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Ecology and Evolution

D-Index
37
Citations
5416
World Ranking
6871
National Ranking
539

Overview

Sharon Downes is affiliated with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia. Their research primarily spans the fields of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, and Agricultural and Biological Sciences, with a focus on several subfields including Molecular Biology, Insect Science, Plant Science, and Genetics.

Their work covers a range of topics, notably Insect Resistance and Genetics, Insect-Plant Interactions and Control, CRISPR and Genetic Engineering, Entomopathogenic Microorganisms in Pest Control, Evolution and Genetic Dynamics, Genetically Modified Organisms Research, and Insect and Pesticide Research.

Sharon Downes has coauthored frequently with a number of researchers, including Tom Walsh, Karl Gordon, Wee Tek Tay, Yidong Wu, and Rahul Rane.

Publications by Sharon Downes have appeared in several venues, with multiple papers published in bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), Entomologia Generalis, Communications Biology, Annual Review of Entomology, and the Journal of Economic Entomology.

  • Global population genomic signature of Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm) supports complex introduction events across the Old World, 2022, Communications Biology
  • Determinants of Insecticide Resistance Evolution: Comparative Analysis Among Heliothines, 2022, Annual Review of Entomology
  • Resistance Bioassays and Allele Characterization Inform Analysis of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Introduction Pathways in Asia and Australia, 2022, Journal of Economic Entomology
  • Global FAW population genomic signature supports complex introduction events across the Old World, 2020, bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Disruption of HaVipR1 confers Vip3Aa resistance in the moth crop pest Helicoverpa armigera, 2025, PLoS Biology

The research contributions often explore genetic mechanisms behind insect resistance and pest control, combining molecular biology techniques and genetic engineering methods such as CRISPR. This work is significant within the context of agricultural pest management and insecticide resistance.

Best Publications

  • A brave new world for an old world pest: Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Brazil.

    Wee Tek Tay;Miguel F. Soria;Thomas Walsh;Danielle Thomazoni

  • Genomic innovations, transcriptional plasticity and gene loss underlying the evolution and divergence of two highly polyphagous and invasive Helicoverpa pest species

    S. L. Pearce;D. F. Clarke;D. F. Clarke;P. D. East;S. Elfekih

  • Heat, safety or solitude? Using habitat selection experiments to identify a lizard's priorities

    Sharon Downes;Richard Shine

  • TRADING HEAT AND FOOD FOR SAFETY: COSTS OF PREDATOR AVOIDANCE IN A LIZARD

    Sharon Downes

  • Can pregnant lizards adjust their offspring phenotypes to environmental conditions

    Richard Shine;Sharon J. Downes

  • WHY DOES TAIL LOSS INCREASE A LIZARD'S LATER VULNERABILITY TO SNAKE PREDATORS?

    Sharon Downes;Richard Shine

  • Insect Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin Cry2Ab Is Conferred by Mutations in an ABC Transporter Subfamily A Protein

    Wee Tek Tay;Rod J. Mahon;David G. Heckel;Thomas K. Walsh

  • Sedentary snakes and gullible geckos: predator–prey coevolution in nocturnal rock-dwelling reptiles

    Sharon Downes;Richard Shine

  • A perspective on management of Helicoverpa armigera: transgenic Bt cotton, IPM, and landscapes.

    Sharon Downes;Darren Kriticos;Hazel Parry;Cate Paull

  • The Use of Corridors by Mammals in Fragmented Australian Eucalypt Forests

    Sharon J. Downes;Kathrine A. Handasyde;Mark A. Elgar

  • Binding Site Alteration Is Responsible for Field-Isolated Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry2A Insecticidal Proteins in Two Helicoverpa Species

    Silvia Caccia;Carmen Sara Hernández-Rodríguez;Rod J. Mahon;Sharon Downes

  • An experimental demonstration of direct behavioural interference in two Mediterranean lacertid lizard species

    Sharon Downes;Dirk Bauwens

  • Vip3A resistance alleles exist at high levels in Australian targets before release of cotton expressing this toxin.

    Rod J. Mahon;Sharon J. Downes;Bill James

  • Global population genomic signature of Spodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm) supports complex introduction events across the Old World

    Unknown

  • Frequency of alleles conferring resistance to the Bt toxins Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab in Australian populations of Helicoverpa armigera (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

    R. J. Mahon;K. M. Olsen;S. Downes;S. Addison

  • Do incubation-induced changes in a lizard's phenotype influence its vulnerability to predators?

    Sharon J. Downes;Richard Shine

  • Adaptive management of pest resistance by Helicoverpa species (Noctuidae) in Australia to the Cry2Ab Bt toxin in Bollgard II® cotton.

    Sharon Downes;Rodney J. Mahon;Louise Rossiter;Greg Kauter

  • Antibiotic and pesticide susceptibility and the Anthropocene operating space

    Peter Sogaard Jorgensen;Athena Aktipis;Zachary Brown;Yves Carriere

  • Phenotypic variation in an oviparous montane lizard (Bassiana duperreyi): the effects of thermal and hydric incubation environments

    Thomas Flatt;Richard Shine;Pedro A. Borges-Landaez;Sharon J. Downes

  • Does responsiveness to predator scents affect lizard survivorship

    Sharon J. Downes

  • Evolution, ecology and management of resistance in Helicoverpa spp. to Bt cotton in Australia

    Sharon Downes;Rod Mahon

Frequent Co-Authors

Karl H.J. Gordon
Karl H.J. Gordon Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Myron P. Zalucki
Myron P. Zalucki University of Queensland
Richard Shine
Richard Shine Macquarie University
David G. Heckel
David G. Heckel Max Planck Society
William James
William James University of Oxford
Juan Ferré
Juan Ferré University of Valencia
Yidong Wu
Yidong Wu Nanjing Agricultural University
Lars S. Jermiin
Lars S. Jermiin Australian National University
Nancy A. Schellhorn
Nancy A. Schellhorn Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
Yves Carrière
Yves Carrière University of Arizona

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