Miss Vuledzani Muthelo

MSc Student

Research Interests

I obtained both my BSc in Microbiology and Biochemistry and Honors degree from the University of Venda. I then started my MSc degree at the University of Pretoria, where I've joined the world of fungi at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI).

I'm currently working on the fungus known as Ganoderma for my MSc project. This is a fungal genus that includes species causing root rot diseases and eventually death of trees. This fungus has been reported throughout the world on a variety of trees and plants and here in South Africa the fungus is affecting and killing the Jacarandas. Just imagine Pretoria (City of Jacarandas) without the Jacaranda trees, how will it look like? So my research intrests involves genetic and taxonomic aspects of Ganoderma species. I'm therefore investigating the identity of these species causing diseases on Jacaranda trees in Pretoria as well as characterizing their mitochondrial genome.

Poster Presentation

Muthelo V.G., Coetzee M.P.A., Bogale M., Wingfield M.J, and Wingfield B.D., Identification of Ganoderma isolates associated with root and butt rot of Jacaranda mimosifolia in Pretoria. 20th Biennial South African Genetics Society (SAGS), 27-29 March 2008, University of Pretoria, South Africa .