"Invasional mutualism" between honey bees and myrtle rust pathogen

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Apis mellifera on leaves with myrtle rust.

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Credit: Geoff S Pegg.

New research published in NeoBiota has found that the Western honey bee - an introduced species to Australia - and the devastating, invasive plant fungus known as myrtle rust (Austropuccinia psidii) may have formed a mutually beneficial relationship known as an "invasional mutualism." 

Myrtle rust is notorious for devastating ecologically and culturally significant native plants in the Myrtaceae family, putting 17% of Australia’s endemic vegetation at risk. While rust fungi generally rely strictly on wind to spread, researchers discovered that bees may actively forage on the bright yellow fungus spores, packing them into their pollen baskets and carrying them back to the hive just as they would regular pollen.

Through a series of experiments, the team made three significant findings. Firstly, the rust spores proved to be quite nutritious. They contained over 22% protein and all 10 essential amino acids, meeting the threshold required for bee colonies to survive. In fact, the fungus matched the nutritional quality of high-value floral pollen, like willow pollen. In laboratory feeding trials, larvae raised on a diet of myrtle rust spores grew up perfectly healthy, developing at the same speed and reaching similar body weights as bees raised on a traditional high-quality pollen diet. As the researchers explain:

These findings suggest that spore foraging may not be an aberration, but a viable foraging strategy for honey bees.

And perhaps the most alarming discovery is that the myrtle rust spores remain viable and capable of causing new plant infections for at least nine days inside a beehive which could pose significant biosecurity risks. 

A Devastating Ecological Feedback Loop

This discovery challenges the assumption that invasive species always act independently, and it carries major environmental consequences. As myrtle rust kills off keystone taxa in the Myrtaceae family, such as eucalypts, paperbarks, and other ecologically and culturally significant species, particularly in Australia, fewer flowers and less pollen become available for bees to forage on. Beyond the direct biodiversity loss, as the fungus kills these plants, fewer flowers and less pollen are available for the bees.

"Under such conditions, bees may increasingly turn to alternative protein sources, such as fungal urediniospores," the researchers explain. This could set off a devastating ecological feedback loop. "Over time, this dynamic may destabilise plant-pollinator networks and forest regeneration, particularly in regions with high Myrtaceae endemism." They add: "While generalist foragers like A. mellifera may buffer their colony health by switching to spores or non-Myrtaceae pollen sources, the long-term ecological cost could be substantial, especially for specialist pollinators that lack such flexibility."

The risks extend beyond ecosystems. Because spores remain viable inside a hive for over a week, commercial beehives - regularly transported across the country over three to seven days to pollinate crops - now represent a significant pathway for human-assisted spread of the pathogen. 

As the lead author, Sacchi Shin-Clayton (University of Cambridge) emphasises:

Apis mellifera is an introduced species used as a commercial pollination agent worldwide, and shifting honey bee colonies between agricultural sites to boost pollination has become a standard practice. This reliance on honey bee colonies and shifting between multiple sites  is quite concerning, given the demonstrated interaction between A. mellifera and myrtle rust, and its longevity within colonies.

Despite this, current biosecurity strategies for managing myrtle rust do not account for the movement of commercial beehives, leaving a critical gap in disease management approaches.

We propose that honey bees be explicitly considered in both epidemiological models and the formulation of management and containment strategies,

- the researchers urge.

Recognising pollinators as potential vectors of invasive plant pathogens is an essential next step - one that could prove critical for protecting Australia's vulnerable native forests.

 Original source:

Shin-Clayton S, Mortensen AN, Beggs JR, Buxton MN, Hauxwell C, Bateson MF, Jochym M, Pegg GS, Pattemore DE (2026) Honey bees as potential vectors of the invasive rust pathogen Austropuccinia psidii: nutritional mutualism and implications for pathogen spread. NeoBiota 106: 75-90. https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.106.169027 

Researcher taking samples from a beehive. 

Researchers taking samples from a beehive. 

Credit

Caroline Hauxwell

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Journal

NeoBiota

DOI

10.3897/neobiota.106.169027 

Article Title

Honey bees as potential vectors of the invasive rust pathogen Austropuccinia psidii: nutritional mutualism and implications for pathogen spread

 

Digital platform significantly reduces distress among children of divorce

A digital solution developed by researchers at the University of Copenhagen improves the mental health of children and young people after their parents’ divorce, according to a new study.

University of Copenhagen

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Every year, thousands of Danish children experience their parents splitting up. For many, this is a major upheaval that can leave lasting marks on their wellbeing and daily lives.

A new study conducted in collaboration with 21 Danish municipalities and the Danish Agency of Family Law shows that a digital tool developed by researchers at the University of Copenhagen can make a real difference. The tool helps children understand their emotions, put them into words and make tangible changes that improve their everyday life.

“When parents divorce, it is often the first major negative life event a child experiences. Some children struggle psychologically or develop school refusal, and many need support to get back on track,” says Gert Martin Hald, psychologist and professor at the Department of Public Health and co-founder of the digital platform SES NXT.

Digital support designed for children

SES NXT is a digital intervention for children aged 3 to 17. It consists of a series of modules that children work through at their own pace, tailored to their age and individual needs.

The modules include videos and exercises on topics such as coping when parents argue, understanding one’s emotions, blended families and living in two homes. Children also hear other children share their own experiences of divorce.

The content is age-specific. The younger the child, the more the platform involves parents, helping to strengthen communication within the family.

“Children experience that their feelings are normalised. It is okay to feel sad or scared. At the same time, the exercises are very concrete, which many children need. They provide clear suggestions, for example about what children can say to their parents when conflicts arise,” says Gert Martin Hald.

The platform builds on research into divorce and child wellbeing. It is also informed by input from social workers and psychologists who work daily with children affected by parental conflict. This ensures that the solution addresses real needs and challenges.

Fewer problems and better social relationships

The study included 866 children and young people aged 3 to 17. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups where one group received access to SES NXT, while the control group only gained access after the study ended. Researchers measured wellbeing at the start of the study and again after 4 and 12 weeks.

After 12 weeks, children who used the digital self-help tool were doing significantly better than those in the control group. They reported fewer emotional problems such as sadness and worry, fewer behavioural difficulties, better social relationships, improved concentration and more prosocial behaviour.

Almost half of the children using SES NXT moved from poor wellbeing to normal levels. In the control group, this applied to only around one in ten children. Such results are unusually strong for psychological interventions.

“They experience fewer problems in their daily lives, and those problems affect them less,” says Gert Martin Hald.

Children who completed more modules saw greater improvements.

The findings are supported by a separate recent study showing that SES NXT also reduces conflict between parents after divorce.

“In divorce research, parental conflict is the holy grail. We know that it is the single most important factor in whether families go on to thrive. That is why solutions that reduce conflict between former partners are so important,” says Gert Martin Hald.

Municipality: A highly useful tool

SES NXT is already in use in 16 Danish municipalities. Municipalities in Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland have also adopted the platform.

In Næstved Municipality, SES NXT is used both in group-based work with children of divorce and as an individual offer.

“It is a highly useful tool,” says Niels Rask, who works with divorce support for children in Næstved Municipality.

“The modules focus on children’s emotions, and we find that children and parents develop a shared language that makes it easier to talk about difficult issues.”

For the municipality, a key advantage is that the platform makes it possible to reach many children, including those who might not otherwise receive support.

“Our schools and childcare institutions are the first to notice when divorce affects children socially, psychologically or academically. With this tool, we can intervene quickly with support that we know improves wellbeing,” says Niels Rask.

Despite the positive results, Gert Martin Hald emphasises that digital solutions cannot stand alone in all cases but can serve as an important supplement to existing services.

“It is not some magic pill that works for everyone. Digital solutions can reach many children and reduce the need for further follow-up, but some children and families need more intensive, personal support,” he says.

 

About SES NXT

• SES NXT is a platform designed to help children and parents better manage divorce.
• It was developed by SES Family, a company originating from a PhD project by Søren Sander at the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, in collaboration with Gert Martin Hald.
• SES Family received the University of Copenhagen Innovation Award in 2019.
• SES NXT is used in 16 municipalities in Denmark and 111 municipalities across Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Finland.
• Around 1,700 children in Denmark have used SES NXT.

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Journal

npj Digital Medicine

DOI

10.1038/s41746-026-02638-x 

Article Title

Effects of the SES NXT intervention on mental health and well-being for children of divorce

Article Publication Date

21-Apr-2026

COI Statement

For transparency and due diligence, we declare that two of the co-authors (Gert Martin Hald and Søren Sander) hold the commercial license and intellectual property rights to the platform under investigation, through SES Family ApS. To avoid any potential conflict of interest, they have not been involved in the management or analysis of the data. All data handling and statistical analyses were conducted independently by the other researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Daniel Bach Johnsen, Theis Lange, Andreas Nielsen Hald, and Camilla Stine Øverup declare no competing interests.

 

First national study of home care safety for children with medical complexity

New study of safety incidents is first step toward preventing harm to children receiving home care

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago

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More than one in 10 children with medical complexity had an incident reported by home care agency staff, according to a multi-state study recently published in JAMA Network Open. Half of reported events were safety related and a quarter caused harm to the child.

“Children with medical complexity often require complicated home care regimens, such as gastrostomy tubes and invasive ventilation, but we have not really known how often healthcare safety issues might be happening at home, which makes it hard to track and make improvements to this type of care,” said lead author Carolyn Foster, MD, MS, Director of the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute’s Health@Home Initiative at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Our study is a first step towards tracking safety event rates so that we can start identifying patterns and then develop interventions to prevent their occurrence.”

Children with medical complexity are a growing population of medically fragile patients (~3 million) with multisystem conditions who receive long-term care at home. They increasingly require administration of dozens of medications and rely on implanted devices that need frequent adjustment and maintenance for life-sustaining treatment. These children can also have functional impairments that place them at risk for falls and bed sores.

Dr. Foster and colleagues analyzed data from staff incident reports from a national pediatric home healthcare agency with sites in 11 American states. The study included 2,901 patients under 21 years of age, who received home care from September 2022 to September 2023. Six-hundred and eighty-seven incident reports were filed for nearly 12% of children.

Researchers found that errors most often involved medications (38.8%) and implanted devices (32.7%). Harmful errors were most frequently related to non-pressure skin injuries (26.8%) and falls (17.9%). About half of all errors (47.8%) required additional monitoring and 16.2% required emergency care.

In the study, children with the highest level of medical complexity who received nursing-level care were more likely to have a patient safety event. Children with invasive home ventilation were particularly susceptible to safety events, compared to children with other types of implanted medical technology.

“Our findings call for targeted interventions to keep these highly vulnerable children safe,” said Dr. Foster. “We also need to integrate family caregivers into reporting events and involve them in developing interventions to improve safety as the leaders, if you will, within the home itself. At the policy level, children need to be included in national reporting of home care events to ensure accountability and detailed training standards for pediatric nursing is happening for children just like with adults.”

The study was conducted under the Patient Safety Learning Lab funded under grant number 1R18HS029638-01 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This Learning Lab brought together experts at Lurie Children’s, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, and various home care agencies and family experts to address the care of children in the home using a system-level approach.

Dr. Foster is the Yaeger Family Research Scholar at Lurie Children’s.

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is a nonprofit organization committed to providing access to exceptional care for every child. It is the only independent, research-driven children’s hospital in Illinois and one of less than 35 nationally. This is where the top doctors go to train, practice pediatric medicine, teach, advocate, research and stay up to date on the latest treatments. Exclusively focused on children, all Lurie Children’s resources are devoted to serving their needs. Research at Lurie Children’s is conducted through Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, which is focused on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Lurie Children’s is the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. It is ranked as one of the nation’s top children’s hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

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Journal

JAMA Network Open

DOI

10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.10321 

 

We can help the body fight entire viral families

LJI scientists discover how we can harness T cells to combat deadly infections, including Lassa fever and hantavirus disease

La Jolla Institute for Immunology

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LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have discovered that combining key vaccine ingredients could give the body the tools it needs to fight the entire family of arenaviruses with a single vaccine. This “pan-arenavirus” vaccine approach may protect against life-threatening infections from Lassa virus, Junin virus, and many other arenaviruses with pandemic potential.

"We are now moving toward the next steps of designing vaccines and seeing which formulations may work best," says LJI Professor Alessandro Sette, Dr.Bio.Sci.

This research comes as scientists are working to stop the spread of Andes hantavirus, which recently caused a deadly outbreak among cruise ship passengers and crewmembers. Hantaviruses and arenaviruses are very similar in how they spread (between rodents and humans) and how they work (both are single-strand, segmented RNA viruses). 

In their Cell Reports Medicine paper, the researchers show that T cells can spot the family resemblance between different species of arenaviruses. Harnessing these "cross-reactive" T cells is critical for designing "pan-viral" vaccines that combat many viruses at once.

"We can apply this new research approach to multiple viral families, no matter how rare they are in the human population," says LJI Research Assistant Professor Alba Grifoni, Ph.D., who co-led the study, with funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Investigating a dangerous viral family

Arenaviruses are most common in West Africa countries, where the deadliest arenavirus is called Lassa virus. This virus is spread by a species of rodent, called the multimammate rat. 

Lassa virus kills by causing severe, flu-like symptoms, which can lead to bleeding from the mouth or gastrointestinal tract. The virus kills between 5,000 and 10,000 people each year and hospitalizes many more.

And Lassa virus has several dangerous relatives. The arenavirus family is known for its pandemic potential. Eight arenavirus species are known to cause disease in humans, and there are dozens of other arenaviruses that spread in animal populations.

About 45,000 years ago, arenavirus evolution diverged, leading to marked differences between "Old World" arenaviruses (in European, African, and Asian countries) and "New World" arenaviruses (in the Americas).

For the new study, LJI scientists examined whether T cells could "cross-react" between Old World and New World arenavirus species. After thousands of years, could T cells still spot the family resemblance?

Answering this question is key to pandemic preparedness. 

"Animals carry many viruses, and only some of these viruses will acquire the ability to infect humans and cause an outbreak," says Grifoni. "It's hard to predict which emerging virus might cause disease, which is why it is important to study T cells. "So why do we want to look at T cells? T cells are good at recognizing viruses, even if a virus is mutating."

Taking on Old World arenaviruses

First came an encouraging discovery—the scientists found that human T cells have the ability to cross-react to epitopes shared by all Old World arenavirus species. Epitopes are sites on a virus that T cells can recognize as a sign of infection. Sette and Grifoni found that Old World arenaviruses have shared, or "conserved," epitopes.

That means a vaccine against Lassa virus could potentially also protect against the Old World Lujo virus and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) for example. In fact, there are already experimental Lassa virus vaccines under development that can induce T cells able to target these shared epitopes that are similar within the Old world viral family.

T cells that targeted Old World arenaviruses did not cross-react to New World arenaviruses. It appears the two groups of viruses are too different and don't share the same epitopes.

New World, new epitopes

It was time to learn more about New World arenavirus epitopes. The scientists began by analyzing T cell responses to Junin virus, an arenavirus that causes Argentine hemorrhagic fever. Some people in Argentina have received a vaccine against Junin virus, which means their bodies have already produced T cells to fight infection. 

In work spearheaded by LJI Postdoctoral Associate YeiI Lee, Ph.D., the scientists discovered that certain T cells that target Junin can cross-react to other New World arenaviruses.

This discovery gives LJI researchers a potential path for developing a broad, "pan-arenavirus" vaccine. Every vaccine includes an immunogen, an ingredient such as a protein or peptide that sparks an immune response against a vulnerable piece of a pathogen. The new study suggests that a future vaccine should include two immunogens: one from an Old World arenavirus and one from a New World arenavirus.

By combining this virus-fighting weaponry, scientists could develop a vaccine that directs T cells to fight every type of infective arenavirus we know of. This broad T cell activity might even help us fight arenaviruses that emerge from animal reservoirs in the future.

Responding to hantaviruses

Lassa virus and Junin virus aren't part of daily life here in the United States—but hantaviruses are becoming more and more of a local concern. Hantavirus is carried by rodents here in California. According to the California Department of Public Health, risk of infection is low, but people should take steps to avoid rodent dropping and contaminated areas.

Recently, attention has turned to the risk of person-to-person hantavirus transmission. In May 2026, an outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus sickened 14 and killed three people on an international cruise ship.

Like arenaviruses, hantaviruses are primarily spread by rodents. The Andes hantavirus, which recently spread on the cruise ship MV Hondius, appears to have the unique ability to spread from human to human. 

Also like arenaviruses, hantaviruses are split into Old World and New World species. Importantly, both arenaviruses and hantaviruses are known as single-strand, segmented RNA viruses, which means they carry similar genetic instructions.

Sette says the new study shows how scientists can analyze T cells to devise life-saving vaccine strategies against arenaviruses, hantaviruses, paramyxoviruses (such as measles), togaviruses (such as Chikungunya), and many other threats.

The Sette and Grifoni labs have received important funding from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness (CEPI) to lead research toward pandemic preparedness. Each study brings the LJI team closer to developing rapid response tools to analyze viruses and combat future outbreaks.

"LJI is chipping away and generating data for many different viral families of concern," says Sette. "This research lays the foundation for future studies when one might, God forbid, have to move quickly."

Authors of the study, "Decoding the Human CD4+ T cell Epitope Repertoire For Lassa Fever Virus Reveals Novel Pan-mammarenavirus Vaccine Candidates," included Leila Siddiqui, Alison Tarke, Margaret Kim, Tanner Michaelis, Mariah Macias, Elizabeth Phillips, Simon Mallal, Raphael Trevizani, April Frazier, Richard H Scheuermann, Abril Zuniga, Christian Zmasek, Kevin Spurgers, Gideon Akintunde, Spencer W. Stonier, Talita Bianca Gagliardi, Kelly Warfield, Haoyang Li, Kathryn M. Hastie, Erica Ollmann Saphire, and Gene S Tan.

This study was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Intramural Research Program, both of the National Institutes of Health, under awards number 75N93024C00056, U19 AI142790, and R21 AI180853; and by CEPI through the CEPI Immunogen Design for Disease X program.

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Journal

Cell Reports Medicine

DOI

10.1016/j.xcrm.2026.102824 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

Decoding the human CD4+ T cell epitope repertoire for Lassa fever virus reveals T-cell based pan-mammarenavirus vaccine candidates

Article Publication Date

19-May-2026

 

Rural siblings of people with neurodevelopmental conditions left to go it alone

New research has found siblings of people with neurodevelopmental conditions in regional Australia are struggling with poorer wellbeing.

Curtin University

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New Curtin University-led research has found siblings of people with neurodevelopmental conditions in regional and remote Australia are struggling with poorer wellbeing and are more likely to feel overlooked.

The study, which included researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia, involved surveying siblings aged 16 to 30 who currently live, or have previously lived, in non-urban areas on factors affecting their wellbeing such as resilience, social support and general family functioning.

While most participants had autistic siblings, other neurodevelopmental conditions included attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, and intellectual disability.

Researchers found nearly a third of siblings experienced low wellbeing (29 per cent), nearly 40 per cent reported moderate wellbeing and about a third rated their wellbeing as high.

Low wellbeing suggests a person is not satisfied with their life and is likely to need additional external support to become more satisfied.

Lead author Samuel Antonio, a PhD candidate from Curtin’s School of Population Health, said while many siblings reported developing resilience, most relied on themselves or informal community networks for support.

“Participants consistently reported insufficient access to formal mental health services, either citing self-reliance or turning to their local communities to assist with coping with emotional challenges associated with being a sibling to someone with a neurodevelopmental condition,” Mr Antonio said.

“Many participants described feeling overlooked, invisible, or expected to ‘just manage’, even while experiencing significant emotional strain.”

Mr Antonio said resilience and community support were critical to improving sibling outcomes.

“Resilience and social support together accounted for more than half the differences in siblings’ wellbeing, while family functioning on its own was not a strong predictor,” he said.

“Importantly, siblings who felt supported by their local communities — through understanding, inclusion and acceptance — reported better mental health and wellbeing.”

Project supervisor and principal investigator, Dr Chloe Maxwell-Smith, also from the School of Population Health, said the findings reinforce the need for increased investment in sibling‑specific supports in neurodevelopment and clinical mental health beyond metropolitan Australia.

This included accessible one-on-one counselling, peer programs, community education initiatives, and flexible online or hybrid services that reduced travel.

“Siblings are often self-reliant through necessity, and they desire clinical and community supports that acknowledge them first as individuals, not just siblings,” Dr Maxwell-Smith said.

“Improving wellbeing for these siblings doesn’t require a single solution to reduce burden and risk of mental health conditions. What matters is layered support — building individual resilience with psychological supports, strengthening social connections, and empowering communities to recognise siblings as people in their own right.”

Alannah Stojcevic, from the Gippsland region in rural Victoria, took part in the study to share her experience as the sibling of a younger autistic sister. 

The 21-year-old said she was grateful to researchers for bringing the lack of support in the regions — both for individuals with a neurodevelopmental condition as well as their siblings — to light.

“Help or supportive services for people like me don't exist as far as I am aware, and they certainly aren't available near me,” Mrs Stojcevic said. “Having someone to talk to about these issues — someone who understands — is a bit of a pipedream for me at this point.

“I sincerely hope this research contributes to positive change in rural communities throughout Australia.”

The study, ‘Wellbeing and Support Preferences of Siblings of Individuals with a Neurodevelopmental Condition in Regional and Remote Australia: A Mixed Methods Investigation’, has been published in Disability and Rehabilitation.

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Journal

Disability and Rehabilitation

DOI

10.1080/09638288.2026.2663921 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

CrossRef citations to date 17 Altmetric Listen Research Article Well-being and support preferences of siblings of individuals with a neurodevelopmental condition in regional and remote Australia: a mixed methods investigation

Article Publication Date

8-May-2026