School of BEES - Professor Des Cooper

| Teaching | Research & Publications |

RESEARCH

He has undertaken research in marsupial sex differentiation, marsupial genetics and immunology and the genetic basis of a human reproductive disorder called pre-eclampsia. He currently has three Australian Research Council funded projects

"Fertility control of Koalas, Kangaroos and Wallabies" which involves collaboration with Victorian, South Australian and Western Australian wildlife agencies, Peptech Ltd., the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia.
"The Kangaroo Genome Project" in collaboration with Professor Marilyn Renfree, Professor Jenny Graves, Professor Terry Speed and Dr Sue Forrest.
"Genomic Basis of Resistance to Poisoning of Sodium Fluoroacetate (Compound 1080) in Australian Wildlife"

He also undertakes wildlife consultancies with industry and with State Government Authorities.

PUBLICATIONS 2000-2005

Herbert CA, Trigg TE, Renfree MB, Shaw G, Eckery DC, Cooper DW. Long-term effects of deslorelin implants on reproduction in the female tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii).
Reproduction. 2005. 129(3):361-9.

Freed KA, Cooper DW, Brennecke SP, Moses EK. Detection of CAG repeats in pre-eclampsia/eclampsia using the repeat expansion detection method.
Mol Hum Reprod. 2005. [Epub ahead of print]

Herbert CA, Trigg TE, Renfree MB, Shaw G, Eckery DC, Cooper DW. Effects of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist implant on reproduction in a male marsupial, Macropus eugenii.
Biol Reprod. 2004. 70(6):1836-42.

Fitzpatrick E, Goring HH, Liu H, Borg A, Forrest S, Cooper DW, Brennecke SP,Moses EK. Fine mapping and SNP analysis of positional candidates at the preeclampsiasusceptibility locus (PREG1) on chromosome 2.
Hum Biol. 2004. 76(6):849-62.

Taylor AC, Cowan PE, Fricke BL, Geddes S, Hansen BD, Lam M, Cooper DW. High microsatellite diversity and differential structuring among populations of the introduced common brushtail possum, Trichosurus vulpecula, in New Zealand.
Genet Res. 2004. 83(2):101-11.

Herbert CA, Trigg TE, Cooper DW. Effect of deslorelin implants on follicular development, parturition and post-partum oestrus in the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii).
Reproduction. 2004 . 127(2):265-73.

Deakin JE, Cooper DW. Characterisation of and immunity to the aerobic bacteria found in the pouch of the brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula.
Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2004. 27(1):33-46.

Zenger KR, Eldridge MD, Cooper DW. Intraspecific variation, sex-biased dispersal and phylogeography of the eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus).
Heredity. 2003. 91(2):153-62.

Rawson RR, Belov K, Gidley-Baird AA, Cooper DW. Characterisation of antisera to recombinant IgA of the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).
Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2002. 88(1-2):89-95.

Belov K, Harrison GA, Miller RD, Cooper DW. Molecular cloning of four lambda light chain cDNAs from the Australian brushtail possum Trichosurus vulpecula.
Eur J Immunogenet. 2002. 29(2):95-9.

Belov K, Hellman L, Cooper DW. Characterization of immunoglobulin gamma 1 from a monotreme, Tachyglossus aculeatus.
Immunogenetics. 2002. 53(12):1065-71.

Belov K, Zenger KR, Hellman L, Cooper DW. Echidna IgA supports mammalian unity and traditional Therian relationship.
Mamm Genome. 2002. 13(11):656-63.

Belov K, Hellman L, Cooper DW. Characterisation of echidna IgM provides insights into the time of divergence of extant mammals.
Dev Comp Immunol. 2002. 26(9):831-9.

Zenger KR, McKenzie LM, Cooper DW.The first comprehensive genetic linkage map of a marsupial: the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii).
Genetics. 2002. 162(1):321-30.

Belov K, Nguyen MA, Zenger KR, Cooper DW. Ontogeny of immunoglobulin expression in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).
Dev Comp Immunol. 2002. 26(7):599-602.

Zenger KR, Cooper DW. Characterization of 14 macropod microsatellite genetic markers.
Anim Genet. 2001. 32(3):166-7. No abstract available.

Lam MK, Belov K, Harrison GA, Cooper DW. An Mhc class I gene in the Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).
Immunogenetics. 2001. ;53(5):430-3.

Belov K, Harrison GA, Miller RD, Cooper DW. Characterisation of the kappa light chain of the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).
Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2001. 78(3-4):317-24.

Lam MK, Belov K, Harrison GA, Cooper DW. Cloning of the MHC class II DRB cDNA from the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula).
Immunol Lett. 2001. 76(1):31-6.

Cooper DW, Herbert CA. Genetics, biotechnology and population management of over-abundant mammalian wildlife in Australasia.
Reprod Fertil Dev. 2001. 13(7-8):451-8. Review.

Treloar SA, Cooper DW, Brennecke SP, Grehan MM, Martin NG. An Australian twin study of the genetic basis of preeclampsia and eclampsia.
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2001. 184(3):374-81.

Roberts JM, Cooper DW. Pathogenesis and genetics of pre-eclampsia.
Lancet. 2001. 357(9249):53-6. Review.

Moses EK, Lade JA, Guo G, Wilton AN, Grehan M, Freed K, Borg A, Terwilliger JD, North R, Cooper DW, Brennecke SP. A genome scan in families from Australia and New Zealand confirms the presence of a maternal susceptibility locus for pre-eclampsia, on chromosome 2.

Am J Hum Genet. 2000. 67(6):1581-5. Epub 2000 Oct 17.

Watson CM, Hughes RL, Cooper DW, Gemmell RT, Loebel DA, Johnston PG. Sexual development in marsupials: genetic characterization of bandicoot siblings with scrotal and testicular maldevelopment.
Mol Reprod Dev. 2000. 57(2):127-34.

Taylor AC, Cowan PE, Fricke BL, Cooper DW. Genetic analysis of the mating system of the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) in New Zealand farmland.
Mol Ecol. 2000. 9(7):869-79.

Le Page SL, Livermore RA, Cooper DW, Taylor AC. Genetic analysis of a documented population bottleneck: introduced Bennett's wallabies (Macropus rufogriseus rufogriseus) in New Zealand.
Mol Ecol. 2000. 9(6):753-63.