Current Research

PhD project: Molecular analysis of soil nematode assemblages under sustainable agriculture.

Supervisors: Roy Neilson and Tim Daniell.

Nematodes have been proposed as indicators of soil health, however identification based on morphology is time consuming and problematical. I am studying alternative molecular approaches to profiling soil nematode assemblages, based on Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) of small subunit ribosomal DNA. The resulting semi-quantitative profiles may be combined with existing nematode diversity indices to examine the effects of agricultural management methods, including tillage and organic enrichment, on the soil nematode assemblage.

Research History

I completed my BSc Hons in Biological Sciences (Zoology) at the University of Edinburgh and an MRes in Environmental Biology at the University of St. Andrews and the University of Dundee. Before coming to SCRI I worked at the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh.

Recent Publications

• Donn, S., Griffiths, B.S., Neilson, R., Daniell, T.J. 2007. DNA extraction from soil nematode for multi-sample community studies. Applied Soil Ecology 38, 20-26..
• Griffiths, B.S., Donn, S., Neilson, R., Daniell, T.J. 2006. Molecular sequencing and morphological analysis of a nematode community. Applied Soil Ecology 32, 325-337.
• Hastings, N., Donn S., Derecka, K., Flint, A.P., Woolliams, J.A. 2006. Polymorphisms within the coding region of the bovine luteinizing hormone receptor gene and their association with fertility traits. Animal Genetics 37, 583-585.

Posters

(View all posters)

Attachment	Size
T-RFLP analysis of nematode assemblages	401.11 KB
Molecular analysis of soil nematode communities	488.64 KB
High Throughput Sequencing of Nematode Communities	1.39 MB
T-RFLP approaches to nematode assemblage analysis	3.6 MB
Compost use for geotechnical stability	267.08 KB
T-RFLP analysis of nematode assemblages	390.33 KB