Forty postgraduate students affiliated with FABI were awarded their degrees at the Autumn Graduation Ceremony of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences on April 18. FABI applauds the 12 PhD, 14 MSc and 25 BSc Honours graduates capped on the day. Listed below are the graduates and the titles of their dissertations as well as the Honours students with projects in FABI over the past year. PhDs Dr Gerda Fourie : Evolution of mitochondrial genomes in the Fasarium fujikuroi species complex Supervisor: Prof ET Steenkamp Co-supervisors: Prof BD Wingfield , Prof MJ Wingfield , Dr NA van der Merwe Dr Luke Jimu Diseases and pests of Eucalyptus species in Zimbabwe with particular reference to Teratosphaeria stem canker Supervisor: Prof J Roux Co-supervisors: Prof MJ Wingfield, Dr E Mwenje Dr DongHyeon Lee Biology of Ceratocystis albifundus and Ceratocystis pirilliformis in South Africa Supervisor: Prof MJ Wingfield Co-supervisors: Prof J Roux, Prof BD Wingfield Dr Waheed Mahomed Describing the continuum of salicylic and jasmonic acid mediated defence responses in the avocado- Phytophtora cinnamomi interaction Supervisor: Prof N van den Berg Co-supervisor: Dr BG Crampton Dr Ronishree Mangwanda Transcriptomic responses of host and fungal pathogen in the Eucalyptus grandis and Chrysoporthe austroafricana interaction Supervisor: Dr S Naidoo Co-supervisor: Prof AA Myburg , Dr NA van der Merwe Dr Ritesh Mewalal Functional characterisation of cell wall-related proteins of unknown function (CW-PUFs) in Arabidopsis thaliana Supervisor: Prof AA Myburg Co-supervisor: Dr E Mizrachi External co-supervisor: Prof SD Mansfield (University of British Columbia, Canada) Dr David Read Overcoming bias in Citrus tristeza virus (CTV) genotype detection and a population study of CTV within Southern African Star Ruby grapefruit orchards Supervisor: Prof G Pietersen Dr Markus Wilken Mating in Ceratocystis Supervisor: Prof BD Wingfield Co-supervisor: Prof MJ Wingfield MSc Khumbuzile Bophela Enterobacter and Xanthomonas species associated with blight and die-back of Eucalyptus Supervisor: Prof TA Coutinho Co-supevisor: Prof SN Venter Vanessa Cronje Infection and colonization of onion seedlings by Pantoea ananatis and P. allii Supervisor: Prof TA Coutinho Co-supervisor: Prof N van den Berg Herman de Bruin* Characterising the diversity of Beauveria species infecting insects in South African plantations Supervisor: Prof B Slippers Co-supervisor: Dr ZW de Beer Simone Fouché* Molecular characterisation of an accessory chromosome of Fusarium circinatum Supervisor: Prof ET Steenkamp Co-supervisor: Prof BD Wingfield, Dr MPA Coetzee Claire Melinda Martin Elicitation of medicinally active dicaffeoylguinic acid derivatives from Helichrysum populifolium (Asteraceae) Supervisor: Dr Bridget Crampton External co-supervisors: Dr I Gazendam (Agricultural Research Council); Dr HM Heyman (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA) Rofhiwa Nesamari Identification of diseases and pests of cycads in South Africa Supervisor: Prof J Roux Co-supervisor: Prof TA Coutinho Gi Yoon Shin* Investigation of the genetic diversity of Pantoea ananatis Supervisor: Prof SN Venter Co-supervisor: Prof TA Coutinho Kirsti Snyders Detection and isolation of homogeneous genotypes of Citrus tristeza virus for use in virus control through cross protection Supervisor: Prof Gerhard Pietersen Collins Tanui Characterising quorum sensing regulation of virulence in Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. Brasiliensis Supervisor: Prof LN Moleleki Stephanie van Wyk * Molecular characterisation of the growth rate determining quantitative trait locus in Fusarium circinatum Supervisor: Prof ET Steenkamp Co-supervisor: Prof BD Wingfield, Dr L de Vos , Dr NA van der Merwe Andi Wilson * Sexual Reproduction in the Genus Huntiella Supervisor: Prof BD Wingfield, Dr MA van der Nest BSc Honours students affiliated with FABI: Gabriella Barnard Johnathan Bredenkamp * Katrien Brown * Edohan Clasen * Donovin Coles * Esna du Plessis Stephanus Engelbrecht * Hanlica Erasmus Juanita Hanneman Candice Herd Xongani Khoza Nadine Koen Marike Louw Malebo Makunyane Katlego Masike Wilma Nel Alandie Nieuwoud* Monique Otto Naomi Park Shamara Polliack Robyn-Leigh Smith Catherine Tatham * Azille Schulze Elzette Wentzel Catherine Wickham