About the Mini-Symposium and Workshop

The chemical ecology mini-symposium and workshop will be hosted by FABI, an institute globally recognized for research in mycology/plant pathology, forest insect ecology, forest genomics and other fields in agriculture and forestry, and the University of Pretoria. A number of internationally recognized scientists from Africa, Europe and Canada will attend and speak at the mini-symposium.

The 2-day mini-symposium will cover a broad range of topics dealing with forest tree-insect interactions, floral interactions with pollinators, plant-pathogen interactions, plant-natural products and insect pheromones, which will be presented by both local and international scientists. A 1-day workshop will follow, where a platform for scientific exchange between local and international scientists will be created. Furthermore, the idea of forming an African chemical ecology society and the upcoming conference of the International Society for Chemical Ecology in 2020 in South Africa will be discussed.

Invited international speakers

  • Prof. Joerg Bohlmann: Michael Smith Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • Prof. Jonathan Gershenzon: Director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
  • Dr. Jeremy Allison: Natural Resources Canada, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Ontario, Canada
  • Prof. Baldwyn Torto: International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Prof. Andreas Juergens: Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany
  • Dr. Henrik Hartmann: Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany
  • Dr. Michael Reichelt: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany

Topics

  • Applied chemical ecology and forest pest management
  • Insect-floral interactions
  • Insect pheromones
  • Chemical ecology and global change
  • Plant-pathogen interactions

Programme

Program (click here to download)

Venue

FABI

Date

31.10.2016 - 2.11.2016

Organizers

Dr. Almuth Hammerbacher
Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)
University of Pretoria

Prof. Bernard Slippers
Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)
University of Pretoria

Registration Information

  • Please register online by completing this form.
  • Registration will not be complete until fees are paid. Participant numbers will be limited.
  • Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) for any additional question and/or queries.

Conference Fees

The R 1 200 registration fee (R 900 for students) includes handouts, one symposium dinner, refreshment breaks and lunch each day. Should you require a quotation and/or have queries regarding payment options please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Accommodation is not included in the fee.

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