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
Comparative mapping among subsection Australes (genus Pinus, family Pinaceae) (with Claire G. Williams), Genome (2008)
Comparative mapping in conifers has not yet been used to test for small-scale genomic disruptions...
Genetic structuring in the spotted gum complex (genus Corymbia, section Politaria) (with Shabana Kasem, Gary A. Ablett, Joel W. Ochieng, and Allison C. Crawford), Australian Systematic Botany (2008)
Spotted gums (genus Corymbia, section Politaria) occur as a species replacement series along the eastern...
Genetic variation within two sympatric spotted gum eucalypts exceeds between taxa variation (with Joel W. Ochieng, Peter R. Baverstock, D Garth Nikles, David J. Lee, and Robert J. Henry), Silvae Genetics (2008)
Population substructure and hybridization, among other factors, have the poten-tial to cause erroneous associations in...
Mapping species differences for adventitious rooting in a Corymbia torelliana x C. citriodora subspecies variegata hybrid (with Shabana Kasem, David J. Lee, and Robert J. Henry), Tree Genetics and Genomes (2008)
Quantitative trait loci (QTL) detection was carried out for adventitious rooting and associated propagation traits...
Pollen flow in Eucalyptus grandis determined by paternity analysis using microsatellite markers (with Megan E. Jones, Robert J. Henry, and Angela Delves), Tree Genetics & Genomes (2008)
Gene flow by pollen dispersal from forestry plantations containing introduced species, provenances or selected elite...
Book chapters
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
Association genetics for improved solid wood quality in Blackbutt (Eucalyptus pilularis) (with Timothy Sexton, Robert J. Henry, Michael Henson, Helen Smith, and Dane Thomas), Forestry CRC Annual Meeting (2007)
Gene flow and genetic diversity in eucalypt plantations and native forest in north coast New South Wales (with Megan E. Jones, Robert J. Henry, Spencer Bruskin, and Angela Delves), Wood Breeding, Biotechnology and Industrial Expectations Meeting (2007)
In Australia, plantation eucalypts have the potential to form intra- and interspecific hybrids with native...
Comparative mapping of Eucalyptus and Corymbia (with Natalie Baker, Shabana Kasem, David J. Lee, and Robert J. Henry), Breeding for success: diversity in action: proceedings of the 13th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference (2006)
The genus Corymbia is closely related to the genus Eucalyptus, and like Eucalyptus contains tree...