Research interests

• Consequences of fetal and neonatal development
• Influences on skeletal muscle development, body composition and meat quality
• Behaviour and stress physiology
• Biology underpinning gene markers

Background

Paul Greenwood is a Principal Research Scientist in Industry & Investment NSW (Primary Industries) Production Research, and is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Environment and Rural Science at the University of New England. He heads I&I NSW's research effort on “Biological validation and gene expression underpinning gene discovery for beef yield and quality characteristics” within the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies (Beef CRC).

Dr Greenwood was awarded the 2010 Australian Research Council Eureka Prize for Research by an Interdisciplinary Team, within the Meat Standards Australia (MSA) Pathways Team for his research in the Beef CRC.

Dr Greenwood also undertakes research on cellular development of muscle within the Sheep Industry CRC. He was a member of the ARC/NH&MRC Research Network on Genes and Environment in Development and is a representative on the Southern Australian Beef Research Council.

His research has also focused on long-term consequences of fetal and neonatal growth and nutrition in ruminants, and on temperament and stress-responsiveness in relation to productivity, efficiency and meat quality.

Dr Greenwood has an international reputation for his research on consequences of growth and nutrition during early life. This work has also resulted in new management recommendations to the Australian beef industry.

Qualifications

• BScAgr (Syd)
• MScAgr (Syd)
• PhD (Cornell)

Current projects

• Biological validation and gene expression underpinning gene discovery for beef yield and quality characteristics
• Genetic, nutritional and other impacts on muscle development and body composition in ruminants
• Long-term consequences of fetal and neonatal growth and nutrition in ruminants
• Cattle temperament and stress-responsiveness in relation to productivity, efficiency and beef quality

Selected Recent Publications

Cafe LM, McIntyre BM, Robinson DL, Geesink GH, Barendse W and Greenwood PL (2010) Production and processing studies on calpain-system gene markers for tenderness in cattle: 1. Growth, efficiency, temperament and carcass characteristics. Journal of  Animal Science 88:3047-3058

Cafe LM, McIntyre BM, Robinson DL, Geesink GH, Barendse W, Thompson JM, Pethick DW and Greenwood PL (2010) Production and processing studies on calpain-system gene markers for tenderness in cattle: 2. Objective meat quality. Journal of  Animal Science 88:3059-3069

Warner RD, Greenwood PL, Pethick DW and Ferguson DM (2010) Genetic and environmental effects on meat quality. Meat Science 86:171-183 (International Congress on Meat Science and Technology (ICOMST) Special Edition)

Greenwood PL, Bell AW, Vercoe PE and Viljoen GJ editors (2010) Managing the Prenatal Environment to Enhance Livestock Productivity. Springer, The Netherlands, IAEA. ISBN 978-90-481-3134-1. eISBN 978-90-481-3135-8

Allingham PG, Greenwood PL, Brown TJ and Harper GS (2010) Hyaluronin: is it a biomarker for adipocyte development within bovine muscle? Animal Production Science 50:88-97

Greenwood PL, Tomkins NW, Hunter RA, Allingham PG, Harden S and Harper GS (2009) Bovine myofiber characteristics are influenced by post-weaning nutrition. Journal of Animal Science 87:3114-3123

Hudson NJ, Reverter A, Wang YH, Greenwood PL and Dalrymple BP (2009) Inferring the transcriptional landscape of mammalian skeletal muscle across development by integrating co-expression networks. PLoS ONE 4(10): e7249

Cafe LM, Ferguson DM, Robinson DL and Greenwood PL (2009) Stress physiology in cattle is modified by temperament and hormonal growth promotant. In 'Ruminant Physiology'. Editors Y Chilliard, F Glasser, Y Faulconnier, F Bocquier, I Veissier and M Doreau pp. 802-803. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen

Greenwood PL, Cafe LM, Pethick DW, Robinson DL and Thompson JM (2009) Production and processing studies on calpain-system gene markers in cattle. In 'Ruminant Physiology'. Editors Y Chilliard, F Glasser, Y Faulconnier, F Bocquier, I Veissier and M Doreau. pp. 518-519. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen

Greenwood PL, Cafe LM, Hearnshaw H, Hennessy DW, and Morris SG (2009) Consequences of birth weight and pre-weaning growth for yield of primal cuts from 30 month-old Piedmontese- and Wagyu-sired cattle. Animal Production Science 49:468-478

Cafe L, Hennessy DW, Hearnshaw H, Morris SG and Greenwood PL (2009) Long-term consequences of birth weight and growth to weaning for feedlot growth and efficiency of Piedmontese- and Wagyu-sired cattle. Animal Production Science 49:461-467

Wang YH, Bower NI, Reverter A, Tan SH, De Jager N, Wan R, McWilliam SM, Cafe LM, Greenwood PL and Lehnert SA (2009) Gene expression patterns during intramuscular fat development in cattle. Journal of Animal Science 87:119-130

Greenwood PL and Dunshea FR (2009) Biology and regulation of carcass composition. In: Improving the Sensory and Nutritional Quality of Fresh Meat. Editors J.P. Kerry and D. Ledward. pp.19-60. Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge. ISBN 1 84569 343 4

Greenwood PL and Cafe LM (2007) Prenatal and pre-weaning growth and nutrition of cattle: Long-term consequences for beef production. Animal 1:1283-1296

Lehnert SA, Reverter A, Byrne KA, Wang Y, Nattrass G, Hudson NJ, and Greenwood PL (2007) Gene expression profiling of developing bovine muscle from two different beef cattle breeds. BMC Developmental Biology 7:95

Reverter A, Hudson NJ, Wang Y, Tan S-H, Barris W, Byrne KA, McWilliam SM, Bottema CDK, Kister A, Greenwood PL, Harper GS, Lehnert SA and Dalrymple BP (2006) A gene co-expression network of bovine skeletal muscle inferred from microarray data. Physiological Genomics 28:76-83

Lehnert SA, Byrne KA, Reverter A, Nattrass G, Greenwood PL, Wang Y, Hudson NJ and Harper GS (2006) Gene expression profiling of bovine longissimus muscle in response to and during recovery from chronic and severe undernutrition. Journal of Animal Science  84:3239-3250

Kilgour RJ, Melville GJ and Greenwood PL (2006) Individual differences in the reaction of beef cattle to situations involving social isolation, close proximity of humans, restraint and novelty. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 99:21-40 

Professional associations and activities

• Australian Society of Animal Production
• American Society of Animal Science
• European Association of Animal Production

Fields of Research

• 070204 Animal Nutrition
• 070203 Animal Management
• 070202 Animal Growth and Development
• 070702 Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

Keyword/phrase list of research interests

• Fetal programming
• Muscle biology
• Meat quality
• Body composition
• Behaviour
• Stress physiology
• Gene markers