FABI celebrated a 20-year research collaboration with the Research Institute of Fast-growing Trees (RIFT) of the Chinese Academy of Forestry in China (through the RIFT-FABI Tree Protection Programme (RFTPP)), with the successful completion of a PhD degree by another student from this programme, GuoQing Li. He presented his Prestige Seminar “Diversity and biology of Botryosphaeriaceae species associated with Eucalyptus in southern China” in FABI on 18 July. GuoQing’s PhD was done under the supervision of Prof. ShuaiFei Chen, Prof. Mike Wingfield and Prof. Bernard Slippers. Other than the many present in the room, his seminar was attended online by many colleagues includig his primary supervisor, Prof. ShuaiFei Chen who joined from from China. Introducing GuoQing, FABI Director Prof. Bernard Slippers said that his PhD reprents  another important connection between FABI and colleagues ini China. GuoQing started his PhD in 2018 but his research visits to FABI were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bernard said that it was an absolute pleasure to supervise GuoQing and that his PhD project encompassed an enormous amount of work! His PhD had already led to four published papers as first author and an additional five linked to associated projects as co-author

The aim of GuoQing’s PhD project was to determine the species diversity of Botryosphaeriaceae from diseased Eucalyptus trees in plantations in southern China, as well as P. massoniana, C. lanceolata and A. mangium plantation trees commonly planted adjacent to Eucalyptus. He also tested the pathogenicity and variation in virulence of Botryosphaeriaceae species on different Eucalyptus genotypes.

The ascomycete family Botryosphaeriaceae (order Botryosphaeriales) includes many important pathogens or latent pathogens associated with stem canker, shoot blight, die-back and fruit rot on woody plants. Diseases associated with Botryosphaeriaceae have been reported on numerous woody plants, including species of Eucalyptus, Acacia, Cunninghamia and Pinus which are widely planted in commercial plantations in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world including China where more than 5.4 million hectares of Eucalyptusplantations had been established by 2018, contributing around 30% of domestic wood production per year. Hybrids of E. urophylla × E. grandis are the most widely planted species in China.

Disease associated with Botryosphaeriaceae usually occurs on plants under stressful conditions, such as drought, frost, biological stress or physical damage. Information on the Botryosphaeriaceae associated with diseases in these plantations in southern China is limited. This PhD study addressed some of the remaining knowledge gaps regarding Botryosphaeriaceae on Eucalyptus and adjacent plantations in southern China and has provided important knowledge to further study the biology of these fungi on the four hosts and to consider management options for them.