Mr Darryl Herron

MSc Student

Research Interests

Background:

I began my BSc career in 2004 at the University of Pretoria. I had a clear interest in Microbiology from the word "go". I completed my undergraduate degree in 2007 and in 2008 continued with my Post graduate studies.

In 2008 I completed my Honours in Microbiology under the supervision of Prof Emma Steenkamp. My Honours research was aimed at identifying Fusarium species occurring in Colombia, South America. Theses Fusarium species were causing disease on pine trees within Colombian plantations. These Fusarium isolates were originally thought to be Fusarium circinatum (Pitch canker fungus) however further investigation showed that some of the obtained isolates were in fact something other than Fusarium circinatum. What made these novel species interesting was there close similarity and association to the Pitch canker fungus Fusarium circinatum.

Currently:

MSc Microbiology: This is the first year of my Masters degree and I am still working with the incredibly diverse Fusarium species, under the supervision of Prof Emma Steenkamp. My Masters degree began with a focus on the biodiversity of Fusarium species in the commercial forestry environment, within South Africa, but has since changed and focused more on the story unfolding in South America. As mentioned previously, my Honours work looked at the Fusarium species occurring on pine trees in Colombia.

The Fusarium species we are currently characterizing are providing us with more questions than answers. This has made it more intriguing as our results are challenging the way we interpret fungal associations and interactions. We have increased our sample size since and are now focusing on the delimitation of these species. We are trying to figure out how all these species are related and their natural associations with one another. Currently we are sitting with five novel Fusarium species which have become the key puzzle pieces in my Masters project.

Presentations

Kvas M, Herron DA, Steenkamp ET, Rodas CA, Wingfield MJ. 2009. Novel Fusarium lineages in the Gibberella fujikuroi complex are associated with Pinus species in Colombia. Proceedings of 46th Congress of the Southern African Society for Plant Pathology and 6th Congress of the African Mycology Association, 25-28 January 2009, Gordon’s Bay, South Africa.