gymnosperm, Agathis robusta. Lipids, 34, 183-1097 (1999).

Christie, W.W. (1998) Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry methods for structural analysis of fatty acids. Lipids, 33, 343-353

Christie, W.W., Hamilton, J.T.G. and Harper, D.B. (1998) Mass spectrometry of fluorinated fatty acids in the seed oil of Dichapetalum toxicarium. Chem. Phys. Lipids, 97, 41-47.

Tsevegsuren, N., Christie, W.W. and Lösel, D. (1998) Tanacetum (Chrysanthemum) corymbosum seed oil - a rich source of a novel conjugated acetylenic acid. Lipids, 33, 723-727.

Christie, W.W. (1998) Mass spectrometry of fatty acids with methylene-interrupted ene-yne systems. Chem. Phys. Lipids, 94, 35-41.

Christie, W.W., Gill, S., Nordbäck, J., Itabashi, Y., Sanda, S. and Slabas, A.R. (1998) New procedures for rapid screening of leaf lipid components from Arabidopsis. Phytochemical Anal., 9, 53-57.

Sayanova, O., Smith, M.A., Lapinskas, P., Stobart, A.K., Dobson, G., Christie, W.W., Shewry, P.R. and Napier, J.A. (1997) Expression of a borage desaturase cDNA containing an N-terminal cytochrome b5 domain results in the accumulation of high levels of D 6-desaturated fatty acids in transgenic tobacco. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 94, 4211-4216.

Berdeaux, O., Christie, W.W., Gunstone, F.D. and Sébédio, J.L. (1997) Large-scale synthesis of methyl cis-9,trans-11-octadecadienoate from methyl ricinoleate. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 74, 1011-1015.

Sébédio, J.L., Juanéda, P., Dobson, G., Ramilison, I., Martin, J.C., Chardigny, J.M. and Christie, W.W. (1997) Metabolites of conjugated isomers of linoleic acid (CLA) in the rat. Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1345, 5-10.

Joh, Y.-G., Elenkov, I.J., Stefanov, K.L., Popov, S.S., Dobson, G. and Christie, W.W. (1997) Novel di-, tri- and tetraenoic fatty acids with bis-methylene-interrupted double bond systems from the sponge Haliclona cinerea. Lipids, 32, 13-17.

Nikolova-Damyanova, B., Christie, W.W. and Herslöf, B.G. (1996) Mechanistic aspects of fatty acid retention in silver ion chromatography. J. Chromatogr. A, 749, 47-54.

Brough, C.L., Coventry, J.M., Christie, W.W., Kroon, J.T.M., Brown, A.P., Barsby, T.L. and Slabas, A.R. (1996) Towards the genetic engineering of triacylglycerols of defined fatty acid composition: major changes in erucic acid content at the sn-2 position affected by the introduction of 1-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyl-transferase from Limnanthes douglasii into oil seed rape. Molecular Breeding, 2, 133-142.

Hierro, M.T.G., Robertson, G.W., Christie, W.W. and Joh, Y.-G. (1996). The fatty acid composition of the seeds of Ginkgo biloba. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 73, 575-579.

Dobson, G., Christie, W.W. and Sébédio, J.L. (1996) Gas chromatographic retention properties of cyclic dienoic fatty acids formed in heated linseed oil. J. Chromatogr. A, 723, 349-354

Dobson, G., Christie, W.W., Brechany, E.Y., Sébédio, J.L. and Le Quéré, J.L. (1995) Silver ion chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the structural analysis of cyclic dienoic acids formed in frying oils. Chem. Phys. Lipids, 75, 171-182.

Nikolova-Damyanova, B., Christie, W.W. and Herslöf, B.G. (1995) Retention properties of triacylglycerols on silver ion high-performance liquid chromatography. J. Chromatogr. A, 694, 375-380.

Christie, W.W. and Urwin, R.A. (1995) Separation of lipid classes from plant tissues by high-performance liquid chromatography on chemically bonded stationary phases. J. High Resolut. Chromatogr., 18, 97-100.

Christie, W.W., Brechany, E.Y., Sébédio, J.L. and Le Quéré, J.L. (1993). Silver ion chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the structural analysis of cyclic monoenoic acids formed in frying oils. Chem. Phys. Lipids, 66, 143-153.

Toschi, T.G., Capella, P., Holt, C. and Christie, W.W. (1993) A comparison of silver ion high-performance liquid chromatography and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy for the determination of trans double bonds in unsaturated fats and oils. J. Sci. Food Agric., 61, 261-266.

Nikolova-Damyanova, B., Herslof, B. and Christie, W.W. (1992) Silver ion high-performance liquid chromatography of isomeric fatty acids. J. Chromatogr., 609, 133-140.

Santinelli, F., Damiani, P. and Christie, W.W. (1992) The triacylglycerol structure of olive oil determined by silver ion high-performance liquid chromatography in combination with stereospecific analysis. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 69, 552-556.

Christie, W.W., Nikolova-Damyanova, B., Laakso, P. and Herslof, B. (1991) Stereospecific analysis of triacyl-sn-glycerols via resolution of diastereomeric diacylglycerol derivatives by HPLC on silica. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 68, 695-701.

Laakso, P. and Christie, W.W. (1991) Combination of silver ion and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography in the fractionation of herring oil triacylglycerols. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 68, 213-223.

Adkisson, H.D., Risener, F.S., Zarrinkar, P.P., Walla, M.D., Christie, W.W. and Wuthier, R.E. (1991) Unique fatty acid composition of normal cartilage - discovery of high levels of n-9 eicosatrienoic acid and low levels of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. FASEB J., 5, 344-353.

Christie, W.W. (1990) Silver ion chromatography of triacylglycerols on solid-phase extraction columns packed with a bonded-sulphonic acid phase. J. Sci. Food Agric., 52, 573-577.

Laakso P. and Christie, W.W. (1990) Chromatographic resolution of chiral diacylglycerol derivatives: potential in the stereospecific analysis of triacyl-sn-glycerols. Lipids, 25, 349-353.

Laakso P., Christie, W.W. and Pettersen, J. (1990) Analysis of North Atlantic and Baltic fish oils by high-performance liquid chromatography with a silver ion column. Lipids, 25, 284-291.

Christie, W.W. (1989) Silver ion chromatography using solid-phase extraction columns packed with a bonded-sulphonic acid phase. J. Lipid Res., 30, 1471-1473.

Christie, W.W. and Breckenridge, G.McG. (1989) Separation of cis and trans isomers of unsaturated fatty acids by high-performance liquid chromatography in the silver ion mode. J. Chromatogr., 469, 261-269.

Christie, W.W. (1988) Separation of molecular species of triacylglycerols by high-performance liquid chromatography with a silver ion column. J. Chromatogr., 454, 273-284.

Christie, W.W., Brechany, E.Y. and Stefanov, K. (1988) Silver ion high-performance liquid chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the analysis of complex fatty acid mixtures: application to marine invertebrates. Chem. Phys. Lipids, 46, 127-135.

Christie, W.W., Brechany, E.Y. and Holman, R.T. (1987) Mass spectra of the picolinyl esters of isomeric mono- and dienoic fatty acids. Lipids, 22, 224-228.

Christie, W.W. and Stefanov, K. (1987) Separation of picolinyl ester derivatives of fatty acids by high-performance liquid chromatography for identification by mass spectrometry. J. Chromatogr., 392, 259-265.

Christie, W.W. (1987) A stable silver-loaded column for the separation of lipids by high-performance liquid chromatography. J. High Res. Chromatogr. Chromatogr. Commun., 10, 148-150.

Christie, W.W., Brechany, E.Y., Johnson, S.B. and Holman, R.T. (1986) A comparison of pyrrolidide and picolinyl ester derivatives for the identification of fatty acids in natural samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Lipids, 21, 657-661.

Christie, W.W. (1986) Separation of lipid classes by high-performance liquid chromatography with the "mass detector". J. Chromatogr., 361, 396-399.

Christie, W.W. (1985) Rapid separation and quantification of lipid classes by high-performance liquid chromatography and mass (light-scattering) detection. J. Lipid Res., 26, 507-512.