Marsden Highlights

Beginning a new decade of discovery

Across the last decade the Marsden Fund has become synonymous with excellence – in research, in governance, in adding value. Now, looking beyond the first ten years of the Marsden Fund, it is appropriate to consider the ways in which current or recent grant-holders have used their Marsden-funded expertise to contribute to the economic, cultural, social and environmental fabric of New Zealand.

Marsden supports outstanding early career researchers as evidenced by the Fast-Start awards. The scheme enables emerging researchers to build their careers – and often catalyses a far wider impact. For example, Dr Conrad Pilditch from the University of Waikato has recently completed a Fast-Start grant to determine the extent to which the activities of sediment-dwelling organisms regulate estuarine sediment transport. Dr Pilditch says: “The project played a critical role in my inclusion in the NIWA-led Coasts and Oceans OBI which was funded late last year by FRST.”



Many Marsden projects contribute to the economic life of New Zealand by increasing the understanding of fundamental factors that affect agriculture and food production. A group of researchers from AgResearch are investigating chemicals called lolitrems that cause “ryegrass staggers” in animals grazing on ryegrass pasture. These chemicals are neurotoxins produced by a fungus that grows within the leaves of the ryegrass. The team has determined that a specific lolitrem inhibits a vital ion channel necessary for the maintenance of blood pressure and brain activity, and it is this inhibition that causes the characteristic tremors. It has been 70 years since ryegrass staggers was first reported, but only now has the mechanism of action of the neurotoxins been discovered. Continuing the ryegrass theme, a team of researchers at Massey University is investigating the mechanisms that maintain a successful symbiotic relationship between ryegrass and the fungus that produces the neurotoxins. They have found that if a single fungal gene involved in free radical production is inactivated, the symbiotic relationship between the grass and fungus breaks down, leading to uncontrolled growth of the fungus and eventual death of the grass. This implicates a role for free radical production by the fungus to maintain the symbiotic relationship, and is a new role for free radicals in biology. This work was recently published in a high-impact plant research journal, and clearly has the potential to positively benefit the New Zealand national herd.

Marsden sets a benchmark in excellent research, funding key contributions across the science spectrum. In biomolecular science, a team of researchers from The University of Auckland are looking at dopamine-containing neurons located in a specific area of the brain. When these neurons degenerate, Parkinson’s disease results; however, the mechanism by which they are damaged is unclear. The team has found some evidence that damage of the neurons, and manifestation of Parkinson’s disease, is caused by activation of a novel group of cell membrane proteins known as TRP channels. This activation may lead to toxic calcium overload and hence cell death. They have also found that these channels may play a role in neuronal damage that occurs following a stroke.

A team at the University of Otago have been researching the responses of nerve cells to chemicals called growth factors, and whether the response to the cell depends on which part(s) of the cell are exposed to the factor. Serendipitously, they discovered a new neuronal survival factor that was previously believed to be unique to the reproductive system; this has resulted in a high-profile journal publication and much media publicity. The researchers are continuing their research into this factor and have found that its developmental action may lead to subtle but wide-spread differences in the brains of males and females.

Marsden Fund grants facilitate strong collaborations across New Zealand and between disciplines. Researchers from GNS Science, Massey University, Lincoln University and the University of Otago have been conducting a multi-disciplinary research project on the geology, flora and fauna of the Chatham Islands. They have found exciting molecular and geological evidence that the Chatham Islands have been emergent as land for less than 4 million years, and recent colonisation of flora and fauna from NZ. These findings are important, because they alter the long-standing view that the Chatham’s flora and fauna is ancient, and they reveal how rapidly speciation of flora and fauna can occur.

 

A better understanding of the fragility of New Zealand ecology is an important aspect of the Marsden Fund portfolio. Dr Rachel Fewster was awarded a Fast-Start Marsden grant to use a combination of DNA sequencing and statistical methods to investigate how rats reinvade islands and which islands are most vulnerable. She has examined the population genetics of Norwegian and ship rats from seven different islands around New Zealand. During the course of this research, Dr Fewster created user-friendly software suitable for conservation managers to visualise the genetic structure of populations. This could be important for DoC when deciding whether it is financially worthwhile to clear islands of rats.

With a similar theme of rat invasion of islands, a team of researchers from Landcare Research, led by Dr David Wardle, has investigated how alien organisms (in this case Pacific and European rats) affect ecosystem functioning through their interactions with native organisms (native seabirds). The team selected islands in the Hauraki Gulf with three different properties, i.e. rat free, Pacific rat (minor predator) only, and European rat (major predator) only, and comparing ecosystem functioning in each of these groups. They found that rat invasion acts as a major ecosystem driver and has wide ranging effects both above and below ground. This work has clear implications for conservation and understanding our past ecology.

The social sciences dimension of Marsden means that many projects have fed directly or indirectly into policy-making: informing systems and practices, and influencing decision-makers. Dr Christine Stephens, a Fast-Start researcher from Massey University has recently completed a project investigating “social connectedness” and contrasting “sense of community” between diverse urban and rural areas. She found that people in deprived communities have closer emotional links with the immediate community and fewer broader connections with social organisations and institutions; and rural communities have important structural and supportive connections that are threatened by the centralisation of services. This research has stakeholder support from Housing New Zealand and community groups, such as Plunket.

Many Marsden projects consider the context of current sociological issues. A team of researchers from The University of Auckland is investigating the interaction between the Māori and Chinese communities from the first encounters until the present day. Relationships were found to be close and cordial during the earlier part of the 20th century, but this had evolved over time to one of mutual wariness. The team also uncovered clear differences between the attitudes of rural and urban Māori, and between local born and new immigrant Chinese. However, a major finding was that both rural and city communities of Māori appeared to be more anti-immigration than Pakeha. This work could have implications for race relations, for integration of new immigrants, and for the formation of New Zealand national identity.



Marsden is about improving our understanding of those things we've always wondered about. For example, how is it that flowers are so intricately coloured? A team of researchers at Crop and Food Research have been studying the control of pattern formation in snapdragon flowers. This has contributed to research that has recently featured on a cover of a high-impact plant research journal. They identified three particular genes control the intensity and pattern of pigmentation in flowers by influencing the amount of pigment that is made by the petal cells. These genes influence pigment expression in different ways to each other, and variations in the activities of these genes cause the striking differences in patterns and colours found in different species of snapdragon. And how did those creatures in the rock pools get there in the first place? A team of researchers from the University of Otago has investigated the dispersal patterns of one of the world’s most widespread sea stars, Patiriella exigua, which is distributed widely throughout the Southern Hemisphere, despite being unable to move freely in the water. Using DNA sequencing, the researchers have found evidence that the species originated in Africa, and dispersed eastwards across the Indian ocean during the last ice age. They believe that this pattern indicates that dispersal probably occurred by rafting on wood or seaweed, facilitated by a current that flows from west to east in the Southern Ocean. This is one of the first studies to provide evidence of long-distance rafting as a means of dispersal, and is of broad interest to marine biologists as it indicates that rafting has an important role in evolution.



Marsden is making a growing contribution to the cultural life of New Zealand, and the library of books written with support from the Marsden Fund is expanding. For example, Professor Terry Sturm at The University of Auckland is researching the poetry and writings of Allen Curnow, one of New Zealand’s most eminent writers. This year has seen the publication of Professor Sturm’s edited book of Curnow’s topical verse, which was written under the pen-name “Whim Wham”. The book, “Whim Wham’s New Zealand: The Best of Whim Wham 1937-1988” was launched by the Prime Minister and features Whim Wham’s insights into a wide variety of social and political events, spanning a 50-year period.

Marsden Fund, The Royal Society of New Zealand, 9 Turnbull Street, Thorndon, PO Box 598, Wellington, New Zealand. Ph: +64 4 470-5799          Fax:+64 4 473-1409          Email: marsden@rsnz.org          Web: http://marsden.rsnz.org

 

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