Congratulations to 14 FABI ans whose degrees were conferred at the Spring graduation of the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Pretoria on 4 September. Below are their names as well as thesis and dissertation titles. PhD’s Dr Natrisha Devnarain Thesis: Elucidation of drought tolerance mechanisms in South African Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench landraces Supervisor: Dr Bridget Crampton Co-supervisor: Dr John Becker External co-supervisor: Dr Maretha O'Kennedy (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) External examiners : Prof Jim Farrant (University of Cape Town); Prof Christine Foyer (University of Leeds, United Kingdom); Dr Damaris Odeny (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Kenya) Dr Delphin Kandolo Alternaria blight of sweet potato in South Africa and development of an integrated disease management strategy Supervisor: Prof Terry Aveling Co-supervisor: Prof Jacquie van der Waals External co-supervisor: Dr Mariette Truter (Agricultural Research Council) Dr Godfrey Kgatle Alternaria blight of sunflower caused by Alternaria alternata and its control in South Africa Supervisor: Prof Terry Aveling External co-supervisors: Prof Bradley Flett (Agricultural Research Council); Dr Mariette Truter (Agricultural Research Council) Dr Esther Masumba Mapping of QTL associated with resistance to Cassava Brown Streak and Mosaic Diseases in outcrossing cassava farmer varieties from Tanzania Supervisor: Dr Albe van der Merwe Co-supervisor: Prof Zander Myburg External co-supervisor: Dr Morag Ferguson (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Kenya) Dr Osmond Mlonyeni Characterization of genetic variability in the Sirex - Amylostereum - Deladenus symbioses Supervisor: Prof B Slippers Co-supervisors: Prof Jaco Greeff, Prof Mike Wingfield, Prof Brenda Wingfield Dr Margot Otto Bacterial canker of cherry trees: biology and epidemiology of the causal agent Supervisor: Prof Teresa Coutinho Co-supervisor: Prof Jolanda Roux External co-supervisor: Dr Yolanda Petersen (Agricultural Research Council) Dr Zelda Pieterse Fungal biodiversity associated with selected Aizoaceae in the Namaqua National Park in the Succulent Karoo biome Supervisor: Prof Terry Aveling External co-supervisor: Dr A Venter (Agricultural Research Council) Dr Melissa Simpson Mating in Ceratocystis fimbriata Supervisor: Prof Brenda Wingfield Co-supervisors: Prof Mike Wingfield , Dr Martin Coetzee , Dr Magriet van der Nest Dr Collins Tanui Transcriptome profiling of Pectobacterium carotovorum subp. brasiliense reveals genes involved in ecological fitness and virulence mechanisms during infection Supervisor: Prof Lucy Moleleki MSc’s Daniel Ali (posthumously) Cryphonectriaceae from native Myrtales in Indonesia, La 'Reunion and South Africa Supervisor: Prof Mike Wingfield Co-supervisors: Prof Jolanda Roux, Dr AR McTaggart Yves du Toit The development and use of a comparative transcriptomics analysis tool for Eucalyptus defence interactions Supervisor: Prof Sanushka Naidoo Co-supervisor: Dr Nanette Christie Donovin Coles Functional characterisation of Arabidopsis thaliana nitrate transporter NRT2.5 in plant defence Supervisor: Prof Sanushka Naidoo External co-supervisor: Dr Ritesh Mewalal (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA) Angel Maduke Botryosphaeriaceae on native and exotic Myrtaceae trees in southern and eastern Africa Supervisor: Prof Jolanda Roux Co-supervisors: Prof Mike Wingfield, Dr Draginja Pavlic Alandie Niewoudt Development of a CRISPR-Cas9 system for genome editing in Exserohilum turcicum (Pass.) K.J. Leonard & Suggs (Pleosporaceae) Supervisor: Dr BG Crampton Martin Wierzbicki Systems genetics of xylan modification in Eucalyptus grandis x E. urophylla hybrids Supervisor: Prof Zander Myburg Co-supervisor: Dr Eshchar Mizrachi