Caging and Uncaging Genetics

It is important for biology to understand if observations made in highly reductionist laboratory settings generalise to harsh and noisy natural environments in which genetic variation is sorted to produce adaptation. But what do we learn by studying, in the laboratory, a genetically diverse population that mirrors the wild? What is the best design for studying genetic variation? When should we consider it at all? The right experimental approach depends on what you want to know.     

Evidence of a Strong Domestication Bottleneck in the Recently Cultivated New Zealand Endemic Root Crop,Arthropodium cirratum (Asparagaceae)

We use chloroplast DNA sequencing to examine aspects of the pre-European Māori cultivation of an endemic New Zealand root crop, Arthropodium cirratum (rengarenga). Researching the early stages of domestication is not possible for the majority of crops, because their cultivation began many thousands of years ago and/or they have been substantially altered by modern breeding methods. We found high levels of genetic variation and structuring characterised the natural distribution of A. cirratum, while the translocated populations only retained low levels of this diversity, indicating a strong bottleneck even at the early stages of this species’ cultivation. The high structuring detected at four chloroplast loci within the natural A. cirratum range enabled the putative source(s) of the translocated populations to be identified as most likely located in the eastern Bay of Plenty/East Cape region. The high structuring within A. cirratum also has implications for the conservation of genetic diversity within this species, which has undergone recent declines in both its natural and translocated ranges.     

How do we restore New Zealand's biological heritage by 2050?

If we are to make meaningful and measurable progress in restoring New Zealand's biological heritage by 2050, a range of fundamental issues need to be addressed. These relate not just to restoration science but also to building ecosystem resilience in the wider socio‐economic and cultural context within which restoration occurs.     

Inhibition of diverse opportunistic viruses by structurally optimized retrograde trafficking inhibitors

Opportunistic viruses are a major problem for immunosuppressed individuals, particularly following organ or stem cell transplantation. Current treatments are non-existent or suffer from problems such as high toxicity or development of resistant strains. We previously published that a trafficking inhibitor that targets a host protein greatly reduces the replication of human cytomegalovirus. This inhibitor was also shown to be moderately effective against polyomaviruses, another family of opportunistic viruses. We have developed a panel of analogues for this inhibitor and have shown that these analogues maintain their high efficacy against HCMV, while substantially lowering the concentration required to inhibit polyomavirus replication. By targeting a host protein these compounds are able to inhibit the replication of two very different viruses. These observations open up the possibility of pan-viral inhibitors for immunosuppressed individuals that are effective against multiple, diverse opportunistic viruses.     

Exophiala macquariensis sp. nov., a cold adapted black yeast species recovered from a hydrocarbon contaminated sub-Antarctic soil

A new black yeast species, Exophiala macquariensis is described that is a member of the ascomycete family Herpotrichiellaceae, order Chaetothyriales. The genus Exophiala is comprised of opportunistic pathogens isolated from clinical specimens as well as species recovered from hydrocarbon contaminated environments. Several species have been reported to be able to degrade benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes. Here, a novel species of Exophiala (CZ06) previously isolated from a Sub-Antarctic, Macquarie Island soil that was spiked with Special Antarctic Blend diesel fuel (SAB) is described. This isolate has the capacity of toluene biodegradation at cold temperatures. Multilocus sequence typing showed that this fungus was closely related to the pathogenic species Exophiala salmonis and Exophiala equina. With the capacity to utilise hydrocarbons as a sole carbon source at 10 °C, this fungus has great potential for future bioremediation applications.