Dr Mervyn Shepherd BSc(Hons)(Qld), PhD(Qld) Dr Shepherd's research interests are in the application of molecular genetics to forest species for to support improvement or management of forest resources. Current research projects include genetic mapping and marker-trait cosegregation analysis of vegetative propagation characters in Corymbia (formerly Eucalyptus) hybrids, population structure and diversity of in the spotted gums, gene pool management and risk assessment in Corymbia spp., and to study molecular variation in genes involved in lignin biosynthesis. A major focus of Dr Shepherd's work over the past 13 years has been the use of species' hybrids to elucidate the genetic architecture of traits of interest to forestry and as a system to study genome organisation and evolution.
Journal articles
Genetic association studies in Eucalyptus pilularis Smith (blackbutt) (with Timothy R. Sexton, Robert J. Henry, Luke J. McManus, Michael Henson, and Dane S. Thomas), Australian Forestry Journal (2010)
Breeding for wood quality is limited by the long generation times and the delay before...
Genetic control of propagation traits in a single Corymbia torelliana × Corymbia variegata family (with Peter Pomroy, Mark J. Dieters, and David Lee), Canadian Journal of Forest Research (2010)
Genetic control of vegetative propagation traits was described for a second-generation, outbred, intersectional hybrid family...
Geographical and historical determinants of microsatellite variation in Eucalyptus pilularis (with Timothy Sexton, Dane Thomas, Michael Henson, and Robert J. Henry), Canadian Journal of Forest Research (2010)
Geographically distributed genetic variation is expected in species like Eucalyptus pilularis that have wide latitudinal...
Species differentiation and gene flow in the Blackbutts (genus Eucalyptus subgenus Eucalyptus section Pseudophloius) (with Carolyn A. Raymond), Conservation Genetics (2010)
Two sympatric spotted gum species are molecularly homogeneous (with Joel W. Ochieng, Peter R. Baverstock, D Garth Nikles, David J. Lee, and Robert J. Henry), Conservation Genetics (2010)
Large fruited spotted gum eucalypt Corymbia henryi occurs sympatrically with small fruited spotted gum Corymbia...
Book chapters
Genetic control and architecture of adventitious rooting in forest trees (with Mark J. Dieters and Brian S. Baltunis), Adventitious Root Formation of Forest Trees and Horticultural Woody Plant: From Genes to Applications (2008)
Molecular markers in tree improvement: characterisation and use in eucalyptus (with Megan E. Jones), Molecular marker systems in plant breeding and crop improvement (2004)
Conference publications
Seasonality of flowering in Corymbia citriodora subsp variegata (Spotted gum) (with M Abasolo and David J. Lee), Proceedings CRC for Forestry Annual Science Meeting (2010)
Conservation of single nucleotide polymorphisms in 44 wood quality candidate genes of Eucalyptus globulus, Eucalyptus pyrocarpa and Eucalyptus pilularis (with Timothy R. Sexton, Robert J. Henry, Luke J. McManus, and Dane Thomas), Plant and Animal Genomes XVIII Conference (2010)
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) code for much of the morphological variation observed between individuals. The...
Trans-specific single nucleotide polymorphisms in Eucalyptus wood quality genes (with Timothy Sexton, Robert J. Henry, Luke J. McManus, and Dane Thomas), Proceedings CRC for Forestry Annual Science Meeting (2010)
A first glimpse at wood property associations in Eucalyptus pilularis (Blackbutt) (with Timothy Sexton, Robert J. Henry, Luke J. McManus, Michael Henson, and Dane Thomas), Taking Care of Business: the Second Australasian Forest Genetics Conference (2009)