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Academic Staff
 

Associate Professor Steve McKechnie

Associate Professor

Ph.D. University of Sydney

Telephone: +61-3-9905-3863
Fax: +61-3-9905-5613
E-mail: steve.mckechnie@sci.monash.edu.au

Links
Steve McKechnie
Research areas
  • Adaptation to climatic and thermal stress in Drosophila: the role and molecular genetics of the inducible stress genes particularly hsr-omega
  • Application of molecular genetic techniques to the study of animal population structure

Honours projects for prospective students

Selected publications
  • Telonis-Scott, M., Hallas, R., McKechnie, S.W., Wee, C.W., Hoffmann, A.A. (2009) Selection for cold resistance alters gene transcript levels in Drosophila melanogaster J. Insect Physiol.  doi:10.1016/j.jinsphys.2009.01.010. In press.
  • Suhr, E,  S.W. McKechnie, D.J. O’Dowd (2009) Genetic and behavioural evidence for a city-wide supercolony of the Argentine ant (Linepithema humile Mayr) in southeastern Australia. Aust. J Ent.  48:  79-83.
  • Collinge J.E., Anderson, A R, Weeks, A R, Johnson, T K and McKechnie, S W (2008) Latitudinal and cold-tolerance variation associate with DNA repeat-number variation in the hsr-omega RNA gene of Drosophila melanogaster. Heredity, 101: 260-270.
  • Rako, L, Blacket, MJ., McKechnie, SW and Hoffmann, AA, (2007) Candidate genes and thermal phenotypes: identifying ecologically important genetic variation for thermotolerance in the Australian Drosophila melanogaster cline. Molecular Ecology, 16: 2948-2957.
  • Endersby, NM, Hoffmann, AA, McKechnie, SW and Weeks, AR (2007) Is there genetic structure in populations of Helicoverpa armigera from Australia. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 122 : 253-63.
  • Charlton, K, A. Taylor and S. W. McKechnie (2006) A note on divergent mtDNA lineages of bottlenose dolphins from coastal waters of southern Australia. J. Cetacean Res. Manage.  8:173-179.
  • Saw, J, N.M. Endersby, S.W. McKechnie (2006) Lack of mtDNA diversity among Australian diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L.) suggests isolation and a founder effect. Insect Science 13; 365-373.
  • Collinge, J.E., Hoffmann, S.W. & McKechnie, S.W. (2006) Altitudinal patterns for latitudinally-varying traits and polymorphic markers in Drosophila melanogaster from eastern Australia. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19: 473-482.
  • Weeks, AR, McKechnie, SW & Hoffmann, AA (2006) In search of clinal variation in the period and clock timing genes in Australian Drosophila melanogaster populations. J. Evol. Biol. 19:  551-557.
  • Endersby, N. M., McKechnie, S.W., Ridland, P.M.  & Weeks, A.R. (2006) Lack of structure in populations of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), in Australia revealed using microsatellite markers. Molecular Ecology 15: 107-118.
  • Umina, P. A., A. R. Weeks, M R. Kearney, S. W. McKechnie & A. A. Hoffmann (2005) A rapid shift in a classic clinal pattern in Drosophila reflecting climate change. Science 308: 691-693.
  • Kellett, M. and McKechnie, S. W. (2005) A cluster of diagnostic Hsp68 amino-acid sites that are identified in Drosophila from the melanogaster species group are concentrated around b-sheet residues involved with substrate binding. Genome 48: 226-233.
  • Anderson, A R., Collinge, J., Hoffmann, A. A., Kellett, M., and McKechnie, S. W. (2003) Thermal tolerance trade-offs associated with the right arm of chromosome 3 and marked by the hsr-omega gene in Drosophila melanogaster. Heredity 90: 195-202.
  • Magiafoglou, A., Schiffer, M., Hoffmann, A. A. and McKechnie, S. W. (2003) Immunocontraception for population control: Will resistance evolve? Immunology and Cell Biology 81: 152-159.
  • Weeks, A. R., McKechnie, S. W. and Hoffmann, A. A. (2002) Dissecting adaptive clinal variation: markers, inversions and size/stress associations in Drosophila melanogaster from a central field population. Ecology Letters 5: 756-763.
  • McColl, G. and McKechnie, S.W. (1999) The Drosophila heat shock hsr-omega gene: an allele frequency cline detected by quantitative PCR. Mol. Biol. Evol. 16: 1568-1574.
  • McKechnie, S. W., Halford, M. M., McColl, G. and Hoffmann A.A. (1998) Both allelic variation and expression of nuclear and cytoplasmic transcripts of hsr-omega are closely associated with thermal phenotypes in Drosophila. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95: 2423-2428.
  • Stokes, N.H., McKechnie, S.W. and Forrester, N.W. (1997) Multiple allelic variation in a sodium channel gene from Australian Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) detected via temperature gradient gel electrophoresis. Aust.J. Entom. 36:191-196.
  • Geer, B.W., Heinstra, P.W. and McKechnie, S.W. (1993). The Biological Basis of Ethanol Tolerance in Drosophila.  Review in Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 105B: 203-229.
  • McKechnie, S.W. and Geer, B.W. (1993).  Micro-evolution in a wine cellar population: an historical perspective.  Genetica 90:201-215.
  • Taylor, M., McKechnie, S.W., Pierce, N.E. and Kreitman, M.E. (1993).  The lepidopteran mitochondrial DNA control region: structure and evolution.  Mol. Biol. Evol. 10:1259-1272.
  • McKechnie, S.W., Spackman, M.E., Naughton, N.E., Kovacs, I.V., Ghosn, M. and Hoffmann, A.A. (1993).  Assessing budworm population structure in Australia using the AT-rich region of mitochondrial DNA.  Proceedings of the 1993 Beltwide Cotton Conference, New Orleans, 2:838-840.
  • Kapoun, A.M., Geer, B.W., Heinstra, P.W., Corbin, V. and McKechnie, S.W. (1990).  Molecular control of the induction of alcohol dehydrogenase by ethanol in Drosophila melanogaster larvae.  Genetics 124: 881-888.
  • Geer, B.W., McKechnie, S.W. and Langevin, M.L. (1986).  The effect of dietary ethanol on the composition of lipids of Drosophila melanogaster larvae.  Biochem. Genet. 24: 51-69.
  • McKechnie, S.W. and Geer, B.W. (1984).  Regulation of alcohol dehydrogenase by alcohol and carbohydrate in larvae of Drosophila melanogaster.  Insect Biochem. 14: 231-242.