Search Marsden awards 2008–2017

Recipient(s): Dr B Veit | PI | AgResearch
Dr C Meyer | AI | Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
Prof BJG Scheres | AI | Utrecht University

Public Summary: One of the most fundamental characteristics of living organisms is their capacity to promote, limit or polarize growth in a manner that is not strictly limited by energy and material inputs. To enhance their long term survival, early life evolved mechanisms to limit growth under stress, thus helping to stabilize cellular physiology, and to shape cells for optimal metabolism and reproduction. We are interested in understanding how such basic mechanisms, which arose in simple single-celled organisms, have been integrated into more complex programmes of multicellular development. To address this question, we will examine how an ancient growth control programme, termed the “TOR pathway”, has been adapted to the contrasting patterns of development seen in animals and plants. In animals, regulated TOR activity is essential to growth and contributes to longevity, while its mis-regulation features in many forms of cancer and disease. In the proposed research, we will analyse the less well understood requirement for TOR activity in specific tissues and cell types of plants. Results of our work should provide novel insights into crucial mechanisms for growth control that operate in a wide range of organisms.

Recipient(s): Prof ED Mares | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Prof MJ Cresswell | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Dr AA Rini | PI | Massey University

Public Summary: Where does necessity come from? From the world? From language? Different answers reflect
different views of science, and these can yield different attitudes towards logic. Aristotle regarded
necessity as part of the world and developed a logic of necessity, a 'modal' logic, to articulate his
science. But the empiricism that swept through Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries demanded the overthrow of Aristotelian science. Contra Aristotle, the empiricists did not see necessity as part of the world. To the extent that empiricism allowed necessity at all it explained it as a matter of how language classifies things, or a matter of relations between ideas in the mind. In the mid 20th century, W.V.O. Quine at Harvard argued strongly that genuinely modal notions like necessity and possibility simply cannot emerge from the empiricists' view of logic. His response was to throw away modality. But we argue that to give up necessity is to give up logic, and clearly that is too high a price. This project explains what is required in order to provide an adequate foundation for logic, and shows in detail why you cannot asssume the truths of logic without assuming that necessity is part of the world.

Recipient(s): Assoc Prof VL Arcus | PI | University of Waikato
Dr R Colangeli | PI | University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Public Summary: Many bacteria encounter dramatic changes in their environment during the course of their lifecycle. For example, the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (which causes tuberculosis) happily grows in complex, rich media. After infection, M. tuberculosis grows inside human immune cells called macrophages, where the bacteria are under attack – there is very little oxygen and the pH is unusually low. To survive in these very different environments, the bacterium must tightly tune its metabolism and growth to suit the conditions. New results from our laboratory, suggest that the “VapC” proteins control particular metabolic pathways in response to changes in the environment. They do this by targeting subsets of mRNA transcripts for degradation under certain environmental conditions. This provides a fast, concerted down-regulation of particular metabolic pathways, and represents a new mechanism for post-transcriptional regulation in prokaryotes. Our hypothesis is that VapC-mediated mRNA regulation is a general phenomenon as we have preliminary evidence that VapC proteins from opposite sides of the tree of life may have similar functions. VapC proteins are found in half of all bacteria and archaea. To test our hypothesis, we propose a range of biochemical and microbiological experiments using VapC proteins from a diverse range of bacteria and archaea.

Recipient(s): Dr RJ Clarke | PI | The University of Auckland
Assoc Prof JP Denier | AI | The University of Adelaide
Dr RE Hewitt | AI | University of Manchester

Public Summary: Understanding how boundary layers, thin regions of high shear which form on surfaces in fast moving flow, become detached in a time-dependent manner remains one of the great challenges in fluid dynamics. Such separations are commonplace, and often drastically alter the character of a flow. Hence, discerning their nature offers huge rewards across a diverse range of areas, extending from turbulent transitions, to improved models of fluid mechanics in the human body. The proposed PI and international colleagues recently prototyped a novel benchtop experiment that can shed light on this important mechanism. Data obtained from preliminary investigations hints at phenomena predicted by current unsteady separation theories, as well as uncovering a rich array of flow behaviours yet to be fully understood. The research program proposed here sets out to build upon these initial successes, and realise the full potential of this experimental regime. A blend of extensive flow measurements, sophisticated simulations, and advanced theoretical techniques will be employed to deepen our appreciation of this fundamental and pervasive process. Connections between unsteady separation and flow instabilities will be explored, as will the role of centrifugal effects. The ultimate state of decaying turbulence, often realized experiments, will also be of intense interest.

Recipient(s): Dr AR Ganley | PI | Massey University
Prof T Kobayashi | AI | National Institute of Genetics

Public Summary: Faithful separation of the genetic material during cell division is a fundamental feature of life. Chromosome separation failure can lead to disease or death. Therefore, it is critically important to understand what features of chromosomes make them prone to separation failure.
I propose a novel hypothesis: that the ribosomal DNA repeats (rDNA) impede faithful chromosome separation. The rDNA encodes components of the ribosome. However, I was led to this hypothesis by studies showing that the rDNA has other, ancillary functions. In particular, studies in Baker’s yeast have revealed roles for the rDNA in several processes that may impact chromosome separation. Furthermore, Down syndrome in humans results from separation failure of chromosome 21, and the rDNA is present on chromosome 21.
The objectives of this proposal are to characterise the effects of the rDNA on chromosome separation, in both sexual and asexual cell divisions, and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that underlie these effects. I will take a genetic approach, thus this work will be performed in the model genetic organism, Baker's yeast.
Results obtained from this research will shed new light on the causes of chromosome separation errors, and will suggest reasons why Down syndrome presents so frequently in humans.

Recipient(s): Dr JPR Wells | PI | University of Canterbury
Dr RB Hurst | PI | University of Canterbury
Prof KU Schreiber | AI | Fundamental Station Wettzell

Public Summary: We plan to build a new ring laser gyroscope in the Cashmere Cavern under the Christchurch Port Hills. It will be triangular, with side length about 5 metres, and tilted about 46 degrees to face the south celestial pole. During its operation we shall use new ideas and techniques never before used, to eliminate local disturbances. The laser will be optimized to measure the absolute rotation rate of the Earth, ultimately to better than one part in a billion. We expect to see fluctuations because variations in the westerly winds and ocean currents (averaged over the whole globe) cause compensatory variations in the rotation of the solid Earth. This causes the length of a sidereal day (during which the Earth rotates exactly once relative to the distant stars) to vary by a few thousanths of a second, over time scales of weeks. But our ultimate goal is to observe very subtle effects predicted by the Theory of Relativity: The massive Earth should 'drag' nearby space as it rotates, which should result in a slightly slower rotation rate measured by a gyroscope such as our laser when compared with the rate inferred from observations of very distant astronomical objects.

Recipient(s): Prof T Mitrovic | PI | University of Canterbury
Prof Ohlsson | PI | University of Illinois at Chicago
Mr MM Mathews | AI | University of Canterbury
Dr A McKinlay | AI | University of Canterbury

Public Summary: We will develop a new ontological modelling methodology that will enable computer-based training systems adapted to users' specific cognitive functioning abilities. Current intelligent systems do not take the user’s cognitive functioning into account; they assume all users have the same level of cognitive functioning, with no restrictions on memory, attention, learning capability, or speed of processing. This new modelling method will be tested in the context of adaptive cognitive training for stroke patients. Current assistive technologies provide simple reminders to stroke patients to compensate for memory loss, but do not provide adaptive training. The proposed intelligent and adaptive training system will use the created methodology to monitor each patient's cognitive deficit and initiate adaptive strategies (e.g. provide specific exercises or tailored advice). Such adaptive training is extremely important to a country with an ageing population such as New Zealand, as it decreases substantial costs of specialized human treatment and patient care. This project will provide a framework for neuropsychological researchers to conduct similar rehabilitative research into training strategies with other brain injuries (even degenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease). It also advances the field of knowledge engineering and paves the way for next-generation, human-centred intelligent systems.

Recipient(s): Dr J Edmond | PI | University of Otago

Public Summary: Globalization and new technology challenge existing notions of cultural difference and artistic originality, by seeming to homogenize diverse cultures and to encourage copying over original thought. I propose to rethink cultural difference and originality for the twenty-first century through a new theoretical framework for cross-cultural literary comparison that I term “iterative poetics.” I develop this framework through comparative analysis of contemporary iterative poets writing in Chinese, English, and Russian. These poets produce a striking array of works composed from pre-existing materials through techniques such as translation, performance, and sampling. I bring this iterative turn in contemporary poetry into dialogue with a similar tendency in cultural theory. Like contemporary poetry, cultural theory increasingly adopts an iterative approach, treating culture not as original or derivative but as the product of repeated acts and multiple sources that are themselves part of a vast network of interconnecting texts, images, sounds, and ideas. My iterative framework reveals how these poetic practices and cultural theories are intertwined with technological development and globalization. By investigating the way technology and globalization transform originality and cultural difference, I seek to develop a new approach to cross-cultural comparison that recognizes how iteration and combination are shaping our emergent global culture.

Recipient(s): Dr RE Ekins | PI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: In a democracy ‘the people’ are to be both rulers and the ruled. However, it is unclear how this is possible: most citizens cannot serve directly in government and decision-making by popular referenda may be incoherent and unreasonable. This project aims to explain how a community may exercise reasonable democratic self-rule by considering whether the state is an artificial person formed by members of the community, the acts of which are the acts of all citizens. Artificial personality is not a metaphor: complex groups, such as corporations, are groups of persons who act together in a way that is reasoned and coherent. This project will consider to what extent the state should be structured to be able to reason and choose like an ordinary person. It will also consider the institutional arrangements and social foundations that are necessary if the state is to be an artificial person and if this artificial personality is to make democratic self-rule possible. This study promises to explain how members of the community should jointly act to create and sustain a state that is responsive to the participation of citizens but also subject to the discipline of reason.

Recipient(s): Assoc Prof D Young | PI | The University of Auckland
Dr PA Lawlor | AI | The University of Auckland
Dr AI Mouravlev | AI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: To date, gene therapy strategies for neurological diseases have been based on the manipulation of neuronal function. However there is now increasing evidence that astrocytes, the support cells for neurons, can alter their function in response to brain insults and release toxic agents that can kill neurons. Astrocytes, prevalent and dysfunctional in the diseased brain are an attractive cellular target for new gene therapies but the tools needed to enable genetic manipulation of astrocytes have not been available. We have recently discovered a novel gene delivery vehicle derived from an adeno-associated virus (AAV) that can exclusively transfer genes of interest to astrocytes. The aim of this proposal is to determine whether our AAV vector can be used as a tool to manipulate astrocyte function for gene therapy purposes and gene function studies. We use a rat model of Parkinson's disease (PD) in these proof-of-principle studies to investigate the contribution of altered astrocyte function to PD progression and evaluate a gene therapy strategy for PD based on overexpression of the neuroprotective gene Nurr1 in astrocytes. This research addresses an unmet need for an astrocyte targeting vector for clinical applications and if successful, will have major implications for human gene therapy.