FABI News
20 Mar 2019
International Day of Forests celebrated at Future Africa and FABI
20 Mar 2019
FABIans flexed their green fingers at 2019’s first tree planting session
A team of about 40 students spent the morning on 21 March replanting 1600 cuttings into potting bags at the FABI nursery on the University of Pretoria’s experimental farm.
19 Mar 2019
PSHB fungus tested for pathogenicity on commercial forest trees
During the past week, Prof. Wilhelm de Beer and some FABI students inoculated Eucalyptus grandis and wattle trees with the PSHB fungus on the experimental farm of the University.
19 Mar 2019
FABI hosts delegation from DAFF’s International Day of Forests celebrations
FABI hosted a delegation of officials from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), academics and forestry students on 19 March.
15 Mar 2019
FABI PhD student speaks about his prize-winning science communication video and tree health matters in interview with VOC FM
FABI PhD candidate Darryl Herron cast the spotlight on tree health matters during an interview with VOC FM, a community radio station based in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, on 14 March.
Research Features
The use of genome data to characterize species and elucidate relationships, particularly between problematic taxa, has become routine practice in bacteria. Recently, researchers from FABI joined in an international effort to describe two novel genera and characterize these within the larger context of the important bacterial group Burkholderia.
A PhD student in FABI, Runlei Chang, has discovered and described 19 new fungal species from China as part of the research for his thesis. These fungi are all associated with conifer-infesting bark beetles and their mites and belong to well-known genera such as Ophiostoma and Leptographium.
Two research papers from FABI were selected as cover stories in two consecutive issues of the international journal, Plant Pathology. The journal is published by Wiley for the British Society of Plant Pathology.
Plastids play an integral role in wood formation, and yet they are routinely ignored in the study of xylogenesis in forest trees. Desre Pinard and Dr Eshchar Mizrachi have published a review highlighting the unique biology of plastids in wood, suggesting that a new type of plastid, the xylopast, exists.
Approaches for characterizing metabolic potential from genomic sequences have previously been predicted to be useful in the description of bacterial taxa. Dr Marike Palmer, has recently employed these approaches for identifying biological processes contributing to the divergence of bacteria with a variety of lifestyles.
Comparative genomics is shaping our notion of what fungal species are. Based on current data, these unique evolutionary units are separated from one another by boundaries that are porous under certain conditions. This affects our expectations regarding their population biology and evolution, and our strategies for recognizing and controlling them.
An aggressive ambrosia beetle and its fungal symbiont that has the potential to kill many tree species, were recently discovered in South Africa. This pest was detected on London Plane trees in the KwaZulu-Natal National Botanical Gardens, Pietermaritzburg. It has since been confirmed in Durban, Hartswater, Bloemfontein, George, Knysna and Johannesburg.
Workshops & Symposia
6-8 November 2019
2019
Annual meeting of the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP)
New Publications
Haavik LJ, Hurley BP, Allison JD. (2019) Effect of Sirex noctilio (Hymenoptera: Siricidae) attack density on Pinus sylvestris (Pinaceae) survival. Canadian Entomologist
10.4039/tce.2019.12
Wondafrash M, Slippers B, Hurley BP, Garnas J. (2019) Local antagonism and resource partitioning between two invasive pine plantation pests. Agricultural and Forest Entomology
10.1111/afe.12330 
Van den Berg N, Du Toit M, Morgan SW, Fourie G, De Beer ZW. (2019) First Report of Fusarium euwallaceae on Persea americana in South Africa. Plant Disease
10.1094/PDIS-10-18-1818-PDN
Nel WJ, Duong TA, De Beer ZW, Wingfield MJ. (2019) Black root rot: A long known but little understood disease. Plant Pathology
10.1111/ppa.13011
Cullis C, Lawler DW, Chimwamurombe P, Kunert K, Bbebe N, Vorster J. (2019) Development of marama bean, an orphan legume, as a crop. Food and Energy Security e00164:1-12.
10.1002/fes3.164
van der Nest MA, Wingfield MJ, McTaggart AR, Van Wyk S, De Vos L, Trollip C, Santana QC, Naidoo K, Dong TA, Wilken PM, Chan W-Y, Palmer M, Soal NA, Roodt D, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD. (2019) Genomic analysis of the aggressive tree pathogen Ceratocystis albifundus. Fungal Biology
10.1016/j.funbio.2019.02.002
Zlatkovic M, Wingfield MJ, Jami F, Slippers B. (2019) Genetic uniformity characterizes the invasive spread of Neofusicoccum parvum and Diplodia sapinea in the Western Balkans. Forest Pathology 49:e12491.
10.1111/efp.12491
Zumaquero A, Martinez-Ferri E, Matas AJ, Reeksting B, Olivier NA, Pliego-Alfaro F, Barcelo A, van den Berg N, Pliego C. (2019) Rosellinia necatrix infection induces differential gene expression between tolerant and susceptible avocado rootstocks. PLoS ONE 14(2):e0212359.
10.1371/journal.pone.0212359
Backer R, Naidoo S, van den Berg N. (2019) The NONEXPRESSOR OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENES 1 (NPR1) and Related Family: Mechanistic Insights in Plant Disease Resistance. Frontiers in Plant Science 10:102.
10.3389/fpls.2019.00102
Pinard D, Myburg AA, Mizrachi E. (2019) The plastid and mitochondrial genomes of Eucalyptus grandis. BMC Genomics 20(132):1-14.
10.1186/s12864-019-5444-4
Pinard D, Fierro AC, Marchal K, Myburg AA, Mizrachi E. (2019) Organellar carbon metabolism is co-ordinated with distinct developmental phases of secondary xylem. New Phytologist
10.1111/nph.15739
du Plessis E, Granados GM, Barnes I, Ho WH, Alexander BJR, Roux J, McTaggart AR. (2019) The pandemic strain of Austropuccinia psidii causes myrtle rust in New Zealand and Singapore. Australasian Plant Pathology :1-4.
10.1007/s13313-019-0624-x
Mangwende E, Kritzinger Q, Aveling TAS. (2019) Control of Alternaria leaf spot of coriander in organic farming. European Journal of Plant Pathology
10.1007/s10658-019-01682-6
Stevens GG, Pérez-Fernández MA, Morcillo RJL, Kleinert A, Hills P, Brand DJ, Steenkamp ET, Valentine AJ. (2019) Roots and nodules responds differently to P starvation in the mediterranean-type legume Virgilia divaricata. Frontiers in Plant Science 10
10.3389/fpls.2019.00073
Fitza KNE, Garnas JR, Lombardero MJ, Ayres MP, Krivak-Tetley FE, Ahumada R, Hurley BP, Wingfield MJ, Slippers B. (2019) The global diversity of Deladenus siricidicola in native and non-native populations. Biological Control
10.1016/j.biocontrol.2019.01.014
Rajeshkumar KC, Yilmaz N, Marathe SD, Seifert KA. (2019) Morphology and multigene phylogeny of Talaromyces amyrossmaniae, a new synnematous species belonging to the section Trachyspermi from India. MycoKeys 45:41-56.
10.3897/mycokeys.45.32549
Pham NQ, Barnes I, Chen SF, Liu FF, Dang NQ, Pham TQ, Lombard L, Crous PW, Wingfield MJ. (2019) Ten new species of Calonectria from Indonesia and Vietnam. Mycologia
10.1080/00275514.2018.1522179
Nsibo DL, Barnes I, Kunene NT, Berger DK. (2019) Influence of farming practices on the population genetics of the maize pathogen Cercospora zeina in South Africa. Fungal Genetics and Biology
10.1016/j.fgb.2019.01.005
Conlon BH, Aanen DK, Beemelmanns C, De Beer ZW, De Fine Licht HH, Gunde-Cimerman N, Schiøtt M, Poulsen M. (2019) Reviewing the taxonomy of Podaxis: opportunities for understanding extreme fungal lifestyles. Fungal Biology 123(3):183-266.
10.1016/j.funbio.2019.01.001
Hussey SG, Grima-Pettenati J, Myburg AA, Mizrachi E, Brady SM, Yoshikuni Y, Deutsch S. (2019) A standardized synthetic Eucalyptus transcription factor and promoter panel for re-engineering secondary cell wall regulation in biomass and bioenergy crops. ACS Synthetic Biology 8(2):463-465.
10.1021/acssynbio.8b00440
Vacant positions
Research Assistant (One-year contract appointment) - Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), managed by the Tree Protection Cooperative Programme (TPCP) - more information
The successful applicant will be responsible for the facility management at the FABI Biocontrol Centre and also provide support to one or more of the research focus areas at the Centre. It is an annual contract position, with possibilities for renewal. Please distribute to those you think may be suitable and interested in the position.
Deadline for application: 8 April 2019