News
Myrtle Rust Sentinel Monitoring at Auckland Botanic Gardens
July 11, 2022
How sentinel surveying efforts at Auckland Botanic Gardens, gained valuable information on the susceptibility and severity of Myrtle Rust on native, threatened and popular garden plants.
Trans -Tasman collaboration unlocks genetic secrets behind myrtle rust
April 29, 2021
Scientists have sequenced the genome of the fungus which causes the disease myrtle rust, Austropuccinia psidii.
Myrtle Rust can infect mānuka fruit and seeds
April 7, 2021
Researchers investigating the susceptibility of several plant species to myrtle rust have observed infection on mānuka seed capsules for the first time.
New app to identify plants at risk of myrtle rust
January 15, 2021
People keen to support the fight against the fungal disease myrtle rust, which threatens many of Aotearoa-New Zealand's native trees, shrubs and climbers, can now use a free app to help identify vulnerable plants.
Australian research relevant in NZ
July 17, 2020
A recently published paper by Australian researchers (Effect of Austropuccinia psidii inoculum concentration on myrtle rust disease incidence and severity) has relevance for the wider myrtle rust community in this country. A key finding is that "disease incidence and severity were found to increase across all species as inoculum concentration increased, with notable increases for species considered to be tolerant or of lower susceptibility to myrtle rust".
Monitoring myrtle rust on native forests – study findings
July 17, 2020
Understanding the spread of myrtle rust and its effect on native trees is critical information for effective management of the disease in New Zealand. The first monitoring study of myrtle rust in New Zealand native forests was undertaken by researchers from Scion and Plant & Food Research. Read more about their findings.
Student opportunity - Funded PhD project
June 25, 2020
A three-year scholarship is available to support a PhD student pursuing research on the microbial community of Myrtaceae ecosystems, how they may respond to growth conditions, and the potential effects of myrtle rust. This project will be conducted in collaboration with Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research's Beyond Myrtle Rust programme. The scholarship consists of a stipend of NZ$28,200 per annum tax-free and covers University of Auckland PhD fees.
Fire damaged parks - ideal conditions for myrtle rust
June 16, 2020
Australian National Parks that were badly damaged by last November’s fires are now providing ideal conditions for the spread of myrtle rust.
Research highlights ex situ conservation strategies for endangered native myrtles
June 2, 2020
New research highlights the importance of holistic conservation strategies to safeguard the germplasm of native New Zealand myrtles under threat from myrtle rust. It includes successful in vitro culture for several myrtle species, and hand pollination of Bartlett’s rātā, New Zealand’s rarest tree species.
Researchers successfully assemble myrtle rust genome
April 1, 2020
A trans-Tasman research collaboration has successfully completed the assembly of a nearly complete genome for the fungus that causes myrtle rust. The task of assembling the genome was intensive and took many months because the Austropuccinia psidii genome is much larger than expected. In fact, it is by far the largest fungal genome assembled to date.