Easter tea at FABI
FABI’s traditional monthly Tea party returned on 20 April after a 26-month COVID-induced hiatus.
25 Apr 2022
25 Apr 2022
Pathogenicity trials season opens!
Four members of the Macadamia Protection Programme in FABI, visited Nseleni nursery in Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal during a three day fieldtrip.
20 Apr 2022
GRP extension trips: where to from here?
Two GRP extension teams visited the Eastern Cape and Free State Provinces during February and March to collect samples for numerous research projects.
19 Apr 2022
Cobus Visagie visits Cranfield University and attends the 125th British Mycological Society meeting
Professor Cobus Visagie recently visited Prof. Naresh Magan and Dr Angel Medina-Vaya at the Cranfield Soil and Agrifood Institute.
8 Apr 2022
SASSB Webinar examines the ‘Dinosaurs of Darkness’
This month’s SASSB Webinar on 7 April had as the keynote speaker Prof. Jonah Chioniere of the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand.
6 Apr 2022
The root fungus Ganoderma attracts the attention of young eyes
During an after-school walk, Luna Visagie (4,5 years old), daughter of FABIans Dr Neriman Yilmaz and Prof. Cobus Visagie, spotted an impressive bracket fungus growing from the stem of a large Karee tree.
5 Apr 2022
Functional ecology of forest diseases discussed at the March FABI International Seminar
The guest presenter at the March FABI International Seminar was Dr Jonas Oliva, a researcher in the Department of Crop and Forest Science at the University of Lleida, Spain.
4 Apr 2022
A FABI visit to Hexagon Bio
Professors Brenda Wingfield and Mike Wingfield had the opportunity to visit Hexagon Bio situated in the Menlo Parks Labs campus south of San Francisco.
31 Mar 2022
Teamwork makes quick work of inoculations
Earlier this month, a wonderful team of FABIans helped inoculate around 1200 pine trees with Fusarium circinatum as part of a research trial for Sappi.
30 Mar 2022
FABI at the Fusarium workshop
A number of FABI team members attended the 2022 Fusarium Workshop at the Asilomar Conference Centre a day prior to the 31st Fungal Genetics Conference (FGC).
29 Mar 2022
Combined TPCP diagnostic clinic and field extension trip
The TPCP diagnostic clinic and field extension team spent the week in the field visiting different field sites and facilities.
28 Mar 2022
FABIans attend the 31st Fungal Genetics Congress at Asilomar
A team of seven FABI researchers attended the 31st Fungal Genetics Conference (FGC), held from 15-19 March at the Asilomar Conference Centre, south of San Francisco.
25 Mar 2022
Students and staff learn from Cropwatch Africa
FABIans, and an undergraduate class had the opportunity to gain from the experience of Roedolf Nieuwenhuis of Cropwatch Africa.
24 Mar 2022
Additional office space at the FABI Biocontrol Nursery and Insect Rearing facility
A former storeroom at the Biocontrol Centre has been repurposed as office space for students working there.
22 Mar 2022
Early easter egg hunt for the MadMacs
In February, PhD candidate Elisa Pal joined by her fellow comrades from the Macadamia Protection Programme went on a massive egg hunt.
18 Mar 2022
Survey of wattle pests and pathogens in Awi Zone, Ethiopia
FABI has partnered with the University of the Sunshine Coast and ICFR to develop a research project to determine the diversity and distribution of wattle pests and pathogens in the Awi Zone of Ethiopia, and investigate potential management options.
17 Mar 2022
FABIans are two of the BSPP’s “40 Faces of Plant Pathology”
Two FABIans have been featured in the BSPP's “Forty Faces of Plant Pathology” that forms part of the Society’s 40th anniversary celebrations.
16 Mar 2022
Czech visitors present on their research at MMM
Three visitors from the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences presented their research during the FABI MMM of 14 March.
15 Mar 2022
Collection of ambrosia beetle infested material in Durban
A team of FABIans recently visited various regions in Durban to collect material infested with Euwallacea sp. ambrosia beetles.
14 Mar 2022
Dennis Omondi, “honorary FABIan”, graduated with MSc (Plant Breeding) at Maseno University, Kenya
Dennis Omondi spent two research visits in the MPPI lab at FABI and Department of Plant and Soil Sciences during his MSc degree as part of a bilateral NRF Kenya-South Africa project on maize foliar diseases.
11 Mar 2022
Prof. Wilhelm de Beer honoured
FABI colleagues, friends and family met on 8 March to honour the exceptional career of Prof. Wilhelm de Beer who will retire from the University of Pretoria at the end of March.
8 Mar 2022
FABI welcomes its first Mycobiomics visitors from the Czech Republic
FABI welcomed a group of Czech mycologists are visiting the Institute as part of an international Mycobiomics Project supported by a MSCA-RISE grant.
7 Mar 2022
FABI researchers investigate Protea health problems in Pretoria
A team of FABI researchers spent a day considering Proteaceae disease problems north of Pretoria.
4 Mar 2022
ARP presents at SAAGA 2022
Members of the ARP attended SAAGA's 202 symposium where Casey Gill presented on her research work.
2 Mar 2022
FABI “up front and evident” at NRF Awards event
Two FABIans were amongst several UP academics honoured for their NRF ratings at a recent UP-hosted gala dinner.
28 Feb 2022
Rust, Sex and Magic at the FABI International Seminar
FABI Alumnus Dr Alistair McTaggart of the University of Queensland in Australia started off the year's FABI International Seminar series with a presentation “Rust, sex, magic”.
25 Feb 2022
Farewell to Hiroyuki
FABI team members faced the sad reality of having to say goodbye to Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Hiroyuki Suzuki on 21 February, at a farewell function held in his honour at the Future Africa campus.
23 Feb 2022
FABI Director joins the GRP field trip to the Eastern Cape
Members of the Grain Research Program (GRP) team including FABI Director Prof. Bernard Slippers embarked on a field trip to the Eastern Cape Province, during the week of 6 February.
22 Feb 2022
Ministers urged to reconsider genome editing regulations in South Africa
Several academics and researchers submitted a letter last week to the Ministers of DALRRD and DHEST asking them to reconsider the new GMO regulations.
21 Feb 2022
Joint Sappi-FABI Phytophthora trials harvested
Eucalyptus seedlings were harvested five months after being inoculated as part of a joint Sappi-FABI Phytophthora trial.
18 Feb 2022
Release of new population of biocontrol agents to control Gonipterus
A tiny egg parasitoid, Anaphes nitens, was released in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands for the control of the eucalypt snout beetle.
17 Feb 2022
Tanay Bose appointed section editor of Mycological Progress
Mycological Progress has appointed Dr Bose as one of the section editors.
16 Feb 2022
It’s all about what we Love on Valentine’s Day
FABI celebrated love on Valentine’s Day with a fun photo competition and movie night where FABIans could enjoy watching some romantic movies.
15 Feb 2022
In pursuit of tolerance to Ceratocystis wilt on Kiwi
FABI researchers have recently been undertaking intensive research to better understand a new and important disease of Kiwi fruit in South Africa.
14 Feb 2022
GRP kick-starts its national pest and diseases surveillance in Mpumalanga
Members of the Grain Research Program team embarked on a field trip to the Mpumalanga province.
10 Feb 2022
The root rotting fungus Ganoderma strikes UP campus trees
A serendipitous discovery of an interesting fungus on the UP campus ties in with a postdoctoral research project in FABI.