Prof Dave Berger
Academic Staff
Research Interests
Molecular basis of plant-pathogen interactions
Pathosystems
- Arabidopsis - Bacterial Wilt
- Maize - Grey Leaf Spot
- Millet - Rust
Technologies
Growth room, glasshouse and field trials
Molecular biology and biochemistry
GM plants
Functional Genomics
- SSH cDNA libraries
- DNA microarrays
- Gene silencing
Bioinformatics
Diversity Arrays (genetics of Solanaceae)
Publications of MPPI laboratory
Van Schalkwyk A, Wenzl P, Smit S, Lopez-Cobollo R, Kilian A, Bishop G, Hefer C & DK
Berger (2012) Bin mapping of tomato Diversity Array (DArT) markers to genomic regions of Solanum lycopersicum x Solanum pennellii introgression lines, Theoretical and
Applied Genetics, in press
Coetzer N, Myburg AA, and Berger DK (2011) Maize microarray annotation database, Plant Methods, 7(1):31
Coetzer N, Gazendam I, Oelofse D and Berger DK (2010) SSHscreen and SSHdb, generic software for microarray based gene
discovery: application to the stress response in cowpea. Plant Methods 6:10.
Meisel B, Korsman J, Kloppers FJ, Berger DK (2009) Cercospora zeina is the causal agent of grey leaf spot disease of maize
in southern Africa, European Journal of Plant Pathology, 124 (4) 577-583
Crampton BG, Hein I, Berger DK (2009) Salicylic acid confers resistance to a biotrophic rust pathogen, Puccinia
substriata, in pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), Molecular Plant Pathology 10(2), 291–304
Law PJ, Claudel-Renard C, Joubert F, Louw AI, Berger DK (2008) MADIBA: A web server toolkit for biological interpretation
of Plasmodium and plant gene clusters BMC Genomics 9: 105
Naidoo S, Murray SL, Denby KJ & Berger DK (2007). Microarray Analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana
cir1 (constitutively induced resistance 1) mutant reveals candidate defence response genes against Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato
DC3000 South African Journal of Botany 73: 412-421.
Berger DK, Crampton B, Hein I, Vos W (2007). Screeing cDNA libraries on glass slide microarrays. In: Microarrays, Second
Edition, Volume II Applications and Data Analysis (Editor J.Brampal), Series: Methods in Molecular Biology (Series Editor J.M.Walker), Humana Press, Totowa, New Jersey, USA
(www.humanapress.com ) ISBN10# 1-58829-944-9, Chapter 12, 177-203.
Fouche-Weich J, Poussier S, Trigalet-Demery D, Berger D & Countinho T (2006). Molecular identification of some African
strains of Ralstonia solanacearum from Eucalyptus and potato, Journal of General Plant Pathology 72: 369-373.
Oelofse D, Dubery IA, Meyer R, Arendse MS, Gazendam I & Berger DK (2006). Apple polygalacturonase inhibiting protein1
expressed in transgenic tobacco inhibits polygalacturonases from fungal pathogens of apple and the anthracnose pathogen of lupins. Phytochemistry 67(3): 255-263.
Naidoo S, Denby KJ & Berger DK. (2005). Microarray experiments: considerations for experimental design. South African
Journal of Science. 101(July/August): 347-354.
Lotter HC & DK Berger (2005). Anthracnose of lupins in South Africa in caused by Colletotrichum lupini var. setosum.
Australasian Plant Pathology. 34(3): 385-392.
Gazendam I, Oelofse D & Berger DK (2005). High-level expression of apple PGIP1 in transgenic potato is not sufficient
to confer resistance to Verticillium dahliae. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, 65 (3): 145-155.
Van den Berg N, Crampton BC, Birch PRJ, Hein I & Berger DK (2004). High throughput screening of SSH cDNA libraries
using DNA microarray analysis. Biotechniques. 37(5): 818-824 (November).
Berger DK (2004). Gene "mining" the Arabidopsis thaliana genome: applications for Biotechnology in Africa. South African
Journal of Botany. 70 (1): 173-180.
Murray SL, Thompson G, Visser A & Berger DK (2002). Transgenic potatoes (cv Late Harvest) show increased tolerance to
potato leafroll virus in greenhouse and field trials. South African Journal of Science 98: 97-101.
O'Kennedy MM, Burger JT & Berger DK. (2001). Transformation of elite white maize using the particle inflow gun and
detailed analysis of a low-copy integration event. Plant Cell Rep. 20: 721-730.
Berger DK, Oelofse D, Arendse MS, Du Plessis E & Dubery IA (2000). Bean polygalacturonase inhibitor protein-1 (PGIP-1)
inhibits polygalacturonase from Stenocarpella maydis. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, 57 (July): 5-14.
Arendse MS, Dubery IA & Berger DK (1999). Isolation by PCR-based methods of a plant antifungal
polygalaturonase-inhibiting protein gene. Electronic Journal of Biotechnology 2(3): 152-159.
Publications with collaborators
Naidoo S, Fouché-Weich J, Law P, Denby K, Marco Y & Berger DK (2011) A Eucalyptus bacterial wilt isolate
from South Africa is pathogenic on Arabidopsis and manipulates host defenses, Forest Pathology 41(2):101-113
Legay G, Marouf E, Berger D, Neuhaus JM, Mauch-Mani B & Slaughter A (2011) Identification of genes expressed during
the compatible interaction of grapevine with Plasmopara viticola through suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH), European Journal of Plant Pathology
129:281–301
Solomon L, Berger DK
& Myburg AA (2010) Diurnal and circadian patterns of gene expression in the developing xylem of Eucalyptus trees, South African Journal of Botany 76(3):
425-439
Oelofse, D., Dubery IA, DK Berger (2009) Exo-b-1,3-Glucanase (Exg1) from Yeast inhibits Colletotrichum lupini and Botrytis
cinerea spore germination, Journal of Phytopathology: Journal of Phytopathology 157 (1), 1-6.
Creux N, Ranik M, DK Berger & AA Myburg (2008) Comparative analysis of orthologous cellulose synthase promoters from
Arabidopsis, Populus and Eucalyptus: evidence of conserved regulatory networks in vascular plants, New Phytologist, 179 (3):722-737
Van den Berg N, Berger DK, Hein I, Birch PRJ, Wingfield MJ & Viljoen A (2007). Tolerance in banana to Fusarium wilt is
associated with early up-regulation of cell wall-strengthening genes in the roots, Molecular Plant Pathology, 8 (3) 333-341. (to request a reprint please email
Prof Dave
Berger)
Oelofse DO & Berger DK, “Plant Promoter” (Final complete RSA Patent filed 4 January 2006; Application #
2006/000072).
Lezar S, Myburg AA, Berger DK, Wingfield MJ & Wingfield BD (2004). Development and assessment of microarray-based DNA
fingerprinting in Eucalyptus grandis. Theoretical and Applied Genetics. 109: 1329-1336.
Murray SL, Denby KJ, Berger DK & Loake GJ. (2002). Disease Resistance Signalling in Arabidopsis: Applications for the
Study of Plant Pathology in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 98(March/April): 161-165.
Lee H-S, Berger, DK & Kustu S (1993). Activity of purified NIFA, a transcriptional activator of nitrogen fixation
genes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 90: 2266-2270.
