FABI is proud to have had two PhD, 21 MSc and 16 Honours students capped at the Autumn 2015 graduation ceremony of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences held on 22 April. With this FABI continues to make a significant contribution to the number of postgraduate students graduating from the Faculty. This is line with the Institute’s aim of producing high quality research output. We applaud all the FABIans listed below and wish them well in their future studies and endeavors. PhD Dr. Gudrun Dittrich-Schröder : Molecular ecology and management of Leptocybe invasa (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) in South Africa Dr. Bianca Reeksting : Elucidating the early response of Persea americana to Phytophthora cinnamomi and flooding MSc Microbiology Tondani Kone: Characterization of sex-pheromone receptor genes of Fusarium species and other Sordariomycetes Olga Mashandule : Population biology of Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg et O'Donnell associated with South African Pinus radiata D.Don plantation trees Linda Ndove: Botryosphaeriaceae associated with Podocarpaceae in South Africa Plant Pathology Renate Botha: Evaluating Cavendish banana clones for tolerance to Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense Silvia Mausse Sitoe: Diseases of Eucalypts in Mozambique with particular reference to the Cryphonectriaceae Medicinal Plant Science Sarah Stanton: The polyamines and endophytes of gousiekte-causing and non-pathogenic Vangueria and Pavetta species Bioinformatics Jon Ambler: Genome characterisation, with special reference to gene silencing mechanisms, of Armillaria fuscipes Biotechnology Monique Heystek : Promoter analysis of three defense gene family members from maize in response to Cercospora zeina Degracious Kgoale: Gene expression study of candidate Arabidopsis defence genes in response to the bacterial wilt pathogen Brigette Langenhoven : Characterisation of three putative effector genes from the maize foliar pathogen Cercospora zeina Rynier Lourens: Identification and characterisation of the Eucalyptus grandis non-expressor of pathogenesis related 1 ( NPR1 ) genes. Mischa Muller : Molecular diversity of the maize pathogen Cercospora zeina in South Africa Thomas Schmidt : Transient biolistic transformation in maize leaves Pooja Singh: Transcriptome-wide analysis of predicted proteome variation segregating in a Eucalyptus hybrid family Erik Visser : Pinus patula transcriptome assembly Entomology Katie Termer: Biotic and abiotic determinants of resource quality for the larvae of the European woodwasp, Sirex noctilio Genetics Elrea Appelgryn : Characterization of Phytophthora cinnamomi from avocado Sitha Ramsuchit: Establishment of cross-pathogenicity of two different Phytophthora cinnamomi A2 isolates on hosts, Persea americana and Eucalyptus spp., and the host response to these isolates Danielle Roodt : The mating genetics and core genome of Ceratocystis albifundus Plant Science Jean Hakizimana: Understanding the role of endophytes in avocado root health and in enhancing its tolerance against Phytophthora cinnamomi MSc Agric Plant Pathology Edgar Mangwende : Seed-borne fungi of herbs cultivated in South Africa and evaluation of non- chemical seed treatments to control Alternaria sp. on coriander BSc Honours with projects in FABI Bioinformatics Riaan Swanepoel Biotechnology Elelwani Ramulifho Genetics Andrew Behrens Yves du Toit Lizel Potgieter Mohamed Seedat Conrad Trollip Microbiology Erika Bruck Miranda Erasmus Ashleigh Geldenhuys Kirsten Kenchenten Nompumelelo Msiza Biotumelo Ntlatleng Inge Pietersen Stefan Priem Benedicta Swalarsk-Parry