The TPCP programme begun based on a very small team of researchers at the University of the Free State and focused on a single threatening Eucalyptus disease problem. The programme has since grown to become highly recognised internationally as the single strongest programme dealing with pest and pathogen problems in plantation forestry in the world. The TPCP has also brought huge energy to agricultural research and education in the biological sciences in South Africa. For example, it formed the foundation for the establishment of the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) at the University of Pretoria, which in just 13 years has become a flagship research centre promoting many aspects of plant improvement in South Africa.

New Publications

Chepsergon J, Moleleki LN. (2023) “Order from disordered”: Potential role of intrinsically disordered regions in phytopathogenic oomycete intracellular effector proteins. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 75:102402. 10.1016/j.pbi.2023.102402
Macharia TN, Duong TA, Moleleki LN. (2023) n silico secretome analyses of the polyphagous root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica: a resource for studying M. javanica secreted proteins. BMC Genomics 24:296. 10.1186/s12864-023-09366-6
Chepsergon J, Lucy N Moleleki. (2023) Rhizosphere bacterial interactions and impact on plant health. Current Opinion in Microbiology 73:102297. 10.1016/j.mib.2023.102297
Jane Chepsergon, Celiwe Nxumalo, Brenda Salasini, Aquillah Kanzi, Lucy Moleleki. (2022) Short Linear Motifs (SLiMs) in “Core” RxLR effectors of Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae: A case of PpRxLR1 effector. Microbiology Spectrum 10(2) 10.1128/spectrum.01774-21
Maphosa S and Moleleki LN. (2021) Isolation and Characterization of Outer Membrane Vesicles of Pectobacterium brasiliense 1692. Microorganisms 9:1-20. 10.3390/ microorganisms9091918