Congratulations to Teresia Macharia on completing all requirements for her PhD degree. He project “Identification and functional characterization of Meloidogyne javanica pathogenicity factors” was completed under the supervision of Prof. Lucy Moleleki. The external examiners for her thesis were Prof. John Jones of The James Hutton Institute in the UK, Prof. Tina Kyndt of Ghent University and Prof. Shahid Siddique of the University of California, Davis in the USA.

Introducing Teresia, Prof. Moleleki said that “my journey with Teresia started in 2017 when she joined my research group as a masters student. It has been a privilege to have mentored Teresia for both her MSc and PhD. Teresia is extremely competent and she is also very quiet. So, I can describe her as quietly competent. I have not regretted one minute of working with Teresia. In this time, I have also had the pleasure of seeing Teresia grow and mature as both a person and researcher. In addition, it has been a great pleasure to see the family (Teresia and her husband – Simon Kiongo) grow with the birth of their son Haziel. Both Teresia and Simon will graduate in the spring graduation ceremony on 3 September. What a great achievement!”

Root-knot nematodes from the genus Meloidogyne are considered some of the most devastating plant-parasitic nematodes worldwide. They are obligate sedentary endoparasites that live in the plant roots, causing gall formation which results in significant losses in yield. The main control of root knot nematodes has been by chemicals but due to  tightening of regulations, these chemicals are being withdrawn from the markets. Consequently, we need to develop  new innovative control strategies. Understanding the molecular mediators of host-nematode interactions is essential for devising and implementing innovative nematode management techniques. Teresia’s study aimed to identify secreted proteins encoded in the genome of M. javanica and to functionally characterize one of these putative effectors towards understand its function in plant immunity. Her study establishes a framework for discovering effectors with the ultimate goal of developing novel management strategies.