Associate Professor
Institute of Parasitology
Macdonald Campus, McGill University
21,111 Lakeshore Road
Ste. Anne de Bellevue, QC, H9X 3V9
Tel.: 514-398-7535
Fax: 514-398-7857
robin [dot] beech [at] mcgill [dot] ca (Email)
Research Interests
With advances in genome sequence databases, a major issue in biology today is to bridge the gap between information on the genetics of an organism and its biological characteristics, or phenotype. My research focuses on the use of a model host-parasite system to address how the genes an organism possesses influence its biological properties and the interaction between host and parasite.
Ivermectin is a member of the latest class in a series of anti-parasite drugs. Haemonchus contortus is a nematode that parasitizes the stomach of sheep throughout the world. Ivermectin resistance in H. contortus has developed in the field and we have shown that at least 4 genes appear to be involved in producing this resistance phenotype. There are several important aspects of this research.
- A biochemical and functional analysis of two of these genes, which play a fundamental role in the neurobiology of nematodes, allows a dissection of the function of the nematode nervous system.
- Genetic screens for mutations associated with drug resistance are a practical method for early detection and investigation of the evolutionary process that leads to drug resistance.
- P-glycoprotein is a generalized drug pump that seems to be involved in IVM resistance. We have found that mutations in this gene may be a general mechanism by which nematodes achieve resistance to a wide range of different anti-parasite drugs.
- We have now been able to correlate the genotype of individual parasites for these genes with their behaviour in the presence of IVM. In doing so we have demonstrated the effec of individual genetic changes on the biological phenotype of the organism.
The results we have obtained are being applied to filarial parasites that infect humans. In the future we will use this model system to dissect in detail the interaction between genes and phenotype in the nematode nervous system.
Selected Publications
- Blackhall WJ, Prichard RK, Beech RN. (2008)
- P-glycoprotein selection in strains of Haemonchus contortus resistant to benzimidazoles. Vet Parasitol., 152(1-2):101-7.
- Beech, R.; Morissette, DC.; Dauch, A.; Masson, L.; Brousseau, R.; Jabaji-Hare, S. (2008)
- Isolation of mycoparasitic-related transcripts by SSH during interaction of the mycoparasite Stachybotrys elegans with its host Rhizoctonia solani, Current Genetics, 53(2): 67-80.
- Beech, R.; Jain, D.; Ebine, N.; Jia, X.; Kassis, A.; Marinangeli, C.; Fortin, MG.; Hicks, KB.; Moreau, RA.; Kubow, S.; Jones, PJ. (2008)
- Corn fiber oil and sitostanol decrease cholesterol absorption independently of intestinal sterol transporters in hamsters, Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 19(4): 229-236.
- Beech, R.; Gilleard, JS. (2007)
- Populations genetics of anthelmintic resistance in parasitic nematodes, Parasitology, 134: 1133-1147.
- Jia X., Ebine N., Demonty I., Wang Y., Beech R., Muise V., Fortin MG. and Jones PJH. (2007)
- Hypocholesterolaemic effects of plant sterol analogues are independent of ABCG5 and ABCG8 transporter expressions in hamsters, British Journal of Nutrition, 98(3): 550-555.
- Forrester, SG., Beech, RN. and Prichard, RK. (2004)
- Agonist enhancement of macrocyclic lactone activity to a glutamate-gated chloride channel subunit from Haemonchus contortus. Biochem. Pharmacol. 67: 1019-1024.
- Forrester SG, Prichard RK, Dent JA and Beech RN. (2003)
- Haemonchus contortus: HcGluCla expressed in Xenopus oocytes forms a glutamate-gated ion channel that is activated by ibotenate and the antiparasitic drug ivermectin. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology, 129: 115-121.