Susan McCallum
Blueberry Researcher
Cell and Molecular Sciences
T: +44 (0)344 928 5428 (*)
Research
I am currently working on a project funded by Horticultural LINK to look at the establishment, seasonality and machine harvestability of 40 different blueberry varieties across five locations in the UK. Fruit quality composition (fruit size, colour, pH, juice content and sensory characteristics) are being examined so that cultivars with the most appropriate qualities can be identified for the UK fresh and processing markets
To date there is no publically available linkage map for tetraploid blueberry that has good coverage of co-dominant genetic markers that are specifically targeted towards identifying fruit quality attributes defined as important targets by UK consumers of both fresh and processed blueberry fruit.
By linking the phenotype to genotype a genetic framework for future crop improvement using marker assisted breeding will be established and this should greatly increase the speed and precision of blueberry breeding. Project collaboration with the Specialty Crop Research Initiative-funded project with partners based across America.
Past research
- University of Strathclyde PhD in Plant Genetics 2006-2009
PhD project: “Marker assisted breeding for sensory characteristics in red raspberry (Rubus idaeus)”. - Research Assistant at SCRI working on an EU project entitled. ‘Single nucleotide polymorphisms for study of biodiversity of climate adaptation in trees’ 2005-2006.
- University of Abertay BSc (Hons) in Medical Biotechnology (First Class) 2003-2005.
Publications
The following Publications have not yet been migrated to the James Hutton Institute's Pure service and relate to the research outputs from the two legacy organisations: The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and The Scottish Crop Research Institute.
Journals
- Woodhead, M.; Weir, A.; Smith, K.; McCallum, S.; MacKenzie, K.; Graham, J. (2010) Functional markers for red raspberry., Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science, 135, 418-427.
- McCallum, S.; Woodhead, M.; Hackett, C.A.; Kassim, A.; Paterson, A.; Graham, J. (2010) Genetic and environmental effects influencing fruit colour and QTL analysis in raspberry., Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 121, 611-627.
- Kassim, A.; Poette, J.; Paterson, A.; Zait, D.; McCallum, S.; Woodhead, M.; Smith, K.; Hackett, C.A.; Graham, J. (2009) Environmental and seasonal influences on red raspberry anthocyanin antioxidant contents and identification of quantitative traits loci (QTL)., Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, 53, 625-634.
- Graham, J.; Hackett, C.A.; Smith, K.; Woodhead, M.; Hein, I.; McCallum, S. (2009) Mapping QTLs for developmental traits in raspberry from bud break to ripe fruit., Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 118, 1143-1155.
- Woodhead, M.; McCallum, S.; Smith, K.; Cardle, L.; Mazzitelli, L.; Graham, J. (2008) Identification, characterisation and mapping of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers from raspberry root and bud ESTs., Molecular Breeding, 22, 555-563.
Technical / contract reports
- McCallum, S.; Woodhead, M.; Brennan, R.M.; Graham, J. (2011) Developing molecular tools for the British blueberry industry., Annual Report of the Scottish Crop Research Institute for 2010, pp29-31.
Conference papers
- Kassim, A.; Hackett, C.A.; McCallum, S.; Woodhead, M.; Paterson, A.; Graham, J. (2011) Environmental and seasonal influences on red raspberry anthocyanins and QTL identification for marker assisted breeding., Berry Garden Conference.
- Hancock, J.; Finn, C.; Wheeler, E.; Graham, J.; McCallum, S.; Olmstead, J.; Branch, B.; Bassil, N.; Rowland, L.J. (2010) Chilling requirement cold hardiness and fruiting characteristics of a Draper x Jewel population planted at multiple sites., Proceedings of the North American Blueberry Research and Extension Workers Conference (NABREW), Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, 25-28 July 2010.
- Rowland, L.J.; Alkharouf, N.; Bassil, N.V.; Beers, L.; Bell, D.J.; Buck, E.; Drummond, F.A.; Finn, C.E.; Graham, J.; Hancock, J.; McCallum, S.; Olmstead, J.W. (2010) Generating genomic tools for blueberry improvement., Proceedings of the North American Blueberry Research and Extension Workers Conference (NABREW), Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, 25-28 July 2010.
Conference posters / abstracts
- Woodhead, M.; Williamson, S.; Weir, A.; Smith, K.; Jennings, N.; McCallum, S.; Hackett, C.A.; Hedley, P.E.; Bayer, M.M.; Graham, J. (2011) Identification of cane splitting QTLs in raspberry., Scottish Society for Crop Research, The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, 9 March 2011. (Poster)
- McCallum, S.; Graham, J.; Hackett, C.A.; Hancock, R.D.; McKenzie, B.M.; Hallett, P.D.; Jorgensen, L.; Gordon, S.; Woodhead, M.; Brennan, R.M.; Rowland, L.J.; Bassil, N.; Olmstead, J.; Buck, E.; Hancock, J. (2010) Investigating the suitability of blueberry germplasm for UK production and developing tools for long-term breeding., Proceedings of the North American Blueberry Research and Extension Workers Conference (NABREW), Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA, 25-28 July 2010. (Poster)
