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Molecular lab CFX96 Real time PCR machine Microscope room
ZEISS Lumar V12 dissection microscope ZEISS Axio Imager M2 Microscope HiRes Fiber Quality Analyzer
AutoAnalyzer3 (AA3)l High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC) Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS)

Stephen Taerum, a PhD student from FABI at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, visited CERC from May 26 to December 31, 2010. During his stay, Stephen collected bark beetles and their symbiotic mites and microbes from conifers in Yunnan, Qinghai, and Guangdong provinces. In addition, Stephen conducted lab work (i.e., culturing, photography, and molecular work) at CERC using the centre's state-of-the-art equipment. Stephen also attended the China Forest Protection Conference in Shanghai, and the Fifth China Eucalyptus Forum and Industry Exhibition in Changsha, Hunan.


Outside the South African Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo

A worker preparing a vertical trap log to capture bark beetles

Bark beetle galleries from an attacked Pinus simaoensis tree in Simao, Yunnan

Stephen Taerum and colleagues at the office in CERC

Vigorous negotiations in Qinghai

Taking a break from collecting in Qinghai

Shuaifei Chen is the first Ph. D student under CFEPP. His research focuses on fungal disease of eucalypts from South China both in nurseries and plantations.

Fig. 1. One World-One Dream, Keeping Trees Healthy.

Fig. 2. Eucalypt diseases survey (Dec., 2006). Left to right: ShuaiFei Chen, XuDong Zhou, Michael J. Wingfield, JiaGuang Cao.

Fig. 3. Cryphonectriaceae survey (Jan., 2007). Left to right: XuDong Zhou and ShuaiFei Chen.

Fig. 4. Eucalypt diseases survey (Sept., 2008). Left to right: Jolanda Roux, ShuaiFei Chen, XinTao Mu, GuiXiang Zhao.

Fig. 5. TPCP disease clinic team (2008). Left to right: ShuaiFei Chen, Donald Chungu, Guillermo Perez, Didier Begoude.

Fig. 6. TPCP disease clinic team (2009). Left to right: Michael Mbenoun, Darryl Herron, Johan Van der Linde, ShuaiFei Chen, Bernice Porter.

Fig. 7. Field inoculation trials (Sep, 2008). Left to right: ChunYan Xie, XinTao Mu, ShuaiFei Chen, GuiXiang Zhao.

Fig. 8. Eucalypt diseases survey (Oct, 2008).

Fig. 9. Young researchers in CERC (Sep, 2008). Left to right: XiuHua Shang, ShiChao Zhang, Ying Jiang, Qiu Liu, HuaLin Zhang, ChunYan Xie, WanHong Lu, GuiXiang Zhao, FeiYang Han,ShiQi Ren, XinTao Mu, ShuaiFei Chen.

Fig. 10. My supervisors and mentors. Left to right: (back row): XuDong Zhou (primary supervisor), Marieka Gryzenhout, Jolanda Roux (co-supervisor), Marelize Van Wyk, DraginjaPavlic, Lorenzo Lombard, Irene Barnes and Donald Chungu;
(front row): YaoJian Xie (co-supervisor), ShuaiFei Chen, and Michael J. Wingfield (co-supervisor).
Back row (ltr): XinTao Mou, ShaoXiong Chen, JianZhong Luo, Yan Peng, GuiXiang Zhao, ShuaiFei Chen. Front row: Hui Yang, Jolanda Roux, YaoJian Xie, XuDong Zhou.
GuiXiang Zhao, ShuaiFei Chen, Jolanda Roux, XinTao Mou at CERC nursery.
Back row (ltr): XinTao Mou, ShaoXiong Chen, JianZhong Luo, Yan Peng, GuiXiang Zhao, ShuaiFei Chen.
Front row: Hui Yang, Jolanda Roux, YaoJian Xie, XuDong Zhou.
GuiXiang Zhao, ShuaiFei Chen, Jolanda Roux, XinTao Mou at CERC nursery.
Field work with HuaLin Zhang, (front) FeiYang Han.
Investigating cause of root disease of Eucalyptus.
Field work with HuaLin Zhang, (front) FeiYang Han.
Investigating cause of root disease of Eucalyptus.
XinTao and Shuaifei looking for pathogens.
The team with people from XiJiang Forestry Bureau of GuangDong Province.
XinTao and Shuaifei looking for pathogens.
The team with people from XiJiang Forestry Bureau of GuangDong Province.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Cylindrocladium leaf blight.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Ralstonia wilt disease.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: combination of bacteria, Coniella and Cylindrocladium diseases.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Ralstonia wilt disease.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Ralstonia wilt disease.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Buzura infestation.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Ralstonia wilt disease.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Buzura infestation.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Leptocybe infestation (Photo K taken by Dr. Huang from APP, China).
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Leptocybe damage.
Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Leptocybe infestation (Photo K taken by Dr. Huang from APP, China). Major diseases and pests on eucalypt plantations in South China: Leptocybe damage.

New Publications

Yan Z, Zhao Y, Meng X, Gao M, Si H, Zhao G, Bose T, Chang R. (2026) New manganese-oxidizing Acremonium-like fungi from halophytic rhizospheres in the Yellow River Delta, China. Mycologia :1-13. 10.1080/00275514.2026.2627133
Eshetu FB, Barnes I, Nahrung HF, Fitza KNE, Slippers B. (2026) A Century of invasion: How biosecurity influenced populations of Sirex noctilio and Its fungal symbiont in Australasia. Molecular Ecology 35(6):0962 - 1083. 10.1111/mec.70311
Ribeiro MF, Cavallini G, Solce GN, Favoreto AL, De Souza Passos J-R, Barbosa LR, Hurley BP, Wilcken CF. (2026) Cold storage of Gonipterus platensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) eggs for Anaphes nitens (Hymenoptera: Mymaridae) rearing. PeerJ :1-14. 10.7717/peerj.20903 PDF
Pham NQ, Marincowitz S, Marpaung YMAN, Tarigan M, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2026) Two Cryphonectriaceae species from Eucalyptus leaves in North Sumatra and their stem inoculation outcomes. Fungal Systematics and Evolution 17:69–79. 10.15761/fuse.2026.17.05 PDF
Nickles GR, Stokes CK, Narh DL, Lynn KMT, Fuqua SR, Bryan C, Allen BM, Bivins CP, Bok JW, Brewer JS, Buthelezi ST, Clark JPRM, Coon KL, Corby LR, Coetzee MPA, Dewing C, Duong TA, Harris MA, Keller NP, Kopotsa K, Lane FA, Nichols HL, Nieuwoudt A, Nuñez MA, Medina Munoz ME, Park SC, Pham NQ, Ryan KT, Solís M, Vilgalys R, Wallace JM, Wang YW, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ, Worley TK, Zallek TA, Zamanian M, Hoeksma JD, Drott M, Pringle A. (2026) Equipped for success: Genomes and metabolites of the European Amanita muscaria are conserved in its novel South African range. New Phytologist 10.1111/nph.71064
Pham NQ, Wingfield MJ, Duong TA, Wingfield BD. (2026) Draft genome sequence of Elsinoe masingae: the causal agent of Eucalyptus scab in South Africa. Australasian Plant Pathology 55:37. 10.1007/s13313-026-01082-5
Pham NQ, Marincowitz S, Wingfield BD, Crous PW, Santos SA, Durán A, Tarigan M, Wingfield MJ . (2026) Pseudoteratosphaeria supramediana sp. nov. (Teratosphaeriaceae, Mycosphaerellales), a new foliar pathogen on Eucalyptus in Indonesia. Australasian Plant Pathology 55:28. 10.1007/s13313-026-01092-3
Nel WJ, Jali S, Barnes I, Wondafrash M, Hurley BP. (2026) Outbreaks of a native jewel beetle, Agrilus grandis (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), on commercial black wattle, Acacia mearnsii, plantations in South Africa. African Entomology 34(1):1-5. 10.17159/2254-8854/2026/a24625
Postma A, Klynsmith L, Duong TA, Allison JD, Smidt W, Waterhouse RM, Lesny P, Oeyen JP, Petersen M, Martin S, Liu S, Zhou X, Ziesmann T, Donath A, Mayer C, Misof B, Niehuis O, Peters RS, Podsiadlowski L, Coetzee MPA, Joubert F, Slippers B. (2026) Genome and transcriptome-based identification and expression profiling of chemosensory gene families across developmental stages and tissues in Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae). Insect Molecular Biology :1-14. 10.1111/imb.70029
Aylward J, Visagie CM, Roets F, Wingfield BD, Wingfield MJ. (2026) Genome analyses reveal two novel species of Seiridium from Acacia mearnsii. Mycological Progress 25:8. 10.1007/s11557-026-02121-7