Search

Tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L., family Solanaceae) represents one of the most economically valuable horticultural crops worldwide. Tomato production is affected by numerous emerging plant viruses. We identified, for the first time in New Zealand (NZ), Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) in greenhouse grown tomato crops using a combination of methods from electron microscopy and herbaceous indexing to RT-qPCR and high-throughput sequencing. Phylogenetic and genomic analysis of a near-complete PepMV genome determined that the detected strain belonged to the mild form of the CH2 lineage of the virus. Subsequently, a delimiting survey of PepMV was conducted, and PepMV was detected at four additional locations. PCR-derived sequences obtained from samples collected from different greenhouses and from herbaceous indicator plants were identical to the original sequence. Since PepMV has never been reported in NZ before, seed pathways are speculated to be the most likely source of entry into the country., Competing Interests: The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.

Glass sponges (Hexactinellida) constitute important parts of ecosystems on the deep-sea floor worldwide. However, they are still an understudied group in terms of their diversity and systematics. Here, we report on new specimens collected during RV Sonne expedition SO254 to the New Zealand region, which has recently emerged as a biodiversity hotspot for hexactinellids. Examination of the material revealed several species new to science or so far unknown from this area. While formal taxonomic descriptions of a fraction of these were published earlier, we here briefly report on the morphology of the remaining new species and use the collection to greatly expand the molecular phylogeny of the group as established with ribosomal DNA and cytochrome oxidase subunit I markers. In addition, we provide a chemical fingerprinting analysis on a subset of the specimens to investigate if the metabolome of glass sponges contains phylogenetic signal that could be used to supplement morphological and DNA-based approaches., Competing Interests: The authors declare there are no competing interests., (©2023 Dohrmann et al.)

Seamounts on subantarctic New Zealand's Macquarie Ridge, including parts of Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding Macquarie Island, have been demonstrated to be a rich source of new species of carnivorous sponges (Demospongiae Sollas, Poecilosclerida Topsent, Cladorhizidae Dendy). Four new species of Abyssocladia Lévi, 1964, are described from Macquarie Ridge seamounts and at other disparate locations: Abyssocladia lanceola sp. nov. from Seamounts 7, 8, and 9 (Australia EEZ), Seamount 10 (International Waters), and the South Tasman Rise; Abyssocladia rowdeni sp. nov., first collected from diffuse hydrothermal vent sites at Brothers Seamount on the Southern Kermadec Ridge and recorded here from the non-venting seamounts on Chatham Rise to the east of the South Island of New Zealand; Abyssocladia tumulorum sp. nov., found exclusively on the Chatham Rise; and Abyssocladia sonnae sp. nov. from Monowai Seamount on the Tonga-Kermadec Ridge in International Waters, also found, surprisingly, on Macquarie Ridge's Seamount 8 (Australia EEZ). Patriciacladia gen. nov. has been established for a new species of Cladorhizidae discovered on Macquarie Ridge and Chatham Rise. Patriciacladia enigmatica gen. et sp. nov. is highly unusual in that it possesses palmate isochelae not typically found in Cladorhizidae and has a long branch in phylogenetic analysis of the family, supporting the establishment of a new genus and species for Abyssocladia n. sp. B (QM G339872, was NIWA 41033): 28S rDNA: LN870583, COI: LN870445, Macquarie Ridge) in Hestetun et al. (2016a: table 1; 2017: fig. 15). The discovery of two new species, again from the Macquarie Ridge and other New Zealand locations, expands support for the establishment of a new genus, Australocladia gen. nov., which contains several additional species nested as a monophyletic clade within the large, heterogenous, and paraphyletic Abyssocladia clade in molecular phylogenetic analyses. Australocladia sphaerichela gen. et sp. nov. and Au. alopecura gen. et sp. nov. both possess spherical abyssochelae, funnel-shaped expansions which may contain spermatophores on the body, substrongyles in the attachment base, and a generally southern hemisphere distribution.

Four species of Phlyctaenopora Topsent, 1904 (Demospongiae Sollas, Poecilosclerida Topsent, Mycalidae Lundbeck) are recognised today (Van Soest et al. 2021a) (Table 1): two Atlantic Ocean species in subgenus Phlyctaenopora [type species P. (P.) bitorquis Topsent, 1904, from the Azores; P. (P.) halichondrioides van Soest Stentoft, 1988, from Barbados]; and two Southern Hemisphere species in subgenus Barbozia Dendy, 1922: P. (Barbozia) primitiva Dendy, 1922, from the Seychelles, and P. (B.) bocagei Lévi Lévi, 1983, from New Caledonia. Here we describe a new species of Phlyctaenopora from Wanganella North in International Waters on the West Norfolk Ridge, northwest of New Zealand. Phlyctaenopora (B.) spina sp. nov. provides a first record of the genus in the South Pacific, providing further confirmation of the integrity of the subgenus Barbozia.

Differentiation of species within the genus Dysidea Johnston, 1842 (Order Dictyoceratida Minchin, 1900, Family Dysideidae Gray, 1867) is extremely difficult as they lack spicules which are strongly diagnostic in other Demospongiae, and their primary and secondary fibres and the mesh that they form, may be irregular in shape and thickness, thus difficult to measure for comparisons. Here we review species of Dysidea known from the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), validating five species: Dysidea cristagalli Bergquist, 1961a, from the Hauraki Gulf; D. hirciniformis (Carter, 1885a) sensu Dendy (1924), from North Cape; D. navicularis Lendenfeld, 1888, from Port Lyttleton on the east coast of the South Island; D. ramsayi (Lendenfeld, 1888) from the Chatham Islands; D. spiculivora Dendy, 1924, from Cape Maria Van Diemen and the Three Kings Islands to the north of New Zealand. Dysidea fragilis (Montagu, 1818) sensu Bergquist (1961b), from Mernoo Bank on Chatham Rise, is now considered to be invalid, and D. elegans (Nardo, 1847) sensu Brøndsted (1927), from the Coromandel Peninsula, is considered unrecognisable. Several partially characterised species have also been cited in the literature. Two new species from Tauranga Harbour, on the northeast coast of the North Island, Dysidea tuapokere sp. nov. and D. teawanui sp. nov., are described. These descriptions are based on fresh material and in situ photography, facilitating clear, informative descriptions, that will enable ease of identification of these species in the future.

A new species of the often-cryptic genus Polycheria (Crustacea; Amphipoda) was discovered living in a small specimen of the sponge, Homaxinella erecta (Brøndsted, 1924) (Demospongiae, Suberitida, Suberitidae), in Spirits Bay, on the northern tip of the North Island of New Zealand. Polycheria spongoteras sp. nov. is described using integrative techniques (morphologically, molecularly and ecologically), with discussions on the New Zealand records of the genus and related taxa. The host sponge is redescribed and placed in the Spirits Bay context. [Zooban URL: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:FB60B77B-6B98-4102-A41F-D980B03204EB].

The genus Penares Gray 1867 (Tetractinellida Marshall; Astrophorina Sollas; Geodiidae Gray) is reviewed from new and existing New Zealand collections, with 75 specimens examined and registered. The only species known from New Zealand prior to this study, P. tylotaster Dendy 1924, is re-examined and re-described from the holotype, using new scanning electron microscope images. Nine new species are described from New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone: P. mollis sp. nov., P. aureus sp. nov., P. vermiculatus sp. nov., P. kermadecensis sp. nov., P. turmericolor, sp. nov., P. deformis sp. nov., P. okokewae sp. nov., P. orbis sp. nov., and P. astronavis sp. nov. A specimen of P. schulzei (Dendy 1905), first described from Sri Lanka and subsequently recorded from New Caledonia, was also found in New Zealand, extending the range of this species. This study brings the total New Zealand Penares fauna to 11 species, making a significant contribution to the now, global total of 39 species. All previously described Penares species are reviewed based on their published descriptions, and species names have been corrected to their masculine form. Based on the published description of P. obtusus Lendenfeld 1907, it is recommended that this species be reassigned to the genus Stelletta Schmidt 1862.

Three new sponge species in the demosponge families Chalinidae Gray and Suberitidae Schmidt are described from the Calypso hydrothermal vent field in the Bay of Plenty, and one species from seep sites along the Hikurangi Margin, to the east of the North Island, New Zealand. The Calypso hydrothermal vent field is dominated by the chalinid sponge Haliclona (Soestella) battershilli sp. nov., a large, cream-coloured, finely branched species, and the less common H. (Halichoclona) sonnae sp. nov., an encrusting, translucent white, cushion-shaped species. The third species, the suberitid sponge Protosuberites novaezelandiae sp. nov., forms encrustations with digitate projections. Haliclona (Halichoclona) sonnae sp. nov. and Protosuberites novaezelandiae sp. nov. represent new subgenus and genus records, respectively, for New Zealand waters. The methanotrophic suberitid sponge, Pseudosuberites thurberi sp. nov., is found at many of the cold seep sites on the Hikurangi Margin where it forms extensive, encrusting to digitate mats. The description of these species provides a basis for the future study of the ecology of sponges that are apparently endemic to vent and seep habitats off New Zealand.

The United Nations General Assembly has called for greater protection of the world's deep-sea species and of features such as Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs). Sponges are important components of VMEs and information about their spatially explicit genetic diversity can inform management decisions concerning the placement of protected areas. We employed a spatially explicit hierarchical testing framework to examine genetic variation amongst archived samples of four deep-sea sponges in the New Zealand region. For Poecillastra laminaris Sollas 1886, significant mitochondrial (COI, Cytb) and nuclear DNA (microsatellite) genetic differences were observed between provinces, amongst north-central-south regions and amongst geomorphic features. For Penares sp. no significant structure was detected (COI, 12S) across the same areas. For both Neoaulaxinia persicum Kelly, 2007 (COI, 12S) and Pleroma menoui Lévi & Lévi 1983 (COI) there was no evidence of genetic differentiation within their northern only regional distributions. Of 10 separate species-by-marker tests for isolation-by-distance and isolation-by-depth, only the isolation-by-depth test for N. persicum for COI was significant. The use of archived samples highlights how historical material may be used to support national and international management decisions. The results are discussed in the broader context of existing marine protected areas, and possible future design of spatial management measures for protecting VMEs in the New Zealand region.

Across Australia, innovations in simulation to enhance learning in nursing have been occurring for three decades and nursing is, and needs to be, a leading player in simulation knowledge diffusion. However, expertise is unevenly distributed across health services and education providers. Rather than build on the expertise and achievements of others, there is a tendency for resource duplication and for trial and error problem solving, in part related to a failure to communicate achievements for the benefits of the professional collective. For nursing to become a Leader in the use of simulation and drive ongoing development, as well as conducting high quality research and evaluation, academics need to collaborate, aggregate best practice in simulation learning, and disseminate that knowledge to educators working in health services and higher education sectors across the whole of Australia and New Zealand. To achieve this strategic intent, capacity development principles and committed action are necessary. In mid 2010 the opportunity to bring together nurse educators with simulation learning expertise within Australia and New Zealand became a reality. The Council of Deans of Nursing and Midwifery (CDNM) Australia and New Zealand decided to establish an expert reference group to reflect on the state of Australian nursing simulation, to pool expertise and to plan ways to share best practice knowledge on simulation more widely. This paper reflects on the achievements of the first 18 months since the group's establishment and considers future directions for the enhancement of simulation learning practice, research and development in Australian nursing.

The inhibition of superoxide production by human neutrophils has been used to screen New Zealand's unique biota for anti-inflammatory natural products. Bioactivity-directed isolation on an extract of the sponge Dysidea cf. cristagalli led to a new sesquiterpene-quinone (4) with anti-inflammatory activity, plus acetylated hydroquinone (3). These compounds inhibited superoxide production in vitro with IC50's of 3 microM (3) and 11 microM (4).