FABI shines at the Spring graduation 2021-10-04
The University of Pretoria conferred 20 postgraduate degrees – 13 PhD degrees and seven MSc degrees – to FABIans during the Spring graduation ceremony. Congratulations to these FABIans on their remarkable achievements!
PhD
Istifanus Aiki
Title of thesis: Diversity, nesting behaviour, thermoregulation and cephalic secretions of termites from two Nigerian savannahs.
Supervisor: AA Yusuf
Co-supervisor: CWW Pirk
Mahukpe Ayelo
Title of thesis: Identification of kairomones for the biological control of Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) and Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Westwood), two major pests of tomato Solanum lycopersicum L.
Supervisor: AA Yusuf
Co-supervisor: CWW Pirk
External co-supervisor: ÉMM Delétré (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, France)
Bethelihem Bekele
Title of thesis: Semiochemicals from the African weaver ant Oecophylla longinoda (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and their repellency on mango fruit flies.
Supervisor: AA Yusuf
Co-supervisor: CWW Pirk
External co-supervisor : ÉMM Delétré (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, France)
Title of thesis: Population genetics and genomics of Phytophthora cinnamomi.
Supervisor: N van den Berg
Title of thesis: Visual and chemical ecology of Sirex noctilio.
Supervisor: JD Allison
Co-supervisor: B Slippers
Minette Havenga
Title of thesis: Biology and pathology of the Eucalyptus foliar pathogen Teratosphaeria destructans.
Supervisor: J Aylward
Co-supervisors: BD Wingfield, MJ Wingfield, LL Dreyer (Stellenbosch University), F Roets (Stellenbosch University)
Caroline Kung'u
Title of thesis: Biological traits, plant sugar feeding patterns and chemical ecology of Aedes aegypti.
Supervisor: CL Sole
Co-supervisors: CWW Pirk, B Torto
Mammoloro Malefo
Title of thesis: Functional characterization of transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing the maize Bowman-Birk serine protease inhibitor gene under biotic and abiotic stress.
Supervisor: BG Crampton
Co-supervisor: BJ Vorster
Title of thesis: Genomic consequences of natural and artificial selection in wild and advanced breeding populations of Eucalyptus grandis.
Supervisor: AA Myburg
External co-supervisors: JOC Borevitz (Australian National University, Australia), JJ Acosta Jaramillo (North Carolina State University, United States of America)
Title of thesis: Ophiostomatoid fungi associated with fungus farming insects in South Africa.
Supervisor: TA Duong
Co-supervisors: ZW de Beer, MJ Wingfield
Mmatshepho Phasha
Title of thesis: Functional characterization of pathogenicity genes in Fusarium circinatum.
Supervisor: ET Steenkamp
Co-supervisor: MPA Coetzee, BD Wingfield, MJ Wingfield
Title of thesis: Influence of reproductive biology on the invasion dynamics of Sirex noctilio.
Supervisor: B Slippers
Co-supervisors: JM Greeff, JD Allison
Yosef Hamba Tola
Title of thesis: Characterization of the honey bee and stingless bee gut microbiota: A hidden diversity and host-specific microbiomes from sub-Saharan-African region.
Supervisor: B Slippers
External co-supervisor: JC Paredes Escobar (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Kenya)
MSc
Nhlanhla Shabangu
Title of dissertation: Effect of long-term inorganic fertilizer combinations on weed abundance and diversity in maize.
Supervisor: D Marais
Co-supervisor: BJ Vorster
Title of thesis: Analyses of the in vitro effects of phosphite on Phytophthora cinnamomi isolates.
Supervisor: N van den Berg
Co-supervisor: SA Prabhu, J Engelbrecht
Stephan Henning
Title of thesis: Genome-wide diversity assessment for genetic resource management of Eucalyptus dunnii, E. grandis, E. nitens and E. urophylla.
Supervisor: AA Myburg
Co-supervisor: NA van der Merwe
Lomile Khoete
Title of thesis: Population genetic tools for Gonipterus sp. 2 and its egg parasitoid Anaphes nitens.
Supervisor: MPA Coetzee
Co-supervisors: I Barnes, BP Hurley, B Slippers, ML Schröder
Pozisa Majaja
Title of thesis: Fusarium species diversity from maize and teff in the northern Free State.
Supervisor: NA van der Merwe
Co-supervisor: N Yilmaz
Title of thesis: Systemic defence responses induced by Chrysoporthe austroafricana in Eucalyptus grandis.
Supervisor: S Naidoo
External co-supervisor: LS Shuey (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Australia)
Garyn Townsend
Title of thesis: Initial assessment of the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer (PSHB) in indigenous afrotemperate forests.
Supervisor: ZW de Beer
External co-supervisors: MP Hill (Rhodes University), F Roets (Stellenbosch University)