Washington State University Ph.D., 1997
Research Interests General: Molecular food safety
Specific:
- development of DNA- and RNA-based methods for pathogen detection in foods
- conventional, multiplex, and real-time PCR approaches to detect Bacillus spp. in dairy products and other foods
- DNA fingerprinting (rep-PCR), SYBR Green-based melt curve analyses, fluorescent molecular beacons, and real-time RNA amplification (NASBA - nucleic acid sequence-based amplification) to monitor enterotoxin gene expression in Bacillus cereus in contaminated foods
Recent Publications Cooper, R.M., &
McKillip, J.L. 2006. Enterotoxigenic
Bacillus ~pp. DNA fingerprint revealed in naturally contaminated nonfat fry milk powder. J:
Basic Microbiol. 5:358-364
Gracias, K.S., Ying, R., &
McKillip, J.L. 2007. Traditional and real-time triplex PCR-based detection of enterotoxigenic Bacillus cereus in milk.
FoodMicrobiol., in press.
Gracias, K.S., &
McKillip, J.L. 2007. Nucleic acid sequence- based amplification in molecular bacteriology: a proceduralguide. J:
Rapid Methods Automation Microbiol., in press.