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A hearty congratulations to all the FABI graduates that were capped at the recent University of Pretoria Autumn Graduation ceremony! The group included three PhD, 11 MSc and 15 BSC Honours graduates. We wish them well in their future endeavors. Listed below is a list of the graduates conferred degrees and the titles of their dissertation.

PHD

Dr Felipe Balocchi Schalchli

Thesis: Araucaria (Araucaria araucana) canker disease in Chile: etiology and fungal diversity

Supervisor: Prof. I Barnes

Co-supervisors: Prof. MJ Wingfield, Dr RJ Ahumada (Arauco, Chile)

Dr Privilege Makunde

Thesis: Biology and ecology of Eucalyptus psyllid pests in South Africa

Supervisor: Prof. BP Hurley

Co-supervisor: Prof. B Slippers

Dr Silindile Maphosa

Thesis: Secretome analyses of selected Pectobacterium brasiliense 1692 secretion systems

Supervisor: Prof. LN Moleleki

MSc (* with Distinction)

Valencia Mogashoa

Dissertation: Development of a Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) model for screening susceptible and resistant Eucalyptus clones against Chrysoporthe austroafricana

Supervisor: Prof. S Naidoo

Co-supervisor: Prof. P Bonello (The Ohio State University, United States of America)

Casey Gill

Dissertation: Metabarcoding of the fungal mutualists associated with Xylosandrus

crassiusculus found on avocado in South Africa

Supervisor: Prof. N van den Berg

Co-supervisors: Dr J Engelbrecht, Dr G Fourie

Mmapaseka Malebe

Dissertation: Bacterial community associated with Acacia crassicarpa seeds and cotyledons

Supervisors: Prof. TA Coutinho

Co-supervisor: Dr G Shin

Nomaswazi Maseko

Dissertation: Transcriptional elements in the Ceratocystidaceae

Supervisor: Dr PM Wilken

Co-supervisors: Prof. ET Steenkamp, Prof. BD Wingfield

Ongeziwe Mbhele

Dissertation: Phenotype-genotype distinctions among clones of the pine pitch canker pathogen, Fusarium circinatum

Supervisor: Prof. ET Steenkamp

Co-supervisors: Prof. A Hammerbacher, Dr FF Fru, Dr QC Santana, Dr MA van der Nest

Chizné Peremore*

Dissertation: Biofilms and extracellular vesicles of Fusarium verticillioides and their implication for virulence

Supervisor: Dr TE Motaung

Co-supervisors: Prof. ET Steenkamp, Dr QC Santana

Jenna-Lee Price*

Dissertation: The fungal diversity associated with maize from emerging farms in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Supervisor: Prof. CM Visagie

Co-supervisor: Dr N Yilmaz

Nombulelo Qikani

Dissertation: The fungal and oomycete diversity associated with commercial maize farm soils of South Africa

Supervisor: Prof. CM Visagie

Co-supervisors: Prof. ET Steenkamp, Dr N Yilmaz

Kothibe Sedibane*

Dissertation: The role of Pectobacterium brasiliense 1692 outer membrane vesicles on members of soft rot Enterobacteriaceae and Phytophthora parasitica

Supervisor: Prof. LN Moleleki

Co-supervisor: Dr TE Motaun

Cheyenne Theron*

Dissertation: Characterization of Lecanosticta and Lophodermium species on non-native pines in the southern Hemisphere

Supervisor: Prof. I Barnes

Co-supervisor: Prof. MJ Wingfield

Nicole van Vuuren*

Dissertation: Fungal diversity in Namibian Stipagrostis ‘fairy circles” including the description of new Curvulariaspecies

Supervisor: Dr N Yilmaz

Co-supervisors: Prof. CM Visagie, Prof. MJ Wingfield

BSC Hons

Susanna Anbu