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Project Details
Project status
In progress
Research Framework
Recloaking Papatūānuku
Research Duration
Jan 2023 - Dec 2025
Project Overview
This project will support the use of mātauranga with science to enhance the resilience and survival of maire tawake in Aotearoa New Zealand. Maire tawake or Waiwaka (Syzygium maire) is a taonga plant species that is ‘threatened-nationally critical’ due to land clearing, swamp draining, and more recently the incursion of myrtle rust.
Metagenomic sequencing will be used to provide insight into the maire tawake leaf microbial community, the contribution of the surrounding trees to the microbial community, and how this may mitigate the impacts of myrtle rust.
The whakapapa of maire tawake will be described through mātauranga, to make connections between plant species and leaf microbes to find innovative holistic disease protective solutions. Research will also be conducted in controlled environments to look at the protective effects of microbial communities against myrtle rust.
Why This Matters
The overall goal of this project is to support the use of mātauranga with science to enhance the resilience and survival of maire tawake in Aotearoa. This research will tautoko (support) the current efforts by iwi, hapū, and researchers to ensure future generations of maire tawake and other Myrtaceae taonga in the face of myrtle rust.
The long-term goal is to support conservation and restoration efforts by enabling healthy seedling development that can be planted to recloak Papatūānuku.
Project Objectives
- Investigating if the phyllosphere microbiome of neighbouring or resistant plant hosts has a role in disease protection against myrtle rust
- Determining if resistant plant phyllospheres can be actively or passively transferred to susceptible plant hosts for disease protection
Research Outputs
Conference Presentation
- Within site and geographic location of Maire Tawake (Syzygium marie) are significant contributors to its leaf microbiome
New Zealand Microbiology Society Conference (November 2025) - He aha te whakaaweawe o te heka kahika ki ngā moroiti rau? What is the impact of myrtle rust on the leaf microbiome?
Australasian Myrtle Rust Conference (June 2025) - Geographic location has a greater influence on Maaire Tawake (Syzygium maire) phyllosphere microbiome than neighbouring plants
Phyllosphere 12 – 12th International Symposium on Leaf Surface Microbiology (June 2025) - Te whanaungatanga o ngā moroiti whā o Maire Tawake: The phyllosphere relationships of Maire Tawake and neighbouring plants
Australasian Plant Pathology Conference (May 2025)
Webinar
- Maire tawake microbiome and how it’s impacted by myrtle rust
Rangahau Rising Webinar Series (August 2025)
Project Collaborators
| Plant & Food Research | Ngāti Tamaoho | Ngāruahine |
| Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa | Department of Conservation |
| Waytemore Farm Ltd | Churston Farm |
