MPPI - Course 2006

FABI News

News Archive

19 Feb 2025

On-going macadamia pest and disease monitoring

Members of the Macadamia protection programme recently conducted a research visit to the lowveld region of Mpumalanga.

17 Feb 2025

Women and Girls in Forestry Science celebrated by a global IUFRO Webinar series

Several FABI scientists participated in the recent IUGRO webinar celebrating the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

11 Feb 2025

FABI exposed to fabulous fungi of northern Zambia

Professor Mike Wingfield recently had the privilege of joining a group of biologists and mycophiles on a visit to the strikingly beautiful Miombo woodlands in the Muchinga region of northern Zambia.

6 Feb 2025

Team members of the FABI-based CPHB consider the year ahead

More than 150 FABI postgraduate students, research Fellows and staff members participated in the recent CPHB strategy session report back meeting.

5 Feb 2025

New CPHB Interns welcomed to FABI

FABI welcomed six new members joining the CPHB Internship in Phytosanitation and Biosecurity.

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FABI Events

20 February 08h30

Student Seminars

24 February 08h30

Monday Morning Meeting

FABI in a nutshell

Research Features

Archive

Review emphasizes the importance of understanding the genetics of sex determination for effective genetic pest management in insects.

Eleven new Penicillium and Talaromyces species discovered in South African culture collections.

A new study reveals the presence of Mycotoxins in Eastern Cape maize in South Africa.

Eurotiales update: FABIans Prof. Cobus Visagie and Dr Neriman Yilmaz and their collaborators have published a review of recently described Eurotiales species, including the economically important Aspergillus, Penicillium, Paecilomyces and Talaromyces.

Da Vinci's Yeast: FABIans Prof. Cobus Visagie, Dr Neriman Yilmaz, and their collaborators have recently described and named a newly discovered yeast species of the famous Italian painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect Leonardo da Vinci.

The potential economic impact of the PSHB invasion in South Africa has been calculated to be a massive R275 billion over the next ten years, if nothing is done to stop the spread of this invasive beetle. Researchers from FABI collaborated with Stellenbosch University ecologists and economists to model the unmitigated economic impact of this invasion.

A recently published paper in the journal Current Forestry Reports documents a collaboration between an international team of forest pathologists and invasion scientists. Led by Dr Trudy Paap, the authors present a framework for conceptualizing and managing invasive forest pathogens.

A recently published review article by Dr Andi Wilson in a special issue of the journal 'Microbiology & Molecular Biology Reviews' provides details of the genes that are essential to the sexual cycle in filamentous Ascomycete fungi and further describes their functions in a variety of model and non-model species.

Penicillium section Canescentia re-evaluated and five new species described from the fynbos biome in South Africa.

In November 2019, the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology hosted a workshop on ‘Frameworks used in Invasion Science’. The workshop led to a NeoBiota special issue on this theme, and includes a review by FABI researchers and international colleagues, exploring frameworks in the context of forest pathology.

A doctoral study in FABI confirms for the first time the presence of Xylosandrus crassiusculus, a polyphagous ambrosia beetle and its fungal symbiont, Ambroseilla roeperi, in three provinces in South Africa. The authors warn that this beetle species could be a threat to native and plantation trees.

A review on invasive gall-forming wasps that threaten non-native Eucalyptus plantations by researchers in the TPCP appears in Agricultural and Forest Entomology. They profile several species of likely Australian origin that have established on non-native Eucalyptus plantations globally and discuss various challenges to their management.

A study in the TPCP confirms the identity of seven novel fungal species associated with Dendroctonus valens, the red turpentine beetle. The study follows on surveys on the fungal associates of the beetle in China and North America. Results from this work appear in Persoonia.

A postdoctoral study in the TPCP describes two novel Huntiella species in the African clade, bringing the number of known species in the genus to 31. Though closely related, the two species display different mating systems. Outcomes from this study appear in the journal MycoKeys.

A review of the invasion history and global management strategies of Eucalyptus snout beetles in the Gonipterus scutellatus species complex by researchers in the TPCP appears in the Journal of Pest Science.

In a collaborative venture with Dr Jos Houbraken (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, the Netherlands), Prof. Cobus M Visagie, Dr Neriman Yilmaz (both from FABI) and others have recently completed and published a major study updating the taxonomy of the Eurotiales.

A study in the Forest Molecular Genetics (FMG) Programme at FABI interrogates the benefits of implementing genomic selection for growth and wood quality traits in an established Eucalyptus grandis breeding programme in South Africa. Outcomes from this study appear in an article.

The first study on alternative weed and cultivated hosts of Spongospora subterraneaf. sp. subterranea (Sss), in southern Africa identifies two species as ideal trap crops for rotation with potatoes. The study also introduces three new families to the known hosts of Sss in the region.

A consortium of microbiologists from around the globe, FABI included, is pushing for an overhaul in how scientific names are assigned to uncultivated bacteria and archaea. Despite their ecological, agricultural and medical importance, these organisms traditionally have not been recognized by the international body governing the nomenclature of prokaryotes.

Professor Cobus Visagie is a researcher in the Applied Mycology group at FABI. One of the group’s research goals is to discover fungal diversity in South Africa, and Cobus’ research is strongly focussed on the economically important genera Aspergillus, Penicillium and Talaromyces.

Postdoctoral research by Dr Norman Muzhinji in the Potato Pathology Programme at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) sheds light on the genetic structure and diversity of Spongospora subterranea f. sp. subterranea in four potato-growing regions in South Africa, providing valuable insights on its management.

An MSc study by Kira Lynn in the RGE-FABI Tree Health Programme at the University of Pretoria has described a new Fusarium species, Fusarium rekanum sp. nov., associated with Euwallacea perbrevis, an ambrosia beetle species infesting Acacia crassicarpa plantations in Riau, Indonesia.

FABI postdoctoral Fellow Dr Andi Wilson has established a CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing protocol for use in Huntiella omanensis, a tree-inhabiting fungus belonging to the Ceratocystidaceae family.

Research undertaken as part of a PhD study by Molly Malefo at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute sheds more light on the role of protease inhibitors in plants under drought stress.

The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) has funded a postdoctoral research project dedicated to monitoring plant health in botanical gardens and arboreta across South Africa. Two postdoctoral Fellows at the University of Pretoria’s Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute have held these fellowships.

The first comprehensive study mapping the distribution and genetic diversity of invasive Eucalyptus insect pests in sub-Saharan Africa confirms the presence of five major foliage-feeding species in 14 countries. The results of this study have implications on the quarantine, future research and management of these pests on the continent and beyond.

Dr Joey Hulbert broke new ground when he became the first candidate at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute to complete a PhD study incorporating citizen science. Citizen science is an approach that involves members of the public as active participants in scientific research.

FABI technology unravels the genetics behind fungal genome evolution The RIPper is a bioinformatics tool for the for quantifying genome-wide RIP mutations in fungal genomes. The strength of this software lies in the automation of laborious techniques to study the mutation process called Repeat-Induced Point mutations (RIP). The RIPper applies these technique

With the increased availability in genome data, inferences regarding evolutionary relationships among taxa can now be performed on a genome-wide scale. But it is widely accepted that not all parts of such massive datasets support the same evolutionary hypothesis. Because of this, a group of researchers at FABI recently investigated the effect of this.

The use of genome data to characterize species and elucidate relationships, particularly between problematic taxa, has become routine practice in bacteria. Recently, researchers from FABI joined in an international effort to describe two novel genera and characterize these within the larger context of the important bacterial group Burkholderia.

A PhD student in FABI, Runlei Chang, has discovered and described 19 new fungal species from China as part of the research for his thesis. These fungi are all associated with conifer-infesting bark beetles and their mites and belong to well-known genera such as Ophiostoma and Leptographium.

Two research papers from FABI were selected as cover stories in two consecutive issues of the international journal, Plant Pathology. The journal is published by Wiley for the British Society of Plant Pathology.

Plastids play an integral role in wood formation, and yet they are routinely ignored in the study of xylogenesis in forest trees. Desre Pinard and Dr Eshchar Mizrachi have published a review highlighting the unique biology of plastids in wood, suggesting that a new type of plastid, the xylopast, exists.

Approaches for characterizing metabolic potential from genomic sequences have previously been predicted to be useful in the description of bacterial taxa. Dr Marike Palmer, has recently employed these approaches for identifying biological processes contributing to the divergence of bacteria with a variety of lifestyles.

Comparative genomics is shaping our notion of what fungal species are. Based on current data, these unique evolutionary units are separated from one another by boundaries that are porous under certain conditions. This affects our expectations regarding their population biology and evolution, and our strategies for recognizing and controlling them.

The Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer is an ambrosia beetle native to Southeast Asia. In 2017 this pest was detected in South Africa. Its presence has since been confirmed in all provinces except Limpopo. The beetle has a symbiotic relationship with the fungus Fusarium euwallaceae, which causes branch die-back and death of susceptible trees.

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BioPad Microarray Training Course 2006

Front (L-R): Jeanne Korsman (UP Genetics), Francis Lewu (University of Fort Hare), Dr Mashudu (Medunsa), Prof Dave Berger (UP Botany), Delon Mudaly (Portfolio Manager: BioPAD), Sanushka Naidoo (Trainer: UP), Luke Solomon (Trainer: UP)

Middle (L-R): Junita Liebenberg (ARC-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute), Dr Este van Marle-Koster (UP Animal & Wildlife Sciences), Jacolene Meyer (Citrus Research International), Leandra Cronje (National Institute for Occupational Health), Salome Smit (UP Biochemistry), Dr Margot Hosie (WITS University), Karren Thomson (WITS University), Dr Rosemary Kabahuma (WITS University & Pietersburg Provincial Hospital)

Back (L-R): Erica Pierce (Trainer: WITS University), Prof Ian Dubery (University of Johannesburg), Dr Antoinette van Schalkwyk (UP Botany), Devan Moodley (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Ravesh Singh (University of KwaZulu-Natal), Natalie van Zuydam (UP FABI), Michelle Auer (UPBRC)

Workshops & Symposia

Archive

The 36<sup>th</sup> Annual Meeting of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) and DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Plant Health Biotechnology (CPHB)

The 36^th Annual Meeting of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme

New Publications

Townsend G, Hill M, Hurley BP, Roets F. (2025) Escalating threat: increasing impact of the polyphagous shot hole borer beetle, Euwallacea fornicatus, in nearly all major South African forest types. Biological Invasions 27 10.1007/s10530-025-03551-2

Makunde PT, Slippers B, Bush S, Hurley BP. (2025) Host specificity and host stage preference of Psyllaephagus species (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) towards invasive eucalypt psyllids (Hemiptera: Aphalaridae). Agricultural and Forest Entomology :1-13. 10.1111/afe.12679

Tarigan M, Wingfield MJ, Jami F, Oliveira LSS, Saha MA, Durán A, Pham NQ. (2025) Pathogenicity of Pythium myriotylum on Acacia crassicarpa and Acacia mangium × Acacia auriculiformis clones in Indonesia. Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science 87:1–5. 10.2989/20702620.2024.2432863

D’Angelo D, Hu H, Lahoz E, Risteski J, Steenkamp E T, Viscardi M, van der Nest M A, Wu Y, Yu H, Zhou J, Karandeni Dewage C S, Kotta-Loizou L I, Stotz H U, Fitt B D L, Huang Y, Hu Y, Kiss L, Sorrentino R, Nkomo T, Zhou X, Vaghefi N, Sonnekus B, Bose T, Cerrato D, Cozzolino L, Creux N, D’Agostino N, Fourie G, Fusco G, Hammerbacher A, Idnurm A, Wingfield BD. (2025) IMA GENOME - F20 A draft genome assembly of Agroathelia rolfsii, Ceratobasidium papillatum, Pyrenopeziza brassicae, Neopestalotiopsis macadamiae, Sphaerellopsis filum and genomic resources for Colletotrichum spaethianum and Colletotrichum fructicola. IMA Fungus 16:e141732. 10.3897/imafungus.16.141732

Muema EK, van Lill M, Venter SN, Claassens R, Steenkamp ET. (2025) Mesorhizobium salmacidum sp. nov. and Mesorhizobium argentiipisi sp. nov. are symbionts of the dry-land forage legumes Lessertia diffusa and Calobota sericea. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 19(3):1-20. 10.1007/s10482-025-02063-2

Motaung TE, Ratsoma FM, Kunene S, Santana QC, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD. (2025) Harnessing exogenous membrane vesicles for studying Fusarium circinatum and its biofilm communities. Microbial Pathogenesis 10.1016/j.micpath.2025.107368

van Dijk A, Wilson AM, Marx B, Hough B, Swalarsk-Parry BS, De Vos L, Wingfield MJ, Wingfield BD, Steenkamp ET. (2025) CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing reveals that the Pgs gene of Fusarium circinatum is involved in pathogenicity, growth and sporulation.. Fungal Genetics and Biology 10.1016/j.fgb.2025.103970

Balocchi F, Wingfield MJ, Paap T. (2025) First record of the white root rot fungus Dematophora necatrix on indigenous South African trees. Journal of Plant Pathology 10.1007/s42161-025-01861-x

Coelho MA, David-Palma M, Aylward J, Pham NQ, Visagie CM, Fuchs T, Yilmaz N, Roets F, Sun S, Taylor JT, Wingfield BD, Fisher MC, Wingfield MJ, Heitman J. (2025) Decoding Cryptococcus: From African biodiversity to worldwide prevalence. PLOS Pathogens 21:e1012876. 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012876

Solís M, Hammerbacher A, Wingfield M.J, Naidoo S. (2025) Enhancing plantation forest sustainability: A review of Eucalyptus defence mechanisms to foliar fungal pathogens. Current Forestry Reports 10.1007/s40725-024-00243-3

Ratsoma MF, Santana QC, Wingfield BD, Steenkamp ET, Motaung TE. (2025) Understanding cargo sorting and interactive effects of membrane vesicles in fungal phytopathogens: Current knowledge and research gaps. Fungal Biology Reviews 51 10.1016/j.fbr.2025.100411

Harvey A, van den Berg N, Swart V. (2025) In silico characterisation of the avocado WAK/WAKL gene family with a focus on genes involved in defence against Phytophthora cinnamomi. Frontiers in Plant Science 15:1474781. 10.3389/fpls.2024.1474781

Botes J, Ma X, Chang J, Van de Peer Y, Berger DK. (2025) Flavonoids and anthocyanins in seagrasses: implications for climate change adaptation and resilience. Frontiers in Plant Science 15(1520474):1-17. 10.3389/fpls.2024.1520474

Wondafrash M, Wingfield MJ, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Mutitu EK, Jenya H, Paap T. (2025) DNA sequence data confirms the presence of two closely related cypress-feeding aphid species on African cypress (Widdringtonia spp.) in South Africa. Southern Forests 86:278-285. 10.2989/20702620.2024.2390863

Mangani R, Mazarura J, Matlou S, Marquart A, Archer E, Creux N. (2025) The impact of past and current district-level climatic shifts on maize production and the implications for South African farmers. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 156:109. 10.1007/s00704-024-05334-6

Möller H, Slippers B, van den Berg N. (2025) Branch canker battles: understanding and managing the Botryosphaeriaceae in avocado. Phytoparasitica 53(17) 10.1007/s12600-024-01227-6

Pham NQ, Wingfield BD, Barnes I, Gazis R, Wingfield MJ. (2025) Elsinoe species: The rise of scab diseases. Plant Pathology 10.1111/ppa.14015

Theron E, van Niekerk JM, van der Waals JE. (2025) A review of the use of phosphonates in the management of Phytophthora nicotianae in citrus in South Africa. Phytoparasitica 53(11) 10.1007/s12600-024-01234-7

Aylward J, Atkins S, Roets F, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2025) Several Seiridium species (Sporocadaceae: Xylariales) cause cypress canker in South Africa. Fungal Biology 129:101528. 10.1016/j.funbio.2024.101528

Martin G, Canavan K, Chikowore G, Bugan R, De Lange W, du Toit B, Harding G, Heath R, Hill M, Hurley BP, Ivey P, Muir D, Musedeli J, Richardson DM, Slippers B, Stafford L, Turner A, Watson K, van Wilgen BW. (2025) Managing wilding pines in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa: Progress and prospects. South African Journal of Botany 177:377-391. 10.1016/j.sajb.2024.12.011

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