The Grain Research Program (GRP) is a newly established programme that was developed by a team of multidisciplinary grain researchers from different institutes and programmes at FABI and elsewhere in South Africa. The GRP was formed to engage directly with grain stakeholders to initiate research that will support this sector by identifying future challenges to the industry and exploring solutions to these challenges. To its stakeholders in agriculture, the GRP also provides extension and disease/pest diagnostic services. In other words, the vision of the GRP is to contribute to South Africa’s food security and bioeconomy by conducting basic and solution-oriented research, which in turn forms a base for further innovation in the South African agricultural sector. 

Other FABI programmes in the grain health domain:

Applied Mycology

Cereal Foliar Pathogen Research

DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Plant Health Biotechnology

Crop Floral Biology And Environments

Molecular Plant Physiology

Molecular Plant-Pathogen Interactions

Potato Pathology Programme

Seed Science

 

  

 

New Publications

Pham NQ, Wingfield BD, Barnes I, Gazis R, Wingfield MJ. (2024) Elsinoe species: The rise of scab diseases. Plant Pathology 10.1111/ppa.14015
Swalarsk-Parry BS, De Vos L, Fru FF, Santana QC, van der Nest MA, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ, Herron DA, Ramaswe JB, Dewing C, Sayari M, van der Merwe NA, van Wyk S, Lane FA, Wilson AM, Adegeye OO, Soal NC, Price J-L, Steenkamp ET. (2024) Wide variation in aggressiveness and growth in South African Fusarium circinatum isolates with geographical origin as the primary determinant. Southern Forests: a Journal of Forest Science 10.2989/20702620.2024.2363749
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
Visagie CM, Houbraken J, Yilmaz N. (2024) The re-identification of Penicillium and Talaromyces (Eurotiales) catalogued in South African culture collections. Persoonia 53:29–61. 10.3767/persoonia.2024.53.02
Nsibo DL, Barnes I, Berger DK. (2024) Recent advances in the population biology and management of maize foliar fungal pathogens Exserohilum turcicum, Cercospora zeina and Bipolaris maydis in Africa. Frontiers in Plant Science 15:1-23. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2024.1404483
Yurkov A, Visagie CM, Crous PW, Hashimoto A, Baschien C, Begerow D, Kemler M, Schoutteten N, Stadler M, Wijayawardene NN, Hyde KD, Zhang N, Boekhout T, Group IYW, May TW, Thines M, Hawksworth DL. (2024) Cultures as types and the utility of viable specimens for fungal nomenclature. IMA Fungus 15:20. 10.1186/s43008-024-00155-8
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
Bhunjun C, Chen Y, Phukhamsakda C, Boekhout T, Groenewald J, McKenzie E, Francisco E, Frisvad J, Groenewald M, Hurdeal V, Luangsa-ard J, Perrone G, Visagie C, Bai F, Błaszkowski J, Braun U, D Souza F, De Q, Dutta A, Gonkhom D, Goto B, Guarnaccia V, Hagen F, Houbraken J, Lachance M, Li J, Luo K, Magurno F, Mongkolsamrit S, Robert V, Roy N, Tibpromma S, Wanasinghe D, Wang D, Wei D, Zhao C, Aiphuk W, Ajayi-Oyetunde O, Arantes T, Araujo J, Begerow D, Bakhshi M, Barbosa R, Behrens F, Bensch K, Bezerra J, Bilański P, Bradley C, Bubner B, Burgess T, Buyck B, Čadež N, Cai L, Calaça F, Campbell L, Chaverri P, Chen Y, Chethana K, Coetzee B, Costa M, Chen Q, Custódio F, Dai Y, Damm U, De Azevedo-Santiago A, De Miccolis-Angelini R, Dijksterhuis J, Dissanayake A, Doilom M, Dong W, Alvarez-Duarte E, Fischer M, Gajanayake A, Gené J, Gomdola D, Gomes A, Hausner G, He M, Hou L, Iturrieta-González I, Jami F, Jankowiak R, Jayawardena R, Kandemir H, Kiss L, Kobmoo N, Kowalski T, Landi L, Lin C, Liu J, Liu X, Loizides M, Luangharn T, Maharachchikumbura S, Makhathini Mkhwanazi G, Manawasinghe I, Marin-Felix Y, McTaggart A, Moreau P, Morozova O, Mostert L, Osiewacz H, Pem D, Phookamsak R, Pollastro S, Pordel A, Poyntner C, Phillips A, Phonemany M, Promputtha I, Rathnayaka A, Rodrigues A, Romanazzi G, Rothmann L, Salgado-Salazar C, Sandoval-Denis M, Saupe S, Scholler M, Scott P, Shivas R, Silar P, Souza-Motta C, Silva-Filho A, Spies C, Stchigel A, Sterflinger K, Summerbell R, Svetasheva T, Takamatsu S, Theelen B, Theodoro R, Thines M, Thongklang N, Torres R, Turchetti B, Van den Brule T, Wang X, Wartchow F, Welti S, Wijesinghe S, Wu F, Xu R, Yang Z, Yilmaz N, Yurkov A, Zhao L, Zhao R, Zhou N, Hyde K, Crous P. (2024) What are the 100 most cited fungal genera?. Studies in Mycology 108:1-411. 10.3114/sim.2024.108.01
Visagie CM, Cruywagen EM, Duong TA. (2024) A new Paecilomyces from wooden utility poles in South Africa. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 13:163–181. 10.3114/fuse.2024.13.10
Ramaswe JB, Steenkamp ET, De Vos L, Fru FF, Adegeye OO, Wingfield BD. (2024) Sex pheromone receptor Ste2 orchestrates chemotropic growth towards pine root extracts in the pitch canker pathogen Fusarium circinatum. Pathogens 13:425. 10.3390/pathogens13050425
Marais I, Buitendag C, Duong TA, Crampton BG, Theron J, Kidanemarium D, Berger DK. (2024) Double-stranded RNA uptake for the control of the maize pathogen Cercospora zeina. Plant Pathology 73(6):1480-1490. 10.1111/ppa.13909
Visagie CM, Meyer H, Yilmaz N. (2024) Maize–Fusarium associations and their mycotoxins: Insights from South Africa. Fungal Biology 10.1016/j.funbio.2024.03.009
Dankie VN, Steenkamp ET, De Vos L, Swalarsk-Parry BS, Dewing C, Fru F, Wilken PM, Mchunu NP, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ, van der Nest MA. (2024) Growth, pathogenicity and sexual fertility of the African tree pathogen Ceratocystis albifundus. Journal of Plant Pathology :1-11. 10.1007/s42161-024-01634-y
Bornman S, Thomas C, Ntladi S, Wilken PM. (2024) Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is the causal agent of Sclerotinia stem rot on peanut (groundnut) in South Africa. Australasian Plant Disease Notes 19 10.1007/s13314-024-00537-2
Abkallo HM, Arbuthnot P, Auer TO, Berger DK, Burger J, Chakauya E, Concordet J-P, Diabate A, Di Donato V, Groenewald J-H, Guindo A, Koekemoer LL, Nazare F, Nolan T, Okumu F, Orefuwa E, Paemka L, Prieto-Godino L, Runo S, Sadler M, Tesfaye K, Tripathi L, Wondji C. (2024) Making genome editing a success story in Africa. Nature Biotechnology :1-4. https://rdcu.be/dBJUa
Hiroyuki S, Marincowitz S, Roux J, Paap T, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2024) A new genus and species of Cryphonectriaceae causing stem cankers on plantation eucalypts in South Africa. Plant Pathology :1-14. 10.1111/ppa.13883 PDF
Mapfumo P, Buthelezi S, Archer E, Swanevelder DZH, Wilken PM, Creux N. (2024) In-field climatic factors driving Sclerotinia head rot progression across different sunflower planting dates. Plant Pathology 10.1111/ppa.13873
Price J-L, Visagie CM, Meyer H, Yilmaz N. (2024) Fungal species and mycotoxins Associated with Maize ear rots collected from the Eastern Cape in South Africa. Toxins 16:95. 10.3390/toxins16020095
MISEV Consortium, Motaung T. (2024) Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches. Journal of Extracellular Vesicles 13(2):e12404. 10.1002/jev2.12404
Francinah M. Ratsoma, Nthabiseng Z. Mokoena, Quentin C. Santana, Brenda D. Wingfield, Emma T. Steenkamp, Thabiso E. Motaung. (2024) Characterization of the Fusarium circinatum biofilm environmental response role. Journal of Basic Microbiology 00(00):1-16. 10.1002/jobm.202300536