John L. McKillip, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor                             

              jlmckillip@bsu.edu

Educational Background

Ph.D., 1997 (Microbiology) Washington State University

Professional Background

Ball State University, 2003
Assistant Professor, Microbiology & Molecular Biology, Louisiana Tech University, 1999-2003
Postdoctoral Associate, Mississippi State University, Dept of Food Science & Technology ( with M.A. Drake) 1997-1999

General Research and Interest Areas

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.  

More On Research

Courses Currently Teaching

BIO 113  ( Microbiology for Allied Health Sciences)
BIO 213  ( Microbiology)
BIOT 491/591  (PCR & RT-PCR)

Biotechnology Certification Program

Organizations

      BSU Chapter of the ASM
 

Publications

Sandel, M.K., & McKillip, J.L. 2004. Virulence and recovery of Staphylococcus aureus relevant to the food industry using improvements on traditional approaches. Food Control 15:5-10.

McKillip, J.L. 2003.  A Review of Conventional Detection and Enumeration Methods for Pathogenic Bacteria in Food. Int. J. Food Microbiol., submitted.

McKillip, J.L., & Drake, M.A. 2003.  Real-time nucleic acid-based detection methods for pathogenic bacteria in food. J. Food Prot., in press.

McKillip, J.L., & Drake, M.A. 2003. Genetic-based methods for detection of bacterial pathogens. In (D.L. Marshall, ed) Handbook of Food Technology and Engineering. Marcel Dekker, New York, in press.

Sandel, M.K., Wu, Y.-F. G., & McKillip, J.L. 2003. Detection and recovery of sublethally-injured enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus. J. Appl. Microbiol. 94:90-94.

McKillip, J.L., Jaykus, L., & Drake, M.A. 2002. Influence of growth in a food medium on the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by polymerase chain reaction. J. Food Prot. 65:1775-1779.

Phelps, R.J., & McKillip, J.L. 2002. Enterotoxin production in natural isolates of Bacillaceae outside the Bacillus cereus group. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:3147-3151.

McKillip, J.L. 2001. Recovery of sublethally injured bacteria using selective agar overlays. The American Biology Teacher 63:184-188.

Tamarapu, S., McKillip, J.L., & Drake, M.A. 2001. Development of a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay for detection and differentiation of Staphylococcus aureus in dairy products. J. Food Prot. 64:664-668.

McKillip, J.L. 2000. Prevalence and expression of enterotoxins in Bacillus cereus and other Bacillus spp., a literature review. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 77:393-399.

McKillip, J.L., Jaykus, L.A., & Drake, M.A. 2000. A comparison of methods for the detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from artificially-contaminated dairy products using PCR. J. Appl. Microbiol. 89:49-55.

McKillip, J.L., & Drake, M.A. 2000. Molecular beacon polymerase chain reaction detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in milk. J. Food Prot. 63:855-859.

McIngvale, S.C., Chen, X.Q., McKillip, J.L., & Drake, M.A. 2000. Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in buttermilk as affected by contamination point and storage temperature. J. Food Prot. 63:441-444.

Drake, M. & McKillip, J. 2000. Fermentation microbiology – making cheese, yogurt, & buttermilk as a lab exercise. The American Biology Teacher 62:65-67.

McKillip, J.L., & M. Drake. 1999. Isolating ‘unknown’ bacteria in the introductory microbiology laboratory – a new selective medium for Gram-positives. The American Biology Teacher 61:610-611.

McKillip, J.L., Jaykus, L., & Drake, M.A. 1999. Nucleic acid persistence in heat-killed Escherichia coli O157:H7 from contaminated skim milk. J. Food Prot. 62:839-844.