FABI recently welcomed Prof. Martina Šeruga Musić from the University of Zagreb, Croatia.  As part of her visit, Prof Musić  presented a fascinating guest lecture “Phytoplasma story in Croatia: from the field to the genome and back” during FABI’s weekly Monday Morning Meeting on 31 March. Prof. Musić’s week- visit to the University of Pretoria was  part of an Erasmus+ staff teaching assignment mobility, which allows university lecturers to spend time teaching and training at a partner university in a participating country,  promoting international experience and collaboration. While visit FABI  she also taught a few undergraduate and Honours degree courses in The Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology as well as the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.

Prof. Musić shared her infections enthusiasm for Phytoplasmas and associated plant diseases with members of the FABI team. These pathogens are obligate intracellular colonists  of plant phloem tissue and of the insect vectors that are involved in their plant-to-plant transmission. She illustrated various examples of phytoplasma diseases of several commercial crops and explained that they are most prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.  Furthermore, how they are transmitted from plant to plant by vectors (normally sap-sucking insects such as leafhoppers) in which they both survive and replicate. Prof. Musić’s presentation provided interesting insights into these pathogens, drawing from her and her colleagues research through activities at the University of Zagreb.