Applied Chemical Ecology

Chemical ecology is the study of the role that chemicals play mediating interactions between organisms and organisms and their environment, and the consequences of those interactions in ecological and evolutionary time.  It is not an autonomous discipline but rather an approach to ecology, one of viewing ecological interactions through a chemical lens.  Consequently it is highly interdisciplinary, commonly involving behavior, ecology, genomics, physiology, biochemistry, chemistry and neurobiology.  Olfaction is the dominant modality for how most insects perceive and interact with the biotic world and consequently the study of insect chemical ecology has immense potential to inform our understanding of the natural world.  In addition to its heuristic value, this understanding has potential to provide powerful tools for the management of pests. 

Our research interests lie at the interface of behavioral chemical ecology and pest management.  The primary focus of our work is the development of an understanding of the chemical ecology of insect pests of plantation forests and agricultural tree crops in the southern hemisphere.  By using pest species as model systems we are able to simultaneously make discoveries that advance our understanding of the natural world and provide biorational pest management tools to stakeholders.  Specific ongoing projects include the development and optimization of survey and detection tools, characterization of the active space of semiochemical-baited traps and the biotic and abiotic factors that influence it, the impact of chemical ecology on the efficacy of biological control, the chemical ecology of insect pests of plantation and fruit and nut trees and the causes and consequences of variation in insect sex pheromones.

If any of these topics or related ones interest you please contact us.  We are always looking for talented graduate students, postdocs and collaborators.

 

New Publications

Nkomo T, Bose T, Wingfield BD, Knoppersen R, Mbhele O, Nemesio‐Gorriz M, Rodas CA, Paetz C, Cilliers CT, Ferreira MA, Hammerbacher A. (2024) Geographic location shapes fungal communities associated with Epidendrum roots. Mycological Progress 23:54. 10.1007/s11557-024-01990-0
Ribeiro MF, Cavallini G, Solce GN, Favoreto AL, Passos JRDS, Hurley BP, Wilcken CF. (2024) Polyandry contributes to Gonipterus platensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) rearing. PeerJ 12:e17929. 10.7717/peerj.17929
Visagie CM, Yilmaz N, Allison JD, Barreto RW, Boekhout T, Boers J, Delgado MA, Dewing C, Fitza KNE, Furtado ECA, Gaya E, Hill R, Hobden A, Hu DM, Hülsewig T, Khonsanit A, Luangsa-Ard JJ, Mthembu A, Pereira CM, Price J-L, Pringle A, Qikani N, Sandoval-Denis M, Shumacher RK, Seifert KA, Slippers B, Tennakoon DS, Thanakitpipattana D, vanVuuren N, Groenewald JZ, Crous PW. (2024) New and Interesting Fungi. 7.. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 13:441–494. 10.3114/fuse.2024.13.12 PDF
Fitza KNE, Allison J, Slippers B, Chingandu N, Reed SE. (2024) Diversity and potential sources of introduction of the Beech leaf nematode (Litylenchus crenatae< mccannii) to Ontario, Canada. Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology
Rakubu IL, Katumanyane A, Hurley BP. (2023) Host-foraging strategies of five local entomopathogenic nematode species in South Africa. Crop Protection 176:106525. 10.1016/j.cropro.2023.106525
Rakubu IL, Katumanyane A, Hurley BP. (2023) Screening five local entomopathogenic nematode species for their virulence against pupae of the Eucalyptus snout beetle, Gonipterus sp. n. 2, under laboratory conditions . Crop Protection 176:106500. 10.1016/j.cropro.2023.106500
Pham NQ, Wingfield MJ, Marincowitz S, Tanga AA, Tiki KR, Kassie WB, Hurley BP, Germishuizen I, Lawson SA, Healey MA, Wondafrash M. (2023) First report of the wattle rust pathogen, Uromycladium acaciae (Raveneliaceae, Pucciniales) in Ethiopia. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research :1–8. 10.1093/forestry/cpad040 PDF
Katumanyane A, Slippers B, Wondafrash M, Malan AP, Hurley BP. (2023) Mechanisms behind differential white grub host susceptibility to entomopathogenic nematodes. Nematology 10.1163/15685411-bja10253
Solís M, Hammerbacher A, Wingfield MJ, Naidoo S. (2023) A robust disease scoring method to screen Eucalyptus for resistance against the aggressive leaf blight pathogen, Teratosphaeria destructans. Plant Disease:1418 - 1424. 10.1094/PDIS-06-22-1347-RE PDF
Pal E, Allison JD, Hurley BP, Slippers B, Fourie G. (2023) Life History Traits of the Pentatomidae (Hemiptera) for the Development of Pest Management Tools. Forests 14(5) 10.3390/ f14050861 PDF
Katumanyane A, Slippers B, Wondafrash M, Malan AP, Hurley BP. (2023) Susceptibility of white grubs from forestry and sugarcane plantations in South Africa to entomopathogenic nematodes. BioControl 10.1007/s10526-023-10185-7
Luki-Marie Scheepers, Jeremy D. Allison, Bernard Slippers, Egmont R. Rohwer, Patrick M. Mc Millan, Jan E. Bello. (2023) Pine Emperor moths from KwaZulu-Natal use the same pheromone component previously isolated from Nudaurelia cytherea (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) from the Western Cape. African Entomology 31((2023)):1-9. 10.17159/2254-8854/2023/a13231
Bose T, Dovey S, Brachmann A, Witfeld F, Begerow D, Kemler M, Roux J, Slippers B, Vivas M, Wingfield MJ. (2023) Retention of post-harvest residues enhances soil fungal biodiversity in Eucalyptus plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 532:120806. 10.1016/j.foreco.2023.120806
Bose T, Hammerbacher A. (2023) The first report of Phytophthora multivesiculata causing black rot of Cymbidium and Ansellia africana from South Africa. Plant Disease 10.1094/PDIS-03-22-0623-PDN
Hurley BP, Dittrich-Schröder G, Gevers C. 2023. Gall Formers. In: Forest Entomology and Pathology Vol.1. Allison JD, Paine TD, Slippers B, Wingfield MJ. (eds). Springer, Cham, Switzerland, pp 457-494. PDF
Hurley BP, Barnes I, Wingfield MJ. 2023. Diseases and Insect Pests of Australian Acacia Species. In: Wattles: Australian Acacia Species Around the World. Richardson DM, Le Roux JJ, Marchante E. (eds). CAB International, Oxfordshire, pp 312-326.
Kandasamy D, Zaman R, Nakamura Y, Zhao T, Hartmann H, Andersson MN, Hammerbacher A, Gershenzon J. (2023) Conifer-killing bark beetles locate fungal symbionts by detecting volatile fungal metabolites of host tree resin monoterpenes. PLoS biology 21(2):e3001887.
Pal E, Fourie G. (2023) Evaluation of the lethal and sublethal effects of various insecticides on Bathycoelia distincta (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae). SAMAC journal :51-53.
Wingfield BD, Berger DK, Coetzee MPA, Duong TA, Martin A, Pham NQ, Van den Berg N, Wilken PM, Arun-Chinnappa KS, Barnes I, Buthelezi S, Dahanayaka BA, Durán A, Engelbrecht J, Feurtey A, Fourie A, Fourie G, Hartley J, Kabwe ENK, Maphosa M, Narh Mensah DL, Nsibo DL, Potgieter L, Poudel B, Stukenbrock EH, Thomas C, Vaghefi N, Welgemoed T, Wingfield MJ. (2022) IMA genome‑F17 Draft genome sequences of an Armillaria species from Zimbabwe, Ceratocystis colombiana, Elsinoë necatrix, Rosellinia necatrix, two genomes of Sclerotinia minor, short‑read genome assemblies and annotations of four Pyrenophora teres isolates from barley grass, and a long-read genome assembly of Cercospora zeina. 13:19. 10.1186/s43008-022-00104-3
Guillino ML, Pugliese M, Pan X, Makkouk K, Loplan R, Juroszek P, Hurley BP, Garrett K, Chakraborty S, Angelotti F, Al-Jboory I, Albajes R, Stephenson T. (2022) Climate change and pathways used by pests as challenges to plant health in agriculture and forestry. Sustainability 14:12421. 10.3390/su141912421 PDF
Solís M, Wingfield MJ, Hammerbacher A, Naidoo S. (2022) Comparison of the infection biology of Teratosphaeria destructans and Teratosphaeria epicoccoides on Eucalyptus. Plant Disease 10.1094/PDIS-09-21-1877-RE PDF
Jami F, Marincowitz S, Durán A, Slippers B, Abad JIM, Chen S, Wingfield MJ. (2022) Botryosphaeriaceae diversity on Eucalyptus clones in different climate zones of Indonesia. Forest Pathology :1-14. 10.1111/efp.12737
Makwela MC, Hammerbacher A, Vivas M, Coetzee MPA, Wingfield BD, van Ede G, Bose T. (2022) Uncovering the mycorrhizal community of two Habenaria orchids in South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 10.1016/j.sajb.2022.02.020
Pal E, Almasri H, Paris L, Diogon M, Pioz M, Cousin M, Sene D, Tchamitchian S, Tavares DA, Delbac F, Blot N, Brunet JL, Belzunces L. (2022) Toxicity of the pesticides Imidacloprid, Difenoconazole and Glyphosate alone and in binary and ternary mixtures to winter honey bees: Effects on survival and antioxidative defenses. Toxics 10(3):104. 10.3390/toxics10030104 PDF
Makwela MC, Hammerbacher A, Coetzee MPA, Wingfield BD, van Ede G, Bose T. (2022) Fungal diversity associated with the mycorrhizosphere soil of Brachycorythis conica subsp. transvaalensis, a critically endangered and endemic terrestrial orchid from South Africa. South African Journal of Botany 00:1-8. 10.1016/j.sajb.2022.01.019
Kreuzenbeck NB, Hoffmeister D, Poulsen M, Köllner TG, Hammerbacher A, Schmidt S, Conlon BH, Fricke J, Schwitalla JW, Seibel E, Beemelmanns. (2022) Comparative genomic and metabolomic analysis of Termitomyces species provides insights into the terpenome of the fungal cultivar and the characteristic odor of the fungus garden of Macrotermes natalensis termites. Msystems 7(1):e01214-21.
Nagel R, Hammerbacher A, Kunert G, Phillips MA, Gershenzon J, Schmidt A. (2022) Bark beetle attack history does not influence the induction of terpene and phenolic defenses in mature Norway spruce (Picea abies) trees by the bark beetle-associated fungus Endoconidiophora polonica. Frontiers in Plant Science 13
Netherer S, Hammerbacher A. 2022. The Eurasian spruce bark beetle in a warming climate: Phenology, behavior, and biotic interactions. In: Bark Beetle Management, Ecology, and Climate Change. Academic Press, pp 89-131.
Wood M, Chamaillé-Jammes S, Hammerbacher A, Shrader AM. (2022) African elephants can detect water from natural and artificial sources via olfactory cues. Animal Cognition 25(1):53-61.
Guignard Q, Allison JD, Slippers B. (2022) The evolution of insect visual opsin genes with specific consideration of the influence of ocelli and life history traits. 22:2. 10.1186/s12862-022-01960-8