Myrtaceae, a cache of fungal biodiversity

Twenty-six species of microfungi are treated, the majority of which are associated with leaf spots of Corymbia, Eucalyptus and Syzygium spp. (Myrtaceae). The treated species include three new genera, Bagadiella, Foliocryphia and Pseudoramichloridium, 20 new species and one new combination. Novelties on Eucalyptus include: Antennariella placitae, Bagadiella lunata, Cladoriella rubrigena, C. paleospora, Cyphellophora eucalypti, Elsinoë eucalypticola, Foliocryphia eucalypti, Leptoxyphium madagascariense, Neofabraea eucalypti, Polyscytalum algarvense, Quambalaria simpsonii, Selenophoma australiensis, Sphaceloma tectificae, Strelitziana australiensis and Zeloasperisporium eucalyptorum. Stylaspergillus synanamorphs are reported for two species of Parasympodiella, P. eucalypti sp. nov. and P. elongata, while Blastacervulus eucalypti, Minimedusa obcoronata and Sydowia eucalypti are described from culture. Furthermore, Penidiella corymbia and Pseudoramichloridium henryi are newly described on Corymbia, Pseudocercospora palleobrunnea on Syzygium and Rachicladosporium americanum on leaf litter. To facilitate species identification, as well as determine phylogenetic relationships, DNA sequence data were generated from the internal transcribed spacers (ITS1, 5.8S nrDNA, ITS2) and the 28S nrDNA (LSU) regions of all taxa studie

Re-evaluation of Cryptosporiopsis eucalypti and Cryptosporiopsis-like species occurring on Eucalyptus

Cryptosporiopsis eucalypti is a common follicolous pathogen of Eucalyptus species in tropical and temperate regions where these trees are grown in plantations. The taxonomy of C. eucalypti is confused by the fact that it is phylogenetically unrelated to the type species of Cryptosporiopsis (Cryptosporiopsis nigra = C. scutellata, Helotiales). The aim of this study was to resolve the taxonomic position of C. eucalypti based on morphology and phylogenetic inference. Thirty-two Eucalyptus leaf samples with symptoms typical of C. eucalypti infection were collected from 10 tropical and temperate countries across four continents. Cultures were established from single conidia, as well as from ascospores of a previously unreported teleomorph state. DNA sequences were obtained for the 28 S nrDNA, the internal transcribed spacers of the nrDNA operon, and beta-tubulin regions to determine generic and species-level relationships. DNA-sequence analysis showed that conidial and ascospore isolates of C. eucalypti have low intraspecific variation, although two collections from Australia and one from Uruguay represented two novel taxa. Based on the newly collected teleomorph stage, as well as the phylogenetic data, C. eucalypti is shown to represent a new genus closely related to Plagiostoma (Gnomoniaceae, Diaporthales) for which the names Pseudoplagiostoma gen. nov. and Pseudoplagiostomaceae fam. nov. (Diaporthales) are introduced. Two new species of Cryptosporiopsis (Dermateaceae, Helotiales) on Eucalyptus from Australia and California (USA) are also described

Phytophthora root rot: its impact in botanic gardens and on threatened species conservation

Phytophthora root rot is one of the most devastating diseases of perennial plants worldwide, affecting plants in food production, amenity plantings and in natural ecosystems. The impact of these diseases in botanic gardens can be substantial and can affect how a site may be used for months and years ahead. Management is critically dependent on avoidance of the introduction of the pathogen and effective hygiene protocols are key to achieving this. Additionally, botanic gardens have a key role to play in protecting plants and enhancing conservation outcomes through surveillance, education and ex situ conservation programmes, as well as through the recognition that they can be critical as sentinel sites to detect new incursions of pests anddiseases. The impact of several Phytophthora species on the in situ and ex situ management of the critically endangered Wollemia nobilis (Wollemi pine), which is highly susceptible to phytophthora root rot, is used to highlight the need to ensure management of these pathogens is a critical component of threatened species recovery and management

A Wildlife Forensic Genetic Toolbox to Combat the Illegal Trade of the Short Beaked Echidna

University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Science.The international illegal wildlife trade is widespread and affects thousands of species. The illegal trade in ‘captive bred’ animals is one component of this trade, driven by the perceived value of unique species or those that are difficult to breed in captivity. ‘Demand’ for these species is met via poaching wild individuals to supplement ‘captive breeding’. One of Australia’s most iconic species; the short beaked echidna ( ) is one such species impacted by this trade. Echidnas are found throughout Australia, as well as New Guinea, and are notoriously difficult to breed in captivity, with less than 20 bred in Australian zoos in the last five years. However, in 2016 Indonesian breeding facilities listed a breeding quota of 50 echidnas raising suspicion around the origin of these animals. Exposing and combating illegal trade requires the development of robust forensic tools to aid enforcement. This thesis uses conservation genetics approaches to create a forensic genetic toolbox that can be implemented with short beaked echidnas of suspicious origin. 2 outlines a validated mitochondrial DNA test that was able to determine source region (i.e. New Guinea or Australia) of short beaked echidnas, including with DNA extracted from non-invasive samples. Mitochondrial DNA provided limited resolution to determine the source finer than region, thus 3 presents a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) marker set developed to investigate short beaked echidna subspecies, which to date had only been described based on morphology and geographic distribution. Genetic structure within the SNP data were congruent with current subspecies, but significantly wider sampling of echidnas, in particular, island populations and at subspecies overlap zones is needed to reach definitive conclusions. In 4 I demonstrated these SNP markers also had the power to elucidate relatedness between individuals, and using captive bred individuals, could be used to reconstruct pedigree, which I then applied to assess relationships within a wild population. 4 includes a suite of SNPs that once validated could be used for forensic investigations of short beaked echidnas. Lastly, 5, outlines the attempted validation of a real-time PCR sex determination method using previously published methods. This test however failed multiple validation criteria so would require further optimisation before it could be used in a wildlife forensic context. This thesis presents the first set of genetic tools for the short beaked echidna in a forensic context, providing novel information on source region, subspecies and relatedness that can be implemented to combat the illegal trade of this iconic species

Assessing Impact of an Oral Nutritional Supplement Program for Patients with COPD

Used Markov Model to research costs and benefits of a nutritional supplement program from a payer perspective in the United StatesMaster of Science in Public Healt

Exploring the networks of government scientists using Social Network Analysis: a scoping study

Scientists working for the New South Wales (NSW) Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) provide rigorous evidence and advice to support government priorities which include protecting the natural environment. They also collaborate with and attract non-government researchers to work on government priorities. In this scoping study, we used Social Network Analysis (SNA) to visualise the ego networks of six government scientists from OEH who work on biodiversity conservation and landscape management. This allowed us to explore the potential reach of their advice and information within OEH and beyond; and examine gaps and redundancy in the stacked ego networks

Host specificity and speciation of Mycosphaerella and Teratosphaeria species associated with leaf spots of Proteaceae

Species of Mycosphaerella and Teratosphaeria represent important foliicolous pathogens of Proteaceae. Presently approximately 40 members of these genera (incl. anamorphs) have been recorded from Proteaceae, though the majority are not known from culture, and have never been subjected to DNA sequence analysis. During the course of this study, epitypes were designated for several important species, namely Batcheloromyces leucadendri, B. proteae, Catenulostroma macowanii, Mycosphaerella marksii, Teratosphaeria bellula, T. jonkershoekensis, T. parva, and T. proteae-arboreae. Several species were also newly described, namely Batcheloromyces sedgefieldii, Catenulostroma wingfieldii, Dissoconium proteae, Teratosphaeria persoonii, T. knoxdavesii, and T. marasasii. Although accepted as being highly host specific, some species were shown to have wider host ranges, such as M. communis (Eucalyptus, Protea), M. konae (Leucospermum, Eucalyptus), M. marksii (Eucalyptus, Leucadendron), T. associata (Eucalyptus, Protea), and T. parva (Eucalyptus, Protea), which in most cases were found to co-occur with other species of Mycosphaerella or Teratosphaeria on Proteaceae. Furthermore, earlier records of T. jonkershoekensis on Proteaceae in Australia were shown to be representative of two recently described species, T. associata and T. maxii. A phenomenon of underdeveloped, or micro-ascospores was also newly observed in asci of T. maculiformis and T. proteae-arboreae. The exact purpose of asci with two distinct types of ascospores remains to be clarified, as both types were observed to germinate on agar

On the importance of both dimensional and discrete models of emotion

We review research on the structure and functions of emotions that has benefitted from a serious consideration of both discrete and dimensional perspectives on emotion. To illustrate this point, we review research that demonstrates: (1) how affective valence within discrete emotions differs as a function of individuals and situations, and how these differences relate to various functions; (2) that anger (and other emotional states) should be considered as a discrete emotion but there are dimensions around and within anger; (3) that similarities exist between approach-related positive and negative discrete emotions and they have unique motivational functions; (4) that discrete emotions and broad dimensions of emotions both have unique functions; and (5) evidence that a "new" discrete emotion with discrete functions exists within a broader emotion family. We hope that this consideration of both discrete and dimensional perspectives on emotion will assist in understanding the functions of emotions

Co-occurring species of Teratosphaeria on Eucalyptus

A common leaf spot disease occurring on Eucalyptus cladocalyx and E. lehmannii in the Western Cape Province of South Africa is known from literature to be caused by the fungus Coniothyrium ovatum, which is a pathogen native to several eucalypts in Australia. Recent collections have shown that Australian material identified as C. ovatum is morphologically and phylogenetically distinct from the South African specimens, and that all these taxa would be better accommodated in the genus Teratosphaeria. South African specimens previously identified as C. ovatum were found to represent two species that co-occur in the same leaves and even spots and are described here as T. juvenalis and T. verrucosa. Furthermore, a fresh collection of T. ovata from E. phoenicea in Australia, is distinguished morphologically and phylogenetically from similar, newly described taxa such as T. veloci on E. miniata, and Readeriella dimorpha, which is also placed in Teratosphaeria. Although these leaf pathogens appear to be of minor economic importance, they are morphologically similar to two serious eucalypt canker pathogens, namely T. gauchensis and T. zuluensis, which predominantly cause stem cankers, but could also be found occurring in leaf spots on their own, or in association with some of the other species treated here. Further research is, therefore, required to develop molecular detection techniques for these taxa to enable researchers to rapidly distinguish the minor pathogens from the more serious quarantine pathogens that co-occur on leaves

Novel species of Mycosphaerellaceae and Teratosphaeriaceae

Recent phylogenetic studies based on multi-gene data have provided compelling evidence that the Mycosphaerellaceae and Teratosphaeriaceae represent numerous genera, many of which can be distinguished based on their anamorph morphology. The present study represents the second contribution in a series describing several novel species in different capnodealean genera defined in a previous study. Novelties on Eucalyptus from Australia include: Penidiella pseudotasmaniensis, P. tenuiramis, Phaeothecoidea intermedia, P. minutispora, Pseudocercospora tereticornis, Readeriella angustia, R. eucalyptigena, R. menaiensis, R. pseudocallista, R. tasmanica, Teratosphaeria alboconidia, T. complicata, T. majorizuluensis, T. miniata, T. profusa, Zasmidium aerohyalinosporum and Z. nabiacense, while Teratosphaeria xenocryptica is described on Eucalyptus from Chile. Novelties on other hosts include Phaeophleospora eugeniicola on Eugenia from Brazil, and Zasmidium nocoxi on twig litter from the USA