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).

New Publications

Chepsergon J, Moleleki LN. (2023) “Order from disordered”: Potential role of intrinsically disordered regions in phytopathogenic oomycete intracellular effector proteins. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 75:102402. 10.1016/j.pbi.2023.102402
Macharia TN, Duong TA, Moleleki LN. (2023) n silico secretome analyses of the polyphagous root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica: a resource for studying M. javanica secreted proteins. BMC Genomics 24:296. 10.1186/s12864-023-09366-6
Chepsergon J, Lucy N Moleleki. (2023) Rhizosphere bacterial interactions and impact on plant health. Current Opinion in Microbiology 73:102297. 10.1016/j.mib.2023.102297
Jane Chepsergon, Celiwe Nxumalo, Brenda Salasini, Aquillah Kanzi, Lucy Moleleki. (2022) Short Linear Motifs (SLiMs) in “Core” RxLR effectors of Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae: A case of PpRxLR1 effector. Microbiology Spectrum 10(2) 10.1128/spectrum.01774-21
Maphosa S and Moleleki LN. (2021) Isolation and Characterization of Outer Membrane Vesicles of Pectobacterium brasiliense 1692. Microorganisms 9:1-20. 10.3390/ microorganisms9091918
Jane Chepsergon, Thabiso E. Motaung, Lucy Novungayo Moleleki. (2021) “Core” RxLR effectors in phytopathogenic oomycetes: A promising way to breeding for durable resistance in plants?. Virulence 12(1):1921-1935. 10.1080/21505594.2021.1948277
Collins Kipngetich Tanui, Divine Yutefar Shyntum, Precious K. Sedibane, Daniel Bellieny-Rabelo, Lucy N. Moleleki. (2021) Pectobacterium brasiliense 1692 chemotactic responses and the role of methyl-accepting chemotactic proteins in ecological fitness. 12 10.3389/fpls.2021.650894 PDF
Teresia N. Macharia, Daniel Bellieny-Rabelo, Lucy N. Moleleki. (2020) Transcriptome Profiling of Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) Responses to Root-Knot Nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) Infestation during A Compatible Interaction. 10.3390/microorganisms8091443
Chepsergon J, Motaung TE, Bellieny-Rabelo D, Moleleki LN. (2020) Organize, Don’t Agonize: Strategic Success of Phytophthora Species. Microorganisms 8(6):917. 10.3390/microorganisms8060917
Shin G, Schacterle JK, Shyntum DY, Moleleki LN, Coutinho T, Sundin GW. (2019) Functional characterization of a global virulence regulator Hfq and identification of Hfq-dependent sRNAs in the plant pathogen Pantoea ananatis. Frontiers in Microbiology 10:1-19. 10.3389/fmicb.2019.02075
Shutt VM, Shin G, van der Waals JE, Goszczynska T, Coutinho T. (2018) Characterization of Ralstonia strains infecting tomato plants in South Africa. Crop Protection 112:56-62. 10.1016/j.cropro.2018.05.013
Siphathele Sibanda, Stanford Kwenda, Collins K. Tanui, Divine Shyntum, Teresa Coutinho, Lucy Moleleki. (2018) Transcriptome profiling reveals the EanI/R quorum sensing regulon in Pantoea ananatis LMG 2665T. Genes 9(3):148. 10.3390/genes9030148
Siphathele Sibanda, Lucy Moleleki, Divine Shyntum, Teresa Coutinho. 2018. Quorum Sensing in Gram-Negative Plant Pathogenic Bacteria. In: Advances in Plant Pathology. Intechopen., London SE1 9SG, United Kingdom, pp 67-89.
Tanui CK, Shyntum DY, Priem SL, Theron J, Moleleki LN. (2017) Influence of the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) protein on pathogenicity in Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. brasiliense. Plos One 5(12) 10.1371/journal.pone.0177647
Gorshkov V, Kwenda S, Petrova O, Osipova E, Gogolev Y, Moleleki LN. (2017) Global Gene Expression Analysis of Cross-Protected Phenotype of Pectobacterium atrosepticum. PLoS ONE 12(1) 10.1371/journal.pone.0169536
Weller-Stuart T, Toth I, De Maayer P, Coutinho T. (2017) Swimming and twitching motility are essential for attachment and virulence of Pantoea ananatis in onion seedlings. Molecular Plant Pathology 18(5):734-745. 10.1111/mpp.12432
Kwenda S, Motlolometsi TV, Birch PRJ, Moleleki LN. (2016) RNA-seq profiling reveals defense responses in a tolerant potato cultivar to stem infection by Pectobacterium carotovorum ssp. brasiliense. Frontiers in Plant Science 7(1905) 10.3389/fpls.2016.01905
Kwenda S, Birch PRJ, Moleleki LN. (2016) Genome-wide identification of potato long intergenic noncoding RNAs responsive to Pectobacterium carotovorum subspecies brasiliense infection. BMC Genomics 17(614) 10.1186/s12864-016-2967-9
Sibanda S, Theron J, Shyntum DY, Moleleki LN, Coutinho TA. (2016) Characterization of two LuxI/R homologs in Pantoea ananatis LMG 2665 T. Canadian Journal of Microbiology 62(11):893-903. 10.1139/cjm-2016-0143
Moleleki LN, Pretorius RG, Tanui CK, Mosina G, Theron J. (2016) A quorum sensing‐defective mutant of Pectobacterium carotovorum subsp. brasiliense 1692 is attenuated in virulence and unable to occlude xylem tissue of susceptible potato plant stems. Molecular Plant Pathology 10.1111/mpp.12372