Dr Megan C. McDonald
Areas of expertise
- Evolutionary Biology 0603
- Phylogeny And Comparative Analysis 060309
- Host Parasite Interactions 060307
- Genomics 060408
- Mycology 060505
Research interests
I am interested in the evolution of host/pathogen interactions within the agroecosystem. My research deals mainly with plant pathogenic fungi. Currently we are using compartive genomic and proteomic tools to elucidate proteins responsible for host specificiy and virulence.
Biography
2003-2007
Bachelor of Science
Molecular and Cellular Biology
Univeristy of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
2008-2012
Doctorin der Wissenschaften
Doctor of Science
ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
2012-2013
Swiss National Science Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship
Post-Doc
Australian National Univerisity, Canberra, Australia
2013-Present
Post-Doc
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Researcher's projects
Identification of effector candidates through comparative genomics and proteomics of Zymoseptoria tritici (Mycosphaerella graminicola)
Available student projects
Always interested in motivated PhB or Honours Students, please contact me or Peter Solomon for available projects in bioinformatics of fungal pathogens and functional validation of virulence genes.
Past student projects
Comparative genomics of the mitochondrial genomes of Australian Zymoseptoria tritici isolates.
Publications
- McDonald, M, Renkin, M, Spackman, M et al 2019, 'Rapid Parallel Evolution of Azole Fungicide Resistance in Australian Populations of the Wheat Pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, vol. 85, no. 4, pp. 1-14pp.
- Thynne, E, Mead, O, Chooi, Y et al 2019, 'Acquisition and Loss of Secondary Metabolites Shaped the Evolutionary Path of Three Emerging Phytopathogens of Wheat', Genome Biology and Evolution, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 890-905.
- Liu, F, McDonald, M, Schwessinger, B et al 2019, 'Variation and inheritance of the Xanthomonas raxX-raxSTAB gene cluster required for activation of XA21-mediated immunity', Molecular Plant Pathology, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 656-672.
- McDonald, M, Taranto, A, Hill, E et al 2019, 'Transposon-Mediated Horizontal Transfer of the Host-Specific Virulence Protein ToxA between Three Fungal Wheat Pathogens', mBio, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 1-22.
- McDonald, M, Ahren, D, Simpfendorfer, S et al 2018, 'The discovery of the virulence gene ToxA in the wheat and barley pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana', Molecular Plant Pathology, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 432-439pp.
- McDonald, M & Solomon, P 2018, 'Just the surface: advances in the discovery and characterization of necrotrophic wheat effectors', Current Opinion in Microbiology, vol. 46, pp. 14-18.
- Yang, N, McDonald, M, Solomon, P et al 2018, 'Genetic mapping of Stb19, a new resistance gene to Zymoseptoria tritici in wheat', Theoretical and Applied Genetics, vol. 131, no. 12, pp. 2765-2773.
- Thynne, E, Saur, I, Simbaqueba, J et al 2017, 'Fungal phytopathogens encode functional homologues of plant rapid alkalinisation factor (RALF) peptides', Molecular Plant Pathology, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 811-824.
- Thynne, E, McDonald, M & Solomon, P 2017, 'Transition from heterothallism to homothallism is hypothesised to have facilitated speciation among emerging Botryosphaeriaceae wheat-pathogens', Fungal Genetics and Biology, vol. 109, pp. 36-45.
- McDonald, M, McGinness, L, Hane, J et al 2016, 'Utilizing gene tree variation to identify candidate effector genes in Zymoseptoria tritici', G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 779-791.
- McDonald, M, Williams, A, Milgate, A et al 2015, 'Next-generation re-sequencing as a tool for rapid bioinformatic screening of presence and absence of genes and accessory chromosomes across isolates of Zymoseptoria tritici', Fungal Genetics and Biology, vol. 79, pp. 71-75.
- Thynne, E, McDonald, M, Evans, M et al 2015, 'Re-classification of the causal agent of white grain disorder on wheat as three separate species of Eutiarosporella', Australasian Plant Pathology, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 527-539.
- McDonald, M, McDonald, B & Solomon, P 2015, 'Recent Advances in the Zymoseptoria tritici-wheat interaction: insights from pathogenomics', Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 6, no. 2015, pp. 102-102.
- Thynne, E, McDonald, M & Solomon, P 2015, 'Phytopathogen emergence in the genomics era', Trends in Plant Science, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 246-255.
- Sanchez-Vallet, A, McDonald, M, Solomon, P et al 2015, 'Is Zymoseptoria tritici a hemibiotroph?', Fungal Genetics and Biology, vol. 79, pp. 29-32.
- McDonald, M C, R P Oliver, T L Friesen, Patrick C Brunner, and Bruce A McDonald. 2013. Global Diversity and Distribution of Three Necrotrophic Effectors in Phaeosphaeria Nodorum And Related Species. New Phytologist. doi:10.1111/nph.12257.
- McDonald, Megan C, Mohammad Razavi, Timothy L Friesen, Patrick C Brunner, and Bruce A McDonald. 2012. Phylogenetic and Population Genetic Analyses of Phaeosphaeria Nodorum and Its Close Relatives Indicate Cryptic Species and an Origin in the Fertile Crescent. Fungal Genetics and Biology :doi:10.1016/j.fgb.2012.08.001.
- Gardiner, Donald M, Megan C McDonald, Lorenzo Covarelli, Peter S Solomon, Anca G Rusu, Mhairi Marshall, Kemal Kazan, Sukumar Chakraborty, Bruce A McDonald, and John M Manners. 2012. Comparative Pathogenomics Reveals Horizontally Acquired Novel Virulence Genes in Fungi Infecting Cereal Hosts. PLoS Pathogens 8 (9) e1002952. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002952.
- Liu, Zhaohui, Zengcui Zhang, Justin D Faris, Richard P Oliver, Robert Syme, Megan C McDonald, Bruce A McDonald, et al. 2012. The Cysteine Rich Necrotrophic Effector SnTox1 Produced by Stagonospora Nodorum Triggers Susceptibility of Wheat Lines Harboring Snn1. PLoS Pathogens 8 (1): e1002467. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1002467.
- Liu, Zhaohui, Justin D Faris, Richard P Oliver, Kar-Chun Tan, Peter S Solomon, Megan C McDonald, Bruce A McDonald, et al. 2009. SnTox3 Acts in Effector Triggered Susceptibility to Induce Disease on Wheat Carrying the Snn3 Gene. PLoS Pathogens 5 (9): e1000581. doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1000581.
