THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) DISCLAIMER

FABI News

News Archive

28 May 2026

FABI mycologist lands major Oppenheimer Memorial Trust award to unlock South Africa's fungal secrets

Professor. Cobus Visagie has received one of South Africa's most prestigious research grants

27 May 2026

FABI researchers participate in the IUFRO Tree Wilt Disease Congress in Athens

A group of FABI researchers met in Athens to attend and participate in a joint meeting of two IUFRO Division 7 Working Parties

26 May 2026

FABI researchers study and compare Croatian and South African bark beetle fungi

Prof. Mike Wingfield recently visited Croatia to inspect various field sites and to plan further details of a research project

25 May 2026

TPCP field extension and diagnostic clinic trip visits the Eastern Cape

Teams from the Tree Protection Co-operative Programme (TPCP) field extension and diagnostic clinic embark on a joint field trip to the Eastern Cape.

20 May 2026

CPHB-FABI interns at Nampo Harvest Day 2026

On 12 May, interns in the Phytosanitation and Biosecurity Internship Program at FABI had the exciting opportunity to attend NAMPO Harvest Day 2026

‹ ›

FABI Events

04 June 08h30

Student Seminars

08 June 08h30

Monday morning meeting

11 June 08h30

Student Seminars

15 June 08h30

Monday Morning Meeting

FABI in a nutshell

Research Features

Archive

Tracing the past, building the future: FABI research unlocks the genetics and genomics of the Sirex woodwasp complex

FABI researcher co-authors global perspective on mycotoxins and food safety.

FABI researchers Prof. Cobus Visagie, Dr Neriman Yilmaz, and Nicole van Vuuren, together with international collaborators, have published a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the fungal order Eurotiales, which includes the economically important genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Talaromyces.

New publication explores the chemodiversity of Penicillium isolated from alpine and arctic environments, including ten new species.

Review emphasizes the importance of understanding the genetics of sex determination for effective genetic pest management in insects.

Eleven new Penicillium and Talaromyces species discovered in South African culture collections.

A new study reveals the presence of Mycotoxins in Eastern Cape maize in South Africa.

Eurotiales update: FABIans Prof. Cobus Visagie and Dr Neriman Yilmaz and their collaborators have published a review of recently described Eurotiales species, including the economically important Aspergillus, Penicillium, Paecilomyces and Talaromyces.

Da Vinci's Yeast: FABIans Prof. Cobus Visagie, Dr Neriman Yilmaz, and their collaborators have recently described and named a newly discovered yeast species of the famous Italian painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect Leonardo da Vinci.

The potential economic impact of the PSHB invasion in South Africa has been calculated to be a massive R275 billion over the next ten years, if nothing is done to stop the spread of this invasive beetle. Researchers from FABI collaborated with Stellenbosch University ecologists and economists to model the unmitigated economic impact of this invasion.

A recently published paper in the journal Current Forestry Reports documents a collaboration between an international team of forest pathologists and invasion scientists. Led by Dr Trudy Paap, the authors present a framework for conceptualizing and managing invasive forest pathogens.

A recently published review article by Dr Andi Wilson in a special issue of the journal 'Microbiology & Molecular Biology Reviews' provides details of the genes that are essential to the sexual cycle in filamentous Ascomycete fungi and further describes their functions in a variety of model and non-model species.

Penicillium section Canescentia re-evaluated and five new species described from the fynbos biome in South Africa.

In November 2019, the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology hosted a workshop on ‘Frameworks used in Invasion Science’. The workshop led to a NeoBiota special issue on this theme, and includes a review by FABI researchers and international colleagues, exploring frameworks in the context of forest pathology.

A doctoral study in FABI confirms for the first time the presence of Xylosandrus crassiusculus, a polyphagous ambrosia beetle and its fungal symbiont, Ambroseilla roeperi, in three provinces in South Africa. The authors warn that this beetle species could be a threat to native and plantation trees.

A review on invasive gall-forming wasps that threaten non-native Eucalyptus plantations by researchers in the TPCP appears in Agricultural and Forest Entomology. They profile several species of likely Australian origin that have established on non-native Eucalyptus plantations globally and discuss various challenges to their management.

A study in the TPCP confirms the identity of seven novel fungal species associated with Dendroctonus valens, the red turpentine beetle. The study follows on surveys on the fungal associates of the beetle in China and North America. Results from this work appear in Persoonia.

A postdoctoral study in the TPCP describes two novel Huntiella species in the African clade, bringing the number of known species in the genus to 31. Though closely related, the two species display different mating systems. Outcomes from this study appear in the journal MycoKeys.

A review of the invasion history and global management strategies of Eucalyptus snout beetles in the Gonipterus scutellatus species complex by researchers in the TPCP appears in the Journal of Pest Science.

In a collaborative venture with Dr Jos Houbraken (Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, the Netherlands), Prof. Cobus M Visagie, Dr Neriman Yilmaz (both from FABI) and others have recently completed and published a major study updating the taxonomy of the Eurotiales.

A study in the Forest Molecular Genetics (FMG) Programme at FABI interrogates the benefits of implementing genomic selection for growth and wood quality traits in an established Eucalyptus grandis breeding programme in South Africa. Outcomes from this study appear in an article.

The first study on alternative weed and cultivated hosts of Spongospora subterraneaf. sp. subterranea (Sss), in southern Africa identifies two species as ideal trap crops for rotation with potatoes. The study also introduces three new families to the known hosts of Sss in the region.

A consortium of microbiologists from around the globe, FABI included, is pushing for an overhaul in how scientific names are assigned to uncultivated bacteria and archaea. Despite their ecological, agricultural and medical importance, these organisms traditionally have not been recognized by the international body governing the nomenclature of prokaryotes.

Professor Cobus Visagie is a researcher in the Applied Mycology group at FABI. One of the group’s research goals is to discover fungal diversity in South Africa, and Cobus’ research is strongly focussed on the economically important genera Aspergillus, Penicillium and Talaromyces.

Postdoctoral research by Dr Norman Muzhinji in the Potato Pathology Programme at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI) sheds light on the genetic structure and diversity of Spongospora subterranea f. sp. subterranea in four potato-growing regions in South Africa, providing valuable insights on its management.

An MSc study by Kira Lynn in the RGE-FABI Tree Health Programme at the University of Pretoria has described a new Fusarium species, Fusarium rekanum sp. nov., associated with Euwallacea perbrevis, an ambrosia beetle species infesting Acacia crassicarpa plantations in Riau, Indonesia.

FABI postdoctoral Fellow Dr Andi Wilson has established a CRISPR-Cas9-based genome editing protocol for use in Huntiella omanensis, a tree-inhabiting fungus belonging to the Ceratocystidaceae family.

Research undertaken as part of a PhD study by Molly Malefo at the University of Pretoria’s Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute sheds more light on the role of protease inhibitors in plants under drought stress.

The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) has funded a postdoctoral research project dedicated to monitoring plant health in botanical gardens and arboreta across South Africa. Two postdoctoral Fellows at the University of Pretoria’s Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute have held these fellowships.

The first comprehensive study mapping the distribution and genetic diversity of invasive Eucalyptus insect pests in sub-Saharan Africa confirms the presence of five major foliage-feeding species in 14 countries. The results of this study have implications on the quarantine, future research and management of these pests on the continent and beyond.

Dr Joey Hulbert broke new ground when he became the first candidate at the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute to complete a PhD study incorporating citizen science. Citizen science is an approach that involves members of the public as active participants in scientific research.

FABI technology unravels the genetics behind fungal genome evolution The RIPper is a bioinformatics tool for the for quantifying genome-wide RIP mutations in fungal genomes. The strength of this software lies in the automation of laborious techniques to study the mutation process called Repeat-Induced Point mutations (RIP). The RIPper applies these technique

With the increased availability in genome data, inferences regarding evolutionary relationships among taxa can now be performed on a genome-wide scale. But it is widely accepted that not all parts of such massive datasets support the same evolutionary hypothesis. Because of this, a group of researchers at FABI recently investigated the effect of this.

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.

The Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer is an ambrosia beetle native to Southeast Asia. In 2017 this pest was detected in South Africa. Its presence has since been confirmed in all provinces except Limpopo. The beetle has a symbiotic relationship with the fungus Fusarium euwallaceae, which causes branch die-back and death of susceptible trees.

‹ ›

1. Acceptance of our Terms

By visiting the website THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI), viewing, accessing or otherwise using any of the services or information created, collected, compiled or submitted to THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI), you agree to be bound by the following Terms and Conditions of Service. If you do not want to be bound by our Terms your only option is not to visit, view or otherwise use the services of THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI). You understand, agree and acknowledge that these Terms constitute a legally binding agreement between you and THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) and that your use of THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) shall indicate your conclusive acceptance of this agreement.

2. Provision of Services

You agree and acknowledge that THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) is entitled to modify, improve or discontinue any of its services at its sole discretion and without notice to you even if it may result in you being prevented from accessing any information contained in it. Furthermore, you agree and acknowledge that THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) is entitled to provide services to you through subsidiaries or affiliated entities.

3. Proprietary Rights

You acknowledge and agree that THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) may contain proprietary and confidential information including trademarks, service marks and patents protected by intellectual property laws and international intellectual property treaties. THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) authorizes you to view and make a single copy of portions of its content for offline, personal, non-commercial use. Our content may not be sold, reproduced, or distributed without our written permission. Any third-party trademarks, service marks and logos are the property of their respective owners. Any further rights not specifically granted herein are reserved.

4. Submitted Content

When you submit content to THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) you simultaneously grant THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) an irrevocable, worldwide, royalty free license to publish, display, modify, distribute and syndicate your content worldwide. You confirm and warrant that you have the required authority to grant the above license to THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI).

5. Termination of Agreement

The Terms of this agreement will continue to apply in perpetuity until terminated by either party without notice at any time for any reason. Terms that are to continue in perpetuity shall be unaffected by the termination of this agreement.

6. Disclaimer of Warranties

You understand and agree that your use of THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) is entirely at your own risk and that our services are provided "As Is" and "As Available". THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) does not make any express or implied warranties, endorsements or representations whatsoever as to the operation of the THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) website, information, content, materials, or products. This shall include, but not be limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement, and warranties that access to or use of the service will be uninterrupted or error-free or that defects in the service will be corrected.

7. Limitation of Liability

You understand and agree that THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) and any of its subsidiaries or affiliates shall in no event be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or exemplary damages. This shall include, but not be limited to damages for loss of profits, business interruption, business reputation or goodwill, loss of programs or information or other intangible loss arising out of the use of or the inability to use the service, or information, or any permanent or temporary cessation of such service or access to information, or the deletion or corruption of any content or information, or the failure to store any content or information. The above limitation shall apply whether or not THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) has been advised of or should have been aware of the possibility of such damages. In jurisdictions where the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages is not allowed the liability of THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) is limited to the greatest extent permitted by law.

8. External Content

THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) may include hyperlinks to third-party content, advertising or websites. You acknowledge and agree that THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) is not responsible for and does not endorse any advertising, products or resource available from such resources or websites.

9. Jurisdiction

You expressly understand and agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the country, state, province or territory determined solely by THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) to resolve any legal matter arising from this agreement or related to your use of THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI). If the court of law having jurisdiction, rules that any provision of the agreement is invalid, then that provision will be removed from the Terms and the remaining Terms will continue to be valid.

10. Entire Agreement

You understand and agree that the above Terms constitute the entire general agreement between you and THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI). You may be subject to additional Terms and conditions when you use, purchase or access other services, affiliate services or third-party content or material.

11. Changes to the Terms

THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) reserves the right to modify these Terms from time to time at our sole discretion and without any notice. Changes to our Terms become effective on the date they are posted and your continued use of THE FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (FABI) after any changes to Terms will signify your agreement to be bound by them.

12. Website Information

This website is the property of the http://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute at the University of Pretoria. All content presented here is the property of the respective page owners, indicated on each page.

13. Site Administrators

The following people are Site Administrators and can be contacted if a problem with the website arises:

14. Copyright Notice

Unless otherwise expressly stated in the material or information which accompanies the material, the following statements apply to all information and material made accessible via the FABI website at the University of Pretoria.

In these statements the terms material and information shall include, but not be limited to, sources, intermediate and executable code, disclosures of process, apparatus or product, images, audio and audio-visual productions, as well as text and formatted text.

15. Copyright

16. Disclaimer of Liability for Information on the FABI website

All efforts have been made by FABI to ensure that material accessible via its website is accurate and up to date. However, FABI makes no warranty, or guarantee, or promise express or implied, that the material made accessible via its website is either accurate, complete, up to date, or fit for any use whatsoever, nor does FABI represent or imply that its use will not infringe privately held rights.

Information provided about Programmes of Study and Units of study constitutes an expression of intent and is not to be taken as a firm offer or undertaking.

FABI accepts no liability or responsibility for any loss or damage suffered as a result of direct or indirect use or application of any material or information made accessible via its website.

The views and opinions of the many authors expressed in the material do not necessarily represent those of the University of Pretoria, neither FABI.

17. Reserved Rights

FABI reserves the right to alter or remove any material or information from its website and other networked information servers without notice.

18. Disclaimer of Other Sites

Material accessible via FABI's website may contain hypertext links to material held on networked information servers beyond the University of Pretoria's campuses.

FABI and the University of Pretoria is not responsible for the contents of any off-site material referenced from hypertext documents accessible via FABI's website

Workshops & Symposia

Archive

The TPCP / FMG-EPPI Symposium 2026

New Publications

Botha I, Maduna SN, Hagen SB, Lall N, Berger DK. (2026) 3RAD-guided SNP discovery for species identification and conservation of the medicinal southern African tree Genus Greyia Hook. & Harv.. Ecology and Evolution 16(5):e73412, 1-29. 10.1002/ece3.73412

Balocchi F, Duncan G, Yilmaz N, Wingfield MJ, Paap T. (2026) The critically endangered geophyte Gladiolus aureus threatened by a wilt disease associated with Fusarium libertatis. Journal of Plant Pathology 10.1007/s42161-026-02227-7

Bose T, Wingfield MJ. (2026) Plantations are invasive pathogen bridgeheads—response to Li et al.. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 10.1016/j.tree.2026.05.006

Jamieson B-A, Paap T, Pegg GS, Carnegie AJ, Wingfield MJ, Roux J, Hardy GEStJ, Drenth A, Hammerbacher A, Bose T. (2026) Quambalaria spp.: Emerging Tree Pathogens of Concern. Current Forestry Reports 12:13. 10.1007/s40725-026-00274-y

Masuku SK, De Vos L, Thabiso TE, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield BD. (2026) Baseline sensitivity of South African Fusarium circinatum to tebuconazole. Journal of Plant Pathology 10.1007/s42161-026-02197-w

Fitawek W, Anjulo A, Healey M, Lawson SA, Hurley BP. (2026) The Moringa value chain in Ethiopia and the socio-economic impact of pests and diseases. CABI Agriculture and Bioscience 10.1079/ab.2026.00041

Lynn KMT, Wingfield MJ, Oliveira LSS, Alfenas AC, Ferreira Alfenas RF, Marincowitz S, Barnes I. (2026) Phylogenetic and population genetic analyses reveal patterns of divergence amongst isolates of Ceratocystis manginecans. Ecology and Evolution 16 10.1002/ece3.73652

Dlamini CM, Matongera TN, Lawson SA, Healey M, Tanga A, Regasa K, Kassie W, Hurley BP, Germishuizen I. (2026) Modelling spatiotemporal dynamics of wattle plantations in northwestern Ethiopia using harmonised PlanetScope and RapidEye imagery. Trees, Forests and People 25:101293. 10.1016/j.tfp.2026.101293

Ndou M, Potts WM, Duong TA, Teske PR, Childs AR, Henriques R. (2026) Conspecific scaffold-level genome assembly outperforms heterospecific chromosome-level assemblies for assessing genetic indicators in a threatened marine fish. Evolutionary Applications 19:e70247. 10.1111/eva.70247

Marx B, van Dijk A, Steenkamp ET, Wingfield MJ, Wingfield BD. (2026) Breaking the mould: Cellulose in the cell walls of the Ophiostomatales. Fungal Biology Reviews 57 10.1016/j.fbr.2026.100489

Wingfield BD, Coetzee MPA, Wingfield BJ, Groenewald M, Pohl C, Wingfield MJ. (2026) The genetic blueprint of Cyclohexamide resistance: Analysis of 816 yeast species. Research Square 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9313202/v1

Paap T, White D, Bose T, Burgess TI. (2026) Diversity and phylogeny of Phytophthora Clade 9, including descriptions of three novel species. Mycological Progress 25:29. 10.1007/s11557-026-02140-4

Kgatla MM, Barker C, Baxter JR, Bester-van der Merwe AE, Chaisi M, Chakona A, Cherry MI, Daniels SR, Du Preez LH, Haddad CR, Hawkes PG, Ho C, Hoareau TB, Jacobs A, Jacobs K, Janion-Scheepers C, Jansen van Vuuren B, Kabongo RM, Khoza TT, Khumalo NL, Mahlanza T, Makapela L, Makhubo BG, Maneveldt GW, Mashego K, Matcher G, Matthee CA, Mavhunga M, Midgley JM, Mlambo M, Monsanto DM, Mthombeni R, Murray SL, Mynhardt S, Nang-Mba B, Ndlovu M, Parbhu SP, Phetla V, Phukuntsi M, Pitcher TR, Samaai T, Sethusa MT, Simon CA, Sink K, Sole CL, Theron GL, van Asch B, van der Bank M, van Steenderen CJM, Villet MH, Visagie CM, Williams KA, Willows-Munro S, Da Silva JM, Mwale M. (2026) An overview of DNA barcoding of biodiversity in South Africa. PLOS ONE 21(4):e0345173. 10.1371/journal.pone.0345173

Li GQ, Slippers B, Wingfield MJ, Chen SF. (2026) Diversity, distribution and host range of Botryosphaeriaceae in China. Forest Pathology 10.1111/efp.70077

Joubert M, van den Berg N, Theron J, Swart V. (2026) Leaf bleaching is associated with extensive transcriptional reprogramming in avocado trees with sunblotch disease. Virology 620:110903. 10.1016/j.virol.2026.110903

Nzuza P, Schroder ML, Slippers B, Maes WH. (2026) Spectral responses to larval and artificial defoliation in Eucalyptus dunnii: Implications for UAV-based detection of Gonipterus damage. Drones 10(4) 10.3390/drones10040250

Six DL, Marincowitz S, Duong TA. (2026) Ophiostoma ipsi-confusi sp. nov. Six, Marinc. & Duong, a consistent symbiotic fungus of the pinyon ips bark beetle, Ips confusus LeConte. Symbiosis 10.1007/s13199-026-01135-9

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

Viljoen A, Duong TA, Kanzi AM, Wingfield BD. (2026) Comparative analysis of mitochondrial genomes in the Ceratocystidaceae reveals highly conserved gene organization despite substantial genome size variation. BMC Genomics 10.1186/s12864-026-12755-2

5
10
20
30
50
100
Export to RIS