Search Marsden awards 2008–2017

Recipient(s): Prof DB Scott | PI | Massey University
Dr T Chujo | AI | University of Tokyo
Dr MP Cox | AI | Massey University
Dr DM Gardiner | AI | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 

Public Summary: Establishment and maintenance of symbiotic associations between plants and microbes requires a molecular ‘dialogue’ between the symbiotic partners. While that ‘dialogue’ has been deciphered for the nitrogen-fixing symbioses between rhizobia and legumes, relatively little is known about the molecular exchange that occurs in beneficial fungal-plant associations. Using the perennial ryegrass-fungal endophyte association, as a model experimental system, we have shown that clusters of fungal genes for the synthesis of three classes of bioprotective metabolites, peramine, lolitrems and ergot alkaloids, are all highly expressed in the plant but not expressed in culture. Interestingly, the same clusters of genes are switched off in an endophyte mutant association, where the endophyte switches from restricted to proliferative growth. These results indicate that plant signaling is crucial for activation of these gene clusters and that synthesis of the bioprotective metabolites is a defining feature of the symbiosis. The aim of this work is to identify the signal(s) and transducers of the message from the plant to the fungus, and determine how signal transmission leads to activation of gene expression in specific regions of the endophyte genome. The results of this work will provide fundamental insights into the molecular and cellular requirements that define the symbiotic metabolic state.

Recipient(s): Prof M Conder | PI | The University of Auckland
Assoc Prof J An | PI | The University of Auckland
Prof EA O'Brien | PI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: Symmetry pervades nature and science, and group theory provides the tools for its study. We propose to undertake research that will answer deep, interesting and significant questions in the study of groups, their structure, their representations and their actions — particularly as symmetry groups of discrete structures. We aim to extend knowledge and enhance understanding of various classes of groups and their actions and representations, answer questions and solve problems posed by others.

Our research programme brings together researchers with a track record of successful work (individually and jointly) in group theory and discrete algebraic computation. A key feature of our work will be its international and collaborative focus, linking us in New Zealand with researchers from leading institutions in Europe, Israel, the UK and the USA. The involvement of graduate students will also bring positive benefits.

We will develop new theoretical and computational techniques for the solution of questions in group theory and its many applications. Along the way we will discover new phenomena, announce our findings at international conferences and workshops, and publish them in leading international mathematics journals.

Recipient(s): Dr J Sperry | PI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: Cancer affects people of all ages and accounts for 13% of all human deaths worldwide. An estimated 80% of all newly diagnosed cancers can be traced to environmental and lifestyle factors and as a result, innovative medicinal approaches to cancer prevention are as highly sought as new chemotherapeutic agents. By adopting a unified chemical strategy, the first total synthesis of two structurally unprecedented natural products that possess potential in both the prevention and treatment of cancer will be undertaken.

The total synthesis of the novel natural product terreusinone, an exceptional UV-A protectant, will allow investigation into its potential as a more effective sunscreen with an aim to reduce the occurrence of skin cancer - a disease of which 85-90% of cases are attributed to sun damage. The organic compounds currently used as UV-A protectants are toxic and offer limited protection against UV-A radiation.

Schischkiniin is a cytotoxic alkaloid and a promising lead compound for the development of novel chemotherapeutics. The synthesis of this unique metabolite will be undertaken to investigate its considerable promise as a new anti-cancer agent. There is a desperate demand for new cancer treatments based on such novel compounds due to multiple drug resistance (MDR) which can quickly render current drug regimens useless.

Recipient(s): Prof RP Duncan | PI | Lincoln University
Prof PE Hulme | AI | Lincoln University
Prof WH van der Putten | AI | Netherlands Institute of Ecology

Public Summary: Invasive species can benefit from leaving behind their natural enemies when introduced to new regions, but this advantage may decline as enemies accumulate over time in the new range. It has been suggested that this could account for the boom and bust dynamics of some invasive species, and could explain much of the observed variation in the degree to which alien species experience enemy release, but these ideas have not been fully tested. We will use Trifolium species introduced to New Zealand and their soil-borne enemies as a model system to test this dynamic enemy release hypothesis. We will measure the impact of soil enemies on plant performance in both the introduced New Zealand and native ranges of 17 Trifolium species, use this to quantify the strength of enemy release, and test whether time since arrival, extent of distribution in New Zealand, or the presence of close relatives can explain the variation in enemy release as predicted by the dynamic enemy release hypothesis. We will also test the hypothesis that alien species escaping their natural enemies can further benefit by allocating resources away from costly defence traits to functions that enhance competitive ability in the new range.

Recipient(s): Dr MD McCoy | PI | University of Otago
Assoc Prof TN Ladefoged | AI | The University of Auckland

Public Summary: Accounts of Maori life before European contact paint a picture of intense conflict and territoriality. Ecological models explain this territorial behaviour as reflecting concern for limited prime agricultural land to provide for basic needs and surplus to support elites’ political aspirations. The strict geographic limit of land for growing sweet potato set the necessary conditions to promote competition while control was achieved through territorial warfare that limited long-distance interaction. Alternatively, cultural models consider territoriality as one facet of communicating group identity linked to historical contingency rather than ecological imperatives. Warfare was part of the cycle of interaction between communities rather than a barrier to it and territoriality is therefore best understood as the result of culturally specific notions of prestige, revenge/reciprocity (utu), and compensation for trespass or injury (muru). We propose new archaeological field and laboratory research to model interaction via obsidian access/trade routes; the timing, location, and scale of fortification construction; and agricultural productivity, along an environmental transect across the Bay of Islands. We expect there was a cycling between motivations and that neither ecological nor cultural motivations dominated. The overall aim of this research is to better understand why people fight over status, resources, and land.

Recipient(s): Dr AS Bradley | PI | University of Otago
Assoc Prof BP Anderson | AI | University of Arizona

Public Summary: Sparked by the experimental achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), a new field of ultra-cold atoms has emerged. A BEC typically consists of millions of neutral atoms at a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero, contained in a vacuum chamber, and levitated in space by magnetic or optical fields. At these ultra-low temperatures, the atoms undergo a phase transition, coalescing into a mesoscopic quantum droplet exhibiting the remarkable property of frictionless flow, known as superfluidity. When a superfluid rotates, it does so by creating a quantized vortex resembling a tiny fluid whirlpool or tornado. Mutually attracted vortices and anti-vortices can pair up into vortex dipoles that carry linear momentum and are central to understanding turbulent flows. The scattering of vortex dipoles, the potential for focused sound pulses to convert into vortex dipoles, and the nature of forces acting on individual vortices are central questions at the forefront of superfluid physics. Using a newly developed theory of ultra-cold atomic superfluids we will investigate these systems to further our knowledge of vortex dipoles physics and give fundamental insights into the nature of quantum turbulence and the interface between vortex dynamics and superfluidity.

Recipient(s): Prof AR Gover | PI | The University of Auckland
Assoc Prof A Cap | AI | Universität Wien
Prof MG Eastwood | AI | Australian National University

Public Summary: A huge array of fundamental mathematical, physical, and biological systems are governed by natural partial differential equations (PDE); these are equations whose coefficients are geometrically determined by the underlying structure on which they are defined. A particularly revealing technique for studying such equations arises from exploring their properties under a local change of scale, a so-called conformal transformation. Indeed advances in conformal geometry, and its generalisations, have opened the way for exciting new approaches to treating such equations. A central aim of this proposal is to develop these new ideas into a theory that is both conceptually powerful and calculationally effective; this will be applied to hard problems of geometric and physical significance. A special focus is the discovery of new geometric results for structures generalising surfaces, called submanifolds.

Strong connections with top international research groups will be extended to bring world leading researchers to New Zealand. The country will gain cutting edge knowledge and techniques, as well as enhanced graduate training.

Recipient(s): Dr CJ Montelle | PI | University of Canterbury
Dr KL Plofker | AI | Union College

Public Summary: Numerical tables, a significant yet often overlooked source in the history of mathematics, not only hold intrinsic mathematical interest with respect to the computational techniques they embody, but also more broadly as they speak to scientific practices, assumptions, and aspirations of those that compiled them. Typically the result of massive computational enterprise, tables are a testament to the practical achievements of the society that produced them as well as the cultural and social contexts that define it. However the significance of mathematical tables and computational techniques often goes unnoticed, due largely to their subordinate role in classical and modern mathematics. Neglect of these subjects in the history of mathematics has led to a widespread failure to understand the role of computational practices in shaping scientific ideas. The proposed study undertakes to remedy this situation by an in-depth investigation of tables and computation algorithms in the mathematics of India in the second millennium, documenting and analyzing the growing importance and eventual dominance of computational mathematics in the Sanskrit exact sciences.

Recipient(s): Prof J Overton | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Prof W Murray | AI | Victoria University of Wellington
Prof V Naidu | AI | University of the South Pacific
Mr G Prinsen | AI | Private

Public Summary: Theories and practices of international aid have stressed the need for the full participation of recipients. This approach has been strengthened by international agreements, such as the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness in 2005 which called for 'ownership' of development strategies by recipient agencies. This seemed to promise recipient governments an increased stake in the way aid was used for development and poverty alleviation. However, in practice, the new aid agenda has actually increased demands on recipients with new conditions over the management of aid funds, the setting of development strategies and the meeting of other global obligations. This issue is of particular concern in small Pacific Island states where the small size of government is coupled with increasing demands from donors for consultation, accountability and engagement to create what we argue is an 'inverse sovereignty' effect: despite the rhetoric of ownership and independence, recipient states are actually losing control over their development strategies, policies and programmes. This research studies the aid relationships that have evolved in six Pacific Island countries and seeks lessons so that more effective ways of working can be suggested that take account of both scale and sovereignty.

Recipient(s): Prof M Garry | PI | Victoria University of Wellington
Dr DM Bernstein | AI | Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Prof SD Lindsay | AI | University of Victoria

Public Summary: Scientists have understood for decades that what we know about ourselves and the world is riddled with false details, mistaken 'facts,' and impossible events. Indeed, for many years some of us in the scientific community have studied how people to come believe and remember all kinds of false information. We have discovered that when coupled with a false suggestion, photographs are especially powerful in cultivating these false cognitions. Over the past decade, we have produced a body of work leading us to conclude that photographs change people's memories and beliefs slowly—over days or weeks—when memories erode and cognitive processing goes awry. But we were wrong. It does not take a false suggestion. It does not take days or weeks. It takes only a claim that a person must judge as being true or false in three seconds, paired with a trivially related photo, for most people to come to believe false cognitions. We propose a series of experiments to investigate the mechanisms driving this effect. Our findings have important implications for theories of cognition and memory, and implications for real-world practice in the media, public information campaigns, and advertising.