title: Genomic insights into the evolution of the parasitoid Microctonus aethiopoides

authors: Hussain, Meeran

abstract: Parasitoids are used as biocontrol agents in classical biological control programmes for controlling invasive pest populations. In Aotearoa New Zealand, there are two strains of Microctonus aethiopoides that have been used against two serious pest weevils of the Sitona group. However, there is limited understanding of M. aethiopoides adaptability, particularly in the area of reproductive mode and host associations. My thesis explores these gaps, using population and comparative genomic approaches to investigate the adaptability of M. aethiopoides.
Chapter 2 is a review that synthesises global research on parasitoid adaptation and identifies knowledge gaps across four key traits i.e., reproductive mode, olfaction, thermal tolerance, and microbiomes. Using the three Microctonus species in New Zealand as a focal example, this chapters explains why these traits matter for biocontrol and how genomic technologies reveal their underlying molecular mechanisms. 
Chapter 3 explores the adaptation of Irish asexual M. aethiopoides in New Zealand by analysing whole-genome resequencing data from 43 individuals representing historic (Ireland) and contemporary populations. The study reveals two distinct genetic clusters, most likely reflecting the genetic ancestry of introduced populations rather than post-introduction geographic isolation. All populations exhibit very low diversity and limited population expansion since release, consistent with their asexual nature and suggesting limited adaptation. Asexual M. aethiopoides show some heterozygosity across populations, supporting automictic thelytoky, likely via central fusion, as the primary reproductive mechanism. However, linkage disequilibrium patterns resemble those of sexual organisms, raising the possibility of facultative sex. This chapter sheds light on the adaptation, spread, and reproductive strategies of asexual M. aethiopoides in New Zealand.
Chapter 4 further examines parasitoid adaptation, with a focus on host-associated divergence. Using eight newly assembled genomes from M. aethiopoides strains collected from three different hosts (Hypera postica, Sitona discoideus, S. obsoletus) and geographically distinct regions, this study investigates how host use and geography shape genomic structure. Comparative genomics reveals a clear host-associated phylogenetic split, with the H. postica lineage distinct from Sitona-associated lineages. Heterozygosity patterns support this separation, showing highest diversity in the H. postica group. However, gene families are mostly conserved across strains, with transposable element-related genes showing rapid evolution, suggesting their active role in genome restructuring. Chemosensory genes are also largely conserved, with only modest variation in odourant receptors that may reflect host-associated differences, although fragmentation and annotation bias cannot be ruled out. Overall, host association appears to be a key driver of divergence in M. aethiopoides, largely shaped by genome-level variation rather than major shifts in host-specific gene families.
Finally, Chapter 5 assembles and characterises the first complete mitochondrial genome of M. aethiopoides, generated using a hybrid Oxford Nanopore-Illumina assembly. This study uncovers a long circular (33,173 bp) mitogenome with a unique gene arrangement, contributing a valuable genetic resource for future studies of mitochondrial evolution in parasitoids.
Overall, my thesis demonstrates how genomic technologies can be used to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary factors shaping a species’ genome and population structure. It provides a valuable genomic resource and sets a foundation of resources for continuing to build understanding of adaptation in the context of asexuality and host association in M. aethiopoides.

text: Genomic insights into the evolution of the parasitoid Microctonus aethiopoides Parasitoids are used as biocontrol agents in classical biological control programmes for controlling invasive pest populations. In Aotearoa New Zealand, there are two strains of Microctonus aethiopoides that have been used against two serious pest weevils of the Sitona group. However, there is limited understanding of M. aethiopoides adaptability, particularly in the area of reproductive mode and host associations. My thesis explores these gaps, using population and comparative genomic approaches to investigate the adaptability of M. aethiopoides.
Chapter 2 is a review that synthesises global research on parasitoid adaptation and identifies knowledge gaps across four key traits i.e., reproductive mode, olfaction, thermal tolerance, and microbiomes. Using the three Microctonus species in New Zealand as a focal example, this chapters explains why these traits matter for biocontrol and how genomic technologies reveal their underlying molecular mechanisms. 
Chapter 3 explores the adaptation of Irish asexual M. aethiopoides in New Zealand by analysing whole-genome resequencing data from 43 individuals representing historic (Ireland) and contemporary populations. The study reveals two distinct genetic clusters, most likely reflecting the genetic ancestry of introduced populations rather than post-introduction geographic isolation. All populations exhibit very low diversity and limited population expansion since release, consistent with their asexual nature and suggesting limited adaptation. Asexual M. aethiopoides show some heterozygosity across populations, supporting automictic thelytoky, likely via central fusion, as the primary reproductive mechanism. However, linkage disequilibrium patterns resemble those of sexual organisms, raising the possibility of facultative sex. This chapter sheds light on the adaptation, spread, and reproductive strategies of asexual M. aethiopoides in New Zealand.
Chapter 4 further examines parasitoid adaptation, with a focus on host-associated divergence. Using eight newly assembled genomes from M. aethiopoides strains collected from three different hosts (Hypera postica, Sitona discoideus, S. obsoletus) and geographically distinct regions, this study investigates how host use and geography shape genomic structure. Comparative genomics reveals a clear host-associated phylogenetic split, with the H. postica lineage distinct from Sitona-associated lineages. Heterozygosity patterns support this separation, showing highest diversity in the H. postica group. However, gene families are mostly conserved across strains, with transposable element-related genes showing rapid evolution, suggesting their active role in genome restructuring. Chemosensory genes are also largely conserved, with only modest variation in odourant receptors that may reflect host-associated differences, although fragmentation and annotation bias cannot be ruled out. Overall, host association appears to be a key driver of divergence in M. aethiopoides, largely shaped by genome-level variation rather than major shifts in host-specific gene families.
Finally, Chapter 5 assembles and characterises the first complete mitochondrial genome of M. aethiopoides, generated using a hybrid Oxford Nanopore-Illumina assembly. This study uncovers a long circular (33,173 bp) mitogenome with a unique gene arrangement, contributing a valuable genetic resource for future studies of mitochondrial evolution in parasitoids.
Overall, my thesis demonstrates how genomic technologies can be used to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary factors shaping a species’ genome and population structure. It provides a valuable genomic resource and sets a foundation of resources for continuing to build understanding of adaptation in the context of asexuality and host association in M. aethiopoides.

year: 2026

title: From Al-Qaida in 2001 to ISIL in 2015: The Security Council's decisions on terrorism and their impact on the right to self-defense against autonomous non-state actors

authors: Alvarez-Jimenez, Alberto

abstract: “The fortunes of war more than any other are liable to frequent fluctuations,” said Don Quixote. Prominent voices certainly embraced this logic regarding a right to self-defense against autonomous non-State actors shortly after 9/11 , mainly as a result of Resolutions 1368 and 1373 (2001) adopted by the Security Council in the aftermath of the infamous terrorist attacks.  Others argued that these resolutions had lowered the threshold of attribution to States of actions carried out by non-State actors, in the sense that States would be held responsible for armed attacks consummated by terrorist groups that the former had either actively or passively supported.

text: From Al-Qaida in 2001 to ISIL in 2015: The Security Council's decisions on terrorism and their impact on the right to self-defense against autonomous non-state actors “The fortunes of war more than any other are liable to frequent fluctuations,” said Don Quixote. Prominent voices certainly embraced this logic regarding a right to self-defense against autonomous non-State actors shortly after 9/11 , mainly as a result of Resolutions 1368 and 1373 (2001) adopted by the Security Council in the aftermath of the infamous terrorist attacks.  Others argued that these resolutions had lowered the threshold of attribution to States of actions carried out by non-State actors, in the sense that States would be held responsible for armed attacks consummated by terrorist groups that the former had either actively or passively supported.

year: 2017

title: Accommodating multiculturalism and biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand: implication for language education.

authors: May, Stephen

subjects: bilingual education

abstract: The field of language education in Aotearoa New Zealand, as elsewhere, has developed significantly since its early and almost exclusive focus on the acquisition of English literacy in schools. As the field has expanded, so too has the range of language education sectors addressed and the theoretical approaches and understandings employed in relation to language and literacy education. Both developments have resulted in a more coordinated literacy education policy - exemplified to date most clearly in the New Zealand Literacy Taskforce - and a more situated, less monolithic understanding of the widely different literacies available to learners. Despite these developments, however, one area still remains noticeably under-theorised and marginalized in relation to the ongoing development of language and literacy education policy in Aotearoa New Zealand - the place of second language learners within it. This paper explores this lacuna and the potential policy implications of addressing and integrating first and second language educational concerns within an evolving national literacy education policy. This has particular implications for the further development of bilingual education - both for Maori and, possibly, other minority groups - and for the related possibilities of multicultural education. It also requires a wider and clearer recognition of minority language education rights, as developed within both international law and political theory, in order to apply these rights appropriately to an Aotearoa New Zealand context which is currently witnessing rapid and extensive demographic (and linguistic) change.

text: Accommodating multiculturalism and biculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand: implication for language education. The field of language education in Aotearoa New Zealand, as elsewhere, has developed significantly since its early and almost exclusive focus on the acquisition of English literacy in schools. As the field has expanded, so too has the range of language education sectors addressed and the theoretical approaches and understandings employed in relation to language and literacy education. Both developments have resulted in a more coordinated literacy education policy - exemplified to date most clearly in the New Zealand Literacy Taskforce - and a more situated, less monolithic understanding of the widely different literacies available to learners. Despite these developments, however, one area still remains noticeably under-theorised and marginalized in relation to the ongoing development of language and literacy education policy in Aotearoa New Zealand - the place of second language learners within it. This paper explores this lacuna and the potential policy implications of addressing and integrating first and second language educational concerns within an evolving national literacy education policy. This has particular implications for the further development of bilingual education - both for Maori and, possibly, other minority groups - and for the related possibilities of multicultural education. It also requires a wider and clearer recognition of minority language education rights, as developed within both international law and political theory, in order to apply these rights appropriately to an Aotearoa New Zealand context which is currently witnessing rapid and extensive demographic (and linguistic) change.

year: 2002