Rob Knell : research page
Last updated 29thth October 2008
Biological Sciences
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Rob Knell : research page |
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Last updated 29thth October 2008 |
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Biological Sciences |
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Research Mating systems and ornamentation
Mopane woodlands and the mopane worm
Read about my secret life as a MONSTER TRUCK DRIVER! |
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A male Euoniticellus intermedius showing off his horn |
I am interested in a variety of different aspects of ecology and evolution, mainly to do with either parasites, sex or both. My interest in the links between parasites and mating systems has led me to some research in the ecology and evolution of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and their effect on the evolution of host mating systems. Moving away from the parasitism angle, I have some research going on into the evolution of mating systems and especially of sexual ornamentation. We have recently been exploring the link between horn size, body size and fitness in a South African dung beetle, Euoniticellus intermedius, and I have recently published a paper proposing the idea that the anterior spines of some trilobites were weapons used in intra-sexual contests and analagous to beetle horns. Current research in my group includes the following: Peter Staves is doing a PhD on competition between species and strains of parasites, using the fungal insect parasite Metarhizium anisopliae as a model system Alison Triggs is doing a PhD on cross-resistance and trade-offs in insect immune systems Leeann Reaney is working as a postdoc on a Leverhulme Trust funded project entitled "Horns and hormones", in which we are looking at the way that environmental effects, hormone levels, immunity and sexual selection interact in a species of horned dung beetle, Euoniticellus intermedius Megan Head is working on a project looking at sexual conflict and immune investment using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system, funded by a Wellcome Trust VIP award. Laura Martinez is doing an NERC-funded PhD on the effects of solar ultraviolet radiation on cetaceans, co-supervised by Karina Acevedo-Whitehouse from the Institute of Zoology |
Ever noticed how people head sections like this 'selected publications' and then put all of them except for that brief note to the Journal of Uninteresting Tripe that they're embarrassed about? Well, these are all of mine.
Transmission dynamics of ordinary infectious diseases
Knell, R.J., Begon, M. and Thompson, D.J. (1996) Transmission dynamics of Bacillus thuringiensis infecting Plodia interpunctella: a test of the mass action assumption with an insect pathogen. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B (Biological Sciences), Vol.263 pp 75-81. Abstract
Knell, R.J., Begon, M. and Thompson, D.J. (1996) Comparative transmission dynamics of two insect pathogens. In: Frontiers of Population Ecology (Floyd, R.B., Sheppard, A.W. and De Barro, P.J., eds.), CSIRO publishing. pp 269-276.
Knell, R.J., Begon, M. and Thompson, D.J. (1998) Host-pathogen population dynamics, basic reproductive rates and threshold densities. Oikos Vol. 81 pp 299-308. Abstract
Knell, R.J., Begon, M. and Thompson, D.J. (1998) Transmission of Plodia interpunctella Granulosis Virus does not conform to the mass action model. Journal of Animal Ecology Vol. 67 pp 592-599. Abstract
STDs, including STD transmission dynamics
Knell, R.J. (1999) Sexually transmitted disease and parasite mediated sexual selection. Evolution Vol 53 pp 957-961. Abstract Download a not very high-res pdf
Boots, M. and Knell, R.J. (2002) The evolution of risky behaviour in the presence of a sexually transmitted disease. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B (Biological Sciences), Vol.269 pp 585-589. Abstract Download pdf
Knell,, R.J. (2004) Syphilis in Renaissance Europe: rapid evolution of a virulent sexually transmitted disease? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B (Biological Sciences): Biology Letters, Vol 271, pp. S174-S176 Download pdf
Knell, R.J. and Webberley, K.M. (2004) Sexually transmitted diseases of insects: distribution, evolution, ecology and host behaviour. Biological Reviews 79, 557-581. Download pdf
Ryder, J.J., Webberley, K.M., Boots, M. and Knell, R.J. (2005) Measuring the transmission dynamics of a sexually transmitted disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 102, 15140-15143. Download pdf, supplementary online information here.
Hurst, G.D.D., Webberley, K.M. and Knell, R.J. (2006) The role of parasites of insect reproduction in the diversification of insect reproductive processes. Pages 205-230 in Fellowes, M.D.E., Holloway, G.J. And Rolff, J. (eds.) Insect Evolutionary Ecology: Proceedings of the Royal Entomological Society's 22nd Symposium. CABI publishing, Wallingford, Oxon. UK.
Ryder, J.J., Hathway, J. and Knell, R.J. (2007) Constraints on parasite fecundity and transmission in an insect-STD system. Oikos 116, 578-584. Download pdf
Ryder, J.J., Miller, M.R., White, A., Knell, R.J. and Boots, M. (2007) Host parasite population dynamics under combined frequency- and density-dependent transmission. Oikos 116, 2017-2026. Download pdf
Insect immunity
Wilson, K., Knell, R.J., Boots, M. and Koch-Osbourne, J. (2003) Group living and investment in immune defence: an inter-specific analysis. Journal of Animal Ecology Vol. 72 pp 133-143. Abstract Download pdf
Pomfret, J.C. and Knell, R.J. (2006) Immunity and the expression of a secondary sexual trait in a horned beetle. Behavioral Ecology, available from here, or the abstract can be accessed here.Sexual selection and allometry
Knell, R.J., Fruhauf, N. and Norris, K.A. (1999) Conditional expression of a sexually selected trait in the stalk-eyed fly Diasemopsis aethiopica. Ecological Entomology Vol 24 pp 323-328. Abstract
Al-Khairulla, H., Warburton, D. and Knell, R.J. (2003) Do the eyestalks of female diopsid flies have a function in intrasexual aggressive encounters? Journal of Insect Behavior, Vol. 16, pp 679-686 Download pdf
Knell, R.J., Pomfret, J.C. and Tomkins, J.L. (2004) The limits of elaboration: curved allometries reveal the constraints on mandible size in stag beetles. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B (Biological Sciences), Vol. 271, pp 523-528 Download pdf
Knell, R.J. and Fortey, R.A. (2005) Trilobite spines and beetle horns: sexual
selection in the Palaeozoic? Biology Letters, published online 27th May 2005.
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2005.0304 Download pdf
Lailvaix, S.P., Hathway, J., Pomfret, J.C. and Knell, R.J. (2005) Horn size predicts physical performance in the beetle Euoniticellus intermedius (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Functional Ecology 19, 632-639. Download the pdf. Copyright and citation details for this paper are here.
Pomfret, J.C. and Knell, R.J. (2006) Sexual selection and horn allometry in
the dung beetle Euoniticellus intermedius. Animal Behaviour, 71, 567-576. Download pdf
Pomfret, J.C. and Knell, R.J. (2008) Crowding, sex ratio and horn evolution in a South African beetle community. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B (Biological Sciences) 275: 315-321 Download pdf
Knell, R.J. (2008) On the analysis of non-linear allometries. Ecological Entomology, available online. Download pdf
Other
Knell, R.J. (1998) Generation cycles (review paper). Trends in Ecology and Evolution Vol. 13 No. 5 pp 86-190. Abstract
Tomkins, J.L., Simmons, L.W., Knell, R.J. and Norris, K.A. (1999) Correlates of ball size and rolling speed in the dung beetle Kheper nigroaeneus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Journal of Zoology Vol 248 pp 483-487. Abstract
Knell, R.J.(2006) New gene, new disease. Heredity Vol 97 p315. Download the pdf
October 1999-present:
Lecturer in School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London.
May1999-September 1999:
Post-doctoral research associate at the Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Stirling. NERC funded postdoctoral position investigating the relationship between group living and immune response in lepidoptera.
February 1996-April 1999:
Lecturer in the Department of Zoology (now part of the Department of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
October 1992-January 1996:
PhD Student in The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Liverpool. Thesis title 'The Population Ecology of Two Insect Pathogens'
October 1988-June 1991:
BSc student, Department of Biology, Imperial College, London
Various trivia
May 1992-September 1992:
Field technician for Trent and Peak Archaeological Trust, Nottingham.
August 1991-April 1992:
Field technician for Fenland Archaeological Trust, Peterborough.
Summer 1989:
Summer student employed in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Horticultural Research International, Wellesbourne, Warwickshire.
July-September 1988:
Voluntary work in Kenya: assisted with a project studying drug resistant malaria and collected snake venom for epidemiological study.
December 1987-June 1988:
Assistant Scientific Officer, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Section, Horticultural Research International, Wellesbourne, Warwickshire.
Email: r.knell@qmul.ac.uk
Address: School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
Phone: Work: +44 (0)20 7882 7720 Mobile: 0794 1104981
Fax: +44 (0)20 8983 0973
